Answer from Hansard

Gareth Thomas (Harrow West) (Lab/Co-op)

Over the past five years, SMEs have faced a challenging operating environment because of the consequences of the Liz Truss Budget, the poorly negotiated trade deal with Europe, covid and increasing global uncertainty. Interest rates have come down four times under this Government, we have negotiated a new trade deal with Europe and, complementing our industrial and trade strategies, we will bring forward an SME strategy to put in place further long-term support to help SMEs start up and expand.