Speeches by Reynolds.

“Clause 78 legislates for the new rates of the soft drinks industry levy, to apply from 1 April 2025. The levy came into effect in April 2018—it was introduced by the previous Government, with cross-party support—and is considered a successful mechanism for changing behaviour and encouraging reformulation of packaged so…”

“That is why we are absolutely committed to the access to cash regime, which is a very ambitious regime. The objective is to open 350 banking hubs by the end of this Parliament, and LINK is doing some really good work. There are 181 banking hubs either being opened or in progress, and 123 cash deposit machines. I will c…”

“We need to keep all of these things under review, but we have to make policy in the round. As those of you who have been in Government previously will know, Government is about trade-offs. That is where we are.”

“To reiterate what Anna has already said, we understand that there are people in society who are on low incomes, and some that are not, frankly, on the lowest, who prefer to use cash for budgeting. That is why we are committed to the access to cash regime that we set out.”

“I have some very poor communities.”

“The energy bills issue is very pertinent to this discussion.”

“It is for businesses to decide where they open, where they close and where they remain open. It is so difficult to comment on that. Essentially, what we are saying as Government is that we want to work in partnership with business to bring down the barriers to their investment and growth in the future. That is a key pa…”

“There are many small businesses. If you talk to LINK—it had a reception in Parliament last week, which I spoke at—there is demand from local communities and local high streets for these banking hubs. That demand is not just coming from consumers; it is coming from small business. We know that small businesses want plac…”

“We are taking Government action.”

“It would be good to hear those. There are a couple of things going on here. How much of an issue is it for the kinds of activities that you were talking about? It is obviously much cheaper to do a weekly shop in the round than it is to go and pick up a thing here or there. There is still a high degree of acceptance of …”

“You were making a distinction between the Association of Convenience Stores and some of the big retailers and big supermarkets.”

“That is a very big question. First, let me say that we do not want this poverty premium, as you described it, to exist. I see no evidence—but tell me otherwise—that the big supermarkets are stopping using cash. As far as I am aware, if you shop in a big supermarket—”

“No. I have been very clear that we have no plans to compel businesses to accept cash. First, it is the access to cash regime, and it is also trying to ensure that, through the financial inclusion strategy, we help those who are financially excluded as much as we possibly can.”

“We want to work with the vulnerable consumers that you have heard evidence from. We want to ensure that there is access to cash, which in turn helps with acceptance of cash in the way that I have suggested.”

“I am always happy to nudge, Mr Glen. First, let us say that we want a very competitive market. Actually, the great strength of the UK, as you know very well, is that we do have challengers in the system. Certainly in the banking world, we have challengers; I was meeting one yesterday. Some of these challengers describe…”

“It really comes back to Mr Dean’s question. We have not modelled a scenario that we are not planning for. We are not planning for a cashless society. You have heard evidence from the Association of Convenience Stores that the vast majority of their stores accept cash and are planning to do so in the future. That is why…”

“You asked a number of questions. Maybe I can pick up on the first question, which was about national security and resilience, and then come on to your second set of questions. I am glad that you raised this issue, because we wanted to have the opportunity to say that regulators have very high expectations and set high …”

“Thank you for the question; it is really pertinent. We want to see as much competition as possible in this area. We do not want to see small businesses facing high fees. We want to see the lowest fees possible for small businesses, because we want to see small businesses grow and employ more people. We want economic gr…”

“Yes. I have heard those concerns, but obviously in Government you have to balance that against other priorities. Yes, I will come back when I have had a bit more than two weeks. I also need to talk to the industry, which I have not yet done in this current role.”

“I have not bought any crypto. It is entirely up to consumers how they invest their money. If I had much money to invest, my preference would be to invest in things that have underlying value. I have my own views about crypto, but this is quite a complex issue.”