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4,729 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDManufacturing Post BrexitThere are tremendous opportunities facing the UK following Brexit. We can have regulatory freedom in a number of areas where we were constrained by the EU. I do not want to cast…26 Jan 2023HANSARDManufacturing Post BrexitMy noble friend makes an important point. The Inflation Reduction Act in the US is clearly going to have big effects on the UK and Europe. We need to work together with our…26 Jan 2023HANSARDManufacturing Post BrexitThe noble Lord makes a good point. We need to do lots of things to help us on the journey to electric vehicles. Charging infrastructure is an important point. We have very…26 Jan 2023HANSARDManufacturing Post BrexitMy Lords, following the UK’s departure from the European Union, the Government are focused on transforming our industrial heartlands by attracting inward investment,…26 Jan 2023HANSARDManufacturing Post BrexitThe noble Lord obviously wrote his question before I gave the earlier answer, because the figures that I quoted on increased manufacturing investment—more than half of…26 Jan 2023HANSARDManufacturing Post BrexitI know that the noble Lord is very expert in this area, and we have discussed it before. We need to do all that we can to encourage life science investment; the UK has one of the…26 Jan 2023HANSARDManufacturing Post BrexitI completely agree with my noble friend. There is a great future ahead for small modular reactors. We want to support Rolls-Royce as much as we can in this area. We are rolling…26 Jan 2023HANSARDHospitality IndustryThat depends on what the noble Earl defines as an energy company. Many of the energy retailers are making very little money—in fact, they are losing money. Nevertheless, the noble…24 Jan 2023HANSARDHospitality IndustryI am not sure that I would equate the two issues, but I am happy to debate this with the noble Lord some other time. There are some labour shortages in the hospitality sector, as…24 Jan 2023HANSARDHospitality IndustryIt is not necessarily the case that the industry is contracting: this year, revenues were ahead of where they were before the pandemic. There are some businesses closing and…24 Jan 2023HANSARDHospitality IndustryMy noble friend makes an important point. We need to have a fair and balanced immigration policy, treating all parts of the world equally.24 Jan 2023HANSARDPrepayment MetersI say to the noble Lord that prepayment customers do not pay higher tariffs than other customers. They pay slightly more because of the cost of servicing prepayment meters. It is…24 Jan 2023HANSARDPrepayment MetersThe Government have put in place a considerable package of support, involving tens of billions of pounds of price support, which applies to prepayment customers as well as to…24 Jan 2023HANSARDPrepayment MetersWell, I say to the noble Baroness that the Government recognise the importance of protecting customers, including those on a prepayment meter. This weekend, the Secretary of State…24 Jan 2023HANSARDHospitality IndustryI know that the Home Office keeps all visa policies under review. If the noble Lord will forgive me, I will leave the setting of VAT to the Chancellor, but I am sure he has heard…24 Jan 2023HANSARDPrepayment MetersBecause none of these matters is simple. We have called on the suppliers to impose a voluntary moratorium, and we are working with them to try to implement that, but, of course,…24 Jan 2023HANSARDPrepayment MetersThe noble Baroness says I do not understand, but I have lived in properties with prepayment meters and I very much understand the issues. No one is forced to have a smart meter or…24 Jan 2023HANSARDPrepayment MetersAs I said, people pay slightly more for prepayment meters because of the cost to suppliers of servicing those customers. The issue of social tariffs is of course different. I have…24 Jan 2023HANSARDHospitality IndustryThe figure I quoted was based on anecdotal evidence that was given to us, but there are lots of different figures flying around for all sorts of different impacts. The biggest…24 Jan 2023HANSARDHospitality IndustryThe noble Baroness makes an important point. Any business going under is regrettable and a tragedy for all those involved, but we must not exaggerate the problem. Following sharp…24 Jan 2023