Speeches by Reynolds.

“Well, there aren’t though, are there? You said that you are happy that if one of your suppliers breaks the law by paying below the minimum wage you think that they just need to fix it. You don’t think that the appropriate sanction is to say, “You are not appropriate to work with us”. Do you think the correct message to…”

“Is the Fair Work Agency a compliance body or an enforcement body and what is the difference between the two?”

“Do you think the same agency can effectively do both? Can they play both good cop and bad cop? If they are compliance and enforcement, would it not be seen that, “The Fair Work Agency is coming with its enforcement hat on” but actually they are there to do compliance? Can they do both? Will expecting them to do both di…”

“You are the general counsel for Europe, the Middle East and the whole of Africa, so it probably is appropriate, in your elevated senior position within the organisation, to make comment on what is an appropriate number. Would you say that 50 hours a week is appropriate?”

“WASPI women across the UK have been let down time and again, including by this statement. In the Budget, the Chancellor announced £20 billion of additional borrowing this year, and an average of £32 billion over the next five years. How does the Secretary of State expect WASPI women to believe that the Government canno…”

“Ben and Henry, otherwise known as the Ocean Oarsmen, will be rowing across the Atlantic next year for the Alexander Devine children’s hospice in Maidenhead, with a target of raising £50,000. That hospice, Thames hospice and many others are struggling with rising costs and the planned increase in employer national insur…”

“Hurley and Cookham in my constituency have been hit time and again by storms. What work are the Government doing to protect villages along the Thames, which often get flooded several days after a storm has passed?”

“We know that the takeover of Royal Mail by Daniel Křetínský’s EPH has been called into Government to face scrutiny on national security issues. Would you confirm why that review is taking so long and assure this Committee that his previous business dealings with Russia are being fully scrutinised?”

“That was one where the interim payment was meant to be done within a few weeks and it took seven. That was longer than the initial timeframe for his interim payment.”

“You spoke about the response to claims in that answer. Several weeks ago we spoke to Dewi Lewis, who is currently going through the Horizon convictions redress scheme. It took seven weeks for his initial payment to be received, which coincidentally only arrived the day after he was confirmed that he would be coming to …”

“The high streets taskforce has said that footfall in 2023 is still 9% down on where it was pre-covid. What work are you seeing as vital to being able to get that footfall back up to support these struggling high streets?”

“You can understand why high street businesses in Maidenhead are telling me that they feel let down, when you have said that your aim is to have the fastest rate of sustainable growth in the G7 and that you want to be a pro-business party. A small restaurant chain in my constituency has told me that the change from 75% …”

“Your Parliamentary Under-Secretary said last month that “revitalising our high streets is a priority for this Government”. How does reducing the business rate relief for retail, hospitality and leisure from 75% to 40% revitalise our high streets?”

“What would you be prepared to do to avoid Trump’s tariffs? Would you accept poorer-quality goods or chlorinated chicken?”

“My hon. Friend mentions several businesses in her constituency that will be impacted by the changes. I spoke recently to a small restaurant owner in my constituency. They have six restaurants across the south of England and they say that the business rates changes, plus other Budget measures, will cost their business £…”

“The advice from Great Western Railway this morning was not to travel. Following the question from my hon. Friend the Member for Hazel Grove (Lisa Smart), how many meetings has the Secretary of State had with the Transport Secretary about the resilience of Great Western Railway?”

“The hon. Gentleman raises a legitimate point that is considerably outside the remit of the Department for Business and Trade. He is right to put that issue on the record. There will be opportunity for clarity in that space. I understand why, for his constituents, he will want to ask that question in the Budget debate. …”

“The hon. Gentleman should recognise that the Chancellor did not make an announcement on personal tax thresholds, which, for some Conservative Members, was unexpected and reflected the difficult inheritance of the new Government. Labour Members are proud of the minimum wage, now called the living wage, which has been on…”

“On Friday, I visited an agricultural college in my constituency, where I heard concerns about how the changes in this Budget will potentially strip an industry of young farmers. What discussions did the Minister have with farming stakeholders on changes to the agricultural property relief prior to the Budget?”

“It was not that many years ago that I was at university—[Laughter.] Who would have thought it? Just before the Secretary of State took to her feet, I checked my student loan balance, and it is just over £60,000. For many students at university, the elimination of maintenance grants was devastating, and the reintroducti…”