Outcome of the European Union Referendum

Lord Cotter Excerpts

Tuesday 5th July 2016 Lords Chamber

[Lord Cotter (LD)]

My Lords, as someone who wished to remain, I join in supporting the many speakers who have already expressed their disappointment and concern that the referendum voted narrowly for out. There undoubtedly will be—there are already—major problems for our economy, which means that our financial situation and, most importantly, jobs are at risk.

In a letter published in my local newspaper, I referred to the need, in voting, to consider the future for our families, our children and future generations. This still applies. For our young people in this country, when it comes to jobs, the economy, trade and the ability to travel easily, it still applies. There have already been marches by young people in great numbers throughout the country, and notably there have been very large protests in London.

Our youth have to be considered. I joined in one of the young people’s marches in London and spoke to many of them individually. They said to me that the politicians in Parliament must do something. I said, effectively, “I wish”. I also said, “It is down to you people to keep up the protests. It is in your hands”. I have certainly encouraged—and will continue to encourage—young people to keep making their voice heard.

Having caused such disruption and instability, the two main leaders of the out campaign, Farage and Johnson, have resigned from their roles and washed their hands of it all. The campaign for out, in particular, told untruths, such as money for the NHS which, it has been acknowledged, will not happen; and about the numbers of migrants, saying that 1.5 million would come from Turkey, which was scaremongering and not true. It is deplorable and disgraceful that they lit the fuse, caused a lot of the problems and then ran away.

I support the call from my colleague, the noble Lord, Lord Carlile, who talked about the need for transparency in the negotiations when they are carried out, and the right of both Houses to consider the terms for dealing with the future when it comes to Article 50 and otherwise. This is a very important point.

I agree with the point made by the last speaker that we must have clarity on the future of EU nationals who already live in this country.

With those pleas and those points I shall finish early because it is getting late.

House of Lords

Lord Cotter Excerpts

Tuesday 6th January 2015 Lords Chamber

[Lord Foulkes of Cumnock]

It is difficult—

[Lord Cotter (LD)]

My Lords—

[Lord Foulkes of Cumnock]

I have given way to one noble Lord. I say to the noble Lord, Lord Goddard, that I respect the qualities that he brings to this House. I heard his maiden speech. I thought that it was terrific and I look forward to hearing much more from him. I now give way to the noble Lord.

[Lord Cotter]

I am not down to speak but I want to say that I disagree with my colleague about turkeys. I have great respect for the experience of Members of this Chamber. I am sorry that I have not put my name down to speak so that I might say more but perhaps I will be able to do so on another occasion. I thank the noble Lord for giving way. I certainly think that we have great strength in this Chamber and I repeat that I disagree with my colleague on his point about turkeys.

[Lord Foulkes of Cumnock]

If I have achieved nothing else with my speech, I have had two Liberal Democrat interventions and that is a little step forward. What I said about Mr Clegg applies not just to House of Lords reform. We are now seeing the problems of fixed-term Parliaments. Thankfully, his misguided attempt to reform this place—and it was misguided—was thrown out. I think that a lot of the Liberal Democrats, including the one who has just intervened on my speech—I spoke to him about it—thought that it was misguided. Mr Clegg’s proposal on voting reform for the House of Commons was thrown out. That is one reason why we should view talking about the size of this House as a small step towards getting holistic, sensible and reasonable reform not just of the House of Lords or of Westminster but of our whole constitutional set-up.

China: United Kingdom Trade

Lord Cotter Excerpts

Wednesday 23rd July 2014 Lords Chamber

[Lord Popat]

The noble Lord raises an important question on the subject of visas and tourism. Tourism is our fourth-largest export earner. The number of UK visas issued to Chinese nationals continued to rise in 2013. We have issued 373,000 visas to Chinese tourists and have increased the number of students coming to the UK to the tune of 14%. We encourage Chinese students to come and study at our best universities in the UK. As regards airport capacity, which has been an issue for a long time in this House, yes, we do have a capacity issue with airlines, but I am pleased to say that I was able to receive the first chartered flight from Beijing to the regional airport in Birmingham yesterday morning.

[Lord Cotter (LD)]

My Lords, the Government recently announced that 60 new Foreign Office staff have been placed across China. Can the Minister give me an update on that? Hopefully, the numbers are increasing, the staff will be more widespread throughout China and increased language training will be part of the approach. Do the people involved have experience in business, particularly to help small businesses to trade within China?

Small and Medium-sized Enterprises: Foreign Languages

Lord Cotter Excerpts

Thursday 28th June 2012 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Wilcox]

If anyone would like to look up UKTI on the web to find out what is available to everyone, they will see that it is doing an absolutely marvellous job. When I came to answer this Question, I was delighted to see just how much it was doing, including being able to provide bespoke services. Small and medium-sized businesses often need to gain an all-round understanding of how to behave when they get to another country, and that is why this service is available to them. It is subsidised, and businesses can also have a review themselves. I welcome the noble Lord to the Dispatch Box.

[Lord Cotter]

My Lords—

[Baroness Buscombe]

My Lords—

--- Later in debate ---

[Lord Cotter]

I congratulate the Minister very much on her comprehensive Answer to the Question. The points that she made and the answers she gave were very good indeed. It is important that there should be publicity about what is available, but often there is not enough. It is also important that schools, as well as businesses, provide education in languages, and that further education colleges provide special lessons in business-orientated languages, particularly Chinese and Spanish.

[Baroness Wilcox]

Of course I agree with my noble friend. He will know that last week we announced our proposals for the primary national curriculum. The teaching of a foreign language will be compulsory throughout key stage 2, and that will include Latin and Greek.

Public Disorder

Lord Cotter Excerpts

Thursday 11th August 2011 Lords Chamber

[Lord Pearson of Rannoch]

My Lords, could I take the welcome question from the most reverend Primate the Archbishop of Canterbury one stage deeper? He referred to the curriculum, mentioning that it had become instrumentalist and not virtuous enough. Yet again, I remind your Lordships and the Government that the soil in which our education system feeds is teacher training. It has been polluted for far too long by the gender, race and class agenda. Will the Government look into that area again? I have one very simple question for my erstwhile friend the noble Baroness, Lady Browning: will she please study how many of the people who have been arrested cannot even read?

[Lord Cotter]

My Lords, 30 years ago, I had my small business premises burnt to the ground, under different circumstances, when a fire spread to my small firm. I can relate to this issue. It took me four years of really hard work to recover. I congratulate the Government and the Leader of the House on the announcement of support for small businesses. That is very welcome, very comprehensive and excellent. However, I ask the Leader and the Government to ensure that measures are taken very speedily, with minimum red tape and bureaucracy. I also ask the Government to consider help for those who are struggling, having suffered through the loss of day-to-day turnover, in the intervening period.

[Baroness Lister of Burtersett]

My Lords, I would like to support those who have said that we have a responsibility not simply to condemn but also to try to understand why this has happened. If we do not, we risk alienating further those young people who feel shut out, disfranchised and disrespected by the wider society. If we do not do that, this could happen again. I hope that the Government will not go down the road of dispossessing further the dispossessed by taking away social housing and social benefits. I would like to support my noble friend Lady Royall’s call for an inquiry, over and above the inquiry of the Home Affairs Select Committee in another place. We need an inquiry and I take on board what was said about it coming from communities; we need a special commission of inquiry which will go into communities, involve communities and will look at the underlying social, economic, cultural and political factors.

UK: International Competitiveness

Lord Cotter Excerpts

Wednesday 23rd June 2010 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Wilcox]

What we as a Government want to do is make the conditions right whereby all parts of industry can grow.

[Lord Cotter]

My Lords—

[Lord Jones of Birmingham]

My Lords—

--- Later in debate ---

[Lord Strathclyde]

My Lords, there is time for both noble Lords. Perhaps we should have the noble Lord, Lord Cotter, first, and then the noble Lord, Lord Jones.

[Lord Cotter]

My Lords, the Government are rightly committed to reducing bureaucracy to help competitiveness. Will the Minister look at the hurdles faced by small businesses when they try to borrow? They include new charges and fees along the line, audits, facility fees, reviews, management fees and so it goes on. These are clearly blocks in the way of the ability to borrow. Will the Minister also consider the high rate at which businesses frequently have to borrow through the banks?

[Baroness Wilcox]

The enterprise finance guarantee scheme has been extended and there will be a Green Paper soon in which we will be looking at all these issues.

Government Spending

Lord Cotter Excerpts

Wednesday 26th May 2010 Lords Chamber

[Lord De Mauley]

My Lords, the Government believe that the line they are taking is the right one to achieve the best results for the country.

[Lord Cotter]

On the issue of increasing apprenticeships, which is very welcome, will the Government continue to look at ensuring that small businesses are able to engage in apprenticeships and are given assistance in that direction?

[Lord De Mauley]

My Lords, I thank my noble friend Lord Cotter for his question and for his kind comments on the Government’s actions proposed in the area of apprenticeships. I can assure him that we will keep a very close eye on its effects on small businesses.