Business of the House

Justin Madders Excerpts

Wednesday 30th December 2020 Commons Chamber

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

My right hon. Friend is absolutely right that we have this authority. VAT rates will not be set by the European Court of Justice or by any European body; they will be set by this House. We have taken back control. As the Prime Minister himself has said, it provides us with the freedom to manoeuvre and govern our own affairs once again. The restoration of parliamentary sovereignty will be the engine of our future prosperity. It will drive our ambitious legislation for the future, the use of new and exciting technologies, regulatory freedom and independence and, of course, the levelling-up agenda. Above all else, Members such as my right hon. Friend will know who is responsible for decisions. Decisions will be made by and through this House.

May I confess to one fear, however? My right hon. Friend is such an effective campaigner that by the time he has set his sights on VAT, fuel duty and heaven knows what else, I am not sure that Her Majesty’s Government will have any revenue left.

[Justin Madders (Ellesmere Port and Neston) (Lab) [V]]

From tomorrow, three quarters of the country will be placed into tier 4, meaning millions more businesses will have to shut overnight. Since tier 4 was created, we have heard nothing from the Chancellor of the Exchequer about what is being done to support businesses that are being forced to close again. Does the Leader of the House not think that people who are facing financial ruin will find it absolutely appalling that Parliament will not be sitting next week, and that that sends a terrible message about the importance his Government place on support for businesses, who might not be able to wait another week to get the answers that they need?

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

The action taken so far has been absolutely unprecedented. Over £200 billion of taxpayers’ money has been dedicated to helping the economy; 12 million jobs have been protected through the furlough scheme and self-employed schemes, at a cost of £56 billion; thousands of businesses have been helped with over £100 billion-worth of support in loans, VAT deferrals, business grants, business rates relief and targeted grants and VAT cuts; the furlough scheme is continuing during this period for all parts of the United Kingdom until March; and the self-employed grant covers up to 80% of profit. A great deal is being done to help businesses, and local authorities have specific funds that they can use to help businesses that may otherwise not be able to achieve help through the specific schemes. A great deal is being done, the Chancellor has come to the House regularly and there will be a debate on covid on the Tuesday after we return.