Speeches by Western.

“I beg to move, That this House has considered consumer affairs. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dame Siobhain. You will be familiar with the expression “knowing the price of everything, but the value of nothing”. Perhaps that was yesteryear, or possibly yesterday, but today I want to say this. UK consum…”

“Several hon. Members around the Chamber raised the differential pricing between in-town and out-of-town stores. The points the Minister made are totally right, but when retailers were asked about this at the Business and Trade Committee, they just said that it was due to a different cost base. A corporate has a big cos…”

“I thank all those who participated in the debate. It is a Thursday afternoon, and I would have anticipated that a lot more people would have wanted to speak to this issue. I welcome the points that have been made. We have used examples that perhaps bring a certain lightness to the debate, but they are good examples of …”

“On that point, it is quite clear, as we have seen, that the number of deaths we have seen at the food distribution centres run by Gaza Humanitarian Foundation—something like 3% of the total number of deaths—is an outrage. Does my hon. Friend agree that restoring an orderly supply of humanitarian aid is critical?”

“Three of the UK’s five worst harvests have been in the last five years, and this year is looking particularly concerning, with yields likely to be down and margins for farmers on the brink. Just last month, the Bank of England said that extreme weather is now one of the key factors in driving food price inflation. Coul…”

“1. What assessment he has made of the potential impact of climate change on food security.”

“Just briefly on that, businesses such as corner shops and convenience stores in my constituency of Warwick and Leamington all speak to that, saying, “Please extend the relief on adding CCTV and other equipment such as facial recognition systems”. I am not sure how legal that is currently, but perhaps you can explain th…”

“This is SMEs.”

“Ms Vyas, do you have a feel for it?”

“What is your gut feel?”

“Finally, Mr Norbury, on the TPI element of the business and SMEs, I am just interested to know—because this is something that I have obviously missed a trick on—what proportion of your business to SMEs, 10 or maybe even 20 years ago, would have been fed through a TPI.”

“It is very difficult to access to change them.”

“They are not flexible.”

“We conducted a whole series of roundtables back in December last year. We went around the country to talked to all sizes of business. What was striking really for small businesses, particularly in the hospitality sector, was that they felt they were paying too much for their energy bills. The market was not working for…”

“As a supplementary, do any of you think that the small business rates relief threshold should be increased?”

“The Minister will be aware that the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy, which I chair, has been doing a lot of work on defending democracy. I am sure we will welcome the proposals, particularly on illicit finance and cracking down on unincorporated associations. I gently urge her to look closely at crypt…”

“In my constituency, Lydia and Frankie both run businesses that employ around 50 individuals. They both have covid loans and energy loans on top of the usual business pressures they suffer. Beyond maintaining the current discount on business rates, may I urge the Government urgently to review business rates reform, whic…”

“You would have raised that to the Minister many years ago.”

“This is a question—I am not sure whether it falls to FCA or CMA—about some of the fleecehold scams that relate to acquiring property. They have been told by the developer or house builder that they need to sign today and it needs to be through their solicitor, et cetera. Where would that fit? Once you are aware of thes…”

“Parity with the US would be a good target for us to achieve, would it not? Do you agree?”