Seasonal Work
Debate between Tom Hayes and Sarah Bool(4 days, 9 hours ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Sarah Bool
Absolutely. We need to encourage that next generation through to the workforce, and I cannot see that they are getting any of those opportunities at the moment. The Government are so proudly trying to promote that, but let us look at the impact and the figures. There can be no denying that they are achieving none of what they hope to achieve in future.
Tom Hayes (Bournemouth East) (Lab)
Across these Benches in the mainstream parties, we have to develop solutions to the problems we face, partly because we know that in our Chamber we have the likes of Reform. Our country is in debt to the tune of £2.7 trillion and we spend around £105 billion each year to service the debt before we spend any money on anything else. We therefore have to think, in that difficult situation, about how we come up with solutions.
If we are to fund our public services to get people back into work, which helps to grow the economy, and are to do the other things that we want to do as a country, what is the right way of raising the funds that allows our country to pay down our debt and the amount we spend each year to service our deficit and to bring the change that people want in delivery of public services? I ask the hon. Lady please not to say “Welfare reform.” I agree that we need to do welfare reform—[Interruption.] If I may, I agree that we need to do that, and the Milburn and Timms reviews will be critical to taking forward an effective welfare reform package, but what else would she do?
Sarah Bool
At least the hon. Member has acknowledged that we have to repay debt, unlike the Green party, which suddenly believes that repaying debt interest is not a viable or true alternative in this world. The hon. Gentleman denies talk of welfare, but it is a fundamental element. [Interruption.] I am glad to see that he agrees with that, but there is so much more. Why is the Labour party increasing the welfare bill?
The Government have to grow the economy and that means supporting businesses, giving them opportunities, reducing tax and putting money in our pockets to do that. Unfortunately, we can see from everything that has come from the Government so far that the economy is not growing. Watch this space, but that is a problem that we will struggle with.
South Northamptonshire has 95 pubs, which are crucial to our rural community and to our economy. They are a great example of a place where young people can start their first jobs. At The White Hart in Hackleton, a young girl with Down’s syndrome, who could not get a job outside the village because of transport issues, took her first job. That job will be threatened by all the measures from this Government.
Taxes
Debate between Tom Hayes and Sarah Bool(4 months, 4 weeks ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Sarah Bool (South Northamptonshire) (Con)
Members across the House will be familiar with the winter of discontent. In 1979—the year our Chancellor was born—the Labour Government were at the behest of their union paymasters, and refuse piled up across the country. Fast-forward 46 years: we are a year into the Chancellor’s term of office, and we have before us a summer of anxiety. We have a long and seemingly hot summer ahead of us, with the spectre of impending taxes looming. In a desperate and flawed attempt to paper over the financial chasm of Labour’s own making, the Government are targeting the hard-working people they vowed to stand for.
What has happened in Labour’s first year in office? Well, my farmers are reeling from the raid on their cash-poor industry through changes to APR and BPR, national insurance and the withdrawal of the SFI, to name but a few. The Government ask them to diversify and invest in growing their business, while simultaneously taxing them for the privilege.
The Carrdus school in South Northamptonshire is closing as a direct result of the VAT raids and the national insurance rises. Families who work hard and invest in their children’s education have been punished. Students have been displaced, teachers have lost their jobs, and standards have been hit.
Hospitality owners have said they cannot risk expansion; they are just about surviving as it stands. This year alone, over 1,000 pubs across the UK have closed—220 since April. Beauty salons and hair industry businesses in my constituency have been calling me in because they cannot take on any more apprenticeships. If things continue as they are, there will, the British Hair Consortium says, be no apprentice starts in 2027. What a legacy for this Labour Government.
Pensioners in my constituency were hit first by the removal of the winter fuel allowance, and they now face the prospect of being taxed on their pension for the first time, which is also a terrible disgrace. We have learnt a crucial lesson after a year of this Government: they are the embodiment of the phrase, “Fail to prepare, prepare to fail.” They have had years in opposition to come up with a plan, and they have failed miserably. They keep asking us what we might do. Is that because they are seeking advice from the more fiscally prudent and wise side of the House?
Sarah Bool
I can certainly give you more.
The Minister and Government Members rarely want to listen, but I raise these points on behalf of my constituents, who have asked me to do this. I implore the Government: if they want growth, they must take this summer to think again about how to achieve it, or it will be an autumn of anguish.