"My Lords, I will briefly speak to Amendment 167 tabled by my noble friend Lord Freyberg, to which I have added my name. It is a thoughtful, pertinent and probing amendment which—dare I suggest at this late hour—the Government should embrace with enthusiasm.
"My Lords, I promise to be very brief. I support all the amendments in this group.
The arguments are building for the establishment of an independent freelance commissioner, mainly because the number of freelancers is growing and will continue to do so in the face of increasingly adverse conditions for …..." Lord Londesborough - View Speech
"My Lords, since the Chancellor announced the £25 billion hike in employers’ national insurance, we have seen the number of people on the PAYE payroll fall in seven of the past eight months, vacancies, especially for SMEs, declining every month and, most worrying of all, GDP per capita and labour …..." Lord Londesborough - View Speech
"My Lords, I support all the amendments in this group but will speak specifically to Amendments 129, 131 and 145 tabled by the noble Lords, Lord Sharpe of Epsom and Lord Hunt of Wirral, to which I have put my name.
"My Lords, I have added my name to Amendment 99 in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Fox of Buckley, which, to me, smacks of common sense, while also acknowledging that Amendment 98, tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Palmer, is a step in the right direction.
"My Lords, I broadly support this group of amendments and, in particular, Amendment 49 in the names of the noble Lords, Lord Sharpe and Lord Hunt. My noble friend Lord Vaux’s more straightforward Amendment 50 would reduce the length of the qualifying period from two years to a minimum of …..." Lord Londesborough - View Speech
"My Lords, I will speak to Amendment 94, tabled by the noble Baroness, Lady Noakes, and Amendment 159, tabled by the noble Lords, Lord Sharpe and Lord Hunt, both of which I have signed. I also support the amendment in this group tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Leigh, which …..." Lord Londesborough - View Speech
"My Lords, I support all the amendments in this first group, but I shall speak briefly to Amendment 9 in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Noakes, which, as she explained, is an amendment to the Government’s Amendment 8, and Amendment 22. I want to interrogate the wording of …..." Lord Londesborough - View Speech
"My Lords, is there any evidence that the two-child benefit cap has contributed to the rapid decline in our total fertility rates? In its latest Fiscal Risk and Sustainability report, the OBR highlights this as one of the UK’s daunting challenges—and, notably, the shrinking of our future workforce in an …..." Lord Londesborough - View Speech
"My Lords, back in February the Public Accounts Committee accused HMRC of not being
“sufficiently curious about the true scale of tax evasion”
in this country, suggesting that the tax authority’s estimate of £5.5 billion a year may be a significant underestimate. Does the Minister share the committee’s concern?..." Lord Londesborough - View Speech