Finance (No. 2) Bill — House of Commons, 2021-04-19
Topic: Foreign Trade
Benjamin David Bradley (Conservative, Centre-right): I wish to speak in support of the new clauses and amendments listed earlier by the Minister and in support of the plans to deliver freeports, and the benefits they can bring, across the United Kingdom. This Finance Bill is vital for our recovery plans in the coming months and years. Freeports are intended to be national hubs for global trade and investment across the UK, and to promote regeneration and job creation as part of our levelling-up agenda. Post-Brexit Britain stands to benefit hugely from being able to compete more effectively in a global market and to offer UK-based businesses the chance to take full advantage of new trading opportunities, to expand and to innovate within the UK As a Nottinghamshire MP, I want to refer specifically to the freeport based around East Midlands airport, in conjunction with local plans for a development corporation at the Ratcliffe power station, which is shortly to be decommissioned and the site put to this new use. Taken together, these proposals present a huge opportunity for bringing investment and employment to our region and to my Mansfield constituency. The site at East Midlands airport has a unique mix of logistics and transport connections, with an inter-modal hub bringing together air freight with major road and rail arteries right in the centre of the UK This is a chance for the east midlands and this unique inland freeport model at the UK’s largest pure cargo airport to take full advantage of the Government’s agenda for growth through a green recovery—we hope that green energy can form a big part of the east midlands’ future—and through new technical skills. It can play a key part in our levelling-up agenda and, as my hon. Friend the Member for Rushcliffe (Ruth Edwards) explained, it can help us keep talented people working in our constituencies in the east midlands instead of feeling that they have to disappear to the major cities to find opportunities. The partnership between Nottingham Trent University and West Nottinghamshire College in my constituency can support this development with skills development while equally benefiting from it themselves As the Minister explained, clauses 109 to 111 give the Government the ability to designate sites and offer tax incentives and reliefs at those sites. The sites are fairly and openly assessed, and across the east midlands my colleagues and I are delighted that our area has been successful. We estimate that these plans could bring up to 60,000 jobs to the region over the coming years, and my constituents stand to benefit from that in a big way. We are most grateful to the local authorities, the local enterprise partnerships and the businesses involved in putting the bid together. I ask the Minister to ensure that as much support as possible is available for our region to be able to put together the best possible business case, with advice and support from the Government and from his Department during the next phase It is telling that, before the freeports have even been set up, Labour’s amendments are already seeking to restrict and limit the benefits for businesses that invest in these sites, thereby limiting the potential for growth and job creation for my constituents. The point of these sites is to encourage innovation and investment, but it is typical of Labour Members to put ideology before jobs and livelihoods in working-class communities. They would rather fight for more power for their trade union bosses than for more wealth creation for our region and jobs for my constituents. In fact, it sounded a lot like the shadow Minister, the hon. Member for Erith and Thamesmead (Abena Oppong-Asare), did not really want to see this investment happen at all, despite offering no other suggestions for how Labour would regenerate these communities. The right hon. Member for Hayes and Harlington (John McDonnell), despite all his experience in this place, still has not worked out that it is businesses that create jobs, and that helping business is not an end in itself but a means by which to create more of the jobs that are so vital for areas such as mine that have needed them for a long time, and for our economic recovery after covid. Maybe he will get it one day, but I doubt it I support the Minister and the Government’s approach to delivering the new freeports. I am grateful that they have chosen the east midlands as one of the sites, with its unique location right at the heart of the country and all the potential that that brings for our region, and I will be supporting the Bill in its entirety.