Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises
Debate between Lord Hamilton of Epsom and Lord Marland
Lord Marland
The noble Lord makes an excellent point. Of course the credit unions have a vital role to play, as does, funnily enough, anyone who is prepared to extend credit or lend money. As the noble Lord says, they do an incredibly valuable job in the slightly distressed regions.
Lord Hamilton of Epsom
My Lords, what does my noble friend think of the suggestion made by the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Durham, soon to be the next Archbishop of Canterbury, who is on the parliamentary banking commission, that we should create a number of small banks by breaking up the big ones and increase competition in that way?
Lord Marland
I am not going to prejudge the final report on that issue. I have some private views on it, with a view on the Church of England being one of them, but I will not go into those now.
Employment: Rights
Debate between Lord Hamilton of Epsom and Lord Marland
Lord Marland
We have to be very careful about bandying around harsh words such as “bullying”. That is not reasonable. We have a voluntary agreement. Companies in my experience—I have a reasonable amount of experience—do best where both employees and employers co-operate. I was proud to be a founder shareholder of a business where well over 80% of the employees were shareholders. It meant that there was a community of interest and spirit of endeavour. We want to encourage that. It is incumbent on this Government to find ways of generating enterprise and a spirit of going forward together. This scheme does that admirably.
Lord Hamilton of Epsom
My Lords, I am very concerned to hear that Mr Justin King does not approve of this scheme. Is he saying that Sainsbury’s shares are therefore not worth holding?
Lord Marland
I am afraid that I am not much for making a commentary on share prices; my record is not outstanding in that regard. I wonder whether Mr King’s competition is with Waitrose, where of course there is broad employee ownership and, I understand, a very good spirit of co-operation.
Energy: Carbon Capture and Storage
Debate between Lord Hamilton of Epsom and Lord Marland
Lord Marland
The noble Lord is absolutely right and that is why it is important that we accelerate the process and why we are making our first awards at the end of this year.
Lord Hamilton of Epsom
Does the Minister have any idea of the costs of liquefying CO2 and pumping it into former oil fields in the North Sea?
Lord Marland
I do not have the costs of that to hand, but it is of course something which needs to be evaluated. In all energy production, particularly with renewables, we have to look at the costs very carefully. It is a fundamental part of our decision making and we shall consider it.