"My Lords, I wish I had also brought my white hanky to the debate, but sadly I do not have that cop-out. This been a short but focused and interesting debate. I will begin with Amendments 177 and 179, tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Freyberg. The Government are well …..." Lord Katz - View Speech
"My Lords, with thanks to the clerks, the doorkeepers and all the staff of the House for staying so late, I beg to move that the House do now adjourn...." Lord Katz - View Speech
"I am pleased to have a contrast in terms of debate length. It is good to hear from the noble Lord, Lord Hunt of Wirral. I will speak to this quite large group of amendments and, for the sake of brevity, try to cover as much ground as I can …..." Lord Katz - View Speech
"As it is quite late and we still have a lot of business to do, it is worth respectfully pointing out not just to the noble Baroness but to other noble Lords that the Companion is pretty clear about the rules of debate on Report. At 8.145 it states:
"My noble friend makes a very strong point. He will be aware that in the recently published immigrationWhite Paper, the Home Office outlined the steps it is taking to reduce net migration while supporting the labour market across all sectors. On the part of the DWP, my department …..." Lord Katz - View Speech
"The noble Lord will be aware that in the Employment Rights Bill we are undertaking a sector-wide, labour force-wide reassessment and review of employment status that will take into account employment, freelance, self-employment and contracted status. I understand the question. Going back to the original point of the noble Lord’s …..." Lord Katz - View Speech
"Noble Lords opposite may groan and sigh, but I am afraid the fact is that we cannot, in a year, undo the damage they did to the economy and the public finances in 14 years. We absolutely have had to take some difficult decisions on national insurance, but we have …..." Lord Katz - View Speech
"My Lords, I appreciate what the noble Lord says, but employment in the UK is at a record high—more than 34 million in March to May 2025. The number of jobs in the economy is at a record high; there is a record number of women in employment; and the …..." Lord Katz - View Speech
"Of course my noble friend is utterly right. [Laughter.] Noble Lords opposite laugh, but this is no joking matter. One year in, and we are still uncovering the damage they did to our economy. We are making progress, and we will continue to do so. I repeat: …..." Lord Katz - View Speech
"My Lords, as part of the Get Britain Working plan, we are ensuring that there are local growth plans across the economy, because we recognise that different labour markets have different needs, and different populations in the different areas, regions and indeed nations of our country have different profiles and …..." Lord Katz - View Speech