My Lords, I am extremely pleased that the Minister has confirmed that price controls, if they came in, would be voluntary. However, we have also been informed by his replies that it is going to be voluntary in exchange for a regulatory incentive. If certain regulations will be repealed in exchange f…
My Lords, following a distinguished former Chancellor of the Exchequer and a brilliant speech from the noble Lord, St John of Bletso, I rise with some anxiety to make a speech on the economy. Nevertheless, I want to try to bring a note of optimism into our deliberations, because optimism itself may …
LordsOral Questions23 February 20262 contributions
My Lords, the Supreme Court ruling does not affect the majority of trade under the economic prosperity deal, including the sectoral tariffs agreed on steel, pharmaceuticals and automotives. The Business Secretary spoke to his counterpart at the weekend and underlined his concerns about uncertainty f…
The noble Lord raises a number of challenging and fast-moving issues, and I will try to respond as fully as I can. It is worth stating that the UK secured that preferential deal last year, driven by the Prime Minister’s direct engagement with President Trump. That was trying to give British business…
My Lords, before we come to the next speaker, I just remind your Lordships’ House that this is a time-limited debate, and we also have a number of maiden speeches, which will obviously go a little over the speaking limit. We want to leave enough time for the Minister to respond to the many questions…
I do not think I have misrepresented the situation in any way, shape or form. The OBR forecast that around two-fifths of the 4% impact had already occurred by the time the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement came into force and that GDP will be 2.7% lower by 2025, with the remaining reduction occu…
My Lords, wherever you may stand on the principle, the fact is that assisted dying is already a reality. It is available to those who have the means and ability to go abroad. The question before us is whether we continue with this two-tier system or whether people suffering here should be able to di…
I fundamentally agree with the underlying point the noble Lord made about the importance of investing in and having the right environment for life sciences companies in this country; they are incredibly important to us. It is why they are fundamental to our industrial strategy.
In terms of specific…
My Lords, over the years, Governments have introduced their industrial strategies—I remember the industrial strategy of the Callaghan Government—but I think sometimes they think that they have found a policy when they have simply found a phrase. Industrial strategies in the past have tended to lead …
My Lords, I refer to my entry in the register of interests. It would be catastrophic if Iran were ever to get a nuclear weapon; I am totally opposed to that. I totally support the right of Israel to defend itself and to exist; I totally condemn many of the things that have been said about Israel by …
My Lords, I have two questions for the Minister. First, as my noble friend Lord Sharpe and the noble Lord, Lord Fox, asked, will the new agreement operate with most favoured nation rules, which, as she knows, means that the lowest tariff offered to one country must be offered to all? The reason why …
My Lords, on Thursday 8 May we were delighted to announce the agreement of a landmark economic deal between the United Kingdom and the United States, making the UK the first country to get an agreement with President Trump. It was the second major trade announcement of the week, following the India …
The noble Lord is right that there is still a lot of work to be done. But having spent time with the many very capable and hard-working officials who have been part of this deal, it is worth acknowledging the hard work that has gone into this, which we are very appreciative of. The reality of this s…