Taxes
Debate between Roger Gale and Alison Griffiths(1 day, 16 hours ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Alison Griffiths (Bognor Regis and Littlehampton) (Con)
Hard-working families and business owners in Bognor Regis, Littlehampton and our villages are feeling the squeeze as never before. Labour stood on a manifesto promise not to raise taxes for hard-working people, yet at the very first opportunity, in the autumn Budget, they raised employers’ national insurance. This is a tax on job security and job creation. It is a tax on growth and a tax on ambition.
The jobs tax—one of the Chancellor’s flagship failures—has wrecked business confidence. It has made it more expensive to hire workers, stagnated the jobs market and threatens countless job losses and business closures. It falls on top of the Employment Rights Bill, which signals the return of 1970s-style employment laws that will further stifle growth, as well as the family business tax, higher business rates and higher wage bills. In small coastal towns like Bognor Regis and Littlehampton, where over 90% of local businesses have fewer than 10 employees, every cost increase and every job loss is keenly felt. Across our constituency, families, small businesses, hospices such as St Wilfrid’s and charities at the heart of our communities face an impossible position.
In their short time in government, Labour has become the party of taxation. The Chancellor has backed herself into a corner, and more tax hikes are undoubtedly on the horizon. That is why I thank the Leader of the Opposition for tabling this important motion. Working people in Bognor Regis and Littlehampton and the businesses, charities and hospices that employ them need to be defended from this Government’s tax raids, and that is what I intend to do—to stand up for the people of Bognor Regis and Littlehampton today, tomorrow and throughout this Parliament.
