Lords
Oral Questions
27 January 2026
Hospitality Businesses
I clearly acknowledge that there are challenges in the economy that are not of the making of the last 18 months alone. Changing consumer behaviours post Covid are a challenge for our overall economy. However, to restate what I said before, we need to get the economy back on track overall and ensure …
Lords
Proceedings
26 January 2026
Chinese Embassy
My Lords, listening to the noble Baroness, Lady Finn, I was reminded that it was only in 2015 that the then Chancellor George Osborne declared the creation of a “golden decade”. I wonder how long it lasted.
At the very least, this decision will relocate China’s comprehensive security and surveillan…
Lords
Proceedings
22 January 2026
2 contributions
Retail and Hospitality Sector
My Lords, I join in the general congratulations and welcome to the four maiden speakers. I enjoyed all their speeches very much and I wish them all the very best. I also thank my noble friend Lady Monckton of Dallington Forest for bringing this debate to the House and for her most eloquent introduct…
I thank the noble Lord. I am coming to the part of my speech that addresses some of the noble Lord’s concerns.
Many noble Lords have obviously spoken with real passion about the future of pubs, including me, and understandably so. Pub closures are always painful, and each one represents the loss of…
Lords
Oral Questions
20 January 2026
Parental Leave and Pay Review
My Lords, the Government will consult with employers and those who are going to be affected to make sure that the implementation of the decisions Parliament has already made is done appropriately. I make no apologies for that, and the House should welcome it.
Lords
Oral Questions
19 January 2026
Greenland: Proposed US Tariffs
It is Monday, and these announcements were made at the weekend, so further announcements will be made. I agree that the defence investment strategy is incredibly important, but it should be published when it is ready and we should not be rushed into doing things before that.
Lords
Proceedings
15 January 2026
Chinese Embassy
My Lords, the Minister is very keen on talking about material planning considerations, and she has already said that the size of the embassy is one of those. May I ask about one of the other planning considerations, which has caused a great deal of concern: the proximity of the embassy to important …
Lords
Proceedings
14 January 2026
New Medium Helicopter Contract
My Lords, I met Leonardo’s chair and CEO today. He told me that, as the Minister may know, Yeovil accounts for 3,300 direct jobs and an annual input into the local economy of £320 million. As the Minister also knows, that is our only sovereign capability for full helicopter construction and it has h…
Lords
Proceedings
6 January 2026
Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief
My Lords, further to the question from the Cross Benches, does the Minister accept that some family farms, frightened as they were by the original plan, have taken irrevocable actions in terms of assets and how they run their businesses? Does the Treasury accept any responsibility for scaring those …
Lords
Oral Questions
17 December 2025
Fair Work Agency: Small and Micro Businesses
I thank the noble Lord for reminding us of his amendment in Committee. As far as I know, and I will obviously correct by way of a letter, the consultation is happening and statutory instruments—secondary legislation—will follow suit. We hope to get this up and running by April 2026.
Lords
Debate
10 December 2025
3 contributions
Employment Rights Bill
My Lords, I will speak principally to Motion B1 in my name. The Government’s introduction of a six-month qualifying period, one that can be amended only through primary legislation, was, I am happy to acknowledge, a very welcome concession and we thank the Government Benches opposite for it. Angela …
My Lords, I will speak to Motion D1. In recent years, there has been an extraordinary and significant interest in what has become known as choice architecture. This was popularised by the book Nudge and by one of its authors, Richard Thaler, who received the Nobel Prize for Economics in 2017, partly…
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
26 November 2025
Visas: Highly Skilled People
As I just said in response to my noble friend, this is all currently under consultation. We will, of course, look at all the routes in the way the noble Lord asks me to. To be clear, salary levels are not the only things that will influence our approach to global talent, high-potential individuals a…
Lords
Oral Questions
25 November 2025
Forthcoming Fiscal Changes
I am grateful to the noble Lord for that. As he knows, I am not going to comment on specific measures or any speculation ahead of the Budget. I have set out clearly what our priorities are for tomorrow’s Budget; he will just have to wait a few more hours until he finds out for himself.
Lords
Proceedings
24 November 2025
2 contributions
ExxonMobil: Mossmorran
My Lords, this is quite clearly a blow for the area of Fife, and especially for the direct and indirect workers of the plant. Just as the noble Lord, Lord Sharpe, said, our thoughts go to them and their families as they seek to find ways of coming to terms with the blow.
The closure will see many h…
Just to prolong the agony for slightly longer, when the Minister was answering the noble Lord’s question on oil and gas, she came up with a long list of very creditable investments and changes that are going on. When I was asking my question, I referred to the relative speed of creating jobs versus …
Lords
Oral Questions
19 November 2025
2 contributions
Telegraph Media Group
My Lords, the Secretary of State and I are acutely aware that the Telegraph and those who work there have been in limbo for too long. We are keen for this to be resolved as soon as possible in the public interest. The Secretary of State has now received a formal withdrawal of RedBird IMI’s request t…
The Secretary of State has adhered to the letter of the law and diligently carried out her quasi-judicial responsibilities. There is no basis to the suggestion that the decision should be made elsewhere. Securing a swift outcome in the public interest is a priority for her, and she will continue to …
Lords
Proceedings
18 November 2025
China Espionage: Government Security Response
My Lords, I start by joining the Minister in paying tribute to the crew member of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary Tidesurge lost off the coast of Ireland.
This is my first opportunity to welcome the noble Lord, Lord Alton, back to his place—he has been missed.
I thank the Minister for repeating this Sta…
Lords
Debate
17 November 2025
4 contributions
Employment Rights Bill
My Lords, as the noble Lord, Lord Fox, said, here we are, back again.
In the ping-pong debate last time, the noble Baroness, Lady Lloyd of Effra, stated:
“The Government have engaged extensively with stakeholders on their make work pay reform since August 2024. A major part of this engagement has …
My Lords, I shall speak to Motion C1—but before I do so, I say to the noble Lord, Lord Fox, that I am in complete agreement with the speech that he made on Motion A1. To recall the words that he used before, the Government were put on notice that they needed to come forward with a solution, but solu…
+2 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
12 November 2025
Cryptocurrencies: US Regulation
I am grateful to the noble Lord for his question. The Bank of England’s Financial Policy Committee and the multilateral Financial Stability Board currently agree that crypto asset markets do not currently pose material risk to financial stability in the way the noble Lord describes but that stabilit…
Lords
Committee Stage
10 November 2025
3 contributions
Trade Act 2021 (Power to Implement International Trade Agreements) (Extension to Expiry) Regulations 2025
My Lords, I join noble Lords in welcoming the Minister. I too participated in the debate on the steel industry, mentioned by the noble Lord, Lord Fox, where we had the benefit of two maiden speeches from the two new Ministers, the noble Baroness, Lady Lloyd, and the noble Lord, Lord Stockwood. Looki…
I thank the noble Lord for his follow-up question. This Government are trying to go beyond the statutory requirements.
The noble Lord, Lord Fox, asked this question earlier: is CRaG inadequate in the modern context? I will go away and read the report so that I have a further written answer for him,…
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
3 November 2025
Public/Private Partnerships: Shares
I thank my noble Lord for that question. I think I will leave off there; obviously, we have the Budget in three and a half weeks’ time and other announcements will be made then. We want to make this a success for the public, and that is why from next April we are going to open up stocks and shares I…
Lords
Oral Questions
30 October 2025
Public and Private Sector Productivity Trends
I disagree with the noble Lord. I do not think that there is any tension between economic stability and economic growth. As I say, under the Liz Truss mini-Budget we saw the damage that grotesque economic instability did to business confidence and business investment in this country. Maintaining sta…
Lords
Debate
28 October 2025
9 contributions
Employment Rights Bill
First, I am also very grateful to the Minister and his new colleagues for their time during the past couple of weeks. I also thank the noble Lord, Lord Fox, for his amendment. If he wishes to test the opinion of the House, we will support him.
Motion E1 is the most important amendment we will be debating today. The introduction of day one unfair dismissal rights is the most damaging element in this Bill, in my opinion. While there are problems with much of the Bill, there will, I believe, be a lot of unintended consequences.
For most of …
+7 more contributions in this session
Lords
Proceedings
23 October 2025
2 contributions
Steel Industry (Special Measures) Act 2025
My Lords, before I begin, I also add to the general praise for the noble Baroness, Lady Lloyd of Effra, for her excellent maiden speech, and I wish the noble Lord, Lord Stockwood, the very best for his, while also welcoming both to the House. As the noble Lord, Lord Stockwood, will not be followed, …
I am aware that there are many questions; I guarantee that we will respond to them in full in writing.
As part of our modern industrial strategy, the Government have proposed deepening the support provided by our British industry supercharger by increasing the level of network charging compensation…
Lords
Oral Questions
23 October 2025
Chinese Embassy
I am going to repeat what I said.
Lords
Proceedings
21 October 2025
Alleged Spying Case: Home Office Involvement
My Lords, yesterday my noble friend Lady Tyler of Enfield asked about the personal safety of parliamentarians and campaigners, and their families, whose detailed information has been handed to China’s centre of power. In her answer, the noble Baroness, Lady Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent, acknowledged a…