"My Lords, I shall speak to Amendments 7, 9, 11, 76, 77 and 88 to 91 in the name of my noble friend Lord Birt, each of which I have added my name to, and to Amendment 87 in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Clement-Jones...." Lord Londesborough - View Speech
"My Lords, when it comes to visitor levies, surely one size does not fit all. Applying them to small, family-run operators in our struggling coastal towns will inflict further damage on already weak competitor positions. Where is the evidence that applying Manchesterism to places such as Blackpool, Skegness and, indeed, …..." Lord Londesborough - View Speech
"My Lords, it is getting late, and I am told that we are now competing with the Spain v France World Cup semi-final—the winner may well face England in the final—so I will try to be brief. I speak not as a cyber expert or technologist but as a former …..." Lord Londesborough - View Speech
"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 …..." Lord Londesborough - View Speech
"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 …..." Lord Londesborough - View Speech
"My Lords, I must thank my noble friend Lady Deech for securing this debate, which has been appositely framed with the words “affordability and quality”. I will tackle these words from an economic angle and from an employer’s perspective, reflecting, in part, on my own experience. Before I go down …..." Lord Londesborough - View Speech
"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 …..." Lord Londesborough - View Speech
"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 …..." Lord Londesborough - View Speech
"My Lords, the 20% drop in footfall reported by the hospitality and retail sectors as a result of these strikes suggests that at least 1 million of the capital’s 6 million workforce did not travel into work as planned. Most of them had to work from home, which meant that …..." Lord Londesborough - View Speech
"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. …..." Lord Londesborough - View Speech