"My Lords, if it is the Minister’s prediction that it is left up to shareholders to make the decision, the institutional shareholders will always outvote the individual shareholders. That is why individual shareholders should have their day at an AGM. When I organised AGMs for the three FTSE companies that …..." Lord Fox - View Speech
"My Lords, the Minister has mentioned defence spending on a number of different occasions without mentioning the defence investment plan. It would be remiss of your Lordships if we did not go back to the Minister and ask: when will this plan be published? Our credibility in NATO requires us …..." Lord Fox - View Speech
"My Lords, I thank the Minister for the Statement and welcome that there is a strategy here, although, as the noble Lord, Lord Sharpe, said, we were expecting it for some time. However, given what is happening in the world, reading this document conjures the image of someone trying to …..." Lord Fox - View Speech
"My Lords, the answer that the Minister gave me on the Trade Remedies Authority was a little confusing—or it confused me, anyway. Can she set out in some detail in writing why the TRA is not involved in this? When you look at the Vietnam case, it is exactly analogous, …..." Lord Fox - View Speech
"My Lords, I am sure the Minister would acknowledge that an important precursor to people having wages is for them to have a job. I am sure that he would also recognise, perhaps reluctantly, that the number of jobs available, particularly for people at the lowest end of the wage …..." Lord Fox - View Speech
"My Lords, it might help if your Lordships understand the scale of our commitment to Fujitsu. On my count, there are 30-plus live UK contracts, worth at least £5 billion through the lives of those contracts. Since the 2019 High Court ruling, HMRC alone has awarded eight contracts to Fujitsu. …..." Lord Fox - View Speech
"My Lords, can the Minister confirm that, where there are no mayors, it will be up to local authorities whether to implement this levy? Will she undertake that, whether this levy is implemented locally or nationally, there is a consistent system of collection right across the country? Will she make …..." Lord Fox - View Speech
"My Lords, it is a real pleasure to follow that speech, which was a useful and authoritative view on this topic. I will attempt to sum up some of the issues, but I will first make a couple of observations.
"My Lords, the Minister called for wisdom and expertise. It is a great pleasure to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Alexander, who displayed both of those, but I am afraid the Minister now has me.
The Minister set the scene in his admirably concise introduction, but I want to look …..." Lord Fox - View Speech
"My Lords, the Minister is no doubt aware of recent research published by King’s Business School late last year which estimates that foreign direct investment is 12% to 18% lower than it would have been had the United Kingdom not left the European Union. Does the Minister agree with me …..." Lord Fox - View Speech