National Insurance Contributions: Hospitality Sector

Lord Watts Excerpts

Thursday 13th February 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

I completely agree with the noble Lord that small businesses are the backbone of the economy. Many of the regulations he speaks about were introduced by his Government over the past 14 years. We have committed not to raise corporation tax for the lifetime of this Parliament, giving certainty to business and keeping the rate at the lowest in the G7. We will introduce legislation to tackle late payments, which is a key issue that disproportionately affects small businesses. The upcoming small business strategy will set out a comprehensive plan to ensure that small businesses have access to the right skills, finance and markets to reach their full potential.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

My Lords, is it not the case that the Opposition are trying to suggest that the national insurance increases are the result of the Labour Government? Is it not a fact that, if they had not left that deficit, we would not have had to introduce the measures that we have had to introduce recently?

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

My noble friend is absolutely right. As I have said all along, there are consequences to responsibility, and we have always acknowledged that. But the consequences of irresponsibility—for the economy and working people—would have been far, far greater. We saw exactly that with the Liz Truss mini-Budget, which crashed the economy and saw typical mortgage payments increased by £300 a month.

Economic Growth: Public Spending

Lord Watts Excerpts

Wednesday 12th February 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

I am grateful to the noble Lord for his question, but his contention seems to be that we were wrong to be honest about the challenges in the public finances, and should instead have maintained the previous Government’s cover-up. He seems to be saying that we were wrong to deal with those challenges, and should instead have maintained the £22 billion black hole in the public finances. Let me be clear: those are exactly the two ingredients—hiding from scrutiny and hiding from reality—at the heart of the Liz Truss mini-Budget, and we saw how that ended. If that is the noble Lord’s recommendation, I fundamentally disagree with him. We were right to restore honesty and transparency to the public finances, and we were right to repair them, which is why we took the difficult decisions that we did.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

My Lords, does the Minister agree that the last Tory Government left £22 billion to be paid by somebody? We heard no suggestion just now of how you bridge the gap between what the country can afford and that £22 billion.

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

I completely agree with my noble friend. He is absolutely right that the previous Government left a £22 billion black hole; they had no idea how to fund that. We have still heard absolutely no alternative put forward by the Conservative Party: no alternative for dealing with the challenges that we face, no alternative for restoring economic stability and therefore no plan for driving economic growth.

Covid Counter-Fraud Commissioner

Lord Watts Excerpts

Wednesday 5th February 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

The commissioner has clearly set out his programme of work. He will work in three phases: first, an assessment of the recovery efforts to date; secondly, a plan for further activity to drive additional recoveries; and thirdly, a consideration of lessons learned and recommendations for future government schemes. The noble Baroness says that we should wait for the outcome of his report; that is perfectly fair, but what I do not understand is why we inherited a recommendation from the previous Government that any attempt to reclaim money should be abandoned. That is surely unacceptable.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

My Lords, has not a smokescreen been created here? Can my noble friend guarantee that the commissioner will carry out his full investigations and that, once he has done so, any criminal activity will be referred to the police to take the appropriate action?

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

I am grateful to my noble friend for his question, but obviously, I cannot say what criminal activity may be uncovered. Certain proceedings and investigations are already ongoing. We would not want to prejudice those proceedings, and nor would the commissioner, but my noble friend is right to say that the commissioner should be allowed to do his work.

Non-domicile Status

Lord Watts Excerpts

Tuesday 28th January 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

I am slightly confused about what underlies the noble Lord’s question, given that, as I say, the previous Government introduced this party’s policy on this issue. The OBR had migration assumptions associated with that policy, as it does with this one. The OBR has factored in the potential behavioural response of affected non-domiciled individuals into its costings. It accounts for an assumed level of migration from this group, just as it did for the previous Government’s groups. So, as I understand it, the migration assumptions for the previous Government’s reforms were 10% and, for this Government’s reforms, they are 12%.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

Does the Minister find it strange—

[Noble Lords]

Not again!

--- Later in debate ---

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

Yes, noble Lords are going to get it. Does the Minister find it strange that members of the party opposite seem to be very worried about non-doms, when the last Government introduced taxes that hit ordinary working families and they did not utter a word of criticism about that?

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

I am grateful to my noble friend for his question. I find quite a lot strange about the attitude of the party opposite, not least what he says—the fact that it introduced £30 billion-worth of taxes on working people in the last Parliament, and yet it does not seem to think there is anything wrong with that and still has not apologised.

EU Law

Lord Watts Excerpts

Tuesday 28th January 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Gustafsson (Lab)]

The Government’s priorities are around driving economic growth within the UK, and I firmly believe that regulation has an important role to make sure that that growth is not short-term but long-term and sustainable. We have many trading opportunities within Europe, which is one of our largest trading partners, and there is an opportunity to make sure that we work to remove any barriers that get in the way of supporting that trade while making sure that we still support our own ambitions within the UK to drive that sustainable economic growth.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

My Lords, I congratulate the Government on trying to reset the relationship between ourselves and Europe that was ruined by the previous Government. Can I urge the Minister to put growth and our trade relationship at the forefront of our policy and to take no notice of those people who live in the past and have no idea how to attain the growth that we need?

[Baroness Gustafsson (Lab)]

I thank my noble friend for that question. We completely agree that economic growth within the UK is our number one priority. A great way to achieve that is by freshening the relationships we have with our key trading partners both within Europe and beyond.

Competition and Markets Authority Chairman

Lord Watts Excerpts

Monday 27th January 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Gustafsson (Lab)]

I do not think this is about short-term growth. This Government are committed to prioritising long-term sustainable growth, and I think that goal unifies us all. The regulators have a part to play in that, which is making sure that they are reviewing the regulations through the lens of growth and understanding whether they are still fit for purpose. This is not about tearing down regulation for regulation’s sake; it is about viewing it through the lens of our goal as a Government and making sure it is aligned to that.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

My Lords, many of us think it is about time that we had accountability for regulators. The regulators appointed by the previous Government failed to protect the public or boost the economy. Do we not need proper regulation to be applied and to make sure that the regulators are on the side of the public?

[Baroness Gustafsson (Lab)]

I thank my noble friend for that question. He is right; regulation and growth need not be mutually exclusive. This is about creating sustainable long-term growth that protects not only consumers but businesses, so that they have a fair, competitive and open ground on which to compete.

Exports to the European Union

Lord Watts Excerpts

Wednesday 20th November 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

As the noble Lord knows, we have acceded to that partnership already. At the G20 this week, the Prime Minister spoke about reopening negotiations with India. In the spring, the Government will publish a trade strategy, in part to reset our relationship with the EU, but also to support more small businesses to export and remove barriers to trade right around the world.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

My Lords, the last Government wrecked the economy and our relationship with our biggest trading partner, all on the back of the idea that there were loads of trade deals out there to be done. They failed to do them, and those that they did damaged the farming industry in the UK.

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

I agree with some of my noble friend’s sentiment; I am not entirely sure what the question is. However, it is important to recognise the significance of the EU to our trade. Four of our top five export markets are in the EU, and eight out of the top 10. The EU accounts for nearly 50% of our trade; total trade with EU is worth over £800 billion and 41% of total exports go to the EU.

United Kingdom Declining Birth Rate

Lord Watts Excerpts

Wednesday 6th November 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

We have to ensure that changing technology works to the benefit of all in society and contributes to our key objective of economic growth.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

My Lords, it appears that the major problem is the number of older people now living longer. It is not a problem for them or for us but it has economic implications. Is it not the case that it takes two working people in each household to pay tax to keep one pensioner at home? What are we going to do to bridge the gap between the number of people working and the number who are not?

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

Clearly, we have an ageing society and there are associated costs with that. That is why increasing the levels of economic growth in our country is so important, so that we have the resources to fund the priorities that matter to us.

European Investment Bank

Lord Watts Excerpts

Wednesday 24th July 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

The noble Baroness is correct that there are continuing projects in the UK that were financed by the EIB prior to leaving the EU and which it continues to support. I agree with her that there is merit in improving our relationship with the European Union. We have not yet set any plans on working with the European Investment Bank, but I will absolutely consider the point she makes.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

When we left the European Union we were told that there were loads of trade deals to be done around the world. The previous Government sent people to every quarter of the world to try to do trade deals and failed. Will the Minister redirect his staff into doing something positive rather than waste our time?

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

I do not think it is a question of either/or. Clearly we need to do more to reset our trade relationships right around the world. We want strong multilateral partnerships with new countries and to reset our relationship with the strongest and closest partners that we have in the European Union. We should work hard to develop stronger trade relationships right across the board.

HMRC Self-assessment Helpline

Lord Watts Excerpts

Tuesday 26th March 2024 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Vere of Norbiton (Con)]

The helplines that would have closed relate to VAT and PAYE and self-assessment. HMRC is putting in various digital solutions to ensure that people can access A1 forms as quickly as possible and, as with all other forms of tax, accessing online is quicker, can be more convenient and certainly offers the best value for money for the taxpayer.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

My Lords, is it not the case that the people who carried out this assessment are the same people who have been failing the public for many years? Who carried that assessment out? Does the Minister understand that many people who try to contact the tax office do so after they have failed to get through or get any answers from the online service?

[Baroness Vere of Norbiton (Con)]

I accept that that can be the case. There is a digital assistant in the first instance, which is like a chatbot which can help with very simple inquiries; then it goes on to web chat; and then if the person on the other end of the web chat says that they cannot help, of course one is then able to phone HMRC. HMRC monitors all its channels for levels of confidence, levels of access, emotional state, mental health capability, comprehension and disability, and those people are referred to the extra support service team.