"My Lords, history shows that infatuation with deregulation of the finance industry always ends up destabilising the economy. At the moment, shadow banks are bigger than retail banking and totally unregulated. Private equity is devouring care homes, water, veterinary services, town centres and companies all over the UK. Its gearing …..." Lord Sikka - View Speech
"My Lords, Ministers claim that public ownership of water would somehow cost £100 billion, which is a totally unsound claim. Let me explain. The £100 billion figure is generated by Ofwat, which calls it “recognised capital value”. It is calculated by taking the value of the company at the time …..." Lord Sikka - View Speech
"My Lords, I congratulate the noble Baroness, Lady Shawcross-Wolfson, on her excellent speech and welcome her to the House. I also look forward to my noble friend Lady Bryan of Partick’s valedictory speech. I thank her for her compassion and mentoring. When I first arrived in this House, she said, …..." Lord Sikka - View Speech
"My Lords, between 2011 and 2023, 804 out of the 816 adult care homes that were forcibly closed by the Care Quality Commission in England were run for profit. Corporations running such homes have had profit margins of 35% to 40%, removing billions from front-line services, as is the case …..." Lord Sikka - View Speech
"Can I help the Minister on how to collect a lot more in tax revenues by attacking the anomalies? By taxing capital gains and dividends at the same rate as wages, and by charging national insurance at the same rate, the Government could collect around £15 billion a year. Another …..." Lord Sikka - View Speech
"My Lords, the secrecy afforded to small companies has incubated financial crime. Just last month, HMRC said that 40% of corporation tax due from small businesses is not being paid. Numerous money laundering, sanctions-busting and employment scams are fronted by small companies; therefore, we need far more information publicly filed …..." Lord Sikka - View Speech
"To ask His Majesty’s Government what plans they have for implementing, modifying, or repealing any part of the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 dealing with the filing of the annual accounts by small companies at Companies House...." Lord Sikka - View Speech
"My Lords, between 2010 and 2024, HMRC failed to collect around £500 billion of tax. I therefore welcome the additional investment, but I am really concerned about the trajectory. Page 95 of the spending review shows that the HMRC budget for 2025-26 is to be £6.8 billion, rising to £7.3 …..." Lord Sikka - View Speech
"My Lords, in September 2020, the Government issued an order to English schools that:
“Schools should not under any circumstances use resources produced by organisations”
which have expressed a desire to end capitalism. As a result, students cannot easily study the history of the working class, trade unions and …..." Lord Sikka - View Speech
"My Lords, I am really concerned about the legislation in front of us, because it seeks to extend subsidies to highly profitable corporations, at least until 2031. Inevitably, the major beneficiary is Drax, which is the UK’s single largest emitter of CO2. In 2023, its electricity-generating operations generated …..." Lord Sikka - View Speech