The Chancellor today set out the progress that has been made to deliver on the Government’s vision for ensuring regulators and regulation support growth. The government has published Regulation Action Plan – Progress Update and Next Steps, setting out how the government is going further to realise the vision we...

The Chancellor today set out the progress that has been made to deliver on the Government’s vision for ensuring regulators and regulation support growth. The government has published Regulation Action Plan – Progress Update and Next Steps, setting out how the government is going further to realise the vision we...

My hon Friend the Minister for Small Business and Economic Transformation (Blair McDougall MP) has today made the following statement.

The Chancellor today set out the progress that has been made to deliver on the Government’s vision for ensuring regulators and regulation support growth. The government has published Regulation Action Plan...

My hon Friend the Minister for Small Business and Economic Transformation (Blair McDougall MP) has today made the following statement.

The Chancellor today set out the progress that has been made to deliver on the Government’s vision for ensuring regulators and regulation support growth. The government has published Regulation Action Plan...

May I put on record that I did not use the term “right hon.” in my earlier intervention on the right hon. Gentleman and wish to correct that? Also, the right hon. Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Sir Iain Duncan Smith) made a very important point about bigger businesses...

May I put on record that I did not use the term “right hon.” in my earlier intervention on the right hon. Gentleman and wish to correct that? Also, the right hon. Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Sir Iain Duncan Smith) made a very important point about bigger businesses...

I am again grateful to the hon. Gentleman. It seems to me that there is a mood across the House tonight that more must be done. This Minister, as an experienced Member of the House, will have gathered that that mood could easily, from this small beginning, become a crescendo...

I am again grateful to the hon. Gentleman. It seems to me that there is a mood across the House tonight that more must be done. This Minister, as an experienced Member of the House, will have gathered that that mood could easily, from this small beginning, become a crescendo...

Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?

Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?

Because I am a long-standing friend of the hon. Gentleman, I will certainly give way to him, but then I must make progress.

Because I am a long-standing friend of the hon. Gentleman, I will certainly give way to him, but then I must make progress.

I am very grateful to the right hon. Gentleman, who does the House a favour in his work tonight. I should first declare an interest, as I have a close relative who works for the Competition and Markets Authority. I do not wish to comment on competition and mergers, though...

I am very grateful to the right hon. Gentleman, who does the House a favour in his work tonight. I should first declare an interest, as I have a close relative who works for the Competition and Markets Authority. I do not wish to comment on competition and mergers, though...

I am most grateful for the hon. Gentleman’s support.

During the pandemic, the UK Government introduced the business rates relief package, which allowed businesses with commercial leases to claim relief on their business rates. That was designed to help firms with physical stores compensate for lost footfall during the lockdowns, and...

I am most grateful for the hon. Gentleman’s support.

During the pandemic, the UK Government introduced the business rates relief package, which allowed businesses with commercial leases to claim relief on their business rates. That was designed to help firms with physical stores compensate for lost footfall during the lockdowns, and...

In the usual way, I thank the right hon. Member for South Holland and The Deepings (Sir John Hayes) for securing this debate. Having crossed swords with him when our positions were reversed, I approached this debate with particular wariness, not least because he has assembled a very distinguished cross-party...

In the usual way, I thank the right hon. Member for South Holland and The Deepings (Sir John Hayes) for securing this debate. Having crossed swords with him when our positions were reversed, I approached this debate with particular wariness, not least because he has assembled a very distinguished cross-party...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for the way in which he is responding. There is a close parallel between the way the Post Office is constructed—its business arrangement, and the connection between independent post offices and the centre—and the matters that I described. Will he ensure that his small business...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for the way in which he is responding. There is a close parallel between the way the Post Office is constructed—its business arrangement, and the connection between independent post offices and the centre—and the matters that I described. Will he ensure that his small business...

I have already given a flavour of what might be in the small business strategy. I will leave the right hon. Gentleman to wait a little longer, if I may—he will have to forgive me—before he sees the strategy in full.

Let me come to the substance of the right hon....

I have already given a flavour of what might be in the small business strategy. I will leave the right hon. Gentleman to wait a little longer, if I may—he will have to forgive me—before he sees the strategy in full.

Let me come to the substance of the right hon....

Is the Minister aware—this is my understanding from the franchisees—that Vodafone left the BFA, and walked away from its self-regulatory framework and code of conduct?

Is the Minister aware—this is my understanding from the franchisees—that Vodafone left the BFA, and walked away from its self-regulatory framework and code of conduct?

My hon. Friend will forgive me, but I will not comment on the particular circumstances of Vodafone and its relationship with franchisees in general, or those former franchisees who are bringing court action. However, I note his comment.

My hon. Friend will forgive me, but I will not comment on the particular circumstances of Vodafone and its relationship with franchisees in general, or those former franchisees who are bringing court action. However, I note his comment.

I have worked with the Minister on a number of issues relating to his ministerial role, and he has always been helpful and proactive. As he is representing His Majesty’s Government, does he feel that there is a need to legislate on this issue, and that the code of conduct...

I have worked with the Minister on a number of issues relating to his ministerial role, and he has always been helpful and proactive. As he is representing His Majesty’s Government, does he feel that there is a need to legislate on this issue, and that the code of conduct...

As I said, I recognise that this case has raised concerns across the House about the quality and effectiveness of the legislation that governs franchisees and, indeed, other businesses, and about the arrangements around franchisees, and their relationships. As I say, up to now, we have not had significant representations...

As I said, I recognise that this case has raised concerns across the House about the quality and effectiveness of the legislation that governs franchisees and, indeed, other businesses, and about the arrangements around franchisees, and their relationships. As I say, up to now, we have not had significant representations...

The Minister is absolutely right, of course. Contract law is well established and business contracts are enforceable in the way that he sets out, but the problem with franchising is that it is a hierarchical relationship that creates a kind of dependency. The franchisee is dependent on the larger business,...

The Minister is absolutely right, of course. Contract law is well established and business contracts are enforceable in the way that he sets out, but the problem with franchising is that it is a hierarchical relationship that creates a kind of dependency. The franchisee is dependent on the larger business,...

The right hon. Gentleman made a very interesting speech with a series of interesting analogies, and I have noted those and the points that he made. As I have said, I will track this particular court case and its conclusions. I always try to make myself available when hon. and...

The right hon. Gentleman made a very interesting speech with a series of interesting analogies, and I have noted those and the points that he made. As I have said, I will track this particular court case and its conclusions. I always try to make myself available when hon. and...

Agreed to on question.

Agreed to on question.

Speaking long before I was born, G. K. Chesterton said that

“big business…is now organized like an army. It is, as some would say…militarism…without the military virtues.”

Heaven knows what he would say if he was alive now, as global corporations have such influence on all our lives.

Yet it is the small...

Speaking long before I was born, G. K. Chesterton said that

“big business…is now organized like an army. It is, as some would say…militarism…without the military virtues.”

Heaven knows what he would say if he was alive now, as global corporations have such influence on all our lives.

Yet it is the small...

You wouldn’t get a car for 500 quid though, John!

You wouldn’t get a car for 500 quid though, John!