Oral Answers to Questions

Owen Thompson Excerpts

Wednesday 5th January 2022 Commons Chamber

[Simon Hart]

That is a slightly cheap shot, especially in a week when, under Welsh Government guidelines, it seems that it is all right for people to go to a pub but not to their office. They can watch the rugby from the clubhouse but not from the touchline. They can go to a gym but they cannot partake in an outdoor activity such as parkrun. There is a huge number of mystifying and contradictory positions—the hon. Gentleman goaded me into that. The vaccine programme has to be one of the best examples ever of co-operation, not competition, between Governments. That has been absolutely essential and it has been done in a good spirit, with professionalism, and has been an enormous success.

[Owen Thompson (Midlothian) (SNP)]

4. What recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on support for businesses in Wales.

[Kirsten Oswald (East Renfrewshire) (SNP)]

8. What recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on support for businesses in Wales.

[The Secretary of State for Wales (Simon Hart)]

I am pleased that the Welsh Government have followed the lead of the UK Government in offering business rate relief to support the hospitality sector. The UK Government have supported Welsh businesses through £2.4 billion of coronavirus-related loans, £3.5 billion to the self-employment income support scheme and other measures.

[Owen Thompson]

The Federation of Small Businesses has warned that only a quarter of its members are ready for the new Brexit import controls, and that many will simply abandon trading with the EU if they are unable to receive support. What plans do this Government have to support businesses in Wales and the other countries of the United Kingdom in bearing the costs of their failed Brexit policies?