Queen’s Speech

Lord Kirkham Excerpts

Wednesday 25th May 2016 Lords Chamber

[Lord Kirkham (Con)]

My Lords, I speak to you today as a northerner, a businessman, the adopted child of parents from the humblest of backgrounds and a keen proponent of helping disadvantaged young people make the most—the very best—of their life chances, particularly through two organisations with which I am fortunate to be associated: the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award and the Outward Bound Trust. From all these perspectives, I found much to welcome in the Queen’s Speech. I am heartfelt when I say that a move to tip the balance in favour of permanent adoption in the interests of a child’s security is a measure of huge social value.

But what of the many thousands of children growing up in families, or with single parents, or in care, who lack the vision, confidence and ambition to get on in life? Having lived near Doncaster all my life—not far from where the classic film “Kes” was made—I do not want to exaggerate this problem or pretend that it is peculiar to any one part of the country. I do not entirely recognise the Monty Python vision of the north-west propounded last week by one would-be mayor of Manchester. He asserted that it was hard for youngsters there to have ambition, as aspiration was mocked by their peers—in his words, “Because you say to someone: ‘Oh, I’d like to be a doctor.’ Or be a lawyer or a member of parliament. And you worry you’ll have the mickey taken out of you”. However, it does not seem to have put him off his stride so far. I think the impossibility of having aspirations if you are a northerner will certainly have come as surprise news to most head teachers in Yorkshire—but then maybe the problem is more prevalent on the less-favoured side of the Pennines.

That underlines to me the importance of improving transport links across the north of England. Certainly that would facilitate the civilising and more optimistic culture of Yorkshire being spread much more widely. It is completely ridiculous and madness that the fastest rail journey from Doncaster to London, which is 75 miles further than Doncaster to Liverpool, is a full hour quicker than that journey. So I strongly commend the commitment to spend £15 billion in this Parliament to improve the transport infrastructure of the northern powerhouse, to press ahead with the building of HS3 and, just as importantly, to accelerate the improvement of the M62. As I think my noble friend the Minister said at the outset, that is a game-changing investment.

I also welcome the proposed devolution of more powers to local authorities, including the freedom to retain business rates to help them stimulate economic growth in their own areas, as long, of course, as it is acknowledged that the level of business property taxes reflects the huge changes taking place in the way we all conduct our business, recognising that we are buying more and more from online retailers, rather than beleaguered and highly-rated high street shops.

I submit that what really matters above all else in Britain today is not what happens in this House, in the other place, in the councils of the European Commission, or in the parlours of elected mayors. It is in the millions of individual homes, not just in the north, but in the south and in the devolved nations, too—everywhere where children are growing up without an adequate appreciation of just what they could achieve in life. They simply do not grasp the potential that each one of them individually possesses. Of course, if they cannot see it, how are they ever going to realise it? How are we going to build a northern powerhouse and an even more successful national economy if so many of the next generation believe that the odds are stacked against them and that they cannot succeed, so they do not bother even trying?

Through the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award and Outward Bound I have met thousands of young people, including many from disadvantaged backgrounds, who think just like that and whose lives those charities have quite simply turned around. Those organisations have achieved remarkable growth, engaging record numbers of young people in their activities—all against a background of steady erosion in the local authority funding that was once their mainstay. Now they are building direct links with schools, companies and other institutions, and developing some amazing philanthropic support.

Last week I was privileged to attend a major gathering at Buckingham Palace where almost 1,100 youngsters from across the UK, and, indeed, the wider world, received their hard-earned gold awards, many from the Duke of Edinburgh himself, who first set up this amazing programme 60 years ago. So when we talk about empowering local government to do more, I say, “Yes, of course, by all means, but why stop there?”. To truly increase the life chances for the most disadvantaged, we should empower voluntary organisations and charities to do more too. Empower families, and above all, empower children, because they are the future for all of us. Set them free, raise their sights and help them on the right path, not just through good teaching, but with ready access to experiences like the D of E and Outward Bound that will help them to learn teamwork, communication, self-discipline, initiative, adaptability and leadership, all of which helps to create resilience, confidence and a can-do attitude that will take a young person far—maybe even to membership of the Cabinet or of your Lordships’ House.

I try my best to lead by example, and whenever a young person says to me that they cannot do something, I always point out that if I can do it, anyone can. That is something I always make clear. Frankly, they seem to find that remarkably persuasive—perhaps more than I really like.

Economy: Growth

Lord Kirkham Excerpts

Tuesday 29th January 2013 Lords Chamber

[Lord Kirkham]

My Lords, I add my rather hoarse voice to other speakers, who, almost to a man, congratulated my noble friend Lord Deighton, and welcome him to the Treasury Bench.

It is probably appropriate and relevant to declare an interest. I am a director of a food retailer that employs more than 24,000 people here in the UK. We trade from almost 800 stores today although, interestingly enough, 40 years ago, we had just the one store—as you can see, from tiny acorns. I am also involved in motivational speaking to new and growing SMEs and I mentor young entrepreneurs, so I see first-hand the vital role that those fledgling and expanding companies are playing in the success of growing the UK economy and dealing with the pent-up demand that my noble friend Lord Wolfson told us about. They create employment opportunities, they pay tax and in many cases they generate exports as well.

For our economy to grow, we have to liberate the energy and creativity of those companies and their people. The Government are able to offer a helping hand here by laying the foundations for lasting prosperity, and of course they are doing that, but in many areas the most useful thing that the state can do is step out of people’s way and allow them to get on with it. I want the Government, wherever they can, to make life as simple as possible for business to do business—particularly those businesses just starting out. They can do that by making the necessary processes of regulation as straightforward and easy as possible.

Bureaucracy and death by red tape have always been the bane of business, particularly SMEs, which are generally time-constrained and which, understandably, want to focus their often limited resources and all their efforts and energies on the prime objective: generating turnover, sales and sustainable profits and, as my noble friend Lord Wolfson said, a cash return. That is the life blood of business. Then the business grows and creates jobs. That is how capitalism works.

It was good to hear the Minister’s commitment to cut red tape here and now in the UK. I am delighted that the Prime Minister’s approach to our future relationship with the European Union reflects his determination to remove unnecessary regulation by Brussels, but there is still much to do at home. My noble friend Lord Wolfson spoke passionately. He highlighted the ways in which his company’s efforts to create jobs and wealth have all too often been frustrated by the planning system and by officials taking a top-down view of what is best for business and families rather than simply liberating the pent-up energies of the private sector and helping people to live, shop and work where they want to.

I could not agree more strongly that the way to encourage businesses to grow is by making the lives of business people easier and simpler. It is important for those microbusinesses, but it is also important for huge organisations. We need to encourage more people who do not even know that they have it in them to create businesses to realise their potential.

In quiet moments, when we relax and contemplate some of the riveting data on our economy and the global debt crisis, it might seem ludicrous to suggest that any meaningful contribution to solving our problems can be made by encouraging one person to follow their dream and start up in business, whether that business be building a better mousetrap or opening a shop. I speak as someone who spent 42 years building a business that started with just one small shop and ended up employing several thousand people in British retailing and manufacturing. Although I am no longer involved in that company, the other privately owned British retailer of which I am a director employs around 24,000 people. That, too, started as a single shop set up by two young men.

Today, we call such people entrepreneurs, and throughout the country there are potential entrepreneurs, similarly minded young strivers who could lead the way in creating jobs and wealth if we could just give them the confidence that it is worth taking the risk. Confidence, the feel good factor, is vital—as was mentioned by several noble Lords—not only in tempting the consumer to spend but in encouraging business to invest in growth. I meet so many entrepreneurs at conferences, business workshops and networking events that I know that there is a huge pool of talent, energy and enthusiasm out there. We just need more people from that pool to start making a bit of a splash.

It is tremendous that the Government have expanded the pot of start-up loans for young entrepreneurs and that we are helping them to get access to mentoring as well as capital to translate their ideas into action. It is also excellent news that the Government are increasing the annual investment allowance for SMEs and have cut both personal income tax and corporation tax. The many initiatives and incentives, illustrative of the Government’s commitment, are important and very welcome. They are steps in the right direction. We know that they are working because we have seen—I will not put a number on it because so many people have mentioned it—so many jobs created through the private sector. The figures that came out last week show all-time record numbers in employment. They are the best sign we have seen so far that the economy is moving in the right direction. To my mind, that is a far better guide than the marginal and so-often revised statistical fluctuations in GDP.

I know from my experience that young people starting a new business venture do not take the decision to push the button by studying learned papers on our economic prospects, whether they come from government experts or investment banks. They rely on their gut feeling; they rely on sniffing the air. The scent that they are hoping to pick up is the smell of confidence—confidence that things are moving in the right direction and that therefore it is a good time to invest.

A lifetime of experience in business tells me loudly and clearly that the elusive feeling of confidence is there. I say that without caveat or reservation. I accept that it is a delicate plant and needs nurturing. We must encourage it to blossom by emphasising the real progress that we are making in cutting the deficit, reducing the tax burden on most people and companies, keeping borrowing costs low and, above all, creating jobs. We need to redouble our efforts to simplify and streamline the workings of the Government, put as few obstacles as possible in the way of those who want to start their own business, and create even more employment.

You know, you do not need to be an international business school professor, a high-flying accountant or a Treasury wizard to recognise that job creation is fundamental to any turnaround. Every job that we can assist our entrepreneurs to create helps reduce the burden on the welfare budget and puts money into the economy. Even more important, it creates in people’s hearts the feeling of pride and self-worth that is beyond price. That has huge spin-off benefits.

I commend the actions of the Government to date and hope that they will do even more in the next two years to provide the incentives, the conditions and the supportive environment to encourage and liberate entrepreneurship. That has the potential to create a truly virtuous circle of job creation, increasing individual prosperity and growing national economic strength.