The Economy

Chris Loder Excerpts

Wednesday 8th July 2020 Commons Chamber

[Richard Drax (South Dorset) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to take part in the debate. I pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for North East Bedfordshire (Richard Fuller), who spoke with such common sense. In the short time I have, I will concentrate on the self-employed, the financial world and all the businessmen and women who risk everything to create the wealth and prosperity that we need.

I repeat from Dorset business to the Front Benchers and the Treasury: thank you very much indeed for all the furlough scheme and the announcements made today. The thanks I receive is unanimous—despite what we may hear in other quarters, not least the media. People are extremely grateful for the thousands of jobs in South Dorset that are being saved and for the millions of jobs that are being saved around the country.

Today’s announcement is especially good news for the young, who face threats from this covid in getting into work—my own children included, of course, who are facing the same problem. I welcome that announcement, and the announcement for the hospitality sector, which in South Dorset in particular has been hit hard, because we rely so much on tourism and hospitality to make the economy go around. I will also touch briefly on taxation and the private sector, our armed forces if I have time, and Dorset Council and police if I have a little more time.

Never, in my view, has there been a better opportunity radically to overhaul the taxation system in this country. It is outdated, punitive and bureaucratic. I welcome the announcements made today on VAT and stamp duty. That is a start, but let us get rid of them altogether. Let us go much further—capital gains tax, inheritance tax. Look where our poll rating went when, if I recall correctly, George Osborne raised the threshold to £1 million. It is people’s money, and we have no right to take money off people unfairly.

The economy will only work if we allow the entrepreneurs, the businessmen and women, the financial sector, the self-employed and everyone else that my hon. Friend the Member for North East Bedfordshire mentioned to generate the wealth that we need. From the Opposition Benches, it is the classic old, “Let’s tax them and tax them.” They simply do not understand, and never ever will, that all those risking their homes, their livelihoods and their families generate the wealth that this country needs to generate the wealth, prosperity and jobs that pay for public services.

[Chris Loder (West Dorset) (Con)]

Does my hon. Friend agree that in constituencies such as mine, where 97% of businesses are micro and small-sized, such businesses should absolutely be at the forefront of what we do?

[Richard Drax]

I entirely concur with my hon. Friend and neighbour in West Dorset—I welcome him to his place.

I have time quickly to mention the armed services. The covid crisis has shown how professional, dedicated and truly treasured the armed services are—in addition, of course, to all those who work in the NHS, to whom I pay equal tribute. We must never forget that the armed services need to be funded properly, and in my view 2% of GDP is not enough; we need 3% or 4%. I urge the Treasury to keep fighting on behalf of those whose serve us with such distinction.

On Dorset Council and police, both face huge extra costs because of covid and the hundreds of thousands who descended on our beaches and coves over recent weekends. Dorset Council estimates that it is spending about £50 million a month on covid provision. It has done an outstanding job, and I pay tribute to Dorset Council and to Dorset police for the selfless way in which people have worked over many hours and many weekends for no extra pay. I thank them all.

I will end by saying, we locked the country down once; I recommend to the Treasury that we never, ever do it again.

--- Later in debate ---

[Chris Loder (West Dorset) (Con)]

Today the Chancellor has put forward another excellent set of measures to help the UK, and no more so than in West Dorset, where 97% of our businesses are small or micro-sized. We need urgent attention to our connectivity, with 1.42 megabits per second broadband speed compared with 200 megabits per second here in London, and single railway lines across the county with a three-hourly rail frequency. Our economy in West Dorset could have its sprinting potential thoroughly unleashed, not only by the measures the Chancellor has announced today but with further infrastructure investment.

The current wave of remote working presents an enormous opportunity for West Dorset. It has shown that business and commerce does not have to revolve around London, or, indeed, other cities. People can be even more productive from their kitchen table in West Dorset than in urban office blocks. Why have conditioned and recirculated air from the polluted cities when you can breathe the fresh air of West Dorset? If sustained, this shift in working habits can be the catalyst in levelling up the rural and coastal communities of this nation, creating many well-paid opportunities for local people—but we need fast and reliable broadband that is accessible at home and at work.

Local enterprise partnerships should be coming into their own at this point, but from my experience in West Dorset, LEPs vary in their capability to deliver any economic benefits through infrastructure investment. May I therefore urge the Minister, perhaps along with his colleagues in the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, to review the LEPs’ deliverability against their remit and, where necessary, drive the radical reform required to deliver the Government’s agenda?

I welcome the Chancellor’s announcements on stamp duty. However, rural economies are not well served by building enormous new housing developments like the one planned for the outskirts of Dorchester. These developments quash the economic potential of building modest numbers of new houses in our villages, which is what will ensure the future of our local schools, shops, pubs, garages and parish churches.

The economic damage inflicted by coronavirus is indeed tragic, but it now presents us with the opportunity to build back better—to stimulate the economy and to address rural isolation, social deprivation and the issues that have challenged our rural and coastal communities for many decades.