Oral Answers to Questions

Rosie Cooper Excerpts

Wednesday 3rd December 2014 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend. We now see a record number of small businesses in our country—a total increase of 760,000 over this Parliament. Small business Saturday is an excellent event, by which we can boost small businesses and draw attention to the work they do. We will kick-start this event on Friday with a small business fair in Downing street. Now is a good moment to make sure that small businesses are benefiting from all the changes that we have made, such as the cut in the jobs tax of £2,000 for businesses and charities, the abolition of national insurance contributions for under-21-year-olds when they employ them, the doubling of the small business rate relief and, of course, the cutting of corporation tax for small business as well. This Government have a very strong record for saying to small business, “We respect what you do in creating the jobs, the wealth and the prosperity that our country needs”.

[Rosie Cooper (West Lancashire) (Lab)]

Q12. Skelmersdale in my constituency is the second largest town in the north-west without a railway station—a station that would bring social and economic benefits to the town, as we have heard happened in Shrewsbury. As the Prime Minister is in spending mood, albeit a little bit further south, I wonder whether he could give the people of Skelmersdale an early Christmas present with the promise of a railway station.