Business of the House

Diana Johnson Excerpts

Thursday 28th January 2016 Commons Chamber

[Chris Grayling]

I do admire the chutzpah of the SNP. If it had won its referendum, if Scotland were going to become independent in six weeks’ time, it would be going through the most monumental financial crisis, the most monumental financial black hole, as oil revenues collapse—the revenues on which the SNP was going to depend for its plans for Scotland. So I will not take any lessons about black holes or lack of financial planning, because the SNP stood for and argued for something that would have been disastrous for Scotland.

[Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)]

May we please have a debate on the Government’s support for British business? For example, whereas the Chancellor clobbered Hull’s home-grown caravan industry by introducing the caravan tax in the omnishambles Budget in 2012 without speaking to the industry, he manages to have multiple meetings with Google, a multinational company, and allows it to set its own tax rate.

[Chris Grayling]

All of us in government have meetings with business, charities, external representative groups, trade unions and other groups across our society, so that we can try to do the best for this country in government. That is what all Governments do and it is certainly what this one does.