Speech in Grand Committee - Thu 20 Nov 2025 Private Equity
"My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Bennett, and I also thank my noble friend Lord Monks for securing this debate. Private equity’s trail of destruction includes Debenhams, Homebase, LloydsPharmacy, Maplin, Poundworld, Silentnight, Toys R Us, The Body Shop, Southern Cross Healthcare and more. High …..." Lord Sikka - View Speech
"My Lords, can the Minister explain some contradictions here? On the one hand, the Government are quite keen that a foreign Government should not own a UK newspaper, while being simultaneously content for foreign Governments, including dictatorships, to own UK water, energy, rail, ports, airports, oil, gas, hospitals, care homes, …..." Lord Sikka - View Speech
"My Lords, a major problem is that people are disillusioned with the political system. Political parties are busy selling themselves to the highest bidder. Nearly half of 18 to 24 year-olds are not registered to vote and turnout at elections is low. Even if people vote, political parties appease their …..." Lord Sikka - View Speech
"My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Elliott of Mickle Fell, for securing this debate. In an often-told story, Albert Einstein set an exam paper for his graduate class. One of his colleagues noticed that the questions were the same as on the previous year’s exam paper. He asked …..." Lord Sikka - View Speech
"My Lords, whether someone trades through a company or a partnership is a personal choice. That choice should not be incentivised by the national insurance system. It is wrong to hand incentives to rich accountants and lawyers to dodge employers’ national insurance just because they trade as partnerships. That differential …..." Lord Sikka - View Speech
"My Lords, energy companies made £30 billion profit last year, which is over £500 per household. This fuels inflation and poverty. Some 128,000 people die in fuel poverty each year. There is an urgent need to end profiteering by excluding gas-generated electricity from Ofgem’s marginal pricing formula. Can the Minister …..." Lord Sikka - View Speech
"My Lords, there is an unacceptable level of social deprivation in all parts of our country, and even more so in the north of England. The city of Liverpool has 12,764 households on its social housing waiting list. It has just five—yes, noble Lords heard correctly—so-called additional social rent dwellings, …..." Lord Sikka - View Speech
"As the Minister is struggling to provide information about the social cost of leaving water in private hands, I shall help him a little bit. Analysis suggests that, between 2025 and 2050, customers of privatised water companies will pay over £1 trillion, expressed in 2025 prices. It will probably be …..." Lord Sikka - View Speech
"To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the social cost of leaving England’s water companies in private ownership...." Lord Sikka - View Speech
"My Lords, last year, the TUC estimated that there is an average disability pay gap of £4,300 a year. Add this to the gender and ethnicity pay gaps, and then imagine the plight of disabled women from ethnic minorities. Can the Minister explain how many employers a year are investigated …..." Lord Sikka - View Speech