Budget Statement

Lord Singh of Wimbledon Excerpts

Friday 12th March 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Singh of Wimbledon (CB) [V]]

My Lords, I too welcome the new Members to the House of Lords and thank them for their impressive maiden speeches. The Chancellor is to be congratulated on the furlough scheme and other initiatives to allow us to meet the tremendous challenges of the Covid pandemic—a pandemic for which we were grossly unprepared.

It is a tribute to the herculean efforts of our wonderful health service workers that we are now beginning to see the hope of something near normality in the near future. Sadly, the deserved hand-clapping has turned into a miserable 1% pay increase for nurses. Does the Minister agree that this is not only a slap for nurses in present employment but a severe deterrent to an enhancement of recruiting?

Will the Government also reconsider their cut in the aid budget, at a time of famine in Yemen? As a country that is, sadly, supporting arms sales to Saudi Arabia—a participant in the conflict—we have a clear moral responsibility to help alleviate the suffering.