National Insurance Contributions Bill

Debate between Margot James and Ian Swales

Monday 4th November 2013 Commons Chamber

[Margot James]

I thank my hon. Friend for his kind contribution and for his wholehearted support of that work on trade—both are much appreciated.

[Ian Swales]

May I add my tribute to my hon. Friend for playing a role in this exercise? My constituency office is in a business centre and it was fantastic to see UKTI officials advising small businesses recently on exporting to China—I never expected to see that.

[Margot James]

I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention. Indeed, what he has observed might explain why British exports to China have risen at a record rate in the past 12 months.

Another aspect of Government support for the small businesses that are crucial to employment and many of the new jobs that have been created has been the reduction in the small companies tax rate to 20%. The small business rate relief scheme was doubled until 14 April and we have also had the start-up loans scheme and the new enterprise allowance, which I have already mentioned. All those measures were designed to have, and have had, a positive effect on the livelihood of our small businesses.

Of course, not just employers have benefited from such measures. Employees have benefited too. In my constituency, 3,794 people have been removed from income tax altogether. A vast number of people in my constituency—33,000—are now paying less tax and that is an important development, freeing people to spend more money on the high street, which is where the economy is starting to grow again.

It is instructive to recall the Opposition’s record. The shadow Business Secretary makes the laughable claim that Labour is now the party of small business, but I think that small business people judge Governments, Oppositions and former Governments on their actions, not their words. The Opposition have a long way to go before they can put themselves up as people who understand the needs of businesses. As I said earlier, I think that it was indicative of their deeply flawed management of our economy that they felt in 2011 that they needed to put up taxes by putting up national insurance, rather than cutting public spending, which, of course, is what—only the other day—Tony Blair said they should have done. We all know how the economy ended up.