Middle East: Economic Update

Debate between Baroness O'Grady of Upper Holloway and Lord Livermore

Tuesday 28th April 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

The noble Lord is absolutely correct to say how important it is to do that. That is why we have taken further action to weaken the link. Last week, the Chancellor announced plans to weaken the link between high gas and electricity prices and to prevent spikes in energy prices from driving up inflation and costs for households. That is why the delinking steps that we have taken are so important.

The Chancellor also announced the extension of the British industrial competitiveness scheme, which was a commitment in the industrial strategy. That will reduce electricity costs from April 2027 by around 25% for electricity-intensive manufacturing frontier sectors in the industrial strategy and foundational sectors in their supply chains. Last week, the Chancellor announced that over 10,000 businesses are now expected to benefit from the scheme, rather than 7,000 as previously planned. Eligible businesses will also benefit from a one-off backdated payment in 2027, covering the support firms would have received if the scheme had been in place from April 2026. The consultation on scheme design and eligibility was published last week.

[Baroness O’Grady of Upper Holloway (Lab)]

My Lords, does my noble friend the Minister agree that conflict in the Middle East underlines the case for ever-stronger relationships with the EU, including on trade? Secondly, does he agree that on industrial strategy, the priority must be protecting plants and jobs? To what extent can we use our considerable procurement power to ensure that we protect the jobs and skills in this country?

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

I do agree with what my noble friend said. Already, even before this crisis, the damage that Brexit was doing to our economy was apparent. As I say, at the time of Brexit it was estimated it would cost about 4 percentage points of GDP. That has now risen to between 6 and 8 percentage points of GDP. Obviously, cutting ourselves off from our closest trading partner was never going to be good for the economy, and that has been seen absolutely to be the case. It is why this Government have put in place the reset with our European friends, and we are deepening our trade relationships. The Chancellor set out her intention to deepen further our economic relationship with the European Union in her recent Mais Lecture, and I hope we will see more action on that in the near future.

In terms of the industrial strategy, I absolutely agree with my noble friend. That is why, for example, as I was just saying, the British industrial competitiveness scheme is so important in helping electricity-intensive manufacturing frontier sectors. That was a commitment given in the industrial strategy that has now been put in place. What my noble friend says about procurement is absolutely right. The noble Baroness, Lady Neville-Rolfe, will know how hard it is to change procurement rules in government, but I absolutely agree wholeheartedly with what my noble friend says.

Public Sector Productivity

Debate between Baroness O'Grady of Upper Holloway and Lord Livermore

Wednesday 7th January 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

We talked before about AI and digital adoption. Digital adoption is incredibly important when it comes to rural communities—ensuring that they have access to extremely fast broadband, for example, will be important. Working from home has been mentioned. There are interesting studies that show that, particularly in rural areas where it is more difficult to travel to work, working from home can significantly improve productivity.

[Baroness O'Grady of Upper Holloway (Lab)]

My Lords, my noble friend the Minister is absolutely right that the big impact on investment, and therefore productivity, in the UK came as a result of austerity policies, a poor Brexit deal and a failure of industrial policy. However, I want to ask about quality of management in the UK. We know that that is key to workforce engagement, health and well-being, and job design and satisfaction, which, in turn, impacts on productivity. Will my noble friend consider convening a discussion with business schools about whether our education system for managers is fit for purpose and whether we can make improvements to improve workforce engagement?

Winter Fuel Payment

Debate between Baroness O'Grady of Upper Holloway and Lord Livermore

Tuesday 10th June 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

I am grateful to the noble Lord for his qualified support for the policy. The Government absolutely know that their number one concern and mission is to increase the living standards of working people and to do so through increasing growth in the economy, and that absolutely will be the focus of our policies going forward.

[Baroness O’Grady of Upper Holloway (Lab)]

My Lords, I welcome the position of the Minister, and it was also good to hear praise for his leadership from the Benches opposite. But does he agree that it is unfortunate to hear attempts to pitch pensioners against workers’ interests in fair pay and stronger employment rights, not least because the workers of today will become the pensioners of tomorrow, and we know that low pay, weak security and poor rights lead to poverty in old age?

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

I am grateful to my noble friend and I agree with everything that she says. I will just add to what she said at the end: low pay and insecurity at work are detrimental to growth, and obviously we need growth in our economy to pay for the benefits that we want to pay to pensioners and others. Once again, the party opposite calls for the growth but they are not willing to support the policies that get us there.

Agricultural and Business Property Reliefs: OBR Costing

Debate between Baroness O'Grady of Upper Holloway and Lord Livermore

Monday 27th January 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

Yes, it is—and it will go a very long way to help our public services after years of neglect. I completely disagree with the noble Baroness’s characterisation of this policy.

[Baroness O’Grady of Upper Holloway (Lab)]

My Lords, does my noble friend the Minister agree that big supermarkets could do more to support farmers in Britain, who are under pressure from the squeeze on prices that big supermarkets are setting? At least one big supermarket achieved more than £2 billion of pre-tax profits—an increase of 15%—last year.

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

I certainly agree with my noble friend on the specific point that farmers’ incomes are under pressure, and we must do everything we can, as a Government, to support farmers in that respect. It is worth adding that we will continue to work in partnership with the large supermarket chains. We are determined to work with businesses right across the country to drive economic growth.