Employers

Jeevun Sandher Excerpts

Wednesday 11th November 2026 Commons Chamber

[Dr Jeevun Sandher (Loughborough) (Lab)]

I want to start a bit differently today, if I may. My parents were employers; they were business people. They employed me in what was probably my first job. As the son of immigrants, I did not get a choice as to whether I took up that employment. I am not quite sure if I was paid the minimum wage, but working taught me something. It taught me what it meant to earn money; it taught me the pride in work; and it taught me what I got at the end of it. I will never forget working for a week, and then buying a turquoise iPod Mini. I loved that iPod, partly because I was really hip and cool, of course—

[Paul Holmes]

You still are!

[Dr Sandher]

Stop it! The hon. Member is too kind.

I had a sense of pride, because I knew that I had earned that iPod; it was the fruits of my labour. When I was growing up in the ’90s and ’00s, I saw business people doing well, partly because we were growing under a Labour Government, but also because the conditions of business worked. My parents knew that their workers had skills and were healthy, and they also knew that workers and families across the country were living good lives at that point in time. They could afford a decent life, and to spend money down the shops and on the goods that my parents were producing and selling. I saw them do well, and I saw business do well. Part of the reason why I became a member of the Labour party is that I want to see every single person do well and thrive. I saw businesses thrive, and I saw my parents’ business thrive.

I also joined the Labour party because we are the party of work—the clue is in the name. I want every single person in this country to have a good job, but we are quite far away from that, and we have been for quite a while. About 40% of people in full-time work cannot afford to raise a family, because there are not enough good jobs in this country. Post-industrial areas are still post-industrial, and they are the most deprived parts of this nation. They have not been doing well for an incredibly long time. We have to do more to create good jobs across our country.

[Patrick Spencer]

I could not agree more. We should do everything to create jobs. Surely the hon. Member is about to suggest that we cut taxes on businesses. That will create jobs.

[Dr Sandher]

I want to start there. I disagree with the Conservatives’ motion. It effectively says that if we cut national insurance contributions, good jobs will follow. The first thing to note is that, yes, we did raise national insurance contributions in our first Budget, and there are a million more people in work today. The second thing to note is that the Conservatives’ mistaken moral aims would lead to poorer material ends. They are googling; they are finding out the difference between the pay-as-you-earn measure of employment and the Office for National Statistics measure of employment.

There is something else on which I disagree with the Conservatives. I read the document entitled “The Right Way”, which they produced before their conference. It effectively said that if the Government just step away and create the right conditions, businesses will create the prosperity and good jobs that we need. We have seen that this has not worked. Post-industrial areas are still post-industrial. We saw the Government step away in the 1980s, and we saw those areas remain poor over time. In places like Middlesbrough, the employment rate is 20 percentage points lower than the national average. For non-graduate men, the employment rate is down by about 20 percentage points, too.

[Douglas Lumsden (Aberdeen South) (Con)]

The hon. Member is talking about deindustrialisation; it is happening right now in my constituency, because we are turning our back on the oil and gas industry. We are not approving Rosebank, when we should. It is an absolute disgrace that the Labour Government are killing off jobs right across north-east Scotland.

[Dr Sandher]

I think about 90% of jobs in the oil and gas industry have disappeared over the past 20 or 30 years, including 150,000 in Aberdeen. That is basically because the North sea is a declining basin; we cannot change geological facts. As the hon. Member will know, the Rosebank decision is a quasi-judicial one that will be made by the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero.

I come back to the fact that in the 1980s, the Conservatives said, “If you just cut taxes, good times will follow,” but they did not follow for huge numbers of people and huge areas of this country. We also see the legacy of the Conservative Governments from 2010 to 2024: in the past few years, there have been 250,000 more young people not in education, employment or training; areas have not recovered; and there has been the longest wage stagnation since Napoleon’s time.

We have seen the outcomes of the Conservatives’ philosophy. They had 14 years in government, and it was not a success. We did not see good jobs across this nation, because there was not the means or materials for them, or a foundation of prosperity. There were not the skills; the number of apprenticeship starts for young people was down by a third. The population was not healthy; we had the longest waiting lists on record. There was not enough transport infrastructure—ours was the worst in western Europe—and energy costs were the highest in the G7. That was the legacy of your Government, because the only thing Conservative Members have ever believed—

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Ms Nusrat Ghani)]

Order. I am not participating in this debate, but presiding over it, so “you” and “your” are not needed.

[Dr Sandher]

I apologise, Madam Deputy Speaker.

[Graham Stuart]

rose—

[Dr Sandher]

I will give way, because the right hon. Member has been very patient.

[Graham Stuart]

. The hon. Member is being most generous in giving way. He is a fair-minded man, so, on outcomes, I am slightly surprised that he picks this figure of 1 million more people in work; the numbers from His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs show that the payroll has reduced by 165,000 people since July 2024, and that the number of unemployed people has gone up by 225,000. In fairness, would he make sure that he does not just pick the one statistic that he thinks helps his argument?

[Dr Sandher]

I choose to use the labour force survey statistic because it includes both the self-employed and those who are low-paid and do not appear in the PAYE figures. I pick that figure because it is more comprehensive, and I believe it is more correct, as it includes everybody in work.

I want to briefly pick up the point about unemployment. The right hon. Member is right to say that both employment and unemployment have increased, but that in part is good news; it is because those who were economically inactive are now seeking work, so they are now in the category of “unemployed”, rather than “inactive”. We have more people in work, and more people looking for work.

Our argument is that, for businesses to create prosperity, they need not just lower taxes—I take the Opposition’s point on that—but the sales and the foundations to create prosperity. They need a healthy workforce. That is why we are investing in the NHS and waiting lists are falling. They need good skills, which is why the number of apprenticeship starts in this country is such a focus for this Government. They also need lower energy costs, which means providing home-grown, cheaper, cleaner energy. Those things help employers produce more in this country, and help businesses hire more people.

[Dr Luke Evans]

I am very grateful to my Leicestershire colleague for giving way. Could he point to where in the Budget Loughborough cafés or restaurants will get specific support with their energy? The British industrial competitiveness scheme is only for manufacturing, and all the tax levies that are coming off bills—the carbon taxes, the green levies—will not do so until 2028. I am not aware of any support specifically for cafés in Loughborough or restaurants on his high street. Am I wrong?

[Dr Sandher]

As the hon. Member will know, we are also freezing rates, but on a personal note, I do everything I can to support every pub in my constituency, because that is the service we Labour Members believe in.

We know that our approach, our philosophy and our moral aim leads to material prosperity because we have seen it before. We saw Attlee create collective prosperity after collective sacrifice, and Blair and Brown renew a nation after 18 years of Conservative Government. We see how our aims lead to better outcomes. Labour Members believe that our country thrives when everybody thrives. Businesses do well when everybody does well—when the young person who leaves school knows that they can get a good job in a local business; when that business can hire them, because it knows that they have the skills that it needs; and, more importantly, when the business knows that consumers can buy its goods, because we are making life affordable for all. That is how we Labour Members are creating jobs and helping business people like my mum and dad.