"My Lords, we as a country are heavily legislated for small companies. We see a large number of UK companies leaving the London Stock Exchange for New York, and a large number of people leaving the country for good. We do not celebrate wealth creation any more. To further burden …..." Lord Popat - View Speech
"My Lords, we are a highly regulated and highly taxed country; that has a big impact on SMEs. On regulation, to appoint a lawyer can take as much as two months, to open a bank account takes three months and even to register for VAT can take weeks. This NIC …..." Lord Popat - View Speech
"My Lords, no other country in the world taxes companies to employ people. We do that through our national insurance contributions, which are now going up from 13.8% to 15%. That will hit all our SMEs hard, which are the backbone of our economy. What will the Government do to …..." Lord Popat - View Speech
"My Lords, I declare my recent interest, having served as the Prime Minister’s trade envoy to Uganda, Rwanda and the DRC until the election. I am glad to have secured this debate.
Despite some progress, there is still a long way to go to change the narrative on Africa. Our …..." Lord Popat - View Speech
"To ask His Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to (1) raise awareness among United Kingdom businesses of commercial opportunities in African markets, and (2) support United Kingdom exports to Africa...." Lord Popat - View Speech
"My Lords, I welcome the figures that my noble friend the Minister gave us, but our major problem is a trade deficit. This is not something new; it has been the case for the last four decades. In other words, we do not have enough exports to pay for imports. …..." Lord Popat - View Speech
"My Lords, I declare my interest as the Prime Minister’s trade envoy to Rwanda. I was appointed in 2014 by the then Prime Minister, who I am delighted to see on our Front Bench today—my noble friend Lord Cameron. In dealing with Rwanda for the past nine years, I have …..." Lord Popat - View Speech
"My Lords, I declare my interest as the Prime Minister’s trade envoy to Uganda and as someone who was born in Uganda. This Act is a grave assault on the human rights and the constitution of Uganda, as well as on international human rights laws that Uganda signed up to. …..." Lord Popat - View Speech
"My Lords, I express my sorrow, as a proud Ugandan, at the recent attack, which took the lives of so many innocent schoolchildren. My condolences and prayers at this difficult time go to the people of Uganda, especially the victims and their families. Would my noble friend the Minister agree …..." Lord Popat - View Speech