Income Tax (Charge)

Paul Howell Excerpts

Thursday 4th March 2021 Commons Chamber

[Paul Howell (Sedgefield) (Con) [V]]

Over the past year we have seen state intervention on a scale not dreamed possible by a Conservative Government. However, this perfectly reflects our approach. Our core belief is that the state should intervene only when necessary, and it has certainly been necessary this year. The state should help when help is needed, but otherwise it should not interfere and should let people get on with their lives.

Economically speaking, the only way for us to grow and build back better is for our private sector businesses to pull the economy back to health, creating jobs and wealth for all. I therefore welcome the six-month extension to the universal credit uplift, the extended furlough scheme, the self-employment extensions and the inclusion of the newly self-employed. The super-deduction on investment in plant and machinery will rocket-boost capital spending and make inroads into the productivity conundrum. If I had a request, it would be to extend it to other businesses, such as farmers. I particularly like the support for our hard-hit hospitality and leisure businesses, and to do all this while supporting a green industrial revolution is just amazing.

As our smaller businesses are the real engine, I also commend the Help to Grow scheme and digital skills support, which will deliver opportunities for better growth. All our lives have changed dramatically over the past year, some financially or emotionally; some will revert as the lockdown eases, but some will take many years to recover—if, indeed, they ever do.

The support offered comes in many guises. The short-term financial support I have already touched on, but livelihoods are about more than that; they are about a belief in a better future, about believing that society is fair, and I see key levers for that. The restart programme, the kickstart scheme, the Prime Minister’s lifetime skills guarantee, the £3,000 incentive for all hires and £126 million to triple the number of traineeships are all building blocks that give people a hand-up and the opportunity to grow or retrain.

Members representing constituencies such as mine in Sedgefield were elected on a promise of levelling up well before covid-19 arrived, and to do so requires Government intervention to create the stimulus for change. A key part of that is opportunity. Decisions like a freeport for Teesside and funding for new port infrastructure to build offshore wind projects are transformational for the Tees valley, and I hope that the Chancellor and his colleague the Transport Secretary will continue to recognise the importance of local infrastructure to support access to the jobs created and educational opportunities. Ferryhill station, the Leamside line and the Dar-link northern bypass are critical for the people and businesses of Sedgefield to share in this opportunity.

I welcome the opening of the levelling-up fund and look forward to utilising that for the benefit of the people of Sedgefield. When it comes to levelling up and supporting left-behind communities, I could not be further from the Leader of the Opposition’s comments yesterday. In my maiden speech, my suggestion that the Treasury could relocate to Sedgefield was met with some humour. But for those who do not know, the Sedgefield constituency wraps around Darlington town, with the long-held Conservative wards of Hurworth, Sadberge and Heighington and Coniscliffe, so that is close enough for me. I have been delighted to campaign for that with my Conservative colleagues along the Tees valley, in particular the Tees Valley Mayor, Ben Houchen, who has been indefatigable.

This is a transformative step for Sedgefield; it delivers opportunities for careers that were previously only found in London. It is important to have decision makers based outside of cities. For the Labour leader to say yesterday that moving those Departments from his London-focused world to Darlington was “giving up” was an insult to the people of our area. I look forward to the local Labour politicians in Durham, Darlington and the Tees valley distancing themselves from those comments—or maybe they will toe the party line and wait for the electorate to speak for them. I await May with interest.

It is clearly only the Conservative party, through this Prime Minister and this northern Chancellor, who care about and will deliver for the north-east.