Britain is recovering from Labour’s great recession. And the benefits of our long-term economic plan are being felt in every corner of this country. Back in 2010, we had one objective: to pull this country’s economy back from the brink. Fast forward five years, and we’ve scored some spectacular successes. Our growth rate stands at 2.6%, the highest of any major advanced economy.
Thanks to the stability we have put in place, businesses have created 1.75 million private sector jobs, each and every one representing someone in the United Kingdom who is now standing on their own two feet. This record rate of job creation means unemployment is falling across the country. Young people, abandoned by the last Labour Government, are finding meaningful employment and apprenticeship places, and we’ve helped more women, people with disabilities and those who had never worked find jobs. We have also been supporting business growth and enterprise. 2.1 million entrepreneurships have been set up under this Government - enough to fill Wembley stadium twenty-three times over.
And since 2010, people in the UK have started no fewer than 2 million businesses. This has truly been a business-led recovery. We have cut taxes, cut rates, and cut regulation, allowing businesses to expand and succeed. And businesses have risen to the challenge magnificently. By contrast, the Labour Party want to increase tax and red tape on business, which will stop business growth and cost jobs. Clawing our way back from the economic mess this country was in was by no means easy. It involved sacrifice, and endeavour, on the part of the British people. I know many have found it hard.
A priority for us was to put more cash in people’s pockets as Conservative believe that people should be free to keep more of what they earn and should pay lower taxes. That’s tough to do when you’re emerging from an economic crisis, but I am proud of what we have achieved. We have already helped 26 million people keep more of their pay by raising the tax free personal allowance from £6475 which we inherited in 2010 to £10, 600 this year, which means they have £800 more to spend how they see fit. A Conservative Government elected in the General Election in May will go further by raising the tax free allowance to £12,500 – enabling workers to keep £400 per year more of their own money – and by increasing the threshold at which people begin to pay the 40% tax rate to £50,000. Low and middle income earners will continue to be better off under a Conservative Government.
Motorists are also better off, with them paying over 20 pence per litre less in fuel duty than they would have done under the plans that Labour wanted to impose. This means that families and businesses have been saving money because of the success of our long term economic plan. We have frozen council tax and increased the national minimum wage. Over half a million small businesses are benefitting from relief on business rates. 1.3 million businesses have seen the cost of the national insurance contributions reduced because of our £2,000 Employment Allowance. And the British Business Bank, which we have set up, has already facilitated £3 billion of lending and investments, benefitting over 43,000 smaller businesses.
This Government has reformed the welfare system to ensure that work pays and that no one can earn more by choosing to stay out of the labour market. We’ve made fantastic strides forward on employment, on childcare reforms, on apprenticeships, on education, on infrastructure, and on helping our smallest businesses thrive. And our promise is that as the economy gets healthier, we’ll keep reducing taxes and keep getting rid of the costs imposed on businesses, allowing you to continue spreading prosperity around the United Kingdom. If you want to start a business, whatever it is, whether it’s serving local needs or exporting to the other side of the world, whether you’re building or inventing or assembling or distributing or consulting – we will help.
Members of the diaspora can play a particularly important part here, because the bonds you have with family and friends overseas are stronger than any links Governments can make. Around 300,000 (6.2%) of SMEs in the UK are minority ethnic group led in 2013. I am ambitious about getting that number much higher, reflecting the reality of the UK’s ethnic makeup. As the daughter of a shopkeeper, I have seen at first hand the hard work and pride we put into running our businesses and know from my visits to Indian diaspora communities that our spirit of entrepreneurism is legendary – so let’s make the most of it! For the Government’s part, we will keep on working with countries across the world as they develop policies for their own prosperity. And if you want to play a part in that, we will support you every step of the way. Just over the course of this Parliament, for example, UK Trade and Investment have almost doubled the number of companies they help export.
We’ve turned round the economy and we’re looking towards a new era of employment, jobs and prosperity. I am proud of the fantastic part you have played in delivering this success and am confident that together we will keep on innovating.
The challenge for the coming years will be to keep up the pace – cementing our recovery, and making prosperity for all a reality. This means that at the next General Election in May there will be a clear choice for voters between the competence and economic growth being delivered by the Conservatives, and the chaos and economic ruin which Labour offer.
