Oral Answers to Questions

Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi Excerpts

Thursday 11th December 2025 Commons Chamber

[Sally Jameson (Doncaster Central) (Lab/Co-op)]

8. What steps his Department is taking to support SMEs.

[Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Slough) (Lab)]

14. What steps his Department is taking to support SMEs.

[Will Stone (Swindon North) (Lab)]

17. What steps his Department is taking to support SMEs.

--- Later in debate ---

[Chris Bryant]

I congratulate my hon. Friend on being a great defender of the businesses in her constituency. We are delivering targeted catalytic public investment in our clean energy industries. Some people see climate change as an economic challenge for us, but we see it as an economic opportunity in this country, because it is about future jobs. That is why we are so different from the political parties on the other side of the Chamber.

[Mr Dhesi]

Slough is a dynamic and innovative business hub, but as we enter the festive period, retail, hospitality and leisure businesses, for example, are under immense pressure. Although businesses, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises, welcome the support measures that have already been introduced, what specific immediate actions are the Government taking to boost the high street and ensure that Slough businesses not only survive but thrive?

[Chris Bryant]

As my hon. Friend knows, I know a bit about Slough, because my brother is a headteacher there—and I am sure he has been helping out some of the pubs. The most important point is that we fully acknowledge that it has been a very difficult few years for the hospitality industry across the whole of the UK. That is one of the reasons we set a target of 50 million international visitors to the UK by 2030. If we are to do that, we have to make sure that pubs survive. My hon. Friend will know that, when the Conservatives left office last year, they had no plan to replace the covid recovery funds and no plan to meet the coming cliff edge in the revaluation of business rates. That is why it is so important that we have put in £4.3 billion to protect businesses and provide transitional relief.