Conservative MP for Penrith and the Border, David Maclean, nominated for top business award

7 March 2008

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Former Opposition Chief Whip, the Rt Hon David Maclean, Conservative MP for Penrith and the Border, has been nominated for the FPB's business-friendly MP/MEP award for 2008.

The award, which is being sponsored by England's Regional Development Agencies, is now in its third year. It recognises the work of politicians who have excelled in understanding, supporting and representing the needs of smaller businesses over the past 12 months.

"While we are only too ready to take politicians to task when they fail to support the entrepreneurs who contribute so much to their constituencies, it is only fair that we reward the ones who do," said the FPB's Chief Executive, Phil Orford. "That is why we launched the award in the first place, and why it continues to be important."

David Maclean was nominated by a member of the FPB whose business is based in Carlisle. He praised Mr Maclean's work with the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), following the outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease, as well as his efforts to reduce red tape.

First elected to Parliament in 1983, Mr Maclean, a former Territorial Army (TA) member and officer in the 51st Highland Volunteers, has worked for an international security company and has also held various managerial positions.

He has been Assistant Government Whip; Parliamentary Secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food; Minister of State for the Environment and Countryside at the Department of the Environment; and was made a Lord Commissioner of the Treasury (Government Whip).

In 1993, Mr Maclean was appointed Minister of State at the Home Office and, two years later, was made a Privy Councillor in the Queen's birthday honours. In 1998, he set up a new research unit for Conservative MPs called the Parliamentary Resources Unit. From 2001 to 2005, he served as Opposition Chief Whip in the Commons. He is currently Chairman of the select committee on statutory instruments.

"I was delighted to hear that I had been nominated by someone in my constituency for the FPB's Business-friendly MP/MEP award," said Mr Maclean. "Penrith and the Border, which is the largest constituency in England, depends for what wealth it has on thousands of small businesses. We only have one high tech company employing about 800 people and we desperately need to increase the number of small, knowledge-based industries."

He added: "Unfortunately, Cumbria is one of the poorest sub-regions in Europe, with about 75% of the Gross Valie Added (GVA) per head of population of the rest of the country. If it were not for small businesses, the Cumbrian economy would be in even more dire straits."

In addition to supporting small businesses, particularly through the crisis of Foot and Mouth Disease, Mr Maclean's priorities have included fighting crime and anti-social behaviour, including tackling under age-drinking and preserving the Cumbrian police force. He has also campaigned for better transport links, improved public services, the protection of local heritage and a prosperous countryside.

"I did not set out to be especially friendly to small businesses – I just recognised that they are under enormous bureaucratic and regulatory pressures," he said. "I know that, as an MP, if I can help my small businesses survive and expand then, in the long run, I will have fewer problems of rural schools closing, inadequate buses and loss of services. Private businesses are important in terms of the UK economy, but they are absolutely vital as far as my constituency and Cumbria is concerned."

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Conservative MP for Penrith and the Border, David Maclean, nominated for top business award

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