"My Lords, I was interested to read comments from Republican politicians over the weekend calling out the role of social media in polluting political discourse, particularly after the horrific events in America last week. Can we please recognise that we are pioneers in this country in terms of regulating platforms …..." Lord Vaizey of Didcot - View Speech
"My Lords, touring artists are important for not only the UK economy but our soft power. Can the Minister update the House on the progress being made by the UK Soft Power Council in putting together a coherent and effective soft power strategy for the UK?..." Lord Vaizey of Didcot - View Speech
"My Lords, this legislation is a throwback to the time when our national museums were little more than adjuncts of the Office of Works. As they gained their independence, the Government at the time quite rightly wanted to stop that. The trustees and leaders of our national museums have shown, …..." Lord Vaizey of Didcot - View Speech
"My Lords, the last Government removed the VAT exemption for tourists—the ability to reclaim VAT—which hit a lot of retailers and crafts companies based in the UK. The unique campaign to get that tax removed united people like the Scottish National Party with the Labour Party. Is that now a …..." Lord Vaizey of Didcot - View Speech
"It seems pretty clear that a tourist tax is emerging as a form of generating revenue. Edinburgh, as was said earlier, is imposing one next year, and there are two voluntary levies, in Manchester and Liverpool. It seems to me that the Minister should certainly look at this in a …..." Lord Vaizey of Didcot - View Speech
"My Lords, will the assessment of the so-called junk food advertising ban include an assessment of the impact on our commercial broadcasters, which are not finding the current world of competing against the streamers that easy and need every source of revenue they can get their hands on?..." Lord Vaizey of Didcot - View Speech
"My Lords, as this seems to be a free-for-all on putting forward our economic theories, could we ban discussions of tax cuts and rises and instead look at tax simplification? There is an excellent article in this week’s New Statesman—a magazine that I read assiduously every week—that regurgitates the …..." Lord Vaizey of Didcot - View Speech