Business and the Economy Debate
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Yuan Yang
Main Page: Yuan Yang (Labour - Earley and Woodley)Department Debates - View all Yuan Yang's debates with the Department for Business and Trade
(2 days ago)
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Mr Gagan Mohindra (South West Hertfordshire) (Con)
It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Harlow (Chris Vince). Harlow is quite close to my old stomping ground, so I know some of the areas to which he referred, although I am surprised that he did not mention the enterprise zone, which is a world-class area for business.
I will focus my comments on my constituency—Three Rivers district council is the main council area there—where we have seen business closures outpace new openings since July 2020. My local high streets in Rickmansworth, Chorleywood and South Oxhey are visibly suffering, with shuttered shops, rising costs and dwindling support. Historically, those high streets never had vacancies. As a former retailer, I am increasingly concerned about the volatility in our high streets. Whichever side of the House we are on, if we do not fix this problem, we will leave a poor legacy.
The small businesses that I speak to say that they feel abandoned by the Government. They are facing high energy bills and rent, and poor footfall. Part of that—things like parking charges and on-street parking—is not the Government’s responsibility but down to decisions made by Lib Dem local councils. I continue to have dialogue with those councils to ensure that high streets like Kings Langley’s can survive during these difficult economic times.
On an international basis, we need to recognise that a lot of wealth creators are leaving our country. Many years ago, I read a book called “Atlas Shrugged” by Ayn Rand, and I did not think at the time that it would have such an influence on my life. As many hon. Members will know, I was not politically active at school or university, so I never thought or dreamed of being in this place—let alone aimed to be here—at this stage of my life, but all of us come to this place with life experience and a journey, and part of that for me has been that Ayn Rand book. My overriding memory from that book was that, if the Government do not support wealth creators, those people will find a way to leave, to the detriment of the rest of society.
Mr Mohindra
According to a New World Wealth report, 9,500 millionaires left the United Kingdom in 2024: the highest outflow in recent memory. [Interruption.] Is the hon. Member for Earley and Woodley (Yuan Yang) looking to intervene?
Madam Deputy Speaker (Ms Nusrat Ghani)
Order. Just to help Members, let me say that those looking to intervene have to both stand and make a sound; otherwise, the Member who has the floor may not be aware. If requests for interventions are not taken, those looking to intervene must sit down. They may then stand up and try again.
Yuan Yang
I thank the hon. Member for giving way and apologise for not being louder. I wonder if he has a source of data on the so-called exodus that does not come from a firm that gives advice to the very wealthy to migrate abroad, and which therefore has a great economic interest in propagating such figures.
Mr Mohindra
I am conscious that the hon. Member was a journalist for the Financial Times, so she will know the data source better than I do. I am not an economist and have never claimed to be—I have never claimed to be a lawyer, either. I come from a small business background and have local government experience. When I speak to people in my own limited social circle who are employers—people who I hope will inspire the next generation—I hear that a lot are looking to leave these shores. That causes me massive concern. Although our parliamentary system means that parties come and go, we rely on such businesses to grow, succeed and expand.
I am a second-generation Indian. When my parents came across in the 1970s, they had the aspiration and hope that, by being willing to work hard and being lucky enough to be in the right place and the right industry at the right time, the state would not intervene. I do not see that type of ambition now. I do not wish to get party political; it is an issue that we all need to be concerned about. Governments of all stripes will spend taxpayers’ money, but it is well worth remembering that Governments have no money.
That money comes out of the pockets of people who pay taxes, and we need to acknowledge that wealth creators pay a lot more tax than other parts of society. We live in a global world, and if those people choose to leave, it will mean that the Treasury—I look at the Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury in his place—will not have the benefit of income in its coffers to spend on things that are vital to us and to our communities.
Business confidence was mentioned earlier. We need to recognise that there is significant volatility, both around aspiration and potential capital expenditure for small and large businesses. Businesses need certainty about the direction of travel.
Yuan Yang (Earley and Woodley) (Lab)
The hon. Member for South West Hertfordshire (Mr Mohindra) mentioned my work before I came to this place. In my work at the Financial Times, I spoke to business leaders every day. Since my election to this place, I have had the honour of speaking to many businesses in my constituency. In the last month, that has ranged from the small shopkeepers in Whitley in south Reading to the leaders of Sanofi, a pharmaceutical company that is one of the biggest listed companies in the world, also headquartered in my constituency. The topics they want to talk about again and again are threefold: trade and prices; industrial strategy; and infrastructure. Those are the areas that come up time and again when I speak to my local businesses and the Thames Valley chamber of commerce, because businesses—unlike the Conservative party—have to be forward looking. They have to have a vision of the future and where they will fit into it. I will concentrate on those three areas.
First, on trade, many of my constituents have thoroughly welcomed the trade deals that the Government have done over the last two weeks—not just with the EU, but with the US and India. Small businesses in Reading and across the UK have suffered from the previous Government’s bungled Brexit of 2019. They have suffered from increased trade frictions, red tape and bureaucracy. For smaller companies, those are an increasingly large part of their overheads, and they are more difficult for small retailers doing import-export business to handle. I heard that again and again on the doorstep during the general election campaign from the many entrepreneurs in my constituency. I know already from speaking to residents last weekend how deeply the trade deal with the EU is welcomed. It will decrease the inflation of food prices in the UK and give opportunities to those exporting to the EU. That is also true for the deals with the US and India, which will create and save many jobs across the country.
Secondly, on industrial strategy, the Thames Valley is one of the biggest destinations in Europe for life sciences foreign direct investment. I am proud to say that the life sciences companies that I have spoken to are tremendously excited about the opportunities brought by the life sciences White Paper and the industrial strategy, which will be unveiled next month. In an age when countries across the world, from the US to India to Japan, are unveiling their industrial strategies, we cannot afford not to compete on the same stage. We have to decide as a country where we fit into the global supply chain, what our comparative advantages are, and what we will invest in. I am glad that our Government are doing that, and that is what the multinationals headquartered in my constituency want to hear.
Finally, on infrastructure, I am proud that my constituency in the Thames Valley is the fastest growing region in the UK outside of London. That is the case not because there is something in the water—though these days, with Thames Water, you can never tell—but because of the infrastructure. We are close to Heathrow and, via the M4, to many major cities and London. We have the Elizabeth line, and rail links that connect us with so many ports and cities across the UK. That infrastructure is paid for and funded by the Government. There is not just physical infrastructure; there are services, schools and hospitals that mean that families want to move to our area, build their lives there and bring their professional skills there. That is why I continue to press for the investment in the NHS that we sorely need, and for investment in our local hospital, the Royal Berkshire.
Blake Stephenson (Mid Bedfordshire) (Con)
I know the hon. Member was about to conclude, but it is notable that she decided not to talk about hospitality, leisure and retail businesses, private schools or all sorts of other industries in her constituency. Businesses talking to me are deeply worried about the policies of this Government. Will she reflect on the impact on smaller businesses in retail and hospitality?
Yuan Yang
The first businesses I mentioned in my speech were the small shopkeepers in Whitley—the retail businesses that want to keep their food prices low, that are dependent on imports, predominately from the EU, and that want to ensure that their customers get a good deal, and I very much support them.
Those are the three areas that businesses speak to me about regularly, and I hope that our Government’s agenda will continue to reflect those interests. I cannot help but touch on one final issue that the shadow Minister, the hon. Member for Arundel and South Downs (Andrew Griffith), brought up: employment. It is when we talk about employment rights that the Conservatives sadly show whose side they are really on. They talk about the benefits to young people; it is young people in my constituency at the University of Reading who stand to benefit from the increase in the minimum wage, and who are the most glad about that policy, and about the employment rights that they will benefit from, through the Employment Rights Bill.
Yuan Yang
No, thanks; I am about to draw to a close. Young people are the future, and they need a rise in their wages because of the living standards crisis that we face across this country. The University of Reading employs those young people and is a source of education for them. As an employer, it sees that it is better if all employers lift their standards, so that it is not undercut by other employers seeking a race to the bottom.
Madam Deputy Speaker (Ms Nusrat Ghani)
Order. It is known that the hon. Lady is not giving way, and is about to conclude.