Callum Anderson MP: speeches

Speeches

• 23 Jun 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  Closing the disability employment gap is a matter of opportunity for disabled people in my constituency. I recently visited M&M Supplies, a stand-out company in Bletchley, not only for its many exporting successes but because a quarter of its workforce are adults with learning disabilities and difficulties—and that is thanks mainly to the vision of managing director Frank Purcell, who works with organisations like MK SNAP to run a work experience programme for adults with disabilities. What assurances can my right hon. Friend give me that this Government are committed to working with employers to ensure that no disabled people in my constituency are written off?

• 13 May 2025 · Mansion House Accord · Hansard source

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  The Mansion House accord is clearly a welcome step in aligning the UK’s pool of domestic pension capital with long-term growth, greater economic sovereignty and financial security in retirement. For this to succeed, we need greater clarity in who is stepping up, so can the Minister update the House on what discussions he is having with the industry about how firms intend to report progress under the accord in a clear and transparent way?

• 12 May 2025 · Private Pension Pots: Young People · Hansard source

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  If we want young people, including those in my constituency, to believe in the value of long-term investing, they need to see that their pensions are helping to build the country that they live in and are not just distant markets. Will the Minister set out what steps he is taking to ensure that the Government’s pensions reforms encourage funds to invest more in UK infrastructure and hybrid companies?

• 22 Apr 2025 · Retail Investment · Hansard source

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  I beg to move, That this House has considered Government support for retail investment. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mrs Hobhouse. I thank my hon. Friend the Economic Secretary to the Treasury for joining us today and for her continued engagement on this subject, and I thank hon. Members from across the House for making time for the debate. I am grateful for the opportunity to raise the matter of retail investment in the UK stock market. This is about more than just the financial sector or the City of London; it is about how people across our country, from Sunderland to Swansea and Buckingham to Bletchley, can build more secure financial futures while helping the UK economy to grow. When people use their own money to invest in shares, Government bonds or other regulated financial products, that is a force for good. It gives them agency and an opportunity to own a stake in the companies that they work for, buy from and depend on in everyday life. At its best, it allows people from every corner of our country to share in the success of our economy, to grow their wealth, to build financial resilience and to prepare for life’s great milestones, such as weddings, and unexpected moments. Retail investment does not just help individuals; it helps companies, too. The capital that individuals invest provides the fuel for companies to expand, innovate and create jobs in every part of the UK. That is good for productivity, wages and Britain’s international competitiveness. Having more individual investors also strengthens our financial markets. They bring more stability, deliver more liquidity to our capital markets and provide a stronger base of support for UK quoted companies, making them more resilient to global shocks—be they pandemics or unexpected impositions of tariffs—and better equipped to focus on building their commercial offer. The UK has a proud history as a global financial centre. We attract capital from across the world, and we should be proud to do so. We used to pair that with high levels of retail participation by British citizens, but sadly that has changed. The data paints a stark picture. In the early 1960s, individuals in the UK owned, by value, a little over half of all shares traded on the London stock exchange; today that figure is barely 10%. At the same time, overseas ownership of UK shares has risen to almost 58%. What is more, according to studies from the London-based New Financial think-tank, the proportion of UK households that directly own shares has halved in under two decades, from 22% in 2004 to just 11% in 2022. That is far below the proportion in many developed countries, such as Sweden, where over a fifth of households own shares. There are many interconnected reasons behind those trends, and I do not propose to examine each in detail right now. Of course, some people simply cannot afford to invest, particularly when the cost of living remains high; others feel that they do not know where to begin or do not trust the system to work for them; and many are simply more comfortable with cash, even though it often fails to keep pace with inflation.

• 23 Jan 2025 · Agricultural and Business Property Reliefs: OBR Costing · Hansard source

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  Does my hon. Friend agree that, once again, the Conservative party has failed to agree with the tough decisions we have made and has no idea how to raise the revenue to finance the public services that benefit rural communities like mine in north Buckinghamshire?

• 21 Jan 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  Recent developments in the UK investment trust sector have once again shone a light on the crucial role that retail investors play in our financial markets. In her Mansion House speech last November, the Chancellor rightly prioritised leveraging domestic pension capital to drive the Government’s economic growth mission. Does the Minister agree that greater retail participation in UK financial markets also supports growth and democratises wealth, and will she meet me to discuss how the Government can better support access to financial markets for individuals, including in my constituency?

• 4 Nov 2024 · Income Tax (Charge) · Hansard source

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  I must say that I am not quite sure how I can follow that. I congratulate my hon. Friends the Members for Huddersfield (Harpreet Uppal), for North Somerset (Sadik Al-Hassan) and for Wrexham (Andrew Ranger) on their excellent maiden speeches. I am pleased to add my support to the Budget that my right hon. Friend the Chancellor put forward last week. It provides a fresh start for our families in the towns, villages and cities that comprise the constituency of Buckingham and Bletchley. Given this Labour Government’s dire economic inheritance, the Budget has done a great job not only of addressing the immediate challenges that my constituents face, but more importantly of laying the foundations for a resilient economy that will spread opportunity and deliver the down payment that we need on the Government’s ambition to tackle child poverty. To understand why this Budget is so crucial, we need to take a moment to recognise the scale of the economic and social challenge that we face. Since the financial crisis, the UK’s productivity has grown at just 0.7% per year—a sharp drop from the 2.1% annual growth rate that we saw in the 14 years beforehand. While other advanced economies have experienced a similar slowdown, the UK has been hit particularly hard, not least as a result of the previous Government’s shying away from taking the proper long-term decisions for our economy. This has led to the UK’s productivity being 28% lower than that of the United States and far lower than that of our European competitors such as France and Germany. For many working people across the country and in my constituency, the consequences are stark, with a loss of almost £11,000 a year in potential wages over the past 15 years. Members across the House will have seen how that has manifested itself in rising child poverty and in the routine use of food banks, which my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions mentioned. That is why measures such as the fair repayment rate and the extension of the household support fund are so vital, as they provide the lifeline that families in my constituency and across the country so desperately need. Another key issue correctly identified by the Chancellor is the low level of public and private investment in the UK compared with our peers. For almost my entire lifetime, the UK has been a laggard in that area—we have been at the bottom of the G7 rankings for public and private investment for 24 of the past 30 years. I am pleased that this Budget represents a vital first step in correcting course, with a credible package of investment in infrastructure, schools and hospitals. That includes East West Rail in my constituency, and my constituents in Bletchley and Winslow are looking forward to the opportunities from that. I am pleased to support this Budget. It gives working people and their families a hand up, builds strong foundations and ensures that our economy will be competitive in the long run.