Contributions
188 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDSmall Businesses: VAT ThresholdTo ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of HMRC data showing that an increasing number of small businesses in the UK are earning below the VAT tax threshold.05 Mar 2026HANSARDNational Insurance Contributions (Employer Pensions Contributions) BillMy Lords, I support Amendment 31 in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Neville-Rolfe, to which I have added my name. I also add my vocal support for Amendment 32 from the noble…05 Mar 2026HANSARDNational Insurance Contributions (Employer Pensions Contributions) BillMy Lords, I support broadly all the amendments in this group, but specifically Amendments 12 and 26 in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Kramer, to which I added my name. I…05 Mar 2026HANSARDStudent Loans: ReviewMy Lords, in England alone, outstanding student debt now stands at £270 billion and is forecast to reach £500 billion by the late 2040s. With respect to the nation’s balance…24 Feb 2026HANSARDNational Insurance Contributions (Employer Pensions Contributions) BillMy Lords, I will speak to Amendments 12 and 26, tabled by the noble Baroness, Lady Neville-Rolfe, and the noble Lord, Lord Altrincham, to which I have added my name. I am also…24 Feb 2026HANSARDNational Insurance Contributions (Employer Pensions Contributions) BillI will very briefly add one question about the OBR forecast. I think that the noble Baroness, Lady Kramer, said at Second Reading that she found the timing “weird”. I certainly…24 Feb 2026HANSARDNational Insurance Contributions (Employer Pensions Contributions) BillMy Lords, I will speak to Amendment 6, tabled by the noble Baroness, Lady Neville-Rolfe, and the noble Lord, Lord Altrincham, which I have signed, and to Amendments 7, 11, 20 and…24 Feb 2026HANSARDNational Insurance Contributions (Employer Pensions Contributions) BillMy Lords, I support all the amendments in the first group but will restrict my comments to Amendment 1 in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Neville-Rolfe. This concerns the…24 Feb 2026HANSARDUS TariffsMy Lords, somewhat bizarrely, the trading partners of the US that are the greatest beneficiaries of President Trump’s new regime are Brazil, China and India, which are currently…23 Feb 2026HANSARDNational Insurance Contributions (Employer Pensions Contributions) BillMy Lords, I accept that this Government, like their predecessor, have little room for manoeuvre if they are to keep within their fiscal rules at a time of sluggish growth, so I am…04 Feb 2026HANSARDUK Start-up CompaniesTo ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the recent performance of startup companies in the United Kingdom.28 Jan 2026HANSARDUK Start-up CompaniesMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper, and declare my interests as an adviser and investor in start-ups.28 Jan 2026HANSARDUK Start-up CompaniesI thank the Minister for her response, but I think it is fair to say that key data on our start-ups is missing in action. Since the enterprise investment scheme was introduced 30…28 Jan 2026HANSARDYouth UnemploymentMy Lords, I appreciate that the Government’s youth guarantee scheme is well intentioned, but would it not be more effective if it applied to those 18 to 21 year-olds who have been…20 Jan 2026HANSARDOfficial Development AssistanceMy Lords, Governments can be forced to make abrupt, top-down decisions without having the time to undertake scientific ground-up assessments on the impact of those decisions. That…13 Jan 2026HANSARDBroadcasting: Recent DevelopmentsMy Lords, I will focus on the BBC from a commercial and international perspective, and should declare an interest up front. In my years as a journalist and foreign correspondent…08 Jan 2026HANSARDPublic Sector ProductivityMy Lords, there is growing support for a social media ban for all those under the age of 16. In the interests of public sector productivity, would the Minister consider a similar…07 Jan 2026HANSARDAgricultural Property Relief and Business Property ReliefMy Lords, I commend the Government on adjusting the threshold to £2.5 million, which I and other Cross-Benchers advocated a year ago in this place and which strikes the right…06 Jan 2026HANSARDGraduate JobsMy Lords, the brutal truth is that the number of graduates in the UK has almost doubled over the last 20 years, far outstripping the supply of graduate jobs, and that was before…06 Jan 2026HANSARDFair Work Agency: Small and Micro BusinessesMy Lords, the Minister just mentioned that as many as 400,000 workers are being paid under the minimum wage and another 900,000 are having their holiday pay withheld. Given the…17 Dec 2025