Reducing Costs for Businesses Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
Matt Western
Main Page: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)Department Debates - View all Matt Western's debates with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
Reducing Costs for Businesses
Matt Western Excerpts(2 years, 11 months ago)
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Matt Western (Warwick and Leamington) (Lab)
Let me start with energy costs, which are significant. Energy prices in the UK are 87% higher than our EU competitors, which is a massive cost disadvantage against them. They are a massive factor for small businesses too, irrespective of the sector that they are in, as the Federation of Small Businesses has highlighted. Some 78% of small businesses say that they expect energy costs to increase significantly in the next three months.
Business rates, as we have heard, are not fit for purpose in their current guise. Almost 50 shops a day disappeared from our high streets in the first six months of last year. They are also a massive cost burden for our major businesses. Some of our big automotive plants and other manufacturing sector sites have a 50% higher tax burden from business rates compared with sites in Europe. By freezing business rates this year, which would save a small shop or factory £4,000, and by seeking to abolish business rates altogether in favour of a fairer system, the viability of our high street could be guaranteed only under a Labour Government.
On Brexit, briefly, businesses in my constituency are really concerned. They have told me time and again about the painful and expensive exercise of navigating customs, including the complexity of navigating 27 VAT regimes in Europe. Then there is the shortage of staff—HGV drivers, warehouse staff and skilled workers—that is also having an impact and costing our businesses. The Prime Minister infamously said “F*** business”, and I am afraid that he has. The lack of an industrial strategy has underlined that. The simple truth, I am afraid to say, is that the Conservatives are no longer the party of business, but the party of burden.
To conclude my two minutes, the Labour party is unashamedly pro-business. With every day that passes, our pro-business policies gain more and more traction with the business community and the electorate. With that in mind, I unreservedly support the motion.