Speeches by Bryant.

“Mr Speaker, I will find some Strepsils for you later.”

“When I visited those at the de-alcoholisation unit at another brewery, the Budweiser factory just outside Newport, last week, they said that one of the really important things was being able to diversify, because of changing drinking habits in the UK. However, they also want the British Government to focus on making su…”

“My hon. Friend refers to his long and proud career in the industry. It can’t have been that long, because he is so young—[Interruption.] I am being nice. One thing I have felt very strongly about for a long time is that the hospitality industry in the UK needs to consider a job in the industry as a proper, honourable c…”

“We are championing investment across every nation and region. At the recent regional investment summit and Wales investment summit, we showcased the strengths of our world-leading sectors and secured billions in private investment and commitments. We are making the UK the best place to start, scale and invest, while cu…”

“I agree with my hon. Friend that gnats— I would not want to cast aspersions on any other kind, obviously—can be a terrible problem in Scotland. The aviation industry in the UK is an important sector and is part of one of the key sectors that we have identified in the industrial strategy. We want to ensure that all our …”

“Look, the single most important thing is that everybody, including the Liberal Democrats and the Conservative Government, when they were in power, knew that after the revaluation in 2021—on the back of covid—there would be significant increases when a new revaluation came in 2024. Everybody was aware of that. At the sa…”

“The hon. Member seems to have lost the plot, frankly. Let me just point something out to him: what was average growth under the Tories? It was 1.5%. What is it under Labour? It is 2.2%. Which is higher? It is higher under Labour than the Tories. Average employment in the UK under the Tories was 73.8%. What is it under …”

“We are looking at all those issues in the round. We need to ensure that there is the support that people need in a variety of different ways. Some of that is about ensuring that bills get paid on time and some is making sure that those businesses have the access to finance that they have historically found difficult. W…”

“Far be it from me to agree with a Lib Dem but, broadly speaking, I do. The truth is, as the Leader of the Opposition has now admitted, Brexit was a self-inflicted shock—and not just a small shock. It is as if the Conservatives decided to throw the three-bar electric fire into the bath while it was plugged in and they w…”

“First of all, we have given £5 billion more to the Scottish Government; I sometimes just wish they would stop whining and moaning, and get on with delivering what they can with the budget that we provided to them. Secondly, I have met the Scotch Whisky Association frequently since I came into this post at the beginning…”

“Yes.”

“I apologise on behalf of the Secretary of State, who is striking deals in the United States of America. In recent weeks, we have announced £2.5 billion of investment in the UK’s first small modular reactor site at Wylfa, launched a critical minerals strategy and done a deal with the US on pharmaceuticals. Mr Speaker, i…”

“It is a bit of a cheek, isn’t it, the Conservatives coming and talking about a steel strategy when they had absolutely no strategy and did not even choose to go and visit some of the steelworks that we are talking about. There will be a steel strategy. The Under-Secretary of State for Business and Trade (Chris McDonald…”

“We are going to get the best possible deal that we can out of the European Union. That is one of the reasons that I was in Brussels only yesterday alongside Nick Thomas-Symonds, the Minister for the Cabinet Office. We are getting a better deal from the European Union. We want to ensure that we have frictionless trade w…”

“I am very happy to meet my hon. Friend. The high street is a really important part of ensuring that we have economic growth across the whole of the United Kingdom, rather than just in some parts of it. One of the things we have been looking at is the fact that when a high street has a cinema, that often makes it a plac…”

“I can count; the hon. Member cannot. Let me remind him: growth under the Tories was 1.5%, and growth under Labour is 2.2%. Which is higher? It is higher under Labour, isn’t it? Why did we lose the vote last night? Because of 25 Tory hereditary peers. Why on earth would that be? Why do we think they might not be willing…”

“Look, we want to back British entrepreneurs and investors. That is why we addressed some of the key issues in our small business strategy, which we published earlier this year, in particular late payments. The Conservative Government refused to tackle that in any serious way across their 14 years. It is why we are also…”

“I welcome my hon. Friend’s point, which is extremely well made. I am very happy to have a conversation with him afterwards about the precise nature of the discussions that are ongoing. Finally, I too visited one of my small businesses on small business Saturday, a great cake shop called Only Crumbs. Sadly, under the To…”

“My hon. Friend makes a very good point: advanced manufacturing and the creative industries come together in this area, because it is also about broadcasting. Those are two of the sectors in our industrial strategy that we are very keen to motor on with, and one or other of us in the ministerial team will be very happy …”

“My hon. Friend is quite right to raise the issue of Llanwern; sometimes we focus on some of the other steelworks in the UK, but this is about the whole sector. I met Commissioner Šefčovič yesterday; we are very much on the case of trying to sort out precisely where we land with the EU safeguard, but we also need to ens…”