Topical Questions
I am grateful for the opportunity to say that one year ago we published our industrial strategy. Since publication, work driven by the industrial strategy has secured around £360 billion of private investment into the eight industrial strategy sectors and £33 billion worth of export announcements, supporting up to 120,000 jobs. We are backing winners and giving our sectors with the highest potential everything they need to succeed, and in year two we will go further. We will be cutting energy costs for 10,000-plus manufacturing firms, working with businesses to create jobs for those eight sectors—the IS-8—to secure the workforce of the future, and cutting regulatory burdens to unlock investment. In just under two weeks, on 15 July, our trade deal with India will enter into force. India has never implemented a deal of this size, which could boost UK GDP by £4.8 billion every year in the long run. That is just the start. We will continue to drive delivery to secure investment and good high paying jobs into year two and beyond.
Micklefield Hall in Sarratt is a great example of a small business that has survived covid, only to be repeatedly hit by this Labour Government. Its representatives have contacted me to say that they are keen to borrow money for long term investment, but fearful of yet more taxes on business. What reassurances can the Secretary of State give to small businesses that want to invest for future growth, such as Micklefield Hall?
It is good to see the hon. Gentleman again in the same session—I suggest that he buy a lottery ticket tonight, because he is certainly having a lot of success in the draw. I can assure him that we are investing in small and medium sized enterprises, and we have funding targeted at helping young people to start their own businesses. He lists some of the perceived challenges in the economy at the minute. Do not forget that youth unemployment went up by 250,000 in the years leading up to the general election without all the things that the Conservatives keep mentioning we are doing, such as giving rights and delivering investment into the economy.
I pay tribute to the business in my hon. Friend’s constituency that he advocates for. Businesses around the country are paying the price of, and having to adapt to the challenges posed by, the Iran war. It is a good job that we have a Prime Minister who kept us out of the war—those on the Conservative Benches would have plunged us into it and made things even more difficult for businesses in my hon. Friend’s constituency and across the country. On his specific question, I can tell him that we are engaging regularly with refiners, importers and distributors to ensure that any emerging risks are identified and managed properly.
I call the shadow Minister.
There is a bit of an end of term feel in the House at the moment. I heard the Secretary of State set out his answer to his essay question, but I point out that UK business confidence is at a four year low, unemployment is up, millionaires are fleeing, and the Department’s own figures show inward investment falling by 26% this year to the lowest level in over a decade. I would say that is a failing mark. What does the Secretary of State plan to do differently when the new headteacher arrives?
I always look forward to the hon. Lady’s questions. The fundamentals of running our economy are going in the right direction. Growth is up, and inflation is down. These are things that the Conservatives never achieved when they were in government, but we have achieved them in two years. We have got more growth into our economy in the last two years than they achieved in multiple years leading up to the election.
I do not know about you, Mr Speaker, but I did not hear a plan for improvement in that answer. I am afraid the mark is “must do better”.
Let us turn to another bit of the Secretary of State’s coursework in this failing end of term report. Will he agree today to compensate all the Horizon victims, and to get Fujitsu to pay towards it, by the end of the year?
I can assure the hon. Lady that the Minister responsible, my hon. Friend the Member for East Renfrewshire (Blair McDougall), has met victims regularly. We are accelerating the compensation and the justice from what we inherited, because it was going too slow to deliver the justice that people required. When it comes to Horizon, we will deliver the justice and compensation that people require.
On the plan, our industrial strategy is crowding £360 billion of private investment into key sectors of our economy. We are lowering energy prices for manufacturers. Through plan after plan after plan, we are delivering the change that business is calling for and needs.
I thank my hon. Friend for his question. We are working closely with various stakeholders to ensure that workers understand and claim their new rights under the Employment Rights Act. I know how vital trade unions are not just to organising, but to educating workers on their rights at work. I am so proud that they have been instrumental to development and implementation of these rights, and we look forward to continuing to working with them closely.
In Aberdeen South, there is a jobs emergency, with 1,000 jobs a month being lost from the oil and gas sector. So will the Government ditch their damaging policies that are destroying the oil and gas industry and destroying jobs in Aberdeen South?
This Government are investing record amounts in the transition to renewable energy. We need to break the dependence on fossil fuels that our country has been forced into by the Conservative party. We will do so by creating wealth, jobs and businesses in the meantime.
I am extremely grateful for my hon. Friend’s really important question. As I have said throughout this session, we are investing in young people and people in work, so they can adapt to the changes happening in the economy because of the transition to digital technology, particularly with AI. We are providing flexible support through bursaries for younger learners and learner support funding for adults. Do not forget the work that Business and Trade Ministers are doing jointly with the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology to ensure that people in the workplace are trained and have all the skills they need to thrive in the digital age.
Small rural businesses in villages such as Pembridge in my constituency tell me that the combination of high business and VAT rates and rising national insurance contributions means they are facing a struggle for survival. Small rural businesses face greater pressure than their urban counterparts, with lower footfall and seasonal fluctuations in trade, so they operate with very tight margins. Does the Minister recognise the additional pressures faced by such businesses and that existing support schemes simply are not enough, and what more will he do to support businesses in constituencies such as mine?
Of course, we recognise that this has been not just a tough time for small businesses, but a tough decade for those running one. That is exactly why our small business strategy is improving access to markets for small businesses, improving access to finance for small businesses, and cutting the regulatory burden on small businesses. We will of course keep doing more to make it easier, simpler and more profitable to run one.
I can provide all the reassurances my hon. Friend seeks. We are of course investing in the new technical colleges, as I have outlined. We are investing in young people so that they have the skills to transition from education into the workplace. We know that young people face challenges in this era because of not only the legacy of the last Government but the transition towards an AI future, which is disrupting the workforce. We are focused on training people, and we are working very closely with Alan Milburn, who brought consensus to the diagnosis of the challenges facing young people, and I hope will now bring consensus across the House to how we grab this issue once and for all.
In early 2025, Rutland police caught a local shop owner red handed with a carload of illegal fake cigarettes. Since then, I have reported this to His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, the police and trading standards, and nothing has happened. Will the Minister please haul in trading standards, because this individual runs two shops in my constituency, which are both still open, attracting in children and encouraging the sale of vapes? That is wrong, and such shops are clearly part of the black economy.
It is infuriating when we see bogus businesses forcing legitimate, valued, independent retailers out of our high streets. The hon. Member will be aware of Operation Machinize, through which we have put significant resources into tackling the type of crime she raises. That is becoming a permanent approach under this Government. For my part, I am constantly meeting Companies House and the Insolvency Service to talk about how we can improve our enforcement efforts to force these bogus businesses out of our high streets and create space for legitimate businesses.
I am already working with DSIT on these issues, but because of my hon. Friend’s informed question and the imploration for me to do more I will double down on that. He is giving real voice to an incredibly important part of the defence technology sector which we need to foster. The defence investment plan invests much more in drone technology. We will be investing more than £5 billion in drones over the next four years, and that his constituency will be playing a very key role in that.
My hon. Friend raises a really important issue. With the issues around Morrisons Daily and TGJones, a lot of people across the country are worried about the future of their local post offices. Under the decision we made to maintain the current size of the post office network, I have been talking to the Post Office, and it is clear that where there is a risk of disruption that does not mean the service will disappear. Around the country, where there is the potential for a closure, it is advertising for alternative sub postmasters to take over the businesses.
I welcome the appointment of Parminder Kohli as the chief executive officer of the Office for Investment. He is a personal friend of mine, and he will bring 30 years of experience in the oil industry. Will the Secretary of State set out what measures of success Parminder will face, so we can judge what impact the Office for Investment makes and what role he will play?
I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for his informed question. I, too, celebrate this important appointment and the Office for Investment is doing great work. The criteria for success that I see are how Britain can get more scale up investment into companies, so they do not have to go elsewhere around the world to find the capital they need to grow, and how more people can start, build and scale right here in the UK. I often ask myself why the continent of Europe does not have a single trillion dollar company. The Office for Investment, working with the Government, can start to answer that question.
When I visited NDT Equipment Ltd in my constituency, the director Dan Lenton showed me the ultrasonic test calibration blocks and reference pieces that it uses and supplies to manufacturers in a wide range of sectors in the UK and abroad. This steel is not manufactured in the UK; it is imported and is high grade. I know Ministers are being flexible and talking to hon. Members. Will the Minister please consider the grade of steel that the company uses, which I believe is EN3B, and exempt it from the tariffs?
We have already laid out our steel trade measures, which are there to ensure that the UK has a steel industry. This is vital for our economic future. I want to make clear that 73% of all steel imports into the UK are not in scope of the measure, but I will, of course, look at this specific issue. If my hon. Friend would like to have a meeting with me and officials, we can make sure that that happens.
Last night this House debated the extended producer responsibility, which is seeing breweries, pubs and other businesses pay twice to recycle glass bottles. What meetings has the Department for Business and Trade had with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to raise the economically damaging nature of this tax? If it has not raised concerns, will it?
I can assure the hon. Gentleman that we are having conversations with DEFRA over these issues. We want to ensure that regulation is right. We need to incentivise the right behaviour and the circular economy, but we need to do so in a responsible way. We are always engaged with the sectors that are impacted, not just because of regulatory measures but because of external measures facing our economy.
The Government’s critical minerals strategy was a fantastic achievement, with clear targets, and it will kick start a nascent industry. To take the next step to get the sector up on its feet and to a more competitive place, will the Minister support a Government price certainty mechanism for lithium?
That is one of the issues that we need to look at not just in the UK but with our international allies. We have got ourselves in a ludicrous position where critical minerals are available all over the world, but 85% of them are only processed in one country. We need to ensure that we have resilience in this area, and it is precisely the kind of issue that we need to look at to protect jobs in my hon. Friend’s constituency.
I recently visited Envirovent, a manufacturer and supplier of sustainable ventilation products just outside Harrogate. It was recognised in The Sunday Times’ best places to work 2026 and recently produced its three millionth ventilation fan unit. Will the Minister join me in congratulating Envirovent on those achievements, and perhaps visit to see the fantastic work it does for the people of Harrogate and North Yorkshire?
I certainly join the hon. Member in celebrating the success of that business—and businesses across the country that are doing such great work for the people who work in them and our overall economy. I would like to hear more about the business, and if I get the opportunity, visiting would be a pleasure.
I call the Chair of the Business and Trade Committee.
I know the Secretary of State will join me in wishing the United States a very happy 250th birthday on Saturday. It was John Pym and Members of this House four centuries ago who helped found the American economy, and I know the whole House will wish the young republic well. But it is the Republic of France that I want to ask the Secretary of State about.
Today, I am publishing correspondence between the Committee and the Port of Dover, warning that we will have, without doubt, a critical incident at the border unless France is persuaded to suspend the entry and exit system. The modelling has been done, and we know the chaos that will follow, so what will the Secretary of State do to ensure that we avoid this peril?
I am grateful for my right hon. Friend’s advocacy, and I share in his birthday message to the people of the United States of America. The Department for Transport is engaged with the Port of Dover, and thanks to the functional and productive relations we have with the EU, we are working with it on those issues to ensure that the worst case scenario my right hon. Friend outlines does not come to pass,
The Secretary of State is aware of the importance of Cheltenham’s cyber security industry, which is a key part of this nation’s defence efforts. I have good news for him: we are about to break ground on the Golden Valley development, bringing 12,000 jobs in cyber and tech to my town, as well as much needed new homes. Would the Secretary of State and his colleagues like to come and visit this success story in due course, not for the ground breaking next week, but in the future? It will be popular with the incoming Prime Minister.
The hon. Member’s enthusiasm is infectious. He came to meet me when I was Secretary of State at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology to talk about the Golden Valley, and we spoke about our shared ambition in that area for the clustering of expertise that having GCHQ and others brings to the community he represents. I share in the hon. Member’s celebration and hope that I get to visit at some point soon.
The owner of Palace Cycles recently told me that while explaining to a customer that he would not service the illegally modified e bike that had been brought into his shop, the bike shot across the shop of its own accord. When will the Government regulate to ban the sale of dodgy, illegal, unsafe e bikes and the kits that create them?
I thank my hon. Friend for her constant campaigning on this issue. I know how important it is and, I value working closely with her. Businesses producing or supplying those products must ensure that they are safe before they are placed on the market, including online marketplaces. Businesses should not supply products they know—or should know—are unsafe. My hon. Friend knows that taking action includes regulatory action. We work alongside other Departments on this, and our recent consultation looked at how we can go even further to ensure that products are safe.