The Shadow Chancellor has reaffirmed his commitment to supporting small and medium enterprises in a recent visit to Wordsley, West Midlands.
During a business roundtable hosted by Mike Wood MP, Sir Mel Stride spoke with Black Country business leaders from a range of sectors, drawing from his real world-experience as an entrepreneur, founding and managing companies from scratch both in the UK and US, to set out his vision for an ‘enterprising economy’ under a future Conservative Government.
The Shadow Chancellor’s comments follow a sharp warning issued by local businesses that Labour have created an environment in which it is almost impossible to operate; Highlighting that in stark contrast to Sir Mel Stride, the Labour front bench have no real-world business experience.
Commenting on the stark reality faced by local business entrepreneurs from across the Black Country and South Staffordshire, Sir Mel Stride said:
“There are lots of challenges, none of which I'm afraid this government is addressing.
It’s so important that we now take this opportunity whilst we’re in opposition to listen to businesses really carefully so that we have the right offering come the next General Election.
We need an enterprising, go-getting economy, and that's what we're working on.”
The Shadow Chancellor also recognised the passionate work that Mike Wood MP has done to support businesses in his constituency. Mr Wood also called on the Prime Minister to do more to prevent hospitality businesses from closing their doors permanently.
Commenting, Mike Wood, MP for Kingswinford & South Staffordshire said:
“Hospitality businesses like ‘The Roe Deer’ here Kingswinford & South Staffordshire are telling me that things just keep getting tougher. But Labour just aren’t listening.
As Churchill said, "You can't lift yourself up by standing in a bucket and pulling up the handle”...And you can't tax your way to prosperity and jobs.
The economy badly needs the growth that only businesses create and I’m committed to doing what I can to prevent Rachel Reeves from taking a wrecking ball to our local hospitality sector.”
