Lords
Proceedings
7 September 2026
Rural Businesses: Taxation
Even before the summer drought, failures of agricultural businesses had risen by 450% under the pressures of the energy costs that we have just heard described, with higher taxes and subsidy changes also playing a major part. Do the Government recognise that many people will be very concerned that t…
Lords
Proceedings
7 September 2026
Public/Private Partnerships
My Lords, so many PFIs and PPPs were inappropriate, poorly negotiated and cost the taxpayer a fortune. Frankly, they were motivated primarily to keep debt off the public books. Surely it is time to draw a line under those frameworks and update that approach with a much better record, such as joint v…
Lords
Proceedings
1 September 2026
United Kingdom: Business Competitiveness
My Lords, I welcome the noble Lord, Lord Pitt-Watson, to his post. He has already allowed me and my colleagues to badger him, and we will continue to do so. When the Government increased employers’ NICs and reduced the threshold, it gave protection to the tiniest small enterprises. But surveys now e…
Lords
Statutory Instrument
22 July 2026
National Savings (Remediation Scheme) Regulations 2026
My Lords, as the noble Baroness, Lady Neville-Rolfe, has clearly explained, the estates of deceased customers of NS&I were not always repaid money from all their accounts following a bereavement claim. The operational failure was identified in December 2025 but reported to Ministers and publicis…
Lords
Proceedings
21 July 2026
Domestic Travel and Holidays: Visitor Levy
My Lords, we support devolving more economic power to local areas, but any visitor tax must come alongside vital relief for a sector that is already struggling under the Government’s NIC hikes, which happened not so very long ago. So, will the Government enact an emergency 5p cut on VAT on hospitali…
Lords
Proceedings
20 July 2026
National Energy System Operator: Blackout Risk
My Lords, these allegations, if accurate, would represent a shocking breach of public trust by an organisation now owned directly by the Government. But it also demonstrates a failure of the current whistleblowing framework that, to be heard and to have some measure of protection, the whistleblower …
Lords
Proceedings
15 July 2026
Mini-tender Offers: Protection for Shareholders
My Lords, mini-tenders, even by firms otherwise authorised by the FCA, fall below the FCA’s regulatory threshold. In the future, can the Financial Ombudsman require remedy for an investor caught in a mini-tender bait and switch, or do the clauses in the new financial services Bill requiring the FOS …
Lords
Committee Stage
6 July 2026
Financial Services and Markets Bill [HL]
My Lords, I was delighted when I saw that the noble Lord, Lord Holmes, had put down these amendments, because it is so apparent, as he has clearly stated, that the whole issue of digital and AI is missing from this Bill. Because of the pace of change and the impact—and strength of the impact—across …
Lords
Proceedings
2 July 2026
Employment Tribunals
My Lords, the House will know that I do not believe that whistleblowing cases belong in the employment tribunal, but that is where they are. Does the Minister recognise that the cost of going to tribunal is a minimum of £50,000 for a primary hearing, and that the delay is at least three years before…
Lords
Committee Stage
1 July 2026
Financial Services and Markets Bill [HL]
My Lords, I am sure everyone has reread the Hansard transcript and is fully on top of the debate that took place on Monday, so I will attempt to keep my remarks brief.
I am tempted to engage with the challenge from the noble Lord, Lord Bridges, on this group of amendments, to discuss in depth the i…
Lords
Proceedings
30 June 2026
Pension Access Rules: Impact on Terminally Ill
My Lords, I am very glad to hear the words of the Government and the Minister on this issue, because it is an issue where remedy is absolutely required. I add an additional point, which is that many of those who will die, sadly, of a terminal illness at a young age will have put money aside or been …
Lords
Proceedings
29 June 2026
Covid Fraud
My Lords, fraud during Covid—heinous though it was—was carried out mainly by individuals and individual firms. Do the Government accept that, with AI, the character of fraud has now evolved into highly co-ordinated operating systems falsifying identity, behaviour and documentation, and it escapes de…
Lords
Proceedings
24 June 2026
Scottish Government: Social Security Benefits
My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Bruce, tabled this Question in part because he is appalled that so many people he speaks to in Scotland think that the whole of their benefit comes from Scottish-only taxes, not just the top-up. Ahead of the Brexit referendum, many people whose areas had received milli…
Lords
Committee Stage
22 June 2026
Financial Services and Markets Bill [HL]
It is a great privilege to wind up for the Lib Dems. People will know from Second Reading that I am very strongly of the same mind as the noble Baronesses, Lady Noakes and Lady Bowles, and I think the noble Baroness, Lady Neville-Rolfe, takes a very similar view on this first clause. The others spea…
Lords
Proceedings
18 June 2026
Face-to-face Banking Services
My Lords, the tech companies are rapidly moving into the banking space—digital money, wallets, payments, payroll, savings and investments. Will the Government insist that these tech players contribute to the costs of interoperability, inclusion and face-to-face services, and not get a free ride?
Lords
Proceedings
2 June 2026
Breast Cancer Screening: Women Over 70
I am over 71, yet I had no idea until this moment that a self-referral programme was in place—and I have just had a friend in her early 70s go into surgery for breast cancer. How is this message being distributed? I fear that, if I contacted my GP, even the GP would have no idea that self-referral w…
Lords
Proceedings
1 June 2026
Middle East: Economic Response
My Lords, till sales at UK supermarkets slowed to growth of just 0.2% in the three weeks to mid-May. Families do not know how they will cope with higher fuel costs, higher council tax and expected inflation. I am sure the Minister will tell us that the Government have tried to ease costs on the most…
Lords
Proceedings
21 May 2026
Higher Earners: Emigration
My Lords, I have a personal interest in this. Do the Government recognise that outdated tax treaties are driving away talent that the UK wants, especially in life sciences and AI? Many overseas nationals, especially Americans, end up paying significantly more tax than any equivalent UK-only citizen.…
Lords
Proceedings
19 May 2026
Defence, Security and Resilience Bank
My Lords, I am now completely bewildered. I would have thought that, with the state of the gilts market, the Government would be leaping at the opportunity to find AAA financing for their defence expenditure, and on a multilateral basis. Are we dealing with the underlying problem of a Treasury that …
Lords
Proceedings
19 May 2026
VAT Relief: Business Donations
My Lords, most foods subject to VAT are high in fat, salt and sugar and are often ultra-processed. Is there a danger that VAT relief will increase the donation of such foods to food banks and charities, putting people already at high risk of obesity and diet-related illnesses at even higher risk? Wi…
Lords
Proceedings
28 April 2026
Middle East: Economic Update
My Lords, the impact of the Iran war has made previous economic forecasts pretty much redundant. We talked last week about warnings from the IMF and the OECD, repeated today by the noble Baroness, Lady Neville-Rolfe, which essentially assess that the UK would suffer more than any other G7 economy. T…
Lords
Oral Questions
28 April 2026
Rail Safety Recommendations: Backlog
I will endeavour to write to the noble Baroness about the detail of that, but there is a particular focus on private land and how we can make sure that safety notices are put up and maintained. There is nothing worse than having a safety notice but with trees growing across it, for example. This is …
Lords
Oral Questions
27 April 2026
Online Challenger Banks
I agree in large part with what the noble Baroness says. As she will know, as part of the small business strategy, the Government have introduced a range of measures to remove barriers to accessing finance for SMEs. She will know, too, that access to banking services is vital for businesses across t…