Spring Statement
Debate between Lord Livermore and Lord Bellingham(6 days, 2 hours ago)
Lords ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Lord Livermore (Lab)
They are not, and I am sure that the policies are fully in line with all equality laws, because that would have been signed up to before the policies were published. On what we are doing for working people, we saw yesterday that wages are now rising faster than prices, and that in this Parliament living standards will rise at twice the rate they did in the previous Parliament.
Lord Bellingham (Con)
During the Minister’s main response, he mentioned small businesses, SMEs, job creation and deregulation a number of times. Can he give the House the names of any SMEs that support the Employment Rights Bill?
Lord Livermore (Lab)
No, I do not have a full list of all SMEs in front of me, and I am not sure that that is a sensible question to ask me, if I am honest. Everyone is clear that we have a very clear small business strategy. We are helping small businesses to expand and grow, and to trade with the European Union.
Carbon Border Taxes
Debate between Lord Livermore and Lord Bellingham(3 weeks ago)
Lords ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Lord Livermore (Lab)
Fertiliser production in the UK is subject to carbon pricing under the UK Emissions Trading Scheme. A UK CBAM will ensure that fertiliser produced overseas faces a comparable carbon price to equivalent goods produced in the UK. Most UK agricultural prices are a function of a range of international factors and the Government do not expect a CBAM on fertiliser to put UK farmers at a competitive disadvantage.
Lord Bellingham (Con)
My Lords, I declare an interest in this subject. Further to the question asked by the noble Earl, Lord Devon, can the Minister say whether the Government have made any assessment at all of the impact that this could have on our balance of payments?
Lord Livermore (Lab)
I do not think that that is relevant to this policy. Most of our trade in food is with the EU, and the EU has a similar scheme to ours.