Lords
Proceedings
14 July 2026
Business Hiring
My Lords, on behalf of the House, I welcome the Minister for her first Question. But is she aware that, last week in the other place, speaker after speaker condemned the Employment Rights Act, the impact of the increase in national insurance contributions and regulations generally, which have create…
Lords
Debate
8 July 2026
3 contributions
Steel Industry (Nationalisation) Bill
My Lords, I will speak to Amendments 2, 3, 4 and 5 standing in my name and that of my noble friend Lord Sharpe of Epsom. I have no wish to repeat at length the arguments made in Committee, but I feel that the Government should be clearer about the public interest test that lies at the heart of these…
My Lords, I am grateful to my noble friend Lord Redwood and the noble Lord, Lord Fox, for their comments. I am grateful indeed to the Minister for his reassurances and the commitment that he has given, which meet many of the concerns I expressed earlier. In those circumstances, I beg leave to withdr…
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Proceedings
30 June 2026
4 contributions
Steel Trade Measure
My Lords, this episode says a great deal about the attention the Government pay to the business community. For months now, manufacturers, fabricators, construction firms and businesses in aerospace, automotive and defence have warned about the consequences of the Government’s original proposals, yet…
I join the Minister in welcoming the noble Lord, Lord Mohammed, to the Liberal Democrat Front Bench. It is so helpful to have someone with such experience of the steel industry participating in our debates.
I welcome some of the assurances that the Minister has given, but one of the questions I rai…
+2 more contributions in this session
Lords
Debate
29 June 2026
Steel Industry (Nationalisation) Bill
My Lords, I speak to Amendments 2, 3 and 8.
Amendment 2 limits the public interest test to the specific factors listed in Clause 2. On first reading, the test looks robust: national security, the economy and
“the construction, maintenance and operation of critical infrastructure”.
These are serio…
Lords
Statutory Instrument
23 June 2026
3 contributions
Employment Tribunal (Extension of Time Limits) (Miscellaneous Amendments and Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2026
My Lords, I start by echoing the Minister’s wish for every possible success tonight for the English team. I also declare my own interests as set out in the register, in particular as a partner in the global commercial law firm DAC Beachcroft and an honorary bencher of the Inner Temple.
In moving th…
My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Fox. We are speaking, as we did several times during the passage of the Employment Rights Act, with one voice, and that voice tonight has met with a response from the Minister that still requires a whole range of actions to be taken. I join the noble Lord, Lord…
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Proceedings
18 June 2026
Steel Tariffs
My Lords, yesterday there was cross-party concern in the other place, including from government Back-Benchers, that these steel measures risked doing real damage to downstream businesses. Of course, we all want to protect British steel-making, but the Government have designed a regime that risks pen…
Lords
Debate
16 June 2026
Steel Industry (Nationalisation) Bill
My Lords, I start by congratulating the Minister on his appointment last Friday as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Business and Trade. He has a long established and proven track record of success in business. I hope that his voice will be heard loud and clear within gove…
Lords
Debate
9 June 2026
Commercial Payments Bill [HL]
My Lords, I declare my interests as set out in the register, in particular as a partner and practising solicitor at DAC Beachcroft. It is a pleasure to follow the Minister, who not only read from a brief but spoke from his heart. He has a record that anyone should be proud of in building businesses …
Lords
Proceedings
8 June 2026
Royal Mail
I will start by congratulating the Minister on the hard work he has carried out in preparing for this Question, and in particular the discussions he has been having with Royal Mail. However, does he not accept that, by increasing national insurance contributions, which I reckon adds around £120 mill…
Lords
Proceedings
1 June 2026
Business Hiring
I greatly regret to tell the House that the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics show that the number of young people not in training, education or employment has exceeded 1 million. I believe we are heading to figures for 18 to 24 year-olds which have not been seen since 2008 when…
Lords
Proceedings
21 May 2026
Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda: Ebola Outbreak
My Lords, the Minister may not have been in the Chamber earlier, but I hope she has been made aware of the concerns expressed by the noble Lord, Lord Rooker, and my noble friend Lord Gove about the fact that the Government are now permitting the importation of Russian-derived oil products into the U…
Lords
Proceedings
21 May 2026
Offshore Oil and Gas: Venting and Flaring
But has the Minister not heard the comments of Ukraine’s sanctions commissioner, Vladyslav Vlasiuk, who said—and this is a direct quote—that
“temporary exemptions … may still generate additional revenues for Russia’s war machine”?
What is his answer to the commissioner? While I am on my feet, can …
Lords
Proceedings
21 May 2026
Processed Russian Oil Products: Sanctions
My Lords, the Minister may not have been in the Chamber earlier, but I hope she has been made aware of the concerns expressed by the noble Lord, Lord Rooker, and my noble friend Lord Gove about the fact that the Government are now permitting the importation of Russian-derived oil products into the U…
Lords
Proceedings
20 May 2026
Self-employed: Paternity Leave
Does the Minister not accept that the real problem is that employment costs are rising to such an extent that it is now much more difficult for businesses to offer enhanced paternity leave and other support for working parents? Will she consult with her colleagues and bring forward a clear strategy …
Lords
Oral Questions
23 April 2026
2 contributions
Office for National Statistics Labour Market Data
My Lords, April’s statistics show that economic inactivity has fallen by nearly 360,000 since we came into office. Vacancies began falling in 2022, but we have stabilised and slowed the rate of decrease. In the last 21 months of the previous Government, vacancies fell by 363,000, more than double th…
I note that the noble Lord has changed the usual formulation of his regular Question on unemployment figures because the unemployment figures fell to below 5%, as seen in the latest figures earlier this week, something I thought that he would have welcomed. It is rather rich that he talks about NEET…
Lords
Oral Questions
23 April 2026
Steel Sector
The noble Lord raises a critical question around how we balance the national resilience of our steel industry with security concerns; that balance is paramount. We remain in conversation with the MoD about making sure that this does not have a prohibitive impact on its procurement and access to prod…
Lords
Oral Questions
13 April 2026
Britain’s Battery Future Report
We are monitoring the performance and efficacy of the ZEV mandate and last year we introduced additional flexibilities, providing manufacturers with more tools to decarbonise in a way that protects jobs and boosts investment. We have a large range of measures to support people to transition to zero-…
Lords
Oral Questions
23 March 2026
Companies: Online AGMs
As the noble Lord mentioned, getting the right regulation and reducing the administrative costs is a priority for the Government and in many areas we have already taken action to do that; for example, we no longer require certain companies to produce a strategic report. We will continue to work thro…
Lords
Oral Questions
18 March 2026
EU Directive: Adequate Minimum Wages
My Lords, first, backing young people is one of the most important investments that we can make in the country’s future. We are determined to tackle the rise in youth unemployment, which has been constantly rising for the past 10 years or so, by expanding practical routes into work, boosting apprent…
Lords
Oral Questions
10 March 2026
2 contributions
Foreign Direct Investment
My Lords, this Government are firmly committed to ensuring that the UK remains a leading destination for foreign direct investment. We are strengthening stability and certainty for investors, advancing planning reforms to unlock growth and championing our globally competitive sectors. Working closel…
The reason I have come into government is to try to balance the need to grow our economy with making sure that our economy works for all sectors and parts of our country. Creating an economy that delivers for businesses and for working people requires some changes. To put these into perspective, tot…
Lords
Oral Questions
9 March 2026
British Business Bank
I could not agree more with the noble Lord’s first point: my noble friend has given us a good opportunity to talk about this important institution. The new mission set by the British Business Bank is to drive economic growth by helping smaller businesses to get the finance they need to start, scale …
Lords
Committee Stage
9 March 2026
Industrial Training Levy (Construction Industry Training Board) Order 2026
I start by saying how grateful I am for the contributions to this debate and for the thoughtful scrutiny. I have learned a lot from my noble friend Lord Jones about the background and I thank him for his input on that. It is important that we all understand where we have come from and where we are h…
Lords
Committee Stage
4 March 2026
UK-India: Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement
My Lords, I am pleased to respond for the Government. I am grateful to my noble and learned friend Lord Goldsmith and the International Agreements Committee for securing the debate today. I am pleased to echo the comments made about my noble and learned friend’s exemplary work as chair of the IAC. I…
Lords
Committee Stage
2 March 2026
2 contributions
Bereaved Partner’s Paternity Leave Regulations 2026
My Lords, the Committee stands adjourned and will resume at 5.53 pm.
My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Hunt of Wirral, for his compassion and understanding of the issue and his support for the regulations. They represent an important step forward and will ensure that fathers and partners who experience this unimaginable loss are afforded the protection, stabilit…