Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Vince Cable and Mark Garnier

Thursday 12th October 2017 Commons Chamber

[Sir Vince Cable (Twickenham) (LD)]

Why do the Government not draw a clearer distinction between inward foreign investment, which adds capacity and jobs and is welcome, and inward investment for acquisitions in devalued pounds, which often detracts from our science and technology?

[Mark Garnier]

The leader of the Liberal Democrats raises a very important point in respect of looking at the statistics. He is absolutely right that fresh investment that comes into this country that creates and safeguards jobs must be disaggregated from, say, stock market transactions, where there is a significant investment in that type of thing. We are looking very carefully at how to disaggregate these two types of investment to get a much clearer picture, but he raises an important point and I assure him that the Department’s economists are looking at this.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Vince Cable and Mark Garnier

Thursday 6th March 2014 Commons Chamber

[Vince Cable]

We have already made it clear that we would encourage companies to pay the living wage if they could afford it, but we need to be very clear that this is not a mandated system. Indeed, the Low Pay Commission has expressed considerable care in its recommendations to be sure that in promoting a higher level of wages at the bottom, which we want to see, we do not force large numbers of workers out of work.

[Mark Garnier (Wyre Forest) (Con)]

12. What steps he is taking to support businesses affected by recent floods.