Family Businesses

Laurence Turner Excerpts

Wednesday 26th February 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mark Ferguson]

I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Rugby (John Slinger) for his question. I am afraid I do not remember that, because I am far more youthful than I look but, as with the corn laws, I have read about it in the history books and have no doubt my hon. Friend is correct.

I am also aware from the history books that the Conservative party has often been very worried about the humble pint and what might happen to it. As a proud pint drinker, perhaps sometimes to the detriment of my health and my finances, I can say that the great British pint is going absolutely nowhere, not from the small businesses in Gateshead Central and Whickham and not from anywhere else.

[Laurence Turner (Birmingham Northfield) (Lab)]

My hon. Friend is making a characteristically powerful case. Do the history books not show that Labour has always been the party of the pints? Harold Wilson expressed enthusiastic support for preserving the pint measure. Labour is the party of the pints, while the Conservatives do not serve anything more than small bitter.

[Mark Ferguson]

I defer to my hon. Friend; he is a learned historian and I dare say knows far more about the history of the pint then I will ever muster. I have probably drunk more than him, but he has probably read about more of them than I have.

The title of this motion is “Family Businesses”. My hon. Friend the Member for Vale of Glamorgan (Kanishka Narayan) has already assiduously made the point to the shadow Chancellor that 96% of family businesses will not be affected by some of the measures mentioned in this motion, but I wish to discuss some of the family businesses in my constituency, a couple of which I have spoken to recently.

Meldrum, for example, is a successful construction business that recently conducted a transfer into employee ownership—a show of confidence in our economy. Savour bakery was set up from scratch under this Government. It was a shell during the general election when I went to visit it. An orthodox Haredi family in Gateshead—generations of the same Gateshead family—have invested hundreds of thousands of pounds of their own money into setting up what some might find slightly unlikely. I admit that when I first heard of it I was not sure that it would be a success. It is a kosher Parisian patisserie in the heart of Bensham in Gateshead, and it has been a tremendous success. There are queues around the block most days and if anyone makes the mistake of going in at 2 o’clock in the afternoon, as I did last week, they will be greeted by a coffee machine and an empty patisserie counter. The idea that someone cannot set up a successful small business under this Government is absolutely for the birds. I have seen it with my own eyes in my own community—people doing something incredibly challenging in a community that is not often supported more widely in Gateshead. I am incredibly proud of them and incredibly proud of other small businesses like them.

I am not astonished that we are discussing this interesting pick-and-mix motion, which might as well be called “Things the Conservative party does not like that the Labour party has done”, because that is the nature of Opposition day debates. I am enjoying this opportunity to talk about the family businesses in Gateshead and about my passion—our passion on the Labour Benches—for the humble British pint.

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[Laurence Turner (Birmingham Northfield) (Lab)]

I draw attention to my declarations in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. It is a pleasure to follow my constituency neighbour, the hon. Member for Bromsgrove (Bradley Thomas). I will just say that the clean heat market mechanism that he spoke about, which is causing concern to a business in his constituency, was of course brought forward by the last Conservative Government.

I will start by talking about the Employment Rights Bill, because some of us have just spent two months in Committee going through it line by line. I thought that the House might want to hear about some of the opinions and positions put forward by the Opposition during that process. The Opposition tried to exempt millions of workers in some of the lowest paying sectors from protection against harassment at work. We heard from the shadow Minister that he does not believe that public sector employers should offer facility time at all. The Opposition attempted to block better contracts for teaching assistants and other low-paid members of school support staff. A witness who was presented as representative of business opinion had previously said that lockdowns would kill far more people than covid. I do not think that the motion or the party putting it forward is a credible voice of economic growth or business.

[Dr Luke Evans]

The independent Regulatory Policy Committee looked at the Bill back in November and said that eight out of the 23 categories were “not fit for purpose”. Was that discussed? Given that the committee is independent, does the hon. Member give that point any credit when it comes to discussing the Bill?

[Laurence Turner]

One of the pleasures of the Committee is that we have 970 pages of transcript where those matters were discussed at length, and the Government are indeed bringing forward further impact assessments on those points.

Looking at my constituency and, indeed, the constituencies of all Members of the House, the economic record that we have inherited is one of pallid economic and wage growth. After 15 years, average real wages in Birmingham Northfield are £300 lower a month than they were in 2010. The costs of delayed and cancelled NHS appointments, crime that goes without investigation and shortages in key teaching posts are borne not just by our constituents, but by businesses. We should say this clearly: public services create value. Businesses and the people who work for them need strong public services to sustain themselves and grow.

When I recently met small businesses on Northfield high street, we had—as you would expect, Madam Deputy Speaker—a serious and robust discussion about a whole range of Government policies and policies enacted by the previous Government, but the first issue raised was crime and antisocial behaviour. Anyone who has been a victim of crime can attest to the devastating impacts that it can have on a person or business.

[Chris Vince (Harlow) (Lab/Co-op)]

My hon. Friend makes an eloquent point about the issues of antisocial behaviour and crime on the economy and particularly on small businesses. Does he recognise that small businesses like mine in Harlow have been massively affected by the increase in crime and antisocial behaviour? I am thinking particularly of tool theft and thefts of vehicles.

[Laurence Turner]

My hon. Friend makes a sensible point, and the issues that he raises are reflected in my constituency. That is one of the major barriers to getting jobs and spending into our high streets.

If the Budget last year had failed to raise money for investment in public services, it would have been like changing the colour of the shovel before continuing to dig a hole in the same old ditch. We could not prolong the failed approach of the past 14 years. We can add to that the disgraceful situation that awaited the incoming Labour Government. For all the sound and fury that we have heard from the Conservatives, there is little mystery about that now. Richard Hughes, the chair of the OBR, told the Treasury Committee:

“When we had a high-trust relationship with the Treasury those things were being well managed, and managed within the total. That system very clearly broke down.”

He said that

“there was about £9.5 billion-worth of net pressure on Departments’ budgets, which they did not disclose to us…which under the law and under the Act they should have done.”

The decisions that awaited the incoming Government on public sector pay, which is the other element of the £22 billion, had been ducked and delayed until after the election. [Interruption.] We need to be clear on that. The right hon. Member for East Hampshire (Damian Hinds) indicates from a sedentary position. He will know about the situation with the School Teachers Review Body. Conservative Ministers already knew about the STRB’s recommendations and that the recommendations of the other review bodies tend to be similar.

Given that the pay year starts not in July or even at the beginning of the election period but in April, why were those recommendations delayed? Because Conservative Ministers and their Departments were late to submit the remit letters and evidence. The Office for Manpower Economics has been clear on that point:

“The work of the PRBs is demand led and essentially non-negotiable—departments set the remits and timetables.”

That is the truth of the matter. The additional costs were always coming, and the only reason they came seven months into an election year is that Conservative Ministers were content for them to be so delayed.

Conservative Members claim that they would not have accepted those recommendations, but they have not said at any point what their offer to public sector workers would have been. I wonder whether any Conservative Member wants to tell us today what their offer would have been, if not 5.5%, had they won the election. It should not be a hard question to answer. What would the difference be in the pay packets of nurses, teachers and members of the armed forces? I would be very happy to take an intervention on that point. [Interruption.] They cannot answer the question.

[Andrew Lewin]

In the absence of an intervention from the Conservatives, I say for the record that this has been a hugely important week for the House with the increase in defence spending, and it was so important that Labour gave a 6% pay rise to members of the armed forces—the biggest in 20 years.

[Laurence Turner]

My hon. Friend makes his point as well as it could be made, and I thank him for his intervention.

Let us not forget the costs that the previous Government inflicted upon businesses. Their botched EU withdrawal policies have meant up to £7.5 billion in costs from customs checks alone according to HMRC, £1 billion from higher energy trading costs, and a further £1 billion from the cost of chemical regulations in that sector every single year. One former Conservative Prime Minister said something like, “Screw business.” At least we can say that he lived up to his word on that.

The motion is not a serious proposition. I hope that the House rejects it.

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[Joe Morris (Hexham) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to follow some measured and passionate speeches from across the House on this important subject. As Members will know, I am very proud to represent England’s largest constituency by geographic area, and an area that was found to be one of the happiest in the country, with one of the best senses of community and belonging.

Over the recent recess, I was able to host a roundtable with the conductors of the “Belonging Barometer”, which was attended by many local businesses and community organisations. As has just been said, family businesses are the glue that binds together many of the strands of our community, particularly across the Tyne valley. In the aftermath of Storm Éowyn, we have seen heartening examples of family-run businesses in particular coming out, helping their community, providing those places to stay and to recuperate for communities that have taken a battering from extreme weather events that are sadly becoming all too common.

I was disappointed to read the Opposition motion. Once again, we are here discussing a kind of hodgepodge of various gripes and groans that the Conservatives have with Government policy. That is absolutely fine, and it is their right so to do—there are Members sitting on the Tory Benches now who I genuinely respect and, in some cases, admire—but they are better than that, and they should be better than that. [Laughter.] They can laugh if they want, although I know that some of them have considerable experience in writing manifestos that perhaps did not play out so well.

Ultimately, we need to achieve an environment in which family businesses and small businesses across the country and across our constituencies are genuinely supported by Government. One of the things that has come to my attention since being elected as the first non-Conservative MP for Hexham in a century is that a lot of businesses have said to me, “It is nice to have an MP who is really connected to the constituency—one who is not complacent.” That compares with some of the treatment that rural communities have received from the Conservative party in years past. We have MPs who are genuinely rooted in their communities, who went to school in those communities and who got their first jobs in local businesses. They can speak to businesses in their constituencies and deliver messages down here.

I have had conversations with businesses such as Brocksbushes farm shop, which did involve some patient disagreement over the Budget, but mainly involved real concerns over local infrastructure, such as the lack of bus stops on the A69 and the difficulties that the young people it employs have in getting to the business to work. The farm shop does a fantastic job. My now fiancée and I went pumpkin-picking there just after the election. It was a wonderful event, although I think Hana probably enjoyed it more than I did. Ultimately, from having those positive conversations and looking at what business needs, we can see that it is infrastructure and investment. They need a Government who listen, not one who embark on some kind of haywire, high-minded ideological crusade, as the Opposition did when in government. [Laughter.] They can laugh.

[Laurence Turner]

Does my hon. Friend agree that one of the other major challenges that small food businesses face is importing and exporting ingredients? That needs to be a focus for the review of the trade and co-operation agreement next year.

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[Sir Ashley Fox]

My hon. Friend is right: all Labour’s measures will increase unemployment. Although Labour will say it has reduced the multiplier of business rates, this does not fully compensate—it leaves an average pub paying an additional £5,500 a year. This is not a sustainable burden for many businesses that are already struggling with inflation and rising costs. These taxes add up, and will lead to closures, job losses and harm to our communities.

Another troubling decision from the Labour party is the reduction of the cap on business property relief. BPR, introduced in 1976 by Denis Healey, was designed to protect family-owned businesses from being broken up and to ensure these businesses could continue to provide jobs and contribute to the economy across generations. It is extraordinary that Labour has found a Chancellor less sympathetic to businesses than Healey. This decision is a blow to those who have worked tirelessly to build and sustain their businesses, and will force families to sell their businesses or take on crippling debts just to pay the taxman. For many, this will be the end of their family businesses.

The Employment Rights Bill will require employers to spend £150 per employee on additional administrative costs to comply with new rules, including a ban on zero-hours contracts and potential liabilities for third-party harassment. At a time when businesses are already under strain, this is a further unnecessary cost, especially for small businesses that do not have the resources to navigate the red tape.

Having spent 11 weeks going through the Employment Rights Bill line by line, I know just how damaging it will be to SMEs in Bridgwater and elsewhere. Let us take just one example: the so-called day one rights. These rights would mean that if, after less than a week, it became apparent that a new employee was the wrong fit for a company, a complicated process would have to be followed to dismiss them. Speaking as a former—though fully qualified—solicitor, I know that this will have a disproportionate effect on small businesses without an HR department. If they do not dot all the i’s and cross all the t’s, they will be left exposed to being taken to court for unfair dismissal.

[Laurence Turner]

I understand the point the hon. Gentleman is making, but is it not the case that in that specific circumstance, after a week, they would be covered by the new probationary period provision? This provision is writing probationary period into the law for the first time.

[Sir Ashley Fox]

The hon. Gentleman would be correct if, in fact, there was a written contract that included a probationary period. What he forgets, however, is that many small businesses will conclude that contract on a handshake and a verbal agreement—there will not be a formal probationary period. It is exactly those small businesses that do not use a written contract that will be liable to legal action.

Let us take another example. Should a business fail to notify a new employee of their right to join a trade union in writing, it may be liable to pay an additional four weeks’ pay as a compensatory award. In what world is this system really going to work? Do we believe that those running a corner shop, pub or fishmonger are going to give their employees written notice that they have the right to join a trade union? No, they will not—and legal consequences will follow.

We on the Conservative Benches believe that businesses are at the heart of the economy and that they should not be punished by Government policies that stifle growth and investment. It is important to note that, when it comes to business, this Government’s track record is deeply troubling. Just one member of the Cabinet has ever started a business. When decisions are made by those who do not understand the pressures faced by small business owners, it is no surprise that the policies are so harmful. The Labour Government that we face is not a new Labour Government in the Tony Blair model. It is very much an old Labour Government of the 1970s, addicted to taxing, spending, borrowing and regulating. I regret to say that we will see unemployment rise. We will support family businesses, safeguard jobs and ensure that the British economy prospers.

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[Gregory Stafford (Farnham and Bordon) (Con)]

Today’s debate on the disastrous impact of the Labour Government’s policies, including on my constituency of Farnham and Bordon, of which Haslemere, Liphook and the surrounding villages are part, is timely. My inbox is filled with complaints and concerns from small family businesses about that impact.

Small and family businesses are not just places to shop or to buy things, but the backbone of our economy and the lifeblood of our communities. Across the United Kingdom, they provide almost 14 million jobs and contribute an amazing £575 billion to our economy. Yet under this Labour Government, those businesses are under siege. Labour simply does not understand business and sees businesses as nothing more than a cash cow to fund its endless state expansion.

For nearly a century, my grandparents and my great-grandparents before them dedicated their lives to Stafford’s shop in Haslemere, and they would be horrified to see this Government’s full-scale assault on family businesses. The family business tax—Labour’s reckless cap on business property relief—will decimate family-run enterprises, breaking them apart when they should be passed down to the next generation.

In the Surrey side of my constituency, we are fortunate to have two thriving market towns, Farnham and Haslemere, which are hubs of entrepreneurialism and independent enterprise. Businesses such as Hamilton’s Tea Room, Borelli’s Wine Bar, Farnham Homes, Kilnside Farm shop and Elphicks, one of the last remaining British family-owned department stores, have been the cornerstones of our high streets for generations. Similarly, Haslemere is home to R. Miles & Son, Good Horse saddlery and Davids menswear. Together, these eight businesses have had a presence on our high streets for a total of 439 years. Given that Family Business UK has warned that these policies would cost 125,000 jobs, will the Government reconsider their stance before it is too late?

Meanwhile, on the East Hampshire side of my constituency, Liphook Travel Worldchoice has been a family-run travel agency since 1971 and Hogmoor Distillery, though newer, is an outstanding artisan gin and liqueur company based in the heart of the former military town of Bordon. Those businesses, like so many across the country, are already being squeezed by Labour’s misguided economic policies, with increased business rates and tax burdens making it harder to survive.

Although Labour misunderstands business, it actively despises the countryside. This Government are rurally illiterate. They do not care about rural jobs, rural businesses or our rural communities. The family farm tax—Labour’s assault on agricultural property relief—is a direct attack on farming families who have worked the land for generations. Bob and Ros Milton of Kilnside farm expanded their business with a farm shop under the support of the previous Government, but it now faces closure due to rising costs. Similarly, Mathias nursery had hoped to pass the business to the next generation, but now fears that that will be impossible.

My campaign for local pubs and heritage clubs has seen me do a pub crawl across the constituency. I have visited 17 of the 56 pubs—everything must be done in moderation. I have had invaluable conversations with landlords. Carl from the Nelson Arms pub in Farnham highlighted the importance of zero-hours contracts for his employees, including a staff member who also works as a paramedic and relies on the flexibility that these contracts offer. Yet Labour’s Employment Rights Bill, which bans them, will impose a £150 cost on his business.

[Laurence Turner]

Will the hon. Member acknowledge that what the Bill actually says is that no one should be forced on to a zero-hours contract? It is not the case that someone who wants that flexibility will be denied it.

[Gregory Stafford]

I understand that the hon. Member has gone through the Bill line by line, but the businesses that are reporting to me, and apparently also speak to him, are seriously concerned. In our villages, including Churt, Tilford, Passfield and Headley Down, the village shop and the pub are the heart and soul of our tight-knit communities, but Labour is simply making it harder for them to survive.

Why are the Government, who are supposedly focused on growth, causing businesses in my constituency to downsize, sell up and move out? These policies are not just misguided; they are ideological. Labour’s hatred of business and contempt for the countryside are now enshrined in policy. Since their election, the Government have accepted £5.6 million in donations from trade unions. It is no wonder that their policies prioritise union interests over business interests. The Business Secretary apparently met trade unions every three days in his first three months in charge. Where is the same access for small businesses?

Conservatives believe that businesses are the engines of growth. To grow our economy, we must create jobs, drive innovation and foster prosperity. That is why we are calling for the reversal of Labour’s family farm tax, crippling jobs tax and the reduction in business rates relief. When will the Government acknowledge that their policies are driving up the cost of living, not reducing it?

While this Labour Government continue their war on businesses and the countryside, I shall finish by extending my deepest thanks to the incredible businesses across Farnham, Haslemere, Liphook and Bordon that truly are at the heart of our community’s social and economic fabric. The Conservative party will always stand up for family businesses, farmers and our rural communities, to ensure that they can thrive, create jobs and, importantly, pass on their legacies to future generations.

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[Gareth Thomas]

I do agree with my hon. Friend. As he rightly alludes to, in the Budget we had to take tough decisions to fix the foundations of our economy, to restore stability and to begin to rebuild the crumbling infrastructure and address the terrible state of our public services. While we have raised employer’s national insurance contributions, we have mitigated the impacts by increasing the employment allowance to £10,500—a record amount—which means that 1 million small businesses will be paying either the same or less in national insurance contributions than they do now.

Several hon. Members rightly pointed out during this debate that a lot of family businesses are high street businesses. Many of them have been run for successive generations, and they are part and parcel of our communities. The Conservative party did next to nothing to help family businesses on Britain’s high streets. It allowed thousands of bank branches to close and thousands of pubs and other high street family businesses to go, too. That is why this Government are focused on our five-point plan to breathe life back into Britain’s high streets.

[Laurence Turner]

As the Minister knows, the Nationwide Caterers Association, which represents small independents and family-run street food businesses, is based in Kings Norton in my constituency. I thank him for the recent positive meeting we held. Does he not agree that one of the previous problems it faced was that, under the previous Government, it struggled to get a seat at the table?

[Gareth Thomas]

I was pleased to see my hon. Friend and those from the business organisation he brought in to see us, and I hope to have the opportunity to come to his constituency to see very directly the action we discussed at that meeting.

Our five-point plan to breathe life back into Britain’s high streets, as well as to address antisocial behaviour and retail crime, means reforming the business rates system, working with the banking industry to roll out banking hubs, stamping out late payments and empowering communities to make the most of vacant properties. We are already delivering in all those areas.

To support high street family businesses and other SMEs further, we have frozen the small business multiplier and extended business rates relief for the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors. We are permanently reducing tax on properties for those businesses, too. One of the many reasons why the Conservative party lost the confidence of British business is that, despite promising many times to reform business rates, it never did. We are determined to do so. Even at this late stage—and I hope the House will join me on this—I hope the Scottish Government will agree to cut business rates for the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors in in Scotland, echoing what we are doing here.

Hon. Members will know that, since Christmas, high street rental auctions have allowed councils to tackle persistently vacant properties by putting leases up for auction. This right to rent for businesses is paving the way for further regeneration and growth, for new family businesses to emerge and for current family businesses on the high street to benefit from the extra footfall.

We are also determined to tackle the scourge of late payments. Over 50% of small businesses have reported problems with late payments. After years of tough talk and little action from the Conservative party, we have already taken decisive steps to protect family businesses in this regard. We have already announced measures to tackle late payments in contracts with long payment terms, so that small firms are not waiting months on end for big firms to pay up. We will bring forward secondary legislation in this parliamentary Session to make further changes, and will shortly launch a public consultation on potential primary legislation measures that go further still to tackle this problem.

To further help family businesses, we are creating a new business growth service, which over time will bring together under one national banner a whole array of business support services throughout the UK. However, we are not stopping there. Later this year, we will be launching our small business strategy. From boosting scale-ups to regenerating the high street, supporting the adoption of new digital technologies and further addressing the access to finance challenges that businesses face, this paper will set out the Government’s vision for all small businesses. We have set out a whole series of measures to tackle the situation facing family businesses in this country.

In his opening remarks, the shadow Chancellor failed—remarkably, perhaps—to acknowledge that according to the latest PwC chief executive survey, the UK is the second best place in the world to invest, behind only the US. He also failed to mention that the International Monetary Fund and the OECD both predict that Britain will be Europe’s fastest-growing G7 economy in the coming years, and omitted the fact that the UK was the only G7 economy, other than the US, to have our growth forecast upgraded last month by the IMF, which credited the decisions we made in our Budget.

That is the kind of change the British people voted for at the last general election. There is still a lot more to do, and we on the Government Benches are determined to get on with the task.

Question put.