MP: UK will remain a competitive place to do business
John Baron MP was nominated to be on the Delegated Legislation Committee yesterday evening which put the recommendations of the Low Pay Commission into legal effect. These recommendations will see the National Living Wage rise from £9.50/hour rise to £10.42/hour, and the National Minimum Wage rise from £9.18 to £10.18/hour.
John said,
“These regulations will ensure that 2.5 million of the poorest-paid people will be helped; their pay will be kept in line with inflation, just at the moment when that is most needed because of the cost of living crisis. This will have a multiplier effect on the wider economy…”
“The regulations are another step towards the achievement of a high-wage, high-tech, high-employment and high-growth economy, which is what we need to achieve…For too long, businesses have relied on cheap labour from Europe as a substitute for investment, and that has impacted on our productivity figures.”
“There will of course be a cost to business, but inward investment and jobs are decided by…levels of corporation tax, labour market flexibility, R&D in our universities and the reputation of those universities and high-research institutes. It is also about the English language, the rule of law and all those factors in combination…”
“The litmus test of how well an economy is doing – or certainly one of the litmus tests – is the unemployment rate, and we should not forget that our unemployment rate is nearly half that of the EU.”
“…I make a final plea to the Minister…At a point where corporation tax will be increased by this Government, I ask him to take this message back to his Department and to Government…[that] with the public finances improving, the rise in corporation tax and the extent of that rise needs to be revisited…”
Notes to Editors:
- The full transcript of John’s speech is online at: https://bit.ly/3SSHXM8.
