Taiwan

Debate between Lord Broers and Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

Monday 10th February 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon]

I have always wanted to say this from the Dispatch Box: I refer the noble Lord to the answer I gave some moments ago.

[Lord Broers (CB)]

My Lords, is the Minister aware of Taiwan’s importance when it comes to semiconductor technology? Taiwan leads the world in making semiconductor chips. In fact, it is said that the latest artificial intelligence and machine learning chips can be made only in Taiwan; they cannot be made even in the United States.

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon]

The noble Lord makes a very important point. It is why the United Kingdom is very committed to growing our trading relationship with Taiwan. Currently, more than 300 UK companies are located across a variety of sectors, including the one the noble Lord mentioned.

Airports: Expansion

Debate between Lord Broers and Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

Thursday 10th March 2016 Lords Chamber

[Lord Broers (CB)]

My Lords, on a slightly different angle, I understand that Heathrow has increased its capacity by spacing aircraft by time, not by distance. Is this practice being extended to Gatwick and Stansted?

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon]

I will write to the noble Lord on the issue of Gatwick and Stansted, but he is right to point out that existing capacity has been increased. Again, that is down to the world-beating talent and expertise that we have at NATS. Other Governments—indeed, recently I had discussions with the Government of Singapore in this respect—are also looking at deploying the expertise of NATS.

Economy: Manufacturing

Debate between Lord Broers and Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

Thursday 3rd July 2014 Lords Chamber

[Lord Broers]

I do not think that I want to be beyond the limit. I am at the limit now; thank you for the interruption.

It is essential that we do all that we can to support our manufacturing sector. The easiest way to do that is to produce more and better STEM-skilled workers for our industry. If we fail we will endanger the recovery of the nation’s economy and allow our huge deficit in the balance of payments to grow even further.

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)]

Before the next noble Lord speaks, I remind the House that the debate is time-limited. It is also the normal convention that if someone does not stay until the end of the debate, as a courtesy to the House, they should scratch. That is just a small reminder.