Speech in Lords Chamber - Thu 29 Jan 2026 Business Rates
"My Lords, is it not the case that the previous Government wrecked the economy and gave us Brexit, which reduced our ability to pay for public services? The Opposition now seem to be calling for greater public expenditure and tax cuts. It sounds as though they have found not just …..." Lord Watts - View Speech
"My Lords, has the Minister noticed that the Opposition say that the private sector does not like U-turns, they say they do not like U-turns, and then they call for more U-turns? What is their strategy for dealing with our current problems?..." Lord Watts - View Speech
"My Lords, is it not the case that this is a monopoly, and monopolies have no accountability? Until, as a previous speaker said, we get some direct accountability from chief executives, where they have to lose pay for bad performance, we will continue to have the problems we have with …..." Lord Watts - View Speech
"My Lords, is this not another case of privatisation going wrong and the water companies taking massive profits out of the water system, leaving the Government with liabilities that are now costing a fortune?..." Lord Watts - View Speech
"My Lords, has the Minister noticed how much time the Government are spending on dealing with austerity and privatisation? We are having to deal with this problem only because the last Tory Government closed all these centres originally...." Lord Watts - View Speech
"My Lords, is it the case that President Trump supported this measure and then changed his mind? Can I suggest not to take too much notice of a man who does not know the difference between Iceland and Greenland?..." Lord Watts - View Speech
"My Lords, is this not a class issue? People who live in leafy suburbs think it is a bad idea; people who live in council houses, often targeted by young people, think that, while every effort should be made to keep children out of the judicial system, there has to …..." Lord Watts - View Speech
"My Lords, on pub companies, there is no doubt that the tenants are facing major problems in the UK, but does the Minister agree with me that, although those pubs are struggling, brewers and pub companies are making record profits? Is it not time they passed that on to the …..." Lord Watts - View Speech
"Does the Minister agree with me that there is no future for Britain unless it gets out this situation of low skills, low pay, poverty wages and poor conditions, with some of the worst employment and pay rates in Europe?..." Lord Watts - View Speech
"My Lords, the Minister is quite correct to say that social media has much more impact than government policy in this area, but is he confident that the regulator, which has continued to fail to do anything about this, will be up for the job that it now has, with …..." Lord Watts - View Speech