Global Traffic Scorecard: London

Lord Bilimoria Excerpts

Wednesday 5th January 2022 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Vere of Norbiton (Con)]

I could, but I am afraid that I do not have the full briefing with me today in order to go through all the different elements where that is the case. But I can say to the noble Baroness that, for example, the national bus strategy very clearly sets out our ambition to be able to get a fair ticketing system for bus passengers and to enable services to be more frequent, and therefore for the entire system to operate more effectively.

[Lord Bilimoria (CB)]

My Lords, I am a member of the healthy cities commission at the University of Oxford, chaired by my noble friend Lord Best, where we are looking into the effects of commuting as well as congestion. If London is the most congested city in the world, what calculations have the Government made of the effect on the economy, the lost time, and the money and hours lost, as well as on pollution?

[Baroness Vere of Norbiton (Con)]

Again, that is a hugely complicated question, which probably goes beyond what I can answer today. The noble Lord is right; in terms of congestion and changes to commuting behaviour, the system has to adapt. That is why, in London, we have a very good integrated system, which comes under TfL and the responsibility of the Mayor of London. It is up to him to look at all the different modes that he has available, whether it is the Tube, overground, cycling or walking—all those different ways—to ensure that we get the maximum economic benefit for London. Only this morning, I spoke to the CEO of London First, and we discussed that in detail.

International Travel Rules

Lord Bilimoria Excerpts

Thursday 22nd July 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Vere of Norbiton (Con)]

Japan will be taken under consideration as we review the traffic lights system going forward. Transatlantic travel is hugely important for both the US and the UK, and as announced by the Secretary of State for Transport on 8 July, we are confident that vaccines will play an important role in normalising travel, when it is appropriate. There is a UK-US expert working group specifically driving this work forward.

[Lord Bilimoria (CB) [V]]

My Lords, the queues at arrivals at our airports are now completely unacceptable. They are two hours or more, as I have experienced recently. Why do the Government not do two things? First, they could get airlines to check documentation before passengers board planes to the UK. Secondly, with universities having closed, they could employ university students, or recent graduates, train them up in a day or two and get them to check Covid documents at arrivals at the airports, with one or two Border Force agents supporting and supervising them, and then let the passengers through to the e-gates and to the immigration officers to do the passport checks. These two moves would remove the congestion and queues in one swoop.

[Baroness Vere of Norbiton (Con)]

I thank the noble Lord for his suggestions, and I will ensure that my colleagues at the Home Office listen to them as well. We have always been very clear that wait times at the border may be extended due to biosecurity checks being carried out. These are essential to protect the public and the success of our vaccination programme. Passengers have a key role to play in this, as to a certain extent do airlines, because they do some checking before passengers board aircraft. The noble Lord mentioned e-gates. Automation is also really important. We have been able to upgrade the e-gates to speed passengers through the airport.

Lorry Drivers

Lord Bilimoria Excerpts

Wednesday 7th July 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Vere of Norbiton (Con)]

I thank my noble friend for his question. I have looked very carefully at driver CPC. It is my opinion that we need to put the “professional” back into professional driving. Driver CPC is a really good way to ensure ongoing training for the profession. It is one day a year, which I think is about the right amount of training. It ensures that they are up to date and maintain their skills and knowledge of the roads. The Government have funding available to support those who have a C+E licence who need to get their driver CPC, so there is a way for people to upgrade their qualification.

[Lord Bilimoria (CB) [V]]

My Lords, as president of the CBI, I know that employers are facing the perfect storm of staff shortages as the economy reopens. First, does the Minister agree that the Government should immediately update the immigration shortage occupation list, as well as helping workers to gain skills? Secondly, does the Minister agree that, with cases projected to rise to up to 100,000 a day, instead of waiting until 16 August, from 19 July, instead of people having to isolate after coming into contact with a Covid-positive individual, we should have a test and release system, including using lateral flow tests, which will allow people to carry on with work?

[Baroness Vere of Norbiton (Con)]

I think that I have already answered the noble Lord’s first question. On his second, obviously the Government will be watching the economy as we go through this period of lifting the restrictions and monitoring the impact carefully.

Space Industry (Appeals) Regulations 2021

Lord Bilimoria Excerpts

Tuesday 29th June 2021 Grand Committee

[Lord Bilimoria (CB) [V]]

My Lords, I was privileged in my role as president of the CBI to chair the B7 summit, which fed in to the G7. One area we discussed was digital, and one of our participants said, “Thank God for digital in this pandemic”. What was also said clearly was that the more digitisation we have, the more vulnerable we get, particularly with regard to cybersecurity. Yes, we hear the cliched term of space being the final frontier; well, that frontier is here right now, with us. Not only is this fantastic news but it makes us more vulnerable. These regulations are therefore absolutely necessary, in the right proportion.

I am proud to be an honorary group captain serving in 601 Squadron of the Royal Air Force, and we now have our space command, which will be vital for our defence capabilities. The fantastic integrated review of our global diplomatic and defence strategies that was just published, with a tilt to the Indo-Pacific, spoke in great detail about our space capabilities. Our Armed Forces may be small in numbers compared with those of the United States, China or India, but our service personnel are the finest of the finest, and our capabilities are respected worldwide. That goes very much for space as well.

The Explanatory Memorandum to the Space Industry Regulations 2021 states clearly that the purpose of the instrument is

“to enable the licensing and regulation of spaceflight activities, spaceports and range control services in the UK”

and that the regulations are designed to enable

“launches by the early 2020s and promote growth, innovation and sustainability whilst protecting public safety, security and the UK’s international relations.”

Once these regulations are enforced, they will work along- side the 2018 Act, as the Minister said, and the Outer Space Act 1986. They will also work alongside other legislation such as on aviation, and on health and safety.

In addition, these provisions speak specifically about the market for small satellites, where the UK is strong and where we have a disadvantage because of our existing launch business models. The demand for launching small satellites is forecast to be greater than the launch supply over the next decade. At the moment, UK small satellite providers must launch on rockets designed for much larger satellites, as these have traditionally been the main customers for launch services. That creates a dependency where the UK small satellite providers have fewer choices.

Creating the regulatory conditions to allow launch to take place in the UK will open up a new, competitive market in the global space economy. This will have lots of benefits: it will feed into our national space strategy, enable UK launch options, and reduce cost and delays, which will be terrific. Domestic access to space would also provide the UK’s scientific community —this is absolutely terrific—with lots of research and development in exploration, discovery and the exploitation of revolutionary spaceflight technologies. The statistic given is that with public investment in the space industry returning an average of £6 in benefits for every £1 invested, the UK strategy of investing in and enabling industrial capabilities will deliver strong value for money, space sector market growth and spillover benefits for the wider UK economy for years to come.

There was also a publication in March from the Department for Transport, the business department, the Civil Aviation Authority and the UK Space Agency, titled Unlocking Commercial Spaceflight for the UK. The foreword written by the Ministers starts off:

“It was once said that space was the final frontier”.


It refers to how in 1961, 60 years ago,

“Yuri Gagarin became the first human to travel in space”.

It continues:

“The traditional space sector is changing and today we move … to making space”


more accessible to all people on this planet and

“to making that final frontier a new region for growth and prosperity for the whole of the United Kingdom.”

It talks about being at

“the dawn of an exhilarating new era that will forever change our relationship with space to the benefit of all”

and an “unparalleled opportunity for growth”. I agree with all that, because space is fundamental to the UK. It enables the defence and security of our nation, and empowers our society. It can help in every way in our daily lives—in telecommunications, for example—and we are terrific at innovation and enterprise. Our universities are the best in the world, along with those in the United States of America.

Building on our small satellite industry and the thriving commercial spaceflight market are fantastic opportunities. The Government have an ambitious target to grow the UK’s share of the global market to 10% by 2030. The cornerstones of this are these regulations. Euroconsult, a leading satellite consulting firm, estimates that 1,250 satellites will be launched annually this decade, with 70% of them for commercial purposes.

The noble Lord, Lord Teverson, mentioned OneWeb, which is a great example of collaboration. The satellites are built at a OneWeb-Airbus joint facility in Florida, which can produce two satellites a day. The launch rollout of the satellites is facilitated by a French company, Arianespace, using Russian-made Soyuz rockets, and the company has announced plans to enter the Indian market by 2022. This is all globalisation in action.

BT and OneWeb have signed a deal to explore ways to provide broadband internet to remote areas of the UK. This is fantastic news. It will improve the speed at which people can access data in remote areas. Will the Government commit to 100% broadband coverage, not the 85% they said in the spending review in November? It should be 100%, and this OneWeb and BT collaboration should enable it to happen.

It has been amazing: OneWeb has launched its most recent batch of 36 satellites into low-earth orbit, bringing the company one step closer to starting commercial activities by the end of the year. Of course, OneWeb is a collaboration between the British Government and my friend Sunil Mittal of Bharti Airtel, one of India’s largest communications companies. More than 70% of rural Indians do not have access to the internet. That problem is really worrisome. This will help, including in digital banking.

The cornerstone of our ambition is the legal and regulatory framework we have created. The UK space sector will strengthen our national capabilities, create high-skilled jobs and drive economic growth. This framework will support safe and sustainable activities in the unique environment of space while ensuring that public safety is at the heart of the regulatory approach. As long as it is flexible, it will help the UK to realise its space ambitions.

Hauliers

Lord Bilimoria Excerpts

Thursday 4th March 2021 Grand Committee

[Lord Bilimoria (CB) [V]]

My Lords, UK international haulage and trade has faced the most significant and sudden changes in 20 years after the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement. Hauliers and traders are starting to see the difference between adjustment issues and the new commercial and structural changes. As president of the CBI, I can say that we are seeing at first hand that business managing disruption has become the immediate priority. The changes at the GB/EU and GB/Northern Ireland borders have been the top priority: new customs processes, delays at ports, groupage, as we have heard, and inconsistent approaches from member states are just some of the challenges.

Meanwhile, firms face a new set of challenges due to the end of the grace periods and bridging mechanism timeframes. Does the Minister agree that these grace periods are not enough? Some are saying that we need at least two years. Does she believe that we should negotiate in good faith with the European Union to extend the grace periods to up to two years? Trade is essential if we are to build a competitive, dynamic and modern economy. This year—2021—is a golden opportunity for the UK to redefine its place in the world, showcase leadership and promote our values with the chairing of the G7 and hosting the UN COP 26 summit.

Operation of Air Services (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020

Lord Bilimoria Excerpts

Tuesday 26th January 2021 Grand Committee

[Lord Bilimoria (CB) [V]]

My Lords, the trade agreement between the UK and the EU was concluded on Christmas Eve last year and came into force on 31 December, four and a half years after the vote for Brexit. It is almost 1,500 pages, 26 of which deal with aviation. There were major concerns that the existing conditions would be worsened, but this has largely been avoided. Of course, there is some risk of divergence over time, but, as of now, compared with the threat of no deal, we are in a very good place in spite of being out of Europe’s single aviation market. The traffic rights have been preserved. Ownership and control restrictions allow UK airlines to be EU-owned, and there is close co-operation on safety and security, so, on the whole, this is very good news.

However, as has been said, the UK aviation industry has suffered greatly. Industry groups warned in a recent article that there was only so long that airports could “run on fumes”. There are now the new quarantine rules and a requirement to isolate for 10 days, and all travel corridors are closed. The Airport Operators Association is grateful for the £8 million in rates relief for airports, but airports such as Heathrow, whose rates are £100 million in a year, have suffered hugely—at times, the airlines’ and airports’ business has been down by more than 90%. Does the Minister agree that the support needs to continue and that, in particular, the furlough scheme should be extended beyond April until at least the end of June?

There is now talk of the possibility of travellers being forced to quarantine in hotels when they arrive in the UK. Can the Minister inform us as to whether this will happen? Aviation leaders have warned that tougher border controls would be catastrophic. On the other hand, everyone in business understands that health has to come first. As the Prime Minister said, there is a theoretical risk of a new, vaccine-busting variant of the virus, which we have to be able to keep under control. Thankfully, the vaccine looks to be progressing extremely well. Does the Minister agree that we should have a testing regime which comprises not only a PCR test 72 hours before boarding a flight but a lateral flow test on arrival as is the case in the UAE, as well as another lateral flow test five days later, which would avoid the need for quarantine as we look ahead to when the vaccines have been rolled out?

International Travel

Lord Bilimoria Excerpts

Wednesday 9th September 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Vere of Norbiton (Con)]

Could that person sue the third person? I suppose that they could have a go. I am no legal expert, but one can imagine various challenges in proving that a person really did give the disease to another person and achieving any sort of compensation. However, I go back to what I said previously: breaking quarantine or self-isolation is a very serious matter and it should be treated as such. Individuals must understand that they risk getting a criminal record.

[Lord Bilimoria (CB) [V]]

My Lords, does the Minister agree that the time has come to very rapidly implement testing at airports? The ability to get quick results from mass testing at airports is available now. You could have a test, followed by another test five days later, and that would shorten the quarantine period. Furthermore, the Abbott Laboratories’ BinaxNOW test costs $5 and gives a result within 15 minutes. It is available in the United States now. Millions of these tests are being produced and I hope we will have them soon over here. What about countries with islands? In Greece, for example, people can travel to and from certain islands, but in the Maldives, a country that depends on tourism, the airport is on a separate island and infections are currently reported only in Malé, yet tourists are not allowed to go to the other islands without being quarantined.

[Baroness Vere of Norbiton (Con)]

I believe that I have mentioned airport testing a few times, so I will probably not rehearse that. However, the noble Lord raises an interesting point about the Maldives. There are four principles behind inclusion or otherwise of an island on the list. There have to be clear boundaries—that is, it has to be an island. The data available has to be robust, reliable and internationally comparable. The important point for the noble Lord is that there have to be direct flights or flights via a quarantine-exempt place. Therefore, if one is travelling from another island to Malé—on a boat perhaps—that might not be quarantine-exempt, and therefore the other outlying islands would not be exempt. For completeness, the fourth principle is that the FCDO travel advice should align.

Airport Capacity

Lord Bilimoria Excerpts

Tuesday 25th October 2016 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon]

First, I agree on the noble Lord’s final point. As technology moves forward, it is important that manufacturers look at this issue. With the additional runway, the issue of respite for residents will improve. As for infrastructure and transport infrastructure, I totally agree with him. Just to clarify the point, when I talked about the market value, I was referring to the unblighted value—so it would be the market value as would exist in an unblighted form, not on the basis that this is near to the airport, in reflection of the challenges that certain people will face who will be subject to compulsory order. So it is the unblighted value, plus 25%.

[Lord Bilimoria (CB)]

My Lords—

[Baroness Tonge (Ind LD)]

My Lords—

[Lord Young of Cookham (Con)]

I think it is the turn of the Cross Benches.

[Lord Bilimoria]

My Lords, it has taken a year since Howard Davies’s report for the Government to make this decision and we all know why it was delayed. Congratulations to the Government on making this decision at long last: business has been crying out for it. However, the Minister himself has just said that this project is going to be completed “up to 2030”—13 or 14 years from now. Other countries are building runways in a few years and many runways at a time. We want to invest in infrastructure: do this Government have the guts to do so? Let us look at the obstacles ahead: Zac Goldsmith has said that this is a,

“millstone around the Government’s neck”,

and that the plan is “doomed”. Our Foreign Secretary has said that it is “undeliverable” and that he sees,

“an inevitable fight in the courts and I think the chances of success for the proponents of the third runway are not high”.

Justine Greening, the Education Secretary, is opposed to Heathrow expansion. Even the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has expressed his anger about the decision. Our Prime Minister expressed her opposition to Heathrow in 2009. With all of business crying out for this to happen but all this opposition, there is going to be a lot of resistance to it. As my noble friend said earlier, why did the Government not go ahead and allow Gatwick and Heathrow to expand? Does the Minister not agree that a Gatwick expansion could go ahead straightaway? Heathrow would happen sequentially thereafter, I hope.

Finally, what about employment? The Government have estimated that there will be up to 200,000 extra jobs—over £200 billion created in the economy. Where are those people going to come from? We have the highest level of employment and the lowest level of unemployment and we are reliant on 3 million people from the European Union working over here. Will people from the European Union be allowed to work on these airport expansion projects, because they will be needed?

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon]

I thank the noble Lord for his welcome of the decision. I am sure he will understand if, in the interests of time, I write to him on his specific questions. I underline that we are committed to ensuring that we make difficult choices. He used the example of my right honourable friend the Prime Minister. She herself chaired the sub-committee meeting which made this decision today. That perhaps underlines her commitment to making tough calls in the best interests of the nation. As to the Government’s commitment to infrastructure, do I need to say more than HS2—£55 billion for regional rail connectivity to ensure that all our regions are serviced in the best way possible? We are also investing in Crossrail, the biggest infrastructure project in Europe. Other countries are now looking towards the United Kingdom to ask, “How did you do it?”. This is how UK plc, under this Conservative Government, is delivering on infrastructure for our country: we are committed to it. I will respond to the noble Lord on his specific issues, but extra capacity means more investment, more companies, more air slots, and more airlines looking to expand. That does mean more jobs.

Airports: London

Lord Bilimoria Excerpts

Tuesday 11th October 2016 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon]

The noble Lord raises the important issue that a decision needs to be made. I assure your Lordships’ House that the Government are looking to make that decision. They also fully appreciate and understand the importance of making a decision in this respect to ensuring the continuing viability and growth of the British economy.

[Lord Bilimoria (CB)]

My Lords, would the Minister confirm whether, in making this decision, the Government will consider the possibility of one of the two Heathrow options and Gatwick? We probably need both of them as, if one of the Heathrow options is chosen, the legal objections might drag on, and at least we would be able to get on with one airport in the meantime. Could the Minister also confirm the rumours that the current Foreign Secretary is going to go back on his promise to lie in front of the bulldozers if Heathrow is chosen and spare damage to the bulldozers?

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon]

My right honourable friend has a very important job as Foreign Secretary and is doing a sterling job in that respect. As far as expansion is concerned, the commission reported back on the need to increase capacity by 2030 with the addition of one runway in the south-east, and that is where the Government’s decision is focused.

Britain’s Industrial Base

Lord Bilimoria Excerpts

Tuesday 9th October 2012 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bilimoria]

My Lords, I welcome the noble Lord, Lord Marland, to his new ministerial role and look forward to many future interactions.

I thank the noble Lord, Lord Adonis, for securing this timely and indeed timeless debate. In fact, the word of the day with regard to British manufacturing is “decline”. I declare up front my interest as chairman of the Cobra Beer Partnership, a joint venture with Molson Coors, one of the world’s largest brewers. If you need evidence of Britain’s continuing strength in areas of manufacture, look no further than the brewing capital of the world, Burton-on-Trent, the largest brewer in Britain and one of the largest in Europe, where we brew Cobra beer.

I am relieved that the Government have finally woken up to the fact that we in Britain do not have a balanced economy; we have let things slip. Agriculture is now barely 1% of GDP. In 1978, as we have heard, manufacturing was 26% of GDP; today it is 12%. In 1970, services accounted for 54% of GDA and manufacturing 40%; by 2009 services had increased to 78% while manufacturing had declined to 17%. Does the Minister agree that the Government need to encourage manufacturing?

We have not lost the ability to be the best of the best manufacturers in the world, particularly in advanced engineering and design. I visited the Rolls-Royce Motor Cars factory in Goodwood and was inspired. I visited the Rolls-Royce factory in Bristol and saw the engines of the Typhoon being built, and was inspired. Cobra is first and foremost a multiple award-winning manufacturer and I am proud of it—I am sorry to boast. Will the Minister admit that the Government are not doing enough to encourage innovation? First, we have had a short-sighted cut of up to 80% of teaching funding in higher education. We have the finest universities in the world along with the United States. Higher education is one of the jewels in our crown. How short-sighted is this eroding of our competitiveness as an industrial base?

Does the Minister agree that the UK Government are hugely underfunding and undersupporting R and D? The UK’s investment in research and development is well below that of other advanced economies. Sweden spends 3.5% of its GDP on it, Finland and Japan around 3.4%, Germany 2.5%, the United States around 2.7% and the United Kingdom only 1.8%. Furthermore, according to the World Economic Forum, in skills development, about which the noble Lord, Lord Adonis, spoke, the UK workforce is 18th in the world behind Germany, Japan, Sweden and the Netherlands, to name just a few. Yet I was privileged to write the foreword for Big Ideas for the Future, published by Universities UK and Research Councils UK, and I was proud to see that despite this relative underfunding and underinvestment, British universities continue to punch well above their weight. This publication highlights 200 world-beating, world-changing innovations coming out of British universities throughout Britain, and not just Oxford and Cambridge.

Are we doing enough to encourage students at school to take up science and engineering? In 1949 an Eton biology master wrote in one of his pupil’s reports that he believed that he had,

“ideas about becoming a scientist; on his present showing this is quite ridiculous … he would have no chance of doing the work of a specialist, and it would be a sheer waste of time, both on his part and of those who would have to teach him”.

I was delighted and proud today to see that at my old university, Cambridge, yet another Nobel Prize was won by that same Eton schoolboy, Professor Sir John Gurdon, still middle-aged at 79. In my book old age is 80 onwards.

Having been born and brought up in India, and as the founding chairman of the UK India Business Council, I have seen the enthusiasm with which Indian students pursue engineering. The Indian institutes of technology are more difficult to get into than Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard, Yale, Stanford and MIT combined and multiplied by 10. There is the whole issue of funding in British industry. The irony is that we have bailed out the banks, but the banks are not lending to business, particularly to SMEs. I pointed this out to the Minister yesterday in the House and I remain unsatisfied that the Government are doing enough to make the banks lend to start-ups and SMEs. The Government need to encourage entrepreneurship and SMEs, and could institute so many more tax breaks and incentives for new business and businesses taking on new employees, such as cuts to employers’ national insurance and NI holidays. Will the Government consider this?

We are very lucky to be outside the euro, and to be one of the most open and welcoming economies in the world. I was delighted today to read that in a recent survey, British companies felt less affected by red tape than those in other countries featured in the survey. This is great news. However, in spite of our corporation taxes coming down, our tax burden overall is still too high and unattractive to inward investment and to the brightest talent.

The Government’s madcap immigration cap is sending out the wrong signals, not least by including student numbers in the overall permanent immigration figures, deterring foreign students. Does the Minister agree? I know that applications from India have been plummeting and that students there are asking, “Does Britain want us?”. We need to attract the brightest and the best foreign students, let alone the £8 billion that they bring into the economy and the generation-long links that they build with their countries, which can only help our global business reach. Foreigners make up 30% of Oxford and Cambridge academics, and the immigration rules are affecting them. Does the Minister not agree that this is madness and short-sighted?

We have so much going for us in this country. We have an industrial base that is still the best of the best and that has the potential to grow if we make it a priority. I am delighted that the Government have finally woken up to this and I urge them to set a target that manufacturing grows as a percentage of GDP. It is manufacturing and business that pay the taxes that create the jobs that pay the taxes that pay for our public services. It is our world-beating manufacturing that is crucial to keeping Britain’s competitive position at the top table of the world.