Commons
Debate
9 July 2026
4 contributions
British Industry Supercharger: Ceramics
It is a real pleasure to be here. My hon. Friend the Member for Stoke-on-Trent Central (Gareth Snell) has made an outstanding case. I can reassure him that when we make decisions, they go beyond the sheer economics of investment, and into considerations about communities and sectors. The societal im…
I will, in just a moment. My hon. Friend was not here to hear his colleagues’ contributions earlier. He will regret that, because they were Churchillian.
The Government recognise the importance of and understand the challenges that the sector has faced in recent years. The British industry supercha…
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
2 July 2026
4 contributions
Advanced Manufacturing
Strong delivery of the 10-year modern industrial strategy is ongoing, including the investment in the British industrial competitiveness scheme—the long-term industrial intervention to address energy costs. We also have the advanced manufacturing sector plan, which includes sector specific cross-cut…
I am really grateful to my hon. Friend for highlighting the extraordinary achievements of our country that have stemmed from his constituency. As he knows, on the Clyde they have adapted from manufacturing the Dreadnought through to the frigates that he mentioned. We are in another era of change, an…
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
2 July 2026
14 contributions
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, s…
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 peop…
+12 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
2 July 2026
2 contributions
Well-paid Jobs: Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes
We are investing £720 million in the greater Lincolnshire investment fund over the next 30 years as part of our devolved funding and support for areas just like my hon. Friend’s.
My hon. Friend is right that her constituents are hard-working and they deserve to have a Government on their side: in this Government, they have that. We have invested £140 million in a pilot with the mayoral strategic authorities that will benefit her area. That will connect 16 to 24-year-olds who…
Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
2 July 2026
4 contributions
Youth Employment
We are investing £2.5 billion over the next three years in tackling the issues around youth unemployment. That will include new initiatives, such as a further 19 technical excellence colleges to provide high-quality training for jobs in key sectors.
The hon. Gentleman raises an incredibly important issue. It sounds as if the charity that he references is doing incredibly important work locally. We want to support that work. It is a shame that in the years running up to coming into office, apprenticeship starts had fallen by 40%. We are reinvest…
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
21 May 2026
11 contributions
Topical Questions
I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for not ruining my moment to shine.
I told the House that I would be an activist, interventionist champion for business. I am very pleased to say that later today, the Chancellor will announce funding for two of our foundational sectors: ceramics and chemicals. S…
It speaks for itself when the Opposition try to take credit for the Government’s achievements. It shows just how good this Government actually are. However, I am grateful for the hon. Member’s warm words about the GCC deal. A lot of work went into it, but of course when we came into office, we were …
+9 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
21 May 2026
3 contributions
Small Businesses: Rural Areas
Ensuring that business support takes account of rural needs is incredibly important for this Government. Around one in six people live in rural areas in England, with over 520,000 businesses contributing £259 billion to the English economy.
The fact that the hon. Lady’s constituent works in the hospitality sector and is located in a rural area means that he requires multiple types of support from this Government, which he is getting. We have permanently lowered the business rates multiplier for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure …
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
21 May 2026
2 contributions
Royal Mail Services: Greater Manchester
The Minister responsible for small business and economic transformation, the Under-Secretary of State for Business and Trade my hon. Friend the Member for East Renfrewshire (Blair McDougall), met Royal Mail’s chief executive on 12 May to discuss its service improvement plan. I know that my hon. Frie…
I said that my hon. Friend was a great advocate for her residents on this issue; she is proving so once again. I can reassure her that the Government have secured a commitment from Royal Mail’s owners to prevent the payment of dividends until service levels improve. That will be a tangible impact on…
Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
21 May 2026
2 contributions
Digital ID: Businesses
It is going to be a busy day for the Department for Business and Trade team. We are going to be spending a lot of time together today, Mr Speaker, and I very much look forward to it.
We are improving how businesses find, log into and use digital Government services. Better digital services—increasi…
My hon. Friend and I share a zeal for using digital to transform the relationship between Government and those who use services. When I was the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, I was very proud to work with the Government Digital Service team and see how they are transformi…
Commons
Debate
21 May 2026
13 contributions
Steel Industry (Nationalisation) Bill
I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time.
For generations, the steel industry has stood at the very heart of our national story. From the furnaces of Sheffield to the docks of Port Talbot, from Scunthorpe to Redcar, steel forged not only the railways, ships, bridges and factories that…
As the right hon. Lady knows, I have been to Port Talbot and I have launched a steel strategy since this Government came into office. The vast majority of the decline that she describes happened under the previous Administration. We are cleaning up the mess on a whole bunch of fronts and in differen…
+11 more contributions in this session
Commons
Proceedings
18 May 2026
5 contributions
Backing Business to Create Economic Growth
Mr Speaker, I heard your call for decency and respect, and I hope those will be the watchwords for today’s debate.
My right hon. Friend the Chancellor is with her G7 colleagues today, so I am grateful for the opportunity to open the King’s Speech debate on backing British business to create economi…
The whole purpose of the debate is to emphasise that economic growth matters. In the last full year in which the Conservatives were in office, economic growth stood at 0.4%. In the first full year of this Government, it was 1.4%. The hon. Lady should be apologising for the state in which she left th…
+3 more contributions in this session
Commons
Ministerial Statement
16 April 2026
21 contributions
British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme
With permission, I would like to make a statement on industrial energy costs.
When I became Business Secretary, I said that we needed to be bolder, to go further and to move faster to support British enterprise. Today, I want to set out what that means for reduced electricity costs for British indu…
I thank the hon. Gentleman for his support for the scheme. I know it is qualified support, but where that qualified support exists, I am grateful for it. Let us be very clear about the scheme, which I have been designing for quite some time: it is a competitiveness scheme, and it is targeted; it is …
+19 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
19 March 2026
21 contributions
UK Steel Strategy
With permission, I will make a statement on the Government’s steel strategy. I begin by declaring my membership of Community and GMB trade unions.
Resilient economic growth is the main driver of social justice, and steel is essential to both. Steel underpins the key growth-driving sectors in our mo…
It is okay, Madam Deputy Speaker. It is just that everyone is shocked to see the hon. Member for Boston and Skegness (Richard Tice) in his place.
Electric arc furnaces are important as traditional blast furnaces will eventually reach the end of their operational lives and a managed transition is vi…
+19 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
12 March 2026
11 contributions
Topical Questions
In the face of global uncertainty, the Government are acting with boldness, creativity and urgency to back British business. We will soon publish our steel strategy to secure an internationally competitive, investible and sustainable future for British-made steel. We are making highly significant in…
I am grateful for my hon. Friend’s important question. She will know that our manifesto committed to double the size of the co-op and mutual sector, and we are well on the way to doing so. She will also know that a consultation on this issue closed very recently. We are analysing the results and we …
+9 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
12 March 2026
5 contributions
Trade with Europe
UK-EU collaboration is vital for growth and security, with 46% of the UK’s total trade, after all, with the EU. In recent weeks, I have gone to Brussels and signed a new competition co-operation agreement, furthering the partnership between our two territories in the interests of businesses. I had c…
I am grateful to my hon. Friend and constituency neighbour down in sunny Sussex for that question. The reset relationship with the EU has been fundamental and has delivered for businesses right across Britain, including Hobgoblin in Worthing on the sunny south coast of England. We are tackling the b…
+3 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
12 March 2026
5 contributions
Job Creation
The industrial strategy focuses on business investment and creating high-quality jobs. We back our strengths and are unblocking barriers, including through £1.2 billion of skills investment by 2028-29. This Labour Government are investing in skills, in jobs, and in creating wealth and opportunity ac…
I absolutely will. First, Hendon has a champion in you—I mean my hon. Friend—and that counts for a lot. It also has a champion in you, Mr Speaker, as you make sure that we get through these questions so swiftly and efficiently. I can assure the House that the industrial strategy has delivered, on av…
+3 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
30 October 2025
10 contributions
Topical Questions
The growth emergency we inherited from the previous Government demands a proportionate response. That means an unrelenting focus on pro-business policies. It means harnessing investment in our high growth sectors and tirelessly implementing our modern industrial strategy. It means shaking up our ent…
I am grateful for the hon. Gentleman’s question, and I know that his community will be grateful for his question, too. I can assure him that we are working to mobilise the strategic sites accelerator, which will operate across the nation. We expect to communicate how and when the programme will depl…
+8 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
30 October 2025
2 contributions
Farming Sector: US Trading Relationship
I am grateful to the right hon. Member for his question. The UK was the first country to secure such an agreement with the US—one which will save thousands of jobs, protect key British industries and farmers, and drive economic growth. People said that it would be impossible to deliver such a deal w…
I am grateful for the right hon. Member’s insightful and thoughtful contribution. As I said, striking trade deals is vital. That is why we put so much energy into it and have had so much success, and there will be more to come. It is very important that the whole British economy and Government make …
Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
30 October 2025
3 contributions
Trading Relationships
This Government wasted no time when it came to trade deals—not just talking about them, but delivering them. We have already secured trade deals with the biggest economy in the world, one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, and our biggest trading market. The Government’s clear principle …
I am extremely grateful for the invitation. I can reassure my hon. Friend that when we have the opportunity to take delegations abroad, the Scotch Whisky Association and representatives of those distilleries are always with us. We fight hard for the Scotch whisky business. We know how important it i…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
30 October 2025
2 contributions
Motability Operations
I regularly engage with my right hon. Friend the Work and Pensions Secretary, as my hon. Friend would expect. We share the importance of increasing the uptake of the excellent cars built across the United Kingdom. The Motability scheme supports those in receipt of a qualifying mobility allowance, an…
That was a very thoughtful contribution, and I am very grateful for it. The Motability Foundation is an independent charity and is regulated by the Charity Commission, but it does engage fully with the Government in the most respectful way. As my hon. Friend would imagine, I have instructed my offic…
Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
30 October 2025
8 contributions
Investment in Businesses
We are delivering bold action to drive investment and growth nationwide. Our modern industrial strategy is cutting red tape, saving businesses nearly £6 billion a year, and unlocking quicker, simpler ways to do business. We are investing £6.6 billion through the British Business Bank to help innovat…
I am grateful to my hon. Friend not just for his contribution, but for his advocacy for the rural economy. This Government are committed to supporting businesses, including those in rural areas such as South West Norfolk, to thrive and grow. We know that rural areas offer significant growth potentia…
+6 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
30 October 2025
2 contributions
Responsible Business Conduct Review
It is good to be before you in a new role, Mr Speaker. In fact, even though I might not look it, we have an entirely fresh ministerial team before the House today. With your forbearance, may I offer the House’s congratulations to my hon. Friend the Member for Penistone and Stocksbridge (Dr Tidball) …
I am grateful for my hon. Friend’s work in this area, the conversations that he has and the insight that he shares with the House, as recently as today in his contribution. The responsible business conduct review will be critical to ensuring that businesses respect human rights, labour rights, the e…
Commons
Debate
15 September 2025
31 contributions
Employment Rights Bill
I beg to move amendment (a) to Lords amendment 22.
It is a pleasure to make my first appearance at the Dispatch Box as Secretary of State for Business and Trade to deliver the biggest improvements in workers’ rights for a generation, as part of the Labour Government’s Employment Rights Bill, which formed a key plank of my party’s manifesto commitmen…
+29 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
22 May 2025
22 contributions
Data (Use and Access) Bill [Lords]
I beg to move, That this House disagrees with Lords amendment 49D.
I want to start by putting on record something that I should perhaps have said a bit more about in this place. I cherish the UK creative industries—their immense contribution to our national and personal lives; their embodiment of t…
I am extremely grateful for my hon. Friend’s intervention, for her love of Kate Bush, which I share, and for her passion for finding a workable solution and way forward. As I go through my remarks, I hope she will see that I propose a way to formalise the insight, wisdom and experience of the kinds …
+20 more contributions in this session