Lord Londesborough — Hansard — Westminster Brief

Lords Proceedings 14 July 2026

Business Hiring

My Lords, the Government’s White Paper Get Britain Working aims for an 80% employment rate, but 20 months on we remain stuck at 75%. With the recent steep drop in new recruits, can the Minister, who I welcome to her position, point to where these 2 million net new jobs will be coming from?

Lords Proceedings 7 July 2026

British Industry and Services: Public Procurement

My Lords, why is it that, while our SMEs’ share of local government spending has increased to 33%, their share of central government contracts remains flat at just 16%—nowhere near the three-year target. I realise this question may be something of a gift for the Prime Minister in waiting, but perhap…

Lords Proceedings 29 June 2026

Construction Sector: Skills Shortage

My Lords, the construction sector is suffering from an acutely ageing workforce, with 35% over the age of 50. This means that 750,000 workers will retire over the next 10 years. At the other end of the spectrum, numbers of apprenticeships are falling, with more than half of those taking them droppin…

Lords Proceedings 22 June 2026

Home Ownership: First-time Buyers

My Lords, the fact that the average age of first-time home buyers has shot up from 26 to 34 is not just bad news for mobility and well-being but very bad news for economic growth. Does the Minister agree that it is time to replace stamp duty with a less crude and transactional tax?

Lords Proceedings 28 April 2026

Middle East: Economic Update

My Lords, as a fair-minded Cross-Bencher, I acknowledge that there have been some encouraging signs in the first quarter, particularly GDP growth and employment in February. But I also recall that we had a brief fireworks display in Q1 last year, followed by a flatlining of the economy throughout H2…

Lords Oral Questions 28 April 2026

RMT Strikes: Impact on Businesses

In the recent dispute in London, the particularly disappointing aspect was that in fact, particularly last Thursday, 88% of journeys in London still took place. I think the problem—well, if it is a problem—is that, because of Covid, many more people are able to work from home, and they decided to ta…

Lords Oral Questions 22 April 2026 2 contributions

World Economic Outlook: UK Growth and Inflation

My Lords, we did not start this war, but it affects us. The IMF’s updated forecasts build on its judgment that the UK is more exposed to energy price shocks than our counterparts—a problem this Government are tackling but which the previous Government failed to address in 14 years. The IMF has descr…

No, I do not think she is, because the spring forecast showed precisely that: that Britain is well placed to weather this conflict. Inflation was at 3% and it was set to fall to target; borrowing was set to fall more over this Parliament than in any other G7 economy; GDP per capita was forecast to r…

Lords Oral Questions 13 April 2026

Artificial Intelligence: Impact on Employment

Indeed, the OECD estimates that widespread AI adoption could boost UK productivity by 0.4 to 1.3 percentage points annually. That is why we have an AI Opportunities Action Plan and why we have already progressed 38 of the 50 recommendations. The AI sector already employs 86,000 people in the UK and …

Lords Debate 25 March 2026

National Insurance Contributions (Employer Pensions Contributions) Bill

My Lords, I was speaking to a young man just yesterday who has done everything he has been encouraged to do. He has studied well and he has worked and saved in order to put a deposit down on a house. He has been helped by people who have been fortunate enough to make some money to be able to help hi…

Lords Oral Questions 23 March 2026 3 contributions

Migraine Care: 10-year Health Plan

My Lords, in begging leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper, I declare my interest as a migraine sufferer.

My Lords, the Government are committed to improving migraine care through the 10-year health plan. We are strengthening neurological services by expanding community-based care and community diagnostics for earlier identification, widening the availability of effective treatments, such as calcitonin …

+1 more contribution in this session

Lords Oral Questions 18 March 2026

EU Directive: Adequate Minimum Wages

I also gently remind noble Lords that the minimum wage is carefully considered by the independent Low Pay Commission, chaired by the noble Baroness, Lady Stroud, which examines the economic conditions, labour market data and evidence from employers and other stakeholders. The Government’s aim remain…

Lords Oral Questions 9 March 2026

British Business Bank

I may have to come back on those precise questions. The British Business Bank produces annual reports and has recently published an impact report which addresses some of the questions that the noble Lord specifically asks around job creation. That is an important aspect of its accountability for the…

Lords Debate 5 March 2026 3 contributions

National Insurance Contributions (Employer Pensions Contributions) Bill

My Lords, I support broadly all the amendments in this group, but specifically Amendments 12 and 26 in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Kramer, to which I added my name. I will be genuinely brief. These amendments, by raising the cap to £5,000 per annum, would address a core problem in the Bill:…

My Lords, I support Amendment 31 in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Neville-Rolfe, to which I have added my name. I also add my vocal support for Amendment 32 from the noble Baroness, Lady Kramer, which I should have added my name to but did not. Both amendments concern the impact on SMEs. I am…

+1 more contribution in this session

Lords Oral Questions 5 March 2026 2 contributions

Small Businesses: VAT Threshold

My Lords, the data referred to does not show that an increasing number of small businesses in the UK are earning below the VAT threshold. It shows only the number of voluntarily VAT-registered businesses below the VAT registration threshold of £90,000 and does not include unregistered businesses. Of…

I am grateful to the noble Lord for his question. It is neither of the things that he set out. As I have said, the data cited by the noble Lord relates only to VAT-registered businesses and does not include unregistered businesses, so I do not think it shows what the noble Lord claims that it shows.…

Lords Oral Questions 24 February 2026

Student Loans: Review

As a Government, we recognise and support the public subsidy that the student finance scheme implies for students. For plan 2 full-time borrowers who started their courses in 2022-23, for example, we expect that only 32% of them will repay their loans in full. This is therefore a public subsidy for …

Lords Committee Stage 24 February 2026 4 contributions

National Insurance Contributions (Employer Pensions Contributions) Bill

My Lords, I support all the amendments in the first group but will restrict my comments to Amendment 1 in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Neville-Rolfe. This concerns the £2,000 cap in Clause 1, which unfortunately hits a crucial cohort of workers: those going through the gears, where their ear…

My Lords, I will speak to Amendment 6, tabled by the noble Baroness, Lady Neville-Rolfe, and the noble Lord, Lord Altrincham, which I have signed, and to Amendments 7, 11, 20 and 23, tabled by the noble Baronesses, Lady Kramer and Lady Altmann, to which I have also added my name. I am broadly suppor…

+2 more contributions in this session

Lords Oral Questions 23 February 2026

US Tariffs

I recognise the figures quoted, but they are speculation at this stage. The deals on preferential rates for farmers, automotive, et cetera were agreed terms, but that was the beginning of the negotiations, not the end. The preferential deal that was secured was brought about by direct engagement bet…

Lords Debate 4 February 2026

National Insurance Contributions (Employer Pensions Contributions) Bill

I thank my noble friend for presenting the Bill to the House. I speak as a friend of the Bill, although I suspect I will be its only friend apart from the Front Bench. I do know something about the subject. I am a strong supporter of tax relief for pension provision—it is one of the foundations of …

Lords Oral Questions 28 January 2026 3 contributions

UK Start-up Companies

My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper, and declare my interests as an adviser and investor in start-ups.

My Lords, the latest ONS figures highlight the continued resilience of UK entrepreneurship. One-year survival rates have also remained strong, holding at over 93% in recent years. Furthermore, the percentage of adults starting or running a new business in the UK in 2024 was 14%, as opposed to 12% in…

+1 more contribution in this session

Lords Oral Questions 20 January 2026

Youth Unemployment

The noble Lord is talking about the Government’s job guarantee, which will come in after 18 months with a guaranteed job for all those on universal credit. However, it is not the case that there is no action under the youth guarantee before that. The new youth guarantee gateway will ensure that if, …

Lords Oral Questions 13 January 2026

Official Development Assistance

My Lords, I congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Bates, on the debate and on his powerful speech and say how much I enjoyed working with him as the Development Minister. As co-chair of the APPG for Aid Match, I urge the Government to make more use of it. The Minister complained about the loss of publi…

Lords Proceedings 8 January 2026

Broadcasting: Recent Developments

My Lords, I have three connections with broadcasting. First, in my 20s, as a budding scriptwriter with the BBC, I wrote an audio drama for “Doctor Who”—it is still available online, although mercifully few people have found it. Secondly, in my 30s, as a suit at ITV in the early 2000s, I worked on th…

Lords Oral Questions 7 January 2026

Public Sector Productivity

I do not think I would. I suspect social media, when used correctly, can help enhance productivity.

Lords Proceedings 6 January 2026

Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief

My Lords, I commend the Government on adjusting the threshold to £2.5 million, which I and other Cross-Benchers advocated a year ago in this place and which strikes the right balance. However, how many agricultural, forestry and fishing businesses closed in the 12 months since the 20% IHT measure wa…

Lords Oral Questions 6 January 2026

Graduate Jobs

My Lords, one thing I want to say to any students or graduates out there is that the evidence shows that graduates are more likely to be in work, to be in higher-skilled work and to earn more. Graduates continue to experience higher lifetime earnings, and they are nearly three times as likely to be …