Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Margot James Excerpts

Monday 8th January 2018 Ministerial Corrections

[Margot James]

The hon. Gentleman really should stop talking small businesses down, and he is absolutely wrong in his estimate. The UK is No. 4 in the world for being the best place to start a business, and the OECD figures show that we score highly on enterprise. He does raise a valid point about growth, and we need to improve our record in supporting small businesses to grow, which is precisely why the Chancellor has made available a vast amount of money in this year’s Budget to support the growth of small businesses. [Official Report, 12 December 2017, Vol. 633, c. 166.]

Letter of correction from Margot James.

An error has been identified in the response I gave to the hon. Member for Sefton Central (Bill Esterson). The correct response should have been:

[Margot James]

The hon. Gentleman really should stop talking small businesses down, and he is absolutely wrong in his estimate. The UK is No. 4 in the EU for ease of starting a business and No. 14 in the world, and the OECD figures show that we score highly on enterprise. He does raise a valid point about growth, and we need to improve our record in supporting small businesses to grow, which is precisely why the Chancellor has made available a vast amount of money in this year’s Budget to support the growth of small businesses.