Bradley Thomas MP: speeches

Speeches

• 26 Feb 2025 · British Indian Ocean Territory · Hansard source

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  My right hon. Friend touches on the point about the ICJ. Does he agree that the ICJ decision is not only non-binding but perverse? Two of the judges on the court—Kirill Gevorgian, who is a key acolyte of Putin, and Xue Hanqin, a Chinese official—voted against condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and do not represent anything other than the interests of our adversaries.

• 26 Feb 2025 · Family Businesses · Hansard source

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  The hon. Gentleman’s intervention is a good one, in that he demonstrates that his party believes philosophically that it has to either tax or cut. The Government have no appreciation of the fact that money could be spent more effectively in the first instance. It is a fundamental ideological weakness of the Government.

• 26 Feb 2025 · Family Businesses · Hansard source

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  The Government continually talk about how the Chancellor has shaved one penny off a pint, but many publicans in my constituency tell me that they are having to find an extra £2,000 a month for additional costs as a result of the Government’s Budget. Does the Minister accept that a penny off a pint is futile if there are no pubs left to drink in?

• 26 Feb 2025 · Family Businesses · Hansard source

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  Does my hon. Friend agree that what we are discussing demonstrates quite a perverse contradiction, in that the sums are huge for the businesses involved—as he describes, they are catastrophic—but the overall net receipt to the Exchequer in the grand scheme of the Government Budget is so small, and that that is further testament to the Government’s lack of economic and political nous?

• 26 Feb 2025 · Family Businesses · Hansard source

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  I will finish by saying that I will always be proud to stand up for small businesses in Bromsgrove and the villages, and across the country.

• 26 Feb 2025 · Family Businesses · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to stand here on behalf of dozens, probably hundreds, of businesses across my constituency, many of which are run by families. It is discomforting to sit here and hear the sense of sheer denial and arrogance from Labour Members about what actually drives growth in our economy. What makes me most despondent is that the Government’s default ideological position and mentality is one where they ask, “What taxes can we raise?” Rather than asking how they as the Government can cut their cloth accordingly and pass on the benefits to the economy in the form of reduced taxes, their default position is to ask, “What taxes can we increase on the businesses that provide the very backbone of our prosperity?” In that vein, family businesses provide employment for almost 14 million people across the country and contribute £575 billion to the national economy. These businesses are founded on principles of entrepreneurialism, which I am proud that my party has championed for decades. Labour is showing once again that it does not understand the value of business; it knows only how to tax and regulate enterprise, which ultimately makes our economy weaker and poorer.

• 26 Feb 2025 · Family Businesses · Hansard source

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  Does my hon. Friend agree that the reduction in hospitality rate relief and the lower earnings threshold, which he has just acknowledged, create a perfect storm for hospitality businesses—not just because of the additional rate pressure, but because they will be less incentivised to recruit part-time workers? As has been acknowledged by other Members, that is often a route for young people into their first employment opportunity.

• 26 Feb 2025 · Family Businesses · Hansard source

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  I agree wholeheartedly. That strikes at the heart of the Government’s lack of appreciation for what fundamentally drives the economy.

• 26 Feb 2025 · Family Businesses · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend hits the nail on the head. What rings in my ears are the words from the Chancellor just a few months ago when she said that businesses need to cut their cloth accordingly. I go back to my initial point: Government must also cut their cloth accordingly. The default position of the Government in supporting business should be to spend taxpayers’ money—the funds generated by the very businesses we are talking about—in the most efficient way possible, so that we can have the lowest possible tax base in our economy to make the UK a great destination for inward investment.

• 26 Feb 2025 · Family Businesses · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend raises a very valid point, but let us look at the facts. The Government will attempt to tarnish the Conservatives’ record, but in July Labour inherited the fastest growing economy in the G7, with unemployment at near-record lows and inflation at the Bank of England’s target. We have seen a complete reversal of that, in part because the choices the Government made in the Budget have destroyed that progress. The Government’s Budget and fundamental overall approach threaten the future of family businesses through new red tape—we have the family business tax, the family farm tax and the national insurance job tax. Businesses know that they are paying more and the Government know that businesses are paying more, and I do not know how some Labour Members have the gall to sit there and think that their position is one of honesty and credibility when it comes to growing the economy. A business in my patch has got in touch with me. Jack and his family run an apprenticeship training provider. Jack said, “My parents left school with no qualifications and over the last 50 years have worked hard paying their way getting on and building a good life and business for us as a family. Since 2007, they have been majority shareholders and owners” of a business called Birmingham Electrical Training, for which Jack is also a director. He goes on to say that they “currently are the 2nd biggest provider of electrical apprenticeships in the UK” and “train 700+ apprentices in partnership with 275 local and national…contractors, many of which reside and work within” the west midlands region. They “hold a department of education contract and are recognised by the Electrical Industry in providing a crucial role in training the next generation of electricians”. That is a pertinent point when the Government are pursuing policies like the ludicrous clean heat market mechanism, which will require a step change in the number of electrical contractors to deliver on the Government’s net zero folly. Jack makes this point: “There is no way that I would be able to afford £800k worth of tax to access the business I have helped build and grow over the past 10 years” as a result of the changes announced by the Chancellor to inheritance tax. He will personally be liable for £800,000 that he will not be in a position to pay. That jeopardises one of the family businesses that form the backbone of the country’s economy. He asks, “Why would the government want to destroy family businesses, which are crucial to helping local people and provide the growth in the economy in the years to come?” That is not an isolated case. The Confederation of British Industry and Family Business UK have warned that changes to business property relief could lead to up to 125,000 job losses and reduce economic output by £9.4 billion, as their analysis found that average family businesses would cut investment by a staggering 16.5%, reduce headcount by 10.2% and lose turnover of 7.4%. That recognises the fact that the Government do not appreciate the fundamental positive benefits to wider society of promoting small businesses and their long-term financial viability. The Government are making the UK a hostile destination for investment, both large and small. They must work to ensure that our country is the most attractive destination possible for businesses to invest and grow and to make us wealthier.

• 25 Feb 2025 · Defence and Security · Hansard source

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  In a world where our adversaries are intent on blunting our national security and prosperity, I welcome the Prime Minister’s statement and thank him for his commitment to increase defence spending. Can he update the House on what actions the Government are taking to discourage BRICS nations and other emergent high-growth economies from advertently or inadvertently doing anything that would assist Russia in its pursuit of its invasion in Ukraine?

• 25 Feb 2025 · Warm Home Discount · Hansard source

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  Rising energy costs affect not just households but industry. Sir Jim Ratcliffe has said that deindustrialising Britain is a false economy because it “shifts production and emissions elsewhere”. Can the Minister tell the House what is more important: chasing an arbitrary target or protecting industry and jobs?

• 12 Feb 2025 · Energy Infrastructure: Chinese Companies · Hansard source

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  Have Ministers or officials in the Ministry of Defence, the Home Office or the security services raised any concerns with the Department over the possibility of offshore structures in British waters being used for Chinese intelligence-gathering technology? If there are sensitive matters that cannot be discussed in the House, will she commit to holding a private briefing for Members on the security implications of energy infrastructure from China?

• 10 Feb 2025 · Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill · Hansard source

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  We have heard that there are no easy answers to the topic of tackling illegal immigration, but as Members of this House, we have to find within ourselves the collective will to succeed. Since July, 24,586 people have crossed the channel, compared with 19,300 in the same period the year before, which represents a 28% increase since the election. That shows clearly that the Government need to go further with legislation to strengthen the nation’s response to illegal immigration. I cannot understand why the Government are seeking, through the Bill, to abandon X-ray assessment of asylum seekers to validate their age and prevent a surge in false applicants. All other major countries on the continent, including France and Germany, make use of medical tests to determine the age of applicants. The lack of such testing significantly increases the pull factors, and the Bill also creates a path to citizenship for illegal migrants, which provides a direct new incentive for people to come here illegally. The truth is that, in many cases, those who travel via illegal routes and seek to claim asylum in the UK travel through numerous safe countries throughout Europe before they arrive here. We have heard from other Members that this issue is global, and I implore the Home Secretary and Ministers across Government to raise it at every single meeting with foreign Governments. The stark reality is that 87% of those arriving via illegal small boats are young men in their 20s. That begs the question: where are their wives, partners and children? Surely they did not flee a devastating situation of persecution and desperation, and leave their loved ones behind to suffer.

• 10 Feb 2025 · Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill · Hansard source

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  Not at the moment. Furthermore, many of them pay thousands of pounds to smuggling gangs before they make the journey. These false cases do huge damage to public trust in the asylum system, as well as to the cases of genuine asylum seekers. Over the past two decades, our economy has become addicted to mass migration, and we have been sold the idea that our economic prosperity hinges on the notion that mass migration will deliver prosperity. We were wrong on mass migration. It has instead placed undue pressure on public services, and housing in particular. Many migrants perform valuable roles, particularly in public services such as the NHS and the care sector, but it is critical that the Government focus for the long term on rebalancing our economy in order to once again make all manner of roles attractive to UK citizens, and reduce our dependency on long-term migrant labour. Mass migration, especially by those who skipped the queue and arrived illegally, does not just impact us economically, but affects the social identity of our communities. The identity of many cities, towns and villages across the UK is changing. Part of that is down to us, as shopping habits go online, but, as reported in The Times today, there has been an increase in illegal workers in retail roles across the country, as cash-only vape shops, tanning salons, convenience stores, barbers and car washes start to litter our communities, with no social benefit to enrich our towns and villages. Not only are such businesses widely considered to be a front for money laundering, but they are linked to illegal immigration and people smuggling. They are a dangerous lure for young people who risk being drawn into county lines-style linked criminality. We owe it to the future of our country to ensure that we have a controlled, measured approach to mass migration, and to respond with every legal, social and economic lever that we have to protect against the unmitigated erosion of our identity. We must ensure that those who are granted the privilege of leave to remain in the UK are net contributors—that is, they pay more in taxes than they cost the UK taxpayer—and that the customs, traditions and culture of our country are respected. We must make the distinction between those travelling illegally and asylum seekers travelling to the UK via recognised routes of asylum, such as those who travelled to the UK from Ukraine when Putin’s illegal invasion commenced three years ago. It is a falsehood that the UK can become home to millions of people without any qualifying criteria. My constituents are not anti-immigration, but they want to see a system based on control and fairness to the UK taxpayer. I implore the Government to rethink the Bill, focus on reducing the pull factors to deter illegal migration, and invest the savings into our communities.

• 10 Feb 2025 · Rosebank and Jackdaw Oilfields · Hansard source

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  Does the Minister agree that there is a double standard in the Government backing Heathrow expansion to drive economic growth, but not providing the maximum possible support for our domestic oil and gas industry?

• 10 Feb 2025 · Biomass Generation · Hansard source

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  Will the Minister agree to publish the full, comprehensive analysis of the cost of providing support to Drax versus the alternatives?

• 10 Feb 2025 · Undersea Infrastructure · Hansard source

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  The Secretary of State agrees that the threat to critical undersea infrastructure is serious, so will he prioritise development of underwater capabilities, such as uncrewed systems, including under pillar 2 of AUKUS, and will he increase research and development investment into systems that could protect that critical undersea infrastructure?

• 10 Feb 2025 · Undersea Infrastructure · Hansard source

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  4. What steps he is taking to protect undersea infrastructure.

• 4 Feb 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  T5. Can the Minister assure the House that as the Government push to decarbonise the electricity grid, the vast majority of new electricity generation and transmission infrastructure will be built in the UK, not imported from foreign countries, including China?

• 30 Jan 2025 · Support for High Street Businesses · Hansard source

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  6. What steps he is taking to support high street businesses.

• 30 Jan 2025 · Support for High Street Businesses · Hansard source

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  Yesterday, Bromsgrove received the devastating news that it is about to lose both its Lloyds and Halifax bank branches in the town centre. Those banks are a lifeline to many small businesses, particularly those run by independent small entrepreneurs, as well as many residents who use their banking facilities on probably a weekly or daily basis. Does the Minister agree that banking hubs can be part of an ongoing solution to retain banking services in our towns? Will he support my campaign for a banking hub in Bromsgrove? Will he meet me to make that a reality?

• 28 Jan 2025 · Extremism Review · Hansard source

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  Can the Minister explain why the review appears to focus on the symptoms of extremism rather than its underlying root causes? Can he assure the House that that mindset is not directing policy in the Home Office?

• 28 Jan 2025 · Crown Court Backlog · Hansard source

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  10. What steps her Department is taking to help reduce the backlog of cases in the Crown court.

• 28 Jan 2025 · Crown Court Backlog · Hansard source

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  Constituents across Bromsgrove and the villages are sick and tired of violent criminality and lawlessness creeping over the border from Birmingham into our constituency. In the past year, Romsley Co-op and Wythall post office at Drakes Cross—both of which are on the northern fringe of my constituency—have been raided, and it is hard to believe that proximity to Birmingham is not a factor in that. What steps is the Secretary of State taking to ensure that prosecutions are pursued and custodial sentences are given in the first instance, to crack down on crime and make our area safe again?