"My Lords, I accept that this Government, like their predecessor, have little room for manoeuvre if they are to keep within their fiscal rules at a time of sluggish growth, so I am not surprised to see them bearing down on the tax efficiencies of employer pension contributions, which the …..." Lord Londesborough - View Speech
"I thank the Minister for her response, but I think it is fair to say that key data on our start-ups is missing in action. Since the enterprise investment scheme was introduced 30 years ago, I have calculated that £40 billion has been invested in EIS start-ups, triggering £12 billion …..." Lord Londesborough - View Speech
"My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper, and declare my interests as an adviser and investor in start-ups...." Lord Londesborough - View Speech
"To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the recent performance of startup companies in the United Kingdom...." Lord Londesborough - View Speech
"My Lords, I appreciate that the Government’s youth guarantee scheme is well intentioned, but would it not be more effective if it applied to those 18 to 21 year-olds who have been out of work and education for six months rather than 18 months—by which time many will have lost …..." Lord Londesborough - View Speech
"My Lords, Governments can be forced to make abrupt, top-down decisions without having the time to undertake scientific ground-up assessments on the impact of those decisions. That is very much the case with our ODA budget, which, at a stroke, will lose an annual £6.2 billion, taking it down to …..." Lord Londesborough - View Speech
"My Lords, I will focus on the BBC from a commercial and international perspective, and should declare an interest up front. In my years as a journalist and foreign correspondent in Latin America and the Middle East, and then as a CEO of a British online information service on emerging …..." Lord Londesborough - View Speech
"My Lords, there is growing support for a social media ban for all those under the age of 16. In the interests of public sector productivity, would the Minister consider a similar ban during working hours for all government officials and civil servants under the age of 60?..." Lord Londesborough - View Speech
"My Lords, I commend the Government on adjusting the threshold to £2.5 million, which I and other Cross-Benchers advocated a year ago in this place and which strikes the right balance. However, how many agricultural, forestry and fishing businesses closed in the 12 months since the 20% IHT measure was …..." Lord Londesborough - View Speech
"My Lords, the brutal truth is that the number of graduates in the UK has almost doubled over the last 20 years, far outstripping the supply of graduate jobs, and that was before the decline in the last five years. This gross mismatch in supply and demand has resulted in …..." Lord Londesborough - View Speech