Iain Stewart
Main Page: Iain Stewart (Conservative - Milton Keynes South)Department Debates - View all Iain Stewart's debates with the HM Treasury
(9 years, 8 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Iain Stewart (Milton Keynes South) (Con)
11. What estimate he has made of the number of new businesses set up in Milton Keynes in the last year.
The Financial Secretary to the Treasury (Mr David Gauke)
The latest data indicate that 2,200 new businesses were set up in Milton Keynes in the year to July 2014.
Iain Stewart
I am grateful for that answer. Does my hon. Friend agree that more new business start-ups are vital to secure our economic recovery? Is he aware that this Friday my hon. Friend the Member for Milton Keynes North (Mark Lancaster) and I are hosting a business start-up event to give budding entrepreneurs access to the support and advice they need to get their businesses going?
Mr Gauke
I entirely agree that business start-ups are very important. I certainly was aware of the event at the national rail centre in Milton Keynes between 4 o’clock and 7 o’clock on Friday afternoon. I also note that unemployment in my hon. Friend’s constituency has gone down by 42% since the last election, which suggests that start-ups are thriving in Milton Keynes.
Iain Stewart (Milton Keynes South) (Con)
T5. Will my right hon. Friend comment on the astonishing claim by the Scottish Government that they would default on their share of the UK’s debt if they did not achieve a currency union with the rest of the United Kingdom if—heaven forbid—independence was to happen?
Danny Alexander
The Scottish Government’s plan to renege on Scotland’s share of the debt in the event of independence is simply not credible because of the catastrophic effect it would have on the people of Scotland. Mortgage rates would go up, credit cards and bills would go up, and the Scottish Government would have to resort to the bond market’s equivalent of Wonga to raise money to pay for public services in Scotland. To default on the debt would be to punish every Scot for Alex Salmond’s failure to think through his currency plan B properly.