Speeches by Griffiths.

“Secretary of State, it is great to have you here. You have talked already about the words of despair that you have been hearing, but you have also said that you want to make things distributionally fair as you go forwards. I am vice-Chair of the Business and Trade Committee and—I am sure this is the case with many othe…”

“Will the Minister give way on that point?”

“There will be no businesses left by the time you get there.”

“A key plank of the SNP’s dogmatic argument against new nuclear is cost. Will the right hon. Gentleman find a quiet moment—perhaps when the winds fall light and the turbines stop—to point out to them to reduced costs of small modular reactors?”

“15. What discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero on the potential for new nuclear power sites in Scotland.”

“12. What steps he is taking to help prevent industrial action in the NHS.”

“After warnings from the NHS Confederation and NHS Providers, my constituents are still rightly concerned that services may yet be cut, appointments lost and operations delayed as a direct result of the BMA’s industrial action. These strikes did not need to happen. What will the Secretary of State do to reassure patient…”

“You have heard from Paul Greenwood, the UK chair of ExxonMobil, that energy costs are driving the destruction of these businesses. We are talking about high street businesses, we are talking about hospitality, but we are also talking about businesses right at the top of the tree. Even ExxonMobil cannot keep a plant goi…”

“Are they entirely cash-only operations?”

“What are Government planning to do in the meantime to protect businesses from mis-selling and aggressive sales tactics from these brokers?”

“Just to clarify, for the record, the Pride in Place funding that you just referenced applies in one single ward in my constituency. It is not going to apply to the vast majority of businesses in my constituency.”

“What about in the meantime?”

“Just for the record and to get us all to the same place in terms of understanding and knowledge, Wendy and Sal, you have both been talking about what takes place on the high streets. As someone who is not familiar with this world, what is the business model, as you see it, on the high street and what is the underpinnin…”

“Does that include the workers in Mossmorran?”

“I have to admit that I felt like I was living in a parallel universe listening to that answer. As you will realise, if someone does not have a job because the costs that you are piling on to hospitality businesses are causing 53% of the job losses that we have seen so far this year, there will not be more money in cons…”

“So you do know.”

“For the benefit of everyone watching this, what do you mean by slab and slice?”

“Are you the only person who does not know?”

“It was, but you are about to bring in the Employment Rights Bill, so how does that square with reducing regulation?”

“They need to have a job to have security of income. I hear my Chair, and I know that the question he really wants me to focus on here is about business rates and whether it is time for a rethink by this Government on your approach to business rates and reform.”