Shadow Minister Dame Harriett Baldwin questions the Government on growth, after she fails to find any statistics suggesting business growth apart from a growth of 50% in the number of businesses that are in critical financial distress.

Dame Harriett Baldwin (West Worcestershire) (Con)

The Business Secretary, the Minister and the Chancellor have all said that they want growth, including in rural areas. I have searched high and low for business growth statistics since the Budget of broken promises, and I find that, in the last quarter, there has been a growth of 50% in the number of businesses that are in critical financial distress. Why does the Minister think that is?

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business and Trade (Gareth Thomas)

I say gently to the hon. Lady that the difficult decisions that my right hon. Friend the Chancellor had to take in the Budget were, interestingly, particularly well explained by her former colleague Kwasi Kwarteng, who made it clear that he thought they had to be taken because of the mistakes that he and the Conservative party had made when they were in government.