Lisa Smart

I will talk in particular about two organisations in my constituency that have contacted me about the subject we are debating. For context, we know that small businesses have had a tough time for a number of years. They have been struggling with rising prices, interest rates and input costs going up. They were absolutely hammered by the previous Conservative Government, who broke their promise to reform business rates, trapped them under a mountain of red tape and made it much harder and more expensive to trade internationally. Making things harder for small businesses and their workers just is not right. They are the lifeblood of our economy and are exactly where we should be looking for the growth we all need. When we are talking about small businesses, we are also talking about community pharmacies, hospices and GP practices, all of which will be impacted by this tax rise. We on the Liberal Democrat Benches are particularly worried, as the House would imagine, about the impact of these tax rises on our health and social care sector. We are worried about what it means for social care providers, for the families who depend on them and for the local councils that have to find the funding for many of them. Raising the employment allowance will shield only the very smallest, leaving thousands of small organisations still negatively affected. In the Chief Secretary’s opening remarks, he asked for ideas about where else he might find some tax revenue. I really encourage him, and indeed all Government Members, to reread the 2024 Lib Dem manifesto—I am sure they have read it at least once. As my hon. Friend the Member for St Albans (Daisy Cooper) laid out from our Front Bench, the Government could reverse the tax cuts that the previous Government gave to the big banks, reform capital gains tax so that it is applied in a much fairer way, and charge the gambling giants more so that they pay their fair share. I turn to the two organisations in my constituency. A childcare company got in touch because, like many early years settings, it allocates 70% of its revenue to staff wages, and annual increases to the national living wage combined with the increase in NICs will make it impossible to pay for rent, staff improvement and training. That will just make the staffing crisis worse, which is the exact opposite of what the Government say they want.