Speeches by McDougall.

“This would be a matter for Treasury Ministers. What I would say is that £500 million is being put into HMRC at the moment to improve that. A huge and important part of that will be moving from about three-quarters of interactions with HMRC happening in the digital space at the moment to 90% in the future. That is happe…”

“I would say that the vast majority of small businesses are desperately keen to pay what they owe, and it is, at times, far too difficult for them to do that. It is also bad news for Government, because about 60% of the tax gap relates to small businesses.”

“As I say, it is slightly an inevitable thing of being the Minister responsible for small business. We have to work with a lot of other Departments. The matter of targets that are set will be for Treasury Ministers. Again, I would just say that there is an extraordinary amount of investment going in to try to deal with …”

“Yes, of course. Targets should always be a floor rather than a ceiling in terms of our ambitions.”

“The issue around VAT is one that is often discussed. I would say a couple of things on the idea that there is a company foregoing growth before that £90,000 threshold. First of all—again, I am slightly treading on Treasury Ministers’ toes here—”

“I will return the compliment to my right hon. Friend before I disagree with him. This is the problem; there is a certain cheek to the Conservative party leaving us a burning building and then criticising us for reaching for the fire hose. We had to stabilise the public finances—and again, that is not abstract. The Cons…”

“The cost of the Employment Rights Bill is around 0.4% of wage costs across the country, and the additional help that the Bill provides will have a huge impact on small businesses and high streets. Many Members raised the issue of crime, but let me reassure the right hon. Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Sir Iai…”

“My hon. Friend makes an essential point about the importance of the postal service in rural areas. The hon. Member for Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire (Mr MacDonald) made that point as well. I know from my relatives in highland areas how essential that connection is. My hon. Friend raises the issue of NHS appointme…”

“We made it clear a few days ago that we plan to reduce the administrative cost of the regulatory burden by nearly £6 billion, and that is what we will do. Conservative Members have spoken about the Employment Rights Bill and their intention to repeal it, but they are forgetting that that Bill will set up a single regul…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Desmond. I congratulate the hon. Member for Bridgwater (Sir Ashley Fox) on securing this important debate on Royal Mail and the USO, an issue that matters deeply to households and to businesses across the country. Royal Mail is an iconic part of the UK’s infrastruc…”

“I certainly will. As I mentioned a moment ago, the more dispersed geography of Scotland means that the postal service is often even more of a lifeline in our part of the world. I will certainly follow up that point with Scottish Ministers, and with colleagues in the Department of Health and Social Care. On the future o…”

“I can certainly do that. Through Ofcom, Royal Mail has obligations in terms of the accessibility of post boxes, and I will raise my hon. Friend’s point with the chief executive of Royal Mail when I meet with him next week. The challenges faced by Royal Mail are shared in most European countries, which are taking steps …”

“It has been a pleasure to listen and respond to this passionate debate. Before we get into the things on which we may disagree, I should say that it has been really interesting to hear how many times people have used metaphors like “heart and soul” and “backbone” when talking about their local high streets and local bu…”

“In a moment, I will come to our plans to reduce the mountain of red tape that the right hon. Member’s Government left us with, and to reduce the cost of that red tape. Conservative Member after Conservative Member spoke about the Employment Rights Bill. I should say at the outset that we want the rights in that Bill to…”

“The whole of Government are focused on delivering the industrial strategy, and significant progress has already been made. This month, we published our new quarterly update, which reports on the key economic indicators for growth-driving sectors, delivery milestones and major investments. With over £250 billion of inve…”

“Thank you, Mr Speaker. I am glad that those on the Opposition Benches recognise excellence when they see it.”

“The Government have launched our small business plan, which my predecessor, my hon. Friend the Member for Harrow West (Gareth Thomas), did so much great work on. “Backing your Business” outlines how we will make thriving small and medium-sized businesses a reality across the UK. We are unlocking billions of pounds in f…”

“I thank the hon. Lady for her kind words on my new appointment. I will not get ahead of announcements on that, but given the importance of skills to the industrial strategy, we are not waiting for those announcements. We have had TechFirst, a £187 million investment in secondary school pupils, undergraduates, PhD stude…”

“To stand up and raise uncertainty, and then complain about it, is quite something. The shadow Minister said that we are slowing growth; we were the fastest-growing economy in the G7 in the first half of 2025. We are now the fourth-largest exporter in the world, and we have had five interest-rate cuts in a row—”

“We are fast approaching the time of year when I have to tell my children that they will have to wait until Christmas to find out what their presents are. The hon. Gentleman knows that he has to wait until the Budget to find out what is in the Budget. He mentioned planning. We have made huge changes to planning rules, w…”