Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill

Debate between Tom Blenkinsop and Toby Perkins

Wednesday 19th November 2014 Commons Chamber

[Toby Perkins]

Frankly, the right hon. Gentleman is the one who ought to be a bit embarrassed.

Let me continue by talking about pub companies. The right hon. Gentleman was not in the Chamber for much of yesterday’s debate, but had he been, he would have realised why we were able to convince people that the Government’s proposals on pub companies did not go nearly far enough and that real change was needed. It is a matter of tremendous pride that we were able to convince hon. Members on both sides of the House to express their will in support of the market rent only option. The Minister’s attitude and the approach that he is taking demonstrate how the Government have lost all the arguments on that. I am glad to see that they are not going to try to bring the family brewers back into the scope of the measure, even though he is wrong to say that no amendment was withdrawn yesterday. A series of amendments were withdrawn yesterday that would have attempted to bring the family brewers back in. I hope he reflects carefully before attempting to change in another place something that was the will of this House.

[Tom Blenkinsop]

On a slightly different note, I wanted to raise one factor that was highlighted to me. There has not been one speech or one single contribution from a Scottish nationalist during the entire—

Local Bus Services

Debate between Tom Blenkinsop and Toby Perkins

Wednesday 5th November 2014 Commons Chamber

[Toby Perkins]

rose—

[Tom Blenkinsop (Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland) (Lab)]

rose—

Business Rates

Debate between Tom Blenkinsop and Toby Perkins

Wednesday 4th December 2013 Commons Chamber

[Toby Perkins]

That is one viewpoint, but that of someone who has not seen an opinion poll recently, I think. Let us not hear anything from Conservative Members to suggest that Labour is the party of corporation tax rises, as history tells us that that is not the case.

[Tom Blenkinsop (Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland) (Lab)]

It is also worth reminding the Conservative party that it invented VAT, which has increased under every Tory Government since. No Labour Government have ever increased VAT. We also have to understand that since 2011, investment in small and medium-sized enterprises has decreased by £30 billion.

[Toby Perkins]

My hon. Friend makes an incredibly important point. He will remember, as I do, the Liberal Democrats’ posters and the Conservatives’ promises that there would be no VAT increases. He might well remember that the Chancellor, when he was shadow Chancellor, claimed that Labour would increase VAT and that it would be a bomb waiting to go off under the recovery. Of course, the Government then introduced the VAT rise before there was any kind of recovery, which is one reason why we have had three wasted years.

--- Later in debate ---

[Toby Perkins]

The important question is this: how many of those businesses have gone under? In every recession, large numbers of people are unable to find a job, and they go on to set up their own businesses. I set up a business under similar circumstances—desperation is a pretty decent motive for setting up a business. The reality is that we have had three years of a flatlining economy and difficult circumstances. The hon. Gentleman might not be able to understand that, but the people in my community certainly do.

[Tom Blenkinsop]

Is my hon. Friend aware of the comments made by Hans Redeker from Morgan Stanley? He said:

“the UK recovery will turn out to be little more than a sugar rush unless investment picks up… The investment-to-consumption ratio is very low at 16% and falling. It is 22% in the eurozone and 23% in the US.”

Would my hon. Friend call that a copper-bottomed recovery?

[Toby Perkins]

I certainly would not. My hon. Friend makes an important point about the scale of the recovery, which so far has been less than a third of that predicted by the Office for Budget Responsibility in 2010. The full extent of the failure of the Government’s policy is there for all to see.