Speeches by Bryant.

“I am not going to do the Chancellor’s job, but we have no plans to introduce a tourism tax. Of course we are looking at different places in the country that have gone forward in different ways—Manchester, for instance, has a system that has been voluntarily agreed, and there is the situation in Scotland and in Wales, w…”

“It will not be quick—I know it will not, least of all my answer—but anyway.”

“One of the first things I did when I became the Minister was to set an ambitious target of reaching 50 million international visitors to the UK by 2030; we are at something like 43 million visitors at the moment. If we are going to get to that target of 50 million visitors, we will have to ensure that we have the mix o…”

“I have just binned that bit of the speech, Madam Deputy Speaker. When the Government took office, the sector was already under strain. The aftermath of the pandemic and the cost of living crisis left hospitality and tourism businesses facing real difficulties. In particular, domestic tourism had struggled to get back t…”

“Every time I deal with something, another person stands up, but we have not had anybody from the SNP intervene yet.”

“If I might, Madam Deputy Speaker, I will start with an apology. As I told the shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, the hon. Member for Droitwich and Evesham (Nigel Huddleston), last night, I am not able to be here for the end of this debate—I do apologise.”

“Well, I am glad that people like me being here—that is very kind. I am not going to be kind for the rest of my speech, so the shadow Business Secretary, the hon. Member for Arundel and South Downs (Andrew Griffith), should not get used to that. What an absolute joy it is to see the shadow Business Secretary up close. H…”

“I will be very straightforward with the right hon. Gentleman: of course we recognise the problems that small businesses are having—I have heard from many—and I am about to come to the issue of national insurance contributions, which I accept, of course, have provided difficulties to many different businesses. However, …”

“I will make a couple of points; then of course I will give way to the Father of the House. The shadow Business Secretary condemned what he calls the reduction in retail hospitality and leisure business rates relief from 75% to 40% for 2025-26. Does the House note the sleight of hand there? When the Conservatives left o…”

“I am more of a Chelsea bun person than an iced bun person, but my hon. Friend makes a good point: there are businesses up and down the country opening anew and afresh. Far from such businesses dismissing the opportunity of having a national health service that works more effectively, a rail service that works effective…”

“They don’t like it up ’em, do they, Madam Deputy Speaker? The shadow Business Secretary then said, “We think they’re the right plans because those plans make our economy competitive.” The problem with the argument that he has made today is that he has not learned a single thing since that mini-Budget. He still wants us…”

“I agree. I note that an awful lot of Conservative MPs are saying, “Oh, they’re Swedish”, as if foreign investment in the UK were a bad idea. [Interruption.] Yes, that is what they were doing—they can furrow their brows as much as they want. The shadow Secretary of State pointed to the increases in employer national ins…”

“The right hon. Gentleman makes a perfectly legitimate point. No, of course I do not want that. I want the police officers in my constituency to be policing the streets, as my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care said this morning, not policing tweets or private conversations between indiv…”

“I will not give way again. That meant that mortgage rates rose faster than they have ever risen in our history, which made it almost impossible for people to survive economically.”

“Whether it is St Mary Redcliffe, Canterbury cathedral, the O2 or the Stadium of Light, we should celebrate every single part of our hospitality industry across the whole of the UK and be proud that we are British.”

“At nearly every meeting that I have with any sector in my portfolio, the sector says to me, “Can we have a cut in VAT?” While people in the hospitality sector have said to me many times that they would like a cut in VAT, that is also said by people in the theatre industry and a whole series of others. These are matters…”

“I was looking in the direction of the right hon. Gentleman, so I think I will have to take his intervention first. I will then take an intervention from my hon. Friend.”

“Yes, and I would add another point to that. In Stratford-upon-Avon, as in many other parts of the United Kingdom, the hospitality industry, the tourism industry and the creative industries are intrinsically bound together. A number of people will go to the theatre, stay in a hotel, go to the Lazy Duck or one of the oth…”

“We are not taxing them out of existence, as I have tried to explain to the hon. Gentleman. He is another one of those people who is awfully nice when you meet him in the bar—[Interruption.] The shadow Secretary of State is saying that that sounds terrible, but he was saying earlier that every single pint that is pulled…”

“I passionately support what we have done about the national minimum wage. I remember when we had to sit through the night in this Chamber to ensure that the national minimum wage was introduced in the first place; incidentally, I remember that the Liberal Democrats voted against that, as well as the Conservatives. We w…”