Amendment of the Law

Debate between Ian Mearns and Esther McVey

Monday 26th March 2012 Commons Chamber

[Esther McVey (Wirral West) (Con)]

I would like to use my time in this debate to talk about how Wirral and the wider Liverpool city region can benefit from the Budget and how the rest of the UK in turn can benefit from Wirral’s advances and successes.

The Budget is a Budget of growth. It is concerned with repositioning the UK as a place to do business, to set up in business and to relocate big business. It sets out policies offering help to new start-ups, with the simplification of regulations and taxes, a Government loan guarantee scheme and the promotion of self-employment opportunities for all. It offers guidance and support to those businesses going through the new enterprise allowance.

The Budget also set about reducing corporation tax, going further and faster to make it the lowest in the G7. Members do not need to listen to me on this; they can just look at the actions of industry. GlaxoSmithKline has announced 1,000 new jobs for Cumbria, Nissan is creating 2,000 new jobs in Sunderland, and Jaguar, with 1,000 new jobs in Halewood on Merseyside, has increased its number of jobs to 4,500, trebling the number of employees in the past three years. That is because it is a good place for business. We have the “Open for business” sign up, as my hon. Friend the Member for Dudley South (Chris Kelly) said.

[Ian Mearns (Gateshead) (Lab)]

Will the hon. Lady give way?

[Esther McVey]

I am sorry, but I will not.

The Budget also offers clear support and incentives for firms taking on apprentices and young employees as well as support for key infrastructure projects, including roads, rail, ports and broadband. It is also supporting the construction industry, with housing development getting Britain building. As the debate was opened by the Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport, my hon. Friend the Member for Wantage (Mr Vaizey), I would like to quote from the Liverpool Daily Post, which this week carried the following headline: “Merseyside video game companies welcome Budget tax credits”. That was Sony, Evolution Studios, Rebel Play and Lucid Games referring to not only the tax credits, but the research and development tax credits and changes to enterprise investment schemes. The Budget is the beginning of a shift from the downward slide in enterprise, manufacturing and exports to an expansive vision and the aspirational upward mobility of UK plc, from which everybody in the UK should benefit. It is a seismic shift saying that we are open for business, and now we have the tools, infrastructure and tax system to enable it.

On Wirral specifically, Wirral Waters is one of the biggest and most visionary regeneration projects in the UK, and it has been enabled only because it became an enterprise zone at the last Budget. The scheme will create over 20,000 permanent new jobs in Wirral, help to create skills and apprenticeships for young people, giving them a future on their doorstep, and help to encourage new housing projects and international trade and investment. Last week I was with some of the Chinese developers hoping to come to the UK, including Stella Shiu, chair of the Sam Wa group, which will produce a 50% investment on the site, starting with the £175 million investment. None of that would have been possible had we not had an enterprise zone, the reduction in corporation tax or the new enhanced UK Trade and Investment—my hon. Friend the Member for Stourbridge (Margot James) is helping with its rejuvenation—and the localism agenda and planning, because had this been called in to the Secretary of State, the private company, Peel Holdings, would not have been able to pursue it. All in all, this was a catalyst for regeneration and jobs on the Wirral.

There is much to applaud in what has gone on, because we know that we have to strive, to move forward and to reposition the UK as a place to do business. We are starting here, we are starting now, and with further support from Ministers we hope we will be starting in Wirral, too.