Parliamentary Members question time
Parliamentary Members question time
The March Chamber members meeting was hosted at the Sandman Hotel in Crawley with four parliamentary candidates attending. The four representatives had the opportunity to formally present their proposals to member businesses – these included Henry Smith MP – Conservative candidate, Cllr Chris Oxlade – labour candidate, Chris Brown – UKIP candidate and Guy Hudson from the Green party.
All of the above candidates had experience of, or are currently running their own business within the local area.
Henry Smith MP – the current conservative candidate has lived in Crawley for 21 years and ran his own business for ten of those years in the financial services sector.
Henry commented “I’m grateful to Crawley & Gatwick Chamber of Commerce for hosting such an important election debate. Local firms large and small are expanding, exporting and contributing to record high employment levels thanks to business friendly policies and lower taxation of Conservatives in government. In my time as Crawley MP I have sought to actively represent my corporate constituents because they are the ones creating jobs and wealth that benefit my resident constituents – my pledge is to continue that work if re-elected.”
Chris Oxlade – runs a business in the local area and believes that a fairer system should be in place for SME’s with funding made easier for businesses to grow.
Chris told members that he has been visiting constituents who all have a common theme – “people care about local issues such as the growing number of potholes across the area, particularly in Manor Royal.” Chris believes the aesthetic look of Crawley town centre should be addressed and said “There should be more control over the look of Queen’s Square with a mix of business, retail and leisure facilities – it is important to people along with the reliability and infrastructure of public transport.
Additionally Chris commented on the gaps in vocational training, “there should be more emphasis on quality apprenticeships and not using them for cheap labour – younger people should be allowed to vote with the age lowered to age 16”.
Chris Brown – the UKIP representative who also runs a small business and has previously run a business in the US – Chris mentioned that “there is half as much red tape for small businesses in the States.” He believes that “we should put a stop to corporate bullying for unpaid invoices and a late payment directive should be put in place.”
Chris pointed out “Entrepreneurs are not supported by the government, or the big banks. There are £20bn worth of unpaid invoices owed by large companies to smaller suppliers. UKIP will keep and enforce the late payment directive of 2011. Oppressive EU legislation such as VATMOSS is stifling our businesses. UKIP will liberate SME’s from EU shackles. Our forthcoming manifesto will set out exciting tax cuts for SME’s. Local authorities will be encouraged to provide ideally free, or cheaper parking in high streets.
Chris also commented on UKIP’s focus on younger people “They should be able to start an apprenticeship in place of four non-core GCSE subjects, UKIP will be scrapping tuition fees for those studying Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths & Medicine.”
Guy Hudson the Green candidate also runs his own small business and has encountered problems when raising finances for his company and therefore does understand the problems encountered by SME’s. Guy started his career as an apprentice engineer with land rover and worked his way up. Guy would like to see a longer term and sustained apprenticeship programme for the future.
Guys stated that “Local authorities should have more power. Currently council’s are strapped for funds – they should have more funds to invest in the local society and the young.”
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