Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Flick Drummond and Jeremy Hunt

Tuesday 6th February 2024 Commons Chamber

[Mrs Flick Drummond (Meon Valley) (Con)]

3. What fiscal steps his Department is taking to help increase the level of business investment.

[The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Jeremy Hunt)]

Mr Speaker, may I add my comments to yours yesterday about His Majesty the King? I wish him and his family well, as well as saluting his courage in being so open about his condition.

At the autumn statement last year, I announced an ambitious growth package, which will boost business investment by about £20 billion a year. We are making full expensing permanent, which the CBI welcomed as a game changer that will fire up the British economy.

[Mrs Drummond]

I also welcome those measures. Business rates are among the biggest issues for small businesses in Meon Valley, so I welcome the Chancellor’s £4.6 billion package of support in the autumn statement. However, following covid, there are a number of empty offices where landlords are still having to pay business rates. Does the Chancellor have any measures to support those who are struggling with a lack of income to pay business rates?

[Jeremy Hunt]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right to highlight the pressures caused by business rates. That was why in the autumn statement we introduced the 75% discount for retail, hospitality and leisure. All I would say is that the reason we were able to introduce those large cuts in business rates was that we did not embark on a spending spree of £28 billion a year, which is Labour’s policy on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, but not apparently on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

Economic Update

Debate between Flick Drummond and Jeremy Hunt

Monday 17th October 2022 Commons Chamber

[Jeremy Hunt]

I understand why the hon. Gentleman has asked the question. I believe that wealthier people should pay more as we go through a difficult period, but the mechanism of the cap, with which we were doing that, was not working. We will get more money out of the pockets of those rich bankers through what we are going to do now.

[Mrs Flick Drummond (Meon Valley) (Con)]

Many of our more advanced manufacturing businesses are in the defence sector, and they welcome our commitment to growing defence spending. They have no problem with paying more corporation tax, as long as there are incentives to support their cutting-edge research and development. Will my right hon. Friend commit to ensuring that those incentives are available across all industries?

[Jeremy Hunt]

That is a very important point. We have an issue in that we need our companies to invest more in R&D. We have a fantastic opportunity to be the world’s next silicon valley, with all the potential of our great universities and incredible levels of innovation, but I absolutely think there is more that we can do, and I will bear in mind my hon. Friend’s comments.