"As the Minister just said, the student debt in England is £296 billion and is expected to hit £500 billion by the late 2040s. Interest is added until debt is repaid or written off. What assessment have the Government made of the impact of student loan repayments on the ability …..." Lord Sikka - View Speech
"My Lords, one of the problems with the commissioner’s report on Covid fraud is that it pays little attention to the role of consultants in devising various schemes. For example, the furlough support scheme did not ask companies to provide the national insurance numbers of employees; it was, therefore, open …..." Lord Sikka - View Speech
"My Lords, my concern is about the relevance of the G7. It was held together by the economic might of various countries, but now India and China are challenging, and they are not part of the G7. It was held together by the advancement of the rules-based international order, which …..." Lord Sikka - View Speech
"My Lords, I thank my noble friend Lady Lister for securing this valuable debate. I welcome the Government’s child poverty strategy, breakfast clubs, free school meals for all children in households on universal credit and the abolition of the two-child benefit cap. However, such help is not permanent. We all …..." Lord Sikka - View Speech
“we consider the regulated capital value of the water sector to be the closest proximity for the total value of the sector’s debt and equity; it is currently £107 billion”.—[Official Report, 9/6/26; col. 1241.]
"My Lords, this enabling Bill paves the way for a possible nationalisation of steel companies, with a particular emphasis on British Steel, currently owned by the China-based Jingye Group. This nationalisation may or may not happen—we have to wait and see. The Bill allows the Government to transfer the shares …..." Lord Sikka - View Speech
"My Lords, water companies have knowingly violated their licence conditions and have more convictions than hardened criminal gangs, yet no executive has been fined and no company forced to relinquish its licence. What will it take for the Government to recognise that privatisation has failed and that water companies ought …..." Lord Sikka - View Speech
"My Lords, this is primarily an enabling Bill and much of the substance will follow later, through the FCA and PRA rule-making and secondary legislation. Parliament will not have a proper opportunity to amend whatever the FCA agrees with the industry lobby. Consumer protection and confidence in the finance industry …..." Lord Sikka - View Speech
"To ask His Majesty’s Government in which years since its privatisation Royal Mail has fully met its first class and second class letter delivery targets; and what assessment they have made of its performance in this period...." Lord Sikka - View Speech
"My Lords, Royal Mail is another disastrous privatisation. Since privatisation, the price of a first-class letter has increased by 200% and second-class by 89%. As the Minister just said, Royal Mail has not met its delivery targets for years, and Ofcom continues to lower the targets; second-class mail is now …..." Lord Sikka - View Speech