British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme

Debate between Rosie Wrighting and Peter Kyle

Thursday 16th April 2026 Commons Chamber

[Peter Kyle]

My hon. Friend mentioned palaces—is he living in a palace, I wonder? Given the success he has outlined in his career in manufacturing, who knows? I can assure him that manufacturers across his constituency will benefit from the BIC scheme. In the summer, the eligibility checker will confirm which businesses can benefit, but this is about competitiveness. He is describing businesses that are already competitive and will become more competitive on the back of the BIC scheme and therefore be able to export and be a real credit to our country and economy.

[Rosie Wrighting (Kettering) (Lab)]

I start by declaring that before coming to this place, I worked in the head office of a retail business that sells internationally. I know from my experience there and from businesses in Kettering that when British businesses export, they grow, become more productive and create good, well-paid jobs. Can the Secretary of State outline how the measures he has announced today will support businesses to sell their goods around the world?

[Peter Kyle]

I am highly aware of my hon. Friend’s advocacy for those sectors; she is a true credit to them. The BIC scheme is about competitiveness. It has been designed in co-operation and partnership with business. Only one in 10 businesses in our country is exporting, but we have secured great trade deals with South Korea through to India, as well as the economic prosperity deal with America, and of course we are continuously rebuilding the relationship and creating new opportunities with the European Union—the most important trading bloc. I can assure her that the BIC scheme is part of making us even more competitive and more able to prosper on the global trading scene.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Rosie Wrighting and Peter Kyle

Thursday 12th March 2026 Commons Chamber

[Peter Kyle]

I am afraid that the hon. Lady describes the doom-laden Lib Dem world that she inhabits, not the real world that is inhabited by entrepreneurs and businesses right across the country. The reality is that 381,000 more people are in work since the start of 2025 because of this Labour Government. She may have missed the fact that my Department, under my leadership and this team, has set up the global talent taskforce, accompanied by a global talent visa. Around the world, we are out there hunting down the best talent, attracting people to the UK and aligning this endeavour with investment, making the UK the best place to invest, to grow and to scale a business anywhere in the world.

[Rosie Wrighting (Kettering) (Lab)]

6. What steps he is taking to help start-ups and scale-ups access new markets.