Luciana Berger
Main Page: Luciana Berger (Liberal Democrat - Liverpool, Wavertree)(11 years, 8 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text
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Vince Cable
I am not quite sure what the question was. The hon. Gentleman started with regional development agencies. I know that there is nostalgia for them in some quarters, particularly in the north-east, but my experience, particularly in areas like Teesside, is that they are much happier with the LEP approach, which is much more business-focused, much more action-oriented, and actually getting things done.
Luciana Berger (Liverpool, Wavertree) (Lab/Co-op)
A number of my hon. Friends have rightly raised the serious criticism of Government today by the Engineering Employers Federation. What is the Secretary of State going to do for the estimated 900,000 SMEs—the backbone of our economy—that are struggling because of reduced capital allowances?
Vince Cable
First, the EEF has actually been very supportive of many of the things that the Government have been doing. I am in frequent contact with it. It invited me to give a presentation on employment law some months ago. It is very supportive of our proposals and of what we are doing with regard to industrial strategy.
As far as the SME sector is concerned, let me make one general observation. If the SME sector is so weak, why is it that 900,000 new jobs have been created in the past two years? They have been created by very dynamic entrepreneurs at a grass-roots level, within a business environment that this Government are trying to engineer.