Contributions
793 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDEconomy UpdateThe noble Lord raises a number of questions. Perhaps I may reassure him that the Government are in constant dialogue with business at all levels. He is right that we face some…10 Nov 2020HANSARDEconomy UpdateI thank both noble Lords for their comments. I will first address the noble Lord, Lord Tunnicliffe. The Government have always made it clear that economic support would continue…10 Nov 2020HANSARDEconomy UpdateI share my noble friend’s concern about the huge impact of indebtedness that has gone on to the country’s balance sheets over the last few months. He is entirely right that the…10 Nov 2020HANSARDEconomy UpdateI share the concerns of the right reverend Prelate about jobs. The honest answer is that we do not have enough visibility on the impact to the economy beyond March. Coming out of…10 Nov 2020HANSARDEconomy UpdateI agree with the noble Viscount that we face an unprecedented storm of events, and I share his concern. On the role of the Treasury and, indeed, my other department, the Cabinet…10 Nov 2020HANSARDEconomy UpdateNo firm decisions on that have been made, other than what was announced a few weeks ago, which was to extend the payment period of the bounce-back loans to 10 years and to confirm…10 Nov 2020HANSARDEconomy UpdateThe noble Baroness is right that QE is providing a level of financing for the interventions that the Government are taking at the moment. I think that she will understand that…10 Nov 2020HANSARDEconomy UpdateI thank the noble Lord for his supportive comments. I completely agree with him that intergenerational solidarity is vital as we come through this crisis. I worry about the cliff…10 Nov 2020HANSARDEconomy UpdateThe noble Baroness knows that this Government certainly do not support a universal basic income, but we are very aware of the vulnerability of many self-employed people. We have…10 Nov 2020HANSARDEconomy UpdateI share the noble Lord’s concern for those who have fallen through the cracks. We have issued a number of initiatives over the last few weeks and months to try to close the gap.…10 Nov 2020HANSARDEconomy UpdateMy noble friend asks about the cost of this current extension of furlough. I am not able to give him the answer to that yet simply because we do not know how many firms and…10 Nov 2020HANSARDCovid-19 Lockdown: Economic SupportAs the noble Lord will be aware, we have made very substantial payments to the devolved authorities over the last few months and increased those payments in October by £1.3…04 Nov 2020HANSARDCovid-19 Lockdown: Economic SupportMy Lords, my honourable friend the Economic Secretary is in constant dialogue with the banks on how all these schemes operate; he continues to try to help to improve them. If the…04 Nov 2020HANSARDCovid-19 Lockdown: Economic SupportMy Lords, we are very aware of the pressure on self-employed people at the moment, and it is important to remind the House of the level of support that we have given. Up to 19…04 Nov 2020HANSARDCovid-19 Lockdown: Economic SupportAs the noble Baroness will know, we have no certainty about when a vaccine will be available in quantity. She mentioned June next year, which is a possibility; it might be sooner…04 Nov 2020HANSARDCovid-19 Lockdown: Economic SupportMy Lords, as I am sure the noble Lord knows, we have provided some £14 billion of funding to the devolved authorities. That is important because £1.3 billion was announced on 9…04 Nov 2020HANSARDCovid-19 Lockdown: Economic SupportMy Lords, we will keep all these issues under review. As the right reverend Prelate will probably be aware, we have extended payment holidays on mortgages and certain consumer…04 Nov 2020HANSARDCovid-19 Lockdown: Economic SupportI share my noble friend’s concern about small businesses: it is absolutely ghastly for all these people. I want to explain to him that all eligible businesses in retail,…04 Nov 2020HANSARDCovid-19 Lockdown: Economic SupportI absolutely agree that it is a top priority that we do not stay in lockdown for a day longer than we have to. It was done with great reluctance because of the very rapid…04 Nov 2020HANSARDCovid-19: Economy UpdateI thank the noble Lord and the noble Baroness for their comments. I shall try to deal quickly with the issues that they raised. I completely accept that we are dealing with a…27 Oct 2020