Covid-19: Businesses and the Private Sector

Debate between Lord Campbell of Pittenweem and Baroness Garden of Frognal

Thursday 21st May 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Campbell of Pittenweem (LD)]

My Lords, we shall not succeed unless we have the most effective partnership that we can between public and private, any more than we will not succeed if we do not accept the advice of the noble Lord, Lord Heseltine, expressed last night in an interview on Channel 4, that it is essential to utilise local initiative, knowledge and experience.

What I want to know is what forward thinking is taking place in the Government. There was a lot of wartime language at one stage, in the early days of our understanding of this virus. It is worth remembering that the Butler education reforms were conceived in the course of the Second World War, as indeed were the Beveridge proposals for social security. We certainly need equivalent foresight now.

There are two particular responsibilities which seem to me necessary for the Government. The first is education —to some extent I am echoing some of the sentiments just offered by the noble Baroness, Lady Falkner of Margravine. Once and for all we should put vocational education upon a par with higher education.

It is also necessary for the Government to embark on a serious programme of retraining. Those Rolls-Royce employees who are going to lose their jobs have a skills base that would easily allow them to be retrained for other similarly skilled opportunities. How shall we pay for this? I do not believe that the wholesale raising of taxes makes sense, as it will depress both demand and initiative; nor is cutting public expenditure possible. There can be no return to austerity; indeed, we may need to increase public expenditure.

The solution is obvious. Interest rates have never been more favourable. The Government should—

[The Deputy Speaker (Baroness Garden of Frognal) (LD)]

We seem to have lost Lord Campbell. I will move on to Lady McIntosh of Pickering.