Harriett Baldwin welcomes the fact that last year, despite coronavirus, the invasion of Ukraine, huge hikes in energy costs, rising interest rates and high inflation, UK businesses managed to generate more than 4.1% of economic growth—twice that of the United States, 25% higher than China, and higher than the eurozone.
Harriett Baldwin speaks in a debate to recognise the importance of the International Day of Education, and makes the case for every child in the world to have 12 years of quality education in particular raising the plight of refugee children whose education suffers because they have to flee conflict.
Following a Government statement on reports that the UK Government assisted Wagner Group head Yevgeny Prigozhin in circumventing the UK sanctions regime, Harriett Baldwin calls on the Government to instigate a ‘red flag’ system at the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation so that anything related to the Wagner Group is flagged up individually to the Minister responsible.
Harriett Baldwin backs an amendment to the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill that would introduce a £100 fee for the incorporation of a new company to fund the resources needed to reform Companies House to improve transparency over UK companies and combat economic crime.
Following a Government statement on the ban on women aid workers in Afghanistan, Harriett Baldwin condemns the Taliban for stopping girls from going to school and calls on the Minister to emphasise the importance of every child in the world getting 12 years of good quality education in next week's discussions with the UN deputy Secretary-General.
Harriett Baldwin welcomes levelling up funding for Malvern Theatres which will help to level up drama opportunities across our part of the west midlands and she encourages other bids that were not successful to keep trying in future funding rounds.
Harriett Baldwin welcomes the Bill as the transparency and openness of the new procurement system will bring down the price of public procurement, thereby helping tackle inflation, and she calls on the Government to make the necessary changes to encourage public procurement from newer and innovative businesses.
Harriett Baldwin welcomes the Government’s continued support for businesses with their energy bills and, now that wholesale gas prices have fallen, calls on the Government to encourage businesses not to pass on the cost of higher energy to their customers by ensuring that the wholesale price of energy feeds through more swiftly to the retail price our businesses pay.
Harriett Baldwin highlights the Treasury Committee’s report welcoming the cost of living payments and raising concerns about the potential cliff edges in that £900 support, and urges the Government consider their recommendations to spread those payments more evenly over the course of next winter.