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7.6 pm
Mr. Brian Cotter (Weston-super-Mare): I welcome this opportunity to make my maiden speech in today's important Budget debate and I thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, for calling me. I congratulate the hon. Member for Eastwood (Mr. Murphy) on his interesting maiden speech and I can assure him that there are plenty of conveniences in Weston-super-Mare.
I pay tribute to my predecessor, Sir Jerry Wiggin, who represented Weston-super-Mare for 26 years. He was notable for his strong and uncompromising views and his tenacity in representing the constituency for that length of time. I should particularly mention Sir Jerry's long service; I am always ready to rise to a challenge and it will be my aim to reach or even surpass his achievement--God willing.
Weston-super-Mare has enormous charm, and I thoroughly recommend it to my colleagues in the House. It has a mixture of old charm and modern technology. The sea front is almost without modern high-rise buildings--
a rare thing now. It has a pier to rival any other, and many other attractive seaside features. We soon hope to attract even more money from tourists at a new casino--perhaps colleagues might care to have a dabble. A traditional yet forward-looking resort, it is one of the first in the country to get on to the Internet.
Weston-super-Mare is full of small businesses, with hotels, guest houses, a great variety of shops--many small and privately owned--manufacturing companies, distributors, and information technology and engineering firms. That is why I am particularly glad to be the Liberal Democrat small business spokesman, especially as I have a background as managing director of a small manufacturing company.
This Budget should be about strengthening the economy and creating jobs; I should like to plead the cause of small businesses. Small businesses account for nearly 40 per cent. of total United Kingdom turnover and employ 50 per cent. of the total private sector work force. If just one job were created in every small business, it would solve the unemployment problem overnight. I am especially glad to be making my maiden speech on business matters, because the previous Liberal Member of Parliament for Weston-super-Mare, Mr. Frank Murrell, was also in business; in his maiden speech on 30 May 1924, he spoke on industrial councils and about minimising unemployment--a subject still current today.
The small business field has had a tough time and now is the time to revitalise and support it. My colleagues and I warmly welcome the Government's proposed late payment Bill and I shall do all I can to work with the Government to ensure that a sound Bill is passed. That may help to answer the concern expressed earlier about cash flow in small businesses. Another approach we have long argued for is the establishment of regional development agencies--a proposal now in consultation. I am glad that one of the agencies' main aims will be to support the small business sector.
What do small businesses need that the Government or devolved agencies can provide? They need regionally based economic development and investment plans involving local people to provide opportunities for growth. Businesses need a fairer rating system, collected locally and with the receipts used locally. In the past, many attempts have been made to give support to, or establish schemes of various sorts for, small businesses, but, in my experience as a small business man, such schemes have frequently been short term and variable throughout the country. In addition, much money has been wasted by duplication of effort and vast bureaucracies and not enough has reached the intended point of delivery. That is why the whole of the past approach to giving the support and help that businesses need must be re-examined and slimmed down--concentrated, not duplicated. We need to use the best practice, one-stop-shop approach. A serious reassessment of the whole business support system is needed and I hope that the Government will consider doing that.
The Government must now realise that we are at an economic crossroads--a moment of decision when we can either push the economy forward or take a step back. It is not a difficult decision to make. It is now that we must capitalise on our skills and go up-market into high-value-added goods and high-skilled production. That means valuing our businesses, both large and small.
Large firms are shifting from being conglomerate businesses to being slimline enterprises, and small businesses are playing a bigger role as suppliers of specialist services. Small firms represent the bulk of employment in Great Britain, yet we are still failing to give them the structures and support that they need. Part of that support can be achieved by giving businesses stability. We have to reduce the short-termism in Britain's economic cycle. The handing over of some responsibility to the Bank of England is a step in the right direction, but we must also allow local authorities to raise private finance for investment in local communities.
Small businesses require stable and sustainable growth in a low-inflation environment, with an independent bank and a realistic inflation target. Long-term investment in this country's productive capabilities and responsible fiscal management are needed to ensure that that comes about. We can no longer put up with politically motivated tax cuts and the continuation of the boom-bust cycle. However, I welcome the investment help for small businesses announced in the Budget.
The Budget must be about creating stability in our economy and putting more money into things that matter--education and health. Hard decisions may have to be taken, but let us take them--the interests of the people of this country come first. For the sake of our future generations, we cannot squander the opportunity to get our education system back on track and to provide everybody with high-quality care.
Mrs. Ann Keen (Brentford and Isleworth):
Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, for giving me the privilege of making my maiden speech on such a memorable day--the new Labour Government's Budget day. I am indeed honoured. I congratulate the hon. Member for Weston-super-Mare (Mr. Cotter) on most of his comments, especially those relating to small businesses, but I disagree with the latter part of his speech.
I start by thanking all the members of staff who work within the Palace of Westminster. They have welcomed all the new Members and I thank them for their patience, their knowledge and their--at times, much-needed--sense of humour. I congratulate every one of them. My hon. Friend the Member for Crawley (Laura Moffatt) and I are the first two nurses to enter the House of Commons as Members of Parliament, but we are, of course, not the first nurses to enter the Palace. Again, I congratulate my colleagues in the nursing profession who, for many years, have worked in the House of Commons caring for hon. Members.
I thank the people of Brentford and Isleworth for giving me the privilege and honour of representing them in the House. I am proud to have been the Labour candidate for Brentford and Isleworth in the 1987 and 1992 general elections, so it is a great honour that I am now here as the elected Member of Parliament.
It is traditional to refer to one's predecessors in one's maiden speech. When I first fought the seat in 1987, the constituency was represented by Sir Barney Hayhoe, now Lord Hayhoe, who represented the constituency for over 20 years and was well respected both in the House and in the constituency. He retired in 1992 and was followed by Nirj Deva. Now, I welcome this opportunity to represent my constituency and I look forward to being in the House for some time.
The constituency of Brentford and Isleworth is a diverse one, both culturally and economically. We celebrate that diversity and, having been the candidate and now the Member of Parliament, I have had the privilege of being welcomed into many cultures. I have much to learn, but I have been welcomed as a member of a family. What is so good about my constituency is that we are all one.
The constituency starts at Hounslow. It contains the great international airport at Heathrow and I look forward to an integrated transport system that will get many of my colleagues out of Heathrow and into our great capital city with far greater ease than has hitherto been the case. It contains the historic town of Isleworth as well as Osterley, Brentford, where I am a resident, and Chiswick. We have many great parks--Syon park, Osterley park, Chiswick house and Gunnersbury park. They are the lungs that supply our air, and fight the pollution from the airport--one cannot have something that makes such good economic sense without suffering some disadvantages, but I hope that the new Labour Government will be looking at that.
Chiswick is, of course, famous for Hogarth, but I am extremely proud of all my constituents--they are all fairly famous. One of them has today reached the quarter finals at Wimbledon--Tim Henman. I know that the House would want me to send our congratulations to him--and, by the way, I am not doing anything in particular next Sunday!
The River Thames, the boat race, the Strand on the Green--these are all good features of the constituency which illustrate its diversity. Many companies have decided to locate their multinational headquarters in what was the golden mile of Brentford. I am fortunate also to have a brewery--my father is proud of me--known as Fuller's brewery. As a good constituency Member, I am obliged to sample the goods to make sure that they are all right for my constituents.
We also have Brentford football club, which should have gone up to the first division in May, but did not quite make it, sad to say. I think the club should be in the Premier League--I am sure that it will be one day.
The West Middlesex University hospital and its staff certainly are in the premier league. Its health workers, and those of the trust, show all the skills and commitment that entitle them to a place in the premier league.
Unfortunately, the hospital building is not so good. I look forward to an announcement soon that a start will be made on rebuilding the hospital. I first worked there in 1985; some of the patients have told me that they would sooner spend the night on a trolley than in one of the wards, which all the experts say are a disgrace.
We need to rebuild our health service. I am proud to represent the community nursing profession in the House and to be able to express my points of view about our
great health service, which has taken such a beating over the past 18 years. I congratulate the Chancellor on his announcements today. I am sure that all health workers, patients and families will also congratulate him on an excellent Budget which will open the door to a breath of freedom for all the people of this country.
Health care is not delivered by hospitals, doctors, nurses or paramedic teams: it is delivered by what the Budget provides for. The fact is that health is about poverty, housing, access to transport, and the safety of the working environment. It is also about incomes derived from work. There is no question but that poverty and ill health are linked. The Labour Government in 1979 commissioned the Black report which unfortunately was ignored by the Conservatives for the next 18 years. They refused to acknowledge the links between poverty and ill-health.
My football team did not nearly get to the first division by luck; it nearly got there by investment. Its manager, David Webb, invested in the youth side. Today, our Chancellor is investing in our youth. I welcome the opportunity to go to my constituency tomorrow and see the young people there.
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