It is beyond frustrating that after the last two weeks, we now find Parliament in recess as Party Conference Season begins.

It has long been an annoyance of mine that we hold these conferences in what would otherwise be term time. Parliament could and should sit right through September and October. Instead, some people from across the country will gather in Liverpool and Birmingham to listen to speeches of the party faithful. Outside these areas of adulation, people will generally not pay them a great deal of attention.

Instead of these conferences, we should be sitting in Westminster discussing how we are to address the difficulties incurred because of the pandemic, the war in Ukraine and the fragility of our global supply chains. In the last two weeks, the Government has launched two enormous, genuinely once-in-a-generation support packages.

The first was announced on the day that our late Queen sadly passed away. In that package of support, most households across the country saw their energy bills capped at £2,500. Two weeks later the Chancellor went further by freezing energy bills for businesses. The total cost of this energy package is expected to be around £60bn for the six months from October.

This energy package shows the Government’s continued commitment to helping those most in need as we face unprecedented energy costs. Compared to other countries, the UK has once again launched one of the most generous packages of support.

The second was the statement given by the Chancellor last week. Much of the media attention has been on the top rate of tax, but the reality of the announcement was far more wide-ranging and positively impactful to people at every level of society.

The cut in the basic rate of income tax to 19% will come into force in April 2023, a year earlier than previously expected. It is estimated that this will save 31 million people £170 a year. The national insurance contribution rise of 1.25% has been scrapped, making further savings for millions of households across the country. This lower rate of tax will put more money into people’s pay packets at the end of each month. Surely no one disagrees that money is always better spent by the individual than by the state.

The freezing of corporation tax at 19%, making it one of the lowest in the G20, not only sends a strong message that the UK is open for business but that it is an attractive place for investment. For those who disagree about the value of corporation tax levels on GDP, you only need to look at the Centre for Policy Studies’ recent publications on this subject. We desperately need to attract and cultivate business, industry and enterprise across the UK.

The cutting of stamp duty, by far the costliest of the announcements - a point worth noting when it transpires that abolishing the 45p rate only impacts treasury receipts to the tune of £2bn - will help more young people on to the housing ladder and address our antiquated taxation system around housing.

Perhaps the most impactful, in my opinion, were those announcements where the Government has simplified measures. IR35 rules will be more comprehensible for businesses, annual investment allowances will be kept at £1m, pensions funds will be reformed, share options doubled to £60k and tax relief on new businesses raised to £250k. These measures individually might not move the dial but taken together they offer the biggest opportunity in fifty years to make doing business in the UK easier and more profitable.

I have written many times in these pages about the need for investment, job creation and business development. In this statement from the Chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng MP marks his ambition to see the UK as a competitive and successful economy. If we get this right, wages will rise, the treasury coffers will be replenished and there will be opportunities for all across the whole of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.