Climate Change: Housing Insurability, Mortgage Lending and Financial Resilience
Debate between Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb and Lord Livermore(3 weeks, 2 days ago)
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Lord Livermore (Lab)
I am grateful to the noble Baroness for her question. She is absolutely right in what she said about climate change. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change—the world’s foremost authority on climate change science—established in its sixth assessment report that climate change is real and is being driven by greenhouse gas emissions. It predicts that if the rate of warming is not limited to 1.5 degrees centigrade above pre-industrial levels, we risk severe and irreversible damage to our planet and our people. Of course, it will be good if we maintain a cross-party consensus on the measures necessary to tackle that.
I heard what the noble Baroness said about financial stability. She will know that the Bank of England’s December 2025 financial stability report set out the committee’s assessment of climate-related risk to UK financial stability: it is low relative to other countries in the shorter term.
Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (GP)
My Lords, the Minister has been saying some very important things about climate change: that it is happening and is very dangerous. But I do not really understand why he keeps using the term “longer term” because, quite honestly, it is happening now. It is not only about economic and financial stability but about the safety and well-being of people. It seems to me that this Government, judging from the legislation coming through at the moment, do not have any sense of urgency. Can the Minister take that back to his department and talk urgency?
Lord Livermore (Lab)
The Government have already committed significant investment in the transition to net zero, including £2.6 billion to decarbonise transport, £1.4 billion to support the uptake of electric vehicles, £2.7 billion a year for sustainable farming and nature recovery, and £13.2 billion to support the rollout of heat pumps and other low-carbon technologies as part of the warm homes plan, so I do not accept what the noble Baroness has said.
Supermarkets: Voluntary Price Caps
Debate between Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb and Lord Livermore(2 months, 2 weeks ago)
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Lord Livermore (Lab)
As I said yesterday in response to similar questions, we want the most competitive supermarket sector we can possibly get, and it is not for the Government to tell supermarkets how to do their jobs.
Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (GP)
My Lords, I asked the Minister yesterday about caps on food prices and he said then that that was not the role of the Government. Having said that, the suggested freeze is voluntary, as I understand it. Given that supermarkets— I think I might get booed here—squeeze producers of all kinds, farmers and their customers, making huge profits, should the Government not be a little bolder and actually think about the people for once?
Lord Livermore (Lab)
The end of the noble Baroness’s question is preposterous. This is not about price caps, as some speculation has suggested. As I said yesterday, we would never advocate for that, and I repeat that it is not for the Government to tell supermarkets how to do their jobs.
VAT Relief: Business Donations
Debate between Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb and Lord Livermore(2 months, 2 weeks ago)
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Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (GP)
My Lords, one thing the Government could perhaps do for people who are on very low incomes and suffering from food poverty is to cap the price of some essential items at supermarkets. Supermarkets make a huge profit from us customers, so capping a few prices might help the general population.
Lord Livermore (Lab)
I am not sure that it is for the Government to cap prices. We are working closely with supermarkets to ensure that they are keeping costs down, and competition is thriving in the sector to help keep costs down for consumers. The noble Baroness knows that we are absolutely committed to tackling poverty and ending mass dependence on things such as emergency food parcels and other charitable support. It is why, most importantly, we are tackling the root causes of child poverty and scrapping the two-child limit, which will lift 450,000 children out of poverty by the end of this Parliament.
Budget: Press Briefings
Debate between Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb and Lord Livermore(8 months, 2 weeks ago)
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Lord Livermore (Lab)
The answer to the noble Baroness’s first question is no. On her second question, I am not going to comment on the ongoing Budget process. There is always speculation ahead of a Budget and it is quite right that I do not comment on any individual tax measures.
Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (GP)
Does the Minister understand that he has to answer questions and not just butt them away?
Non-domicile Status
Debate between Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb and Lord Livermore(1 year, 6 months ago)
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Lord Livermore (Lab)
The Government are committed to making sure that the wealthiest in our society pay their fair share of tax, consistent with our commitment to economic growth. That is why the Chancellor announced a series of reforms at the Budget to help to fix the public finances in as fair a way as possible. That is absolutely what we are doing, and we are ensuring the fairest treatment to those affected.
Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (GP)
My Lords, are the Government thinking that this money they are going to raise from all the non-doms is actually going to—as the former Labour Party might have hoped—lift people out of poverty, rather than crush them even further into poverty, as seems to be happening at the moment?