King’s Speech (4th Day)

Lord Razzall Excerpts

Monday 22nd July 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Razzall (LD)]

My Lords, this is not the first Government to prioritise growth. In 1964, Harold Wilson put George Brown in charge of a Department of Economic Affairs, to remove what he regarded as the dead weight of the Treasury. George Brown’s plan was to have 25% growth to GDP between 1964 and 1970. It was not really his fault that this did not work; the economic turbulence in the exchange rates blew sterling off course, and we had the subsequent devaluation. Of course, the next overt attempt was by Liz Truss, and it was certainly her fault that there was no growth there. From these Benches—unlike the noble Lord, Lord Callanan—we are delighted that the Government are to legislate to lock in the role of the Office for Budget Responsibility, ignored by Liz Truss with devastating consequences.

Concentration on growth is obviously welcome. Whether the plethora of new quangos will deliver it, who knows? We are promised a growth mission board, a growth delivery unit, a National Planning Policy Framework, an innovation office and a national infrastructure and service transformation authority, let alone the national wealth fund. Good luck.

I will concentrate on three of the proposals that could lead to economic growth. First, there are the proposed planning reforms. Clearly, nothing picks up the pace of growth like a housing boom due to the multiplier effect across the economy. On these Benches we will need to look at the detail of the Bill, but the Lib Dems have always favoured building more houses, provided they are in the right place. Our preference has clearly been for brownfield rather than green belt, but most importantly—actually, vitally—new estates must create a community with GP surgeries, schools and shops, not arid deserts. We await the contents of the Bill.

The second area that has not been touched on in this debate, I think, but in a lot of ways is a no-brainer for growth, is essential defence expenditure. I know that we are looking to go up to 2.5% on defence, and that the Government say they cannot agree the timing until they see the result of their strategic review, but we know now, without seeing that review, that massive replenishment of ammunition is required. All the military services say that we have exhausted our ammunition supplies in the light of what is happening in Ukraine. We cannot wait for the review to replace them. If they are manufactured in the UK, that would provide a kick-start for growth in that area.

Thirdly, noble Lords would not expect me to finish without talking about Brexit, which was negotiated, in our view disastrously, by the noble Lord, Lord Frost. I do not think he is in his place. I am sure he has taken on board the remarks of the noble Lord, Lord Callanan, about civil servants going into politics.

I turn to the potential effect of the creative industries, which a number of my colleagues and other speakers have talked about. The creative industries have huge potential growth and, if we can improve our relationship with the European Union, there will be significant benefits. The obvious one, which the noble Lord, Lord Berkeley, mentioned, is musicians touring and technical support. These are potentially great contributors to growth in our economy, and I hope that the Government can negotiate an improvement in their status. So let us hope that the Government succeed where George Brown failed and where Liz Truss crashed and burned. It is a tricky thing, growth.