Supporting High Streets
Debate between Sarah Olney and Tim Farron(1 day, 10 hours ago)
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Sarah Olney
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. It is not just one thing or two things, but a whole range of different costs are being loaded on to businesses one after the other, all at the same time and during a time when the economy is very sluggish and growth is extremely difficult.
Tim Farron
My hon. Friend has listed a number of factors, but one that would not cost the Government very much money to put right is the lack of a workforce. In areas such as mine, 63% of all the hospitality and tourism businesses are operating below capacity, because they cannot find enough staff. There is surely room in town centres, helped by flexibility in planning law, to create more affordable housing in those town centres and create a workforce, as well as to create footfall to create demand for those businesses.
Sarah Olney
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. We are talking about high streets, but there is a much wider issue across the entire economy about the workforce. If we can get solutions to work for some of these things, they will have a knock-on impact, and many more sectors will see a boost to their economic prospects.
On business rates, which so many of my hon. Friends have raised, the current Government pledged in their manifesto to replace the business rates system, but still no meaningful action has been taken. As we are nearly 18 months into this Government, I wish to ask if they plan to keep their word on that commitment.
Sarah Olney
I thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention. There are many parts of the Employment Rights Bill that we are happy to support. However, there are some bits—
Indefinite Leave to Remain
Debate between Sarah Olney and Tim Farron(1 month, 4 weeks ago)
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Sarah Olney (Richmond Park) (LD)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Jeremy. I congratulate the hon. Member for South Norfolk (Ben Goldsborough) on his excellent opening remarks and welcome the Minister to his role. I hope he is enjoying his first day in the job.
Like many Members, I have heard from constituents who have grave concerns about what the immigration White Paper will mean for them. In particular, they are worried about the intention to reform the qualifying period for indefinite leave to remain without any specific details surrounding the changes and exemptions. The lack of detail on such an important issue has led to great uncertainty and distress for many UK residents, including many of my constituents in Richmond Park, where we have been pleased to welcome over the last few years many new residents from Hong Kong, in particular.
Tim Farron (Westmorland and Lonsdale) (LD)
My hon. Friend rightly said that the lack of clarity is harmful. It is cruel to people who thought they were on one path and now are not, but it is also counterproductive, because we may end up losing really talented people working our patches. It also undermines employers, who do not quite know what game they are playing. All of this is hugely counterproductive to our economy as well as simply not being fair.
Sarah Olney
My hon. Friend is exactly right. This is not just about the residents themselves; it is also about their employers, the places that they work and the wider economy.
My residents in Richmond Park are rightly concerned about how these changes could affect their lives, the lives of their children and their employment in the UK. The BNO visa is not a transactional visa; it is a moral commitment, which the UK offered in response to the national security law and the dismantling of promised freedoms in Hong Kong, so I am deeply concerned about the Government’s decision to extend the route to indefinite leave to remain from five years to 10 years.
The lack of clarity over the BNO visa, in the midst of increasing evidence of transnational repression from China and the looming planning decision on the Chinese mega-embassy, is concerning to me and to many of my constituents who could be affected by the change. The Government must do better to provide assurance for the hundreds of thousands of BNO visa holders across the country, starting by giving them clarity about their immigration status and how the White Paper will affect them.