Cameron Thomas

I stood in this Chamber in September last year and spoke of my pride to represent 52 pubs and three breweries. I warned the Government then that, despite their protestations that they were supporting businesses, their hikes in employer national insurance contributions and business rates were hitting hospitality hard. Since then, Winchcombe’s Corner Cupboard inn has closed, and the Inferno Brewery has vacated Bredon Road in Tewkesbury. If the Government do not row back their business taxation, I expect to be back with an updated list. There is one very clear route to economic growth in Gloucestershire. The M5 junction 9A and A46 Ashchurch project requires a Government injection of approximately £1 billion, but it will unlock 100 hectares of employment space while releasing capacity on the UK’s crucial trans-midlands trade corridor. It is a key enabler of the Tewkesbury garden communities project. Combined, those projects will facilitate tens of thousands of new homes, with the community infrastructure that is so desperately needed. In the current geopolitical climate, backing business for economic growth means unleashing the UK’s world-leading defence manufacturing sector, and few regions of the UK boast Gloucestershire’s engineering heritage. In my constituency, I proudly represent Babcock, GE Aerospace, Moog and Safran, each at the top of a chain of small and medium-sized manufacturing and logistics enterprises. The M5 junction 9a project can further enhance Gloucestershire’s contribution to economic growth through the sector, and help the Government to meet their pledged 3% of GDP on defence by 2030. If the UK is serious about generating growth, we cannot be cowed by taboo. We must reckon with the reality that leaving the European Union has been a diplomatic and economic disaster. Reform UK wants to abolish the Office for Budget Responsibility, perhaps because it reported that the UK economy will be 4% smaller by 2035 for having left. That will not help my constituents with the cost of living crisis. Indeed, the OBR’s estimation seems conservative compared with that of other economists. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development estimates a deficit of 5% by 2030, and the US National Bureau of Economic Research says that by last year the impact was already negative by 6% to 8%. No greater mechanism to effect economic growth is available to the Government than negotiating a new customs union with the EU. Last year I met UK businessman Steve Wisbey, who explained the nightmare of red tape that Brexit has caused UK businesses. He spoke of the additional costs of work visas since freedom of movement was surrendered, of temporary import licences, and of cash flows inhibited by VAT now paid up front. Other Members might be keen to avoid rehashing the old arguments of Brexit, but we must not deny its cost. Backing business means undoing the damage caused by Brexit.