EU: UK Contribution

Debate between Lord Newby and Lord Tomlinson

Wednesday 30th October 2013 Lords Chamber

[Lord Newby]

My Lords, by looking at the net contribution to the EU, the noble Lord is concentrating on only one dimension of our relationship with the Union. He is ignoring the very substantial economic benefits that we enjoy through increased internal trade via the single market, increased external trade via, for example, the recently concluded EU-Canada trade agreement, and increased investment in the UK by companies such as Nissan. He is also ignoring the non-economic benefits of membership in the fields of the environment, justice and external affairs.

[Lord Tomlinson (Lab)]

Will the Minister take urgent steps to gain control of expenditure in the European budget? That can best be done by introducing a system of zero-based budgeting, such as my noble friend Lord Kinnock sought to introduce when he was a Commissioner. The Government have always said yes to this in principle but done nothing in practice.

[Lord Newby]

My Lords, the first thing that we sought to do on the European budget was to ensure that it was not increasing in real terms. As the noble Lord knows, the agreement made by the Prime Minister at the European Council in February will result in €80 billion less expenditure over the next budgetary period than the Commission proposed. The first step in getting the budget dealt with appropriately was to cap it.

Banking: Co-operative Bank

Debate between Lord Newby and Lord Tomlinson

Wednesday 30th October 2013 Lords Chamber

[Lord Newby]

My Lords, one of the key purposes of the Financial Services (Banking Reform) Bill is to provide, in ring-fenced retail banks, relatively risk-free places for ordinary customers to put their money. Beyond that, the key thing is that the Bill’s resolution provisions will require banks to put in place mechanisms to be activated if they got into financial difficulties, such that they would not need to come to government in those circumstances.

[Lord Tomlinson (Lab)]

Is the Minister aware that when giving evidence to the House of Commons Select Committee yesterday, the former chief executive of the Co-op Bank said that he was assured by the financial regulator about the safe state of the Britannia Building Society? The Co-op Bank takeover of the Britannia Building Society has given rise to the liquidity problems in the bank. Will he acknowledge that and inquire what the financial regulator was doing in giving that assurance?

[Lord Newby]

My Lords, I think the merger with the Britannia Building Society was one of the material causes of this problem. I cannot comment on what the regulator may have said. Generally, where banks of all sorts have sought to make large acquisitions and they have then gone wrong, the principal responsibility for due diligence rests with the management of the bank involved in the takeover. The role played by the regulator, whatever its scale, does not detract from the fact that responsibility for major corporate decisions of that kind lies primarily with management.

Children: Childcare Costs

Debate between Lord Newby and Lord Tomlinson

Thursday 31st January 2013 Lords Chamber

[Lord Newby]

Yes, my Lords. Vouchers are one of the possible ways of dealing with this, and they are one of the options being considered.

[Lord Tomlinson]

Will the Minister explain to the House how improving the demands for training of care assistants of young children by requiring them to have a C-grade GCSE in maths and English helps them to make better provision for the children in their care?

[Lord Newby]

My Lords, I think it is recognised by common consent that having better qualified teachers and assistants in this area is beneficial to the pupils and the young children being cared for. If we want, as we do, to improve the quality of the care given, part of it will involve soft skills but another part will involve basic competence.

United States Budget: Economic Impact

Debate between Lord Newby and Lord Tomlinson

Monday 10th December 2012 Lords Chamber

[Lord Newby]

My Lords, the key challenge for Governments, either in this country or on the other side of the pond, is to ensure that there is a credible fiscal framework and a competitive economy so that businesses can invest. That is what the Government have been seeking to achieve.

[Lord Tomlinson]

My Lords, if the economy is doing as well as the noble Lord suggests, does he regard the threats from the rating agencies as being a vote of confidence?

[Lord Newby]

My Lords, the rating agencies, as we all know, have an unblemished record in dealing with businesses and countries. For those countries that have seen their credit rating reduced, including the US, there has been virtually no impact on their ability to borrow.