Business Rates Reform

Lord Watts Excerpts

Monday 23rd June 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

I am grateful to my friend for his question. I will say honestly that I had not thought of it in that way before, but I can absolutely see the point that he is making. My noble friend started his question by talking about the important role that BIDs play. There are, as he knows, more than 340 BIDs now operating in the UK, which are cumulatively investing more than £154 million each year in their local areas. I think the type of initiative that he described is exactly the type of work that they, in some areas, do, and I am sure could do more widely. So I very much agree with the point that my friend makes.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

My Lords, are the Government considering using business rates to encourage live music in pubs and clubs? That could have a massive effect on making, certainly pubs, more interested in providing music on weekends.

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

That is a very interesting proposal from my noble friend. As I say, we will set out an interim report later this summer, setting out a clear direction of travel, and let us see whether those ideas are included.

Economic Growth

Lord Watts Excerpts

Wednesday 11th June 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

I agree with the noble Lord’s point, which is exactly why we have embarked on the EU reset and negotiated a new strategic partnership with the EU that is in the national interest. I completely agree that the EU is our closest partner and biggest market. In 2024, almost half the UK’s total trade was with the EU and around 94,500 UK businesses exported goods to the EU, which is why the EU reset is so important. We negotiated a defence pact with the European Union, and we negotiated an SPS agreement with it to make exports easier. We have moved closer to agreeing closer co-operation with the EU on energy and the ETS, and we have agreed that we will work towards establishing a balanced youth experience scheme with the EU. All these things will move us closer to our biggest and most important market.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

My Lords, is it not the case that we inherited a bankrupt economy and low growth, and that we had no prospects in the UK until we had a Labour Government? Is it not going to take more than a couple of months to turn around the mess that the last Government left?

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

I completely agree with my noble friend.

Winter Fuel Payment

Lord Watts Excerpts

Tuesday 10th June 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

I am happy to give the noble Baroness those commitments.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

My Lords, the Opposition suggested that the Government have put pensioners behind the NHS and teachers. Does the Minister agree that the Tories do not seem to want to tell teachers or NHS staff that they want them to be poorer?

[Noble Lords]

Oh!

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

That is what they are doing.

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

My noble friend is obviously right to point out that the party opposite has consistently criticised the public sector pay rises that we have given.

Denial of Banking Services: UK Defence Sector

Lord Watts Excerpts

Wednesday 4th June 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

I do not think any specific guidance has been given in the way that the noble Lord asks, but the most important thing to say here is that the banking sector should never take a blanket approach to any one sector. Of course, the decision as to what banking services to offer is ultimately a commercial decision but, as I said, banks should not take a blanket approach and they should make sure that decisions are taken on a case-by-case basis. The Government are actively engaging with banks to ensure that they understand the importance of the defence sector. The FCA has worked to understand why banks might close or reject accounts, and where it has found areas where firms need to improve customer outcomes, the Government expect them to consider the FCA’s findings and take them very seriously.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

My Lords, is this another case of a regulator letting the British public down? Should we not press the regulators to do the job that they are supposed to do, and if they do not do it, remove them?

UK-US Trade

Lord Watts Excerpts

Monday 12th May 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Gustafsson (Lab)]

The noble Lord is right that there is still a lot of work to be done. But having spent time with the many very capable and hard-working officials who have been part of this deal, it is worth acknowledging the hard work that has gone into this, which we are very appreciative of. The reality of this situation is that it has lifted some of the barriers to trade for many of our industries and some of the key sectors that we really value—for example, the automotive, steel and pharmaceutical industries. The noble Lord is right that there are still a lot of industries that have not been covered by the scope of this agreement. We are just starting on our journey, making sure that we can build on the strong trading relationship between the US and the UK and continue this approach of removing the onerous tariffs and supporting the people, industries and sectors supported by this.

The areas that have been covered by this agreement employ over 320,000 people within the UK, with a further 260,000 jobs within the UK supporting these sectors. Yes, it is just the first step in negotiating the fuller economic situation with the US, but I think the noble Lord will agree that it is a very powerful one.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

My Lords, is it not the case that no matter how good a deal we do with America, Europe is our most important trading partner and the one that we should concentrate on and get the most out of?

[Baroness Gustafsson (Lab)]

I agree with my noble friend that our trading relationship with the EU is incredibly important. I do not believe in the premise of false dichotomies or that we are picking between one and the other. This is a continuing relationship and dialogue. I note that there is a very important EU summit coming up in May, which should really endorse and build on our relationship with the EU.

Strategic Priorities Statement: Defence

Lord Watts Excerpts

Tuesday 25th March 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

I am grateful to the noble Baroness for her question. I do not agree with her criticism of the Treasury, but I agree with what she said about risk appetite. That is exactly why, when the Chancellor wrote to the National Wealth Fund, she specifically said that the

“economic capital limit will … be increased from £4.5 billion to £7 billion, allowing”

the National Wealth Fund to “take on greater risk”, and giving greater “flexibility over its investments” to

“support more projects that struggle to access private finance”.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

My Lords, does the Minister welcome this Question from the Opposition? Does it not once again demonstrate the problems of Brexit? We hear every week about differences, and today they are complaining about access to aviation and defence. Is it not time that they changed their position and stopped asking questions that give us an advantage?

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

I am very happy to agree with my noble friend’s assessment of the damage that Brexit has done to our economy.

Closed-Ended Investment Companies: Cost Disclosure

Lord Watts Excerpts

Monday 24th March 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

I do not think I can agree with the second part of the noble Lord’s question, but I absolutely agree that these vehicles do not exist in Europe and do exist in this country, which is exactly why the Government legislated to reform retail disclosure in the way that they did so that it is fairer, more proportionate and more suited for UK markets.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

My Lords, does the Minister agree that the system needs to be transparent and, quite frankly, there need to be effective rules? If we have effective legislation or rules, and we have transparency, is that not what we are seeking?

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

Yes, I agree with my noble friend. The Government have provided the Financial Conduct Authority with tailored powers to deliver a new disclosure regime that is fairer and more proportionate and, as I said in the previous answer, tailored specifically to UK markets. I know that the FCA is engaging extensively with the industry and other interested parties as it looks to finalise its rules.

Carbon Border Taxes

Lord Watts Excerpts

Wednesday 12th March 2025 Lords Chamber

[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.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

My Lords, is not this another example of the mess that has been left by the previous Government? Does my noble friend agree that they did nothing to negotiate this, which is now causing problems to our industry?

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

I am very tempted to agree with my noble friend. I think that what he says is absolutely the case.

UK Border Strategy: Single Trade Window

Lord Watts Excerpts

Tuesday 25th February 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

I agree, I think, with the underlying point that the noble Lord is making. Clearly, trade with the European Union is incredibly important. The European Union is our largest single trading partner. Four of our top five export markets are in the EU, and eight out of the top 10 in the EU account for nearly 50% of our trade. This is exactly why we must reset our relationship with the EU, our single biggest trading partner. We recognise that delivering new agreements will take time, but we are ambitious, we have clear priorities, and we want to move forward at pace.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

My Lords, is the Minister as bored as I am by the Opposition’s attacks on the Labour Government for trying to resolve the problems that were created by the last Government? When will he remind them what Boris said about the benefits of the leaving the European Union? We have seen all the problems with it, but we have not seen many of the benefits.

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

My noble friend is obviously absolutely right on that point. We are being attacked here for not implementing the solution to the problems that they created. Importers now face up 40 pages of forms that they must fill in: customs declarations, goods movement records and agricultural declarations. Exporters face up to 100 questions every time they wish to move goods to the European Union. We were told that, as a result of Brexit, we would continue to enjoy the exact same benefits. I think nothing could be further from the truth.

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.