Speeches by Madders.

“We probably have the same conversations, because hair and beauty salons in my constituency certainly talk about this as unfair competition. They also say, “This is affecting our ability to recruit the stylists of the future, because we are just not going to be able to hire people on apprenticeships like we used to”. Is…”

“There are some interesting recommendations in the Committee’s report on this subject. Businesses absolutely do need to prepare for direct attacks, but one of the things that we picked up pretty clearly from the JLR experience was that the support did not get through to those further down the supply chain. As you quite …”

“Can I just follow up on a totally different type of crime, which is cyber-crime? We published the economic security report yesterday, which highlights the real threats that this brings. The JLR incident is very fresh in people’s minds. One of the things that became quite apparent during the response to that was that th…”

“We have had quite a lot of evidence from the Association of Convenience Stores and the British Retail Consortium about the costs that they are facing, particularly in terms of crime prevention and protecting their staff. Is there anything that the Department is planning to do to assist with that?”

“Just to follow up on the bogus self-employment issue, it is a far wider problem than VAT registration, as we know. We have had evidence from the hair and beauty sector in particular, but there are also other sectors where this is becoming more of an issue. It is about creating a level playing field. What is your assess…”

“Defence is a really good example, because I imagine that it is going to be one of the most challenging ones. I am trying to get to what it is that you can do. What levers or powers do you have to force them to deliver on the standards that we are setting?”

“To follow up on that, I am sure you will be assiduous in in pursuing this on behalf of small businesses. If you get a Department that is not reaching the standards and hence comes up with lots of perfectly legitimate, on the face of it, reasons why they have not quite met the expectations, what levers do you have at yo…”

“Can I just follow up on the departmental targets and spend on small business procurement? How will you, as a Department, hold other Departments to account if they are not meeting those targets?”

“Good afternoon. How is the Procurement Act going to support SMEs?”

“How effective is the threat of imprisonment as an enforcement tool?”

“Do we need another tool for enforcement other than fines?”

“I welcome the statement from the Minister and refer him to the Select Committee’s report issued today on economic security, which touches on some of the issues that he has talked about. It also talks about the much wider threats to the resilience of the UK’s economy. On that point, I want to ask him about stockpiling. …”

“That is very clear, thank you.”

“We have this whole challenge around improving lending in IP and in regional areas. If the Government are looking at the levers that they have, could we do more in terms of procurement to improve the prospects for lending against some of these businesses?”

“It’s not, is it, I don’t think, even though it is a very valid point?”

“Is that the judgment that you are making when you are deciding where to invest?”

“For the taxpayer or for the investor.”

“This is a topical question, I think. There is about £30 billion of income tax relief in registered pension schemes at the moment. Do you think that that is being used effectively at the moment? Is that getting the right results?”

“Good afternoon, everyone. I have a fairly straightforward question for you all. If you can say yes or no, that would be helpful, but if you need to expand, please do. It is about Mansion House targets and whether you think they are changing behaviour at the moment.”

“The problem that we have is an insatiable 24/7 media who want stories and will sometimes generate their own. All this speculation has created uncertainty that has hampered investment, which I know is not what the Treasury wants. Will the Minister be clear from the Dispatch Box that any further speculation we read about…”