Lord Palumbo of Southwark: My Lords, once again we meet to debate the Chancellor’s offering of ritualistic cliché and fractional tinkering around the edges of vast, intractable problems—this time exacerbated by the need to save his job, the high drama of Brexit and the existential threat of a Marxist Government. We were offered such insights as: “We are at a turning point in our history, and we resolve to look...
Lord Palumbo of Southwark: My Lords, if my memory serves me correctly, the noble Baroness used the word “cautious” in the very first sentence of her extremely eloquent opening speech and “prudent” in the second. She then went on to talk about the budget deficit being reduced by two-thirds. With respect, I am not entirely sure that it is apposite to juxtapose what has happened with the budget deficit with the...
Lord Palumbo of Southwark: Once again, my Lords, we meet to debate a Statement which consists of fractional tinkering, where a billion here and a billion there are magicked from thin air, where we know that none of it really adds up, makes sense or will come to pass, but there is no other way in western democratic politics. So I suggest an idea to the Minister for our next debate: no numbers. Instead, it should be a...
Lord Palumbo of Southwark: My Lords, in September 2007, George Osborne announced that a future Conservative Government would match Labour’s spending proposals. He promised real increases in spending on public services year after year. There was not the slightest mention of spending restraint. Just six months later, this position was completely reversed. Labour, he said, had failed to fix, “the roof when the sun was...
Lord Palumbo of Southwark: I add my congratulations to the noble Lord, Lord Rose, on his excellent maiden speech. We look forward to his future muscular contribution. The Autumn Statement goes like this: the Chancellor stands up and says what a wonderful job he has done; the Opposition respond with a ritualistic attack. There is no sanction for the Government having missed all their targets. The “would-be Prime...
Lord Palumbo of Southwark: My Lords, I am delighted to contribute to this debate on the Government’s programme for the coming year. The country’s financial position is, of course, central to this programme. Current UK Government debt is approaching 100% of GDP. Household debt is roughly the same. Financial sector debt is more than double this amount, due to the historically large size of our banking industry. Then...
Lord Palumbo of Southwark: My Lords, there is a scene in Quentin Tarantino’s film “Pulp Fiction” in which the heroine collapses into a drugs overdose. Dramatic action is needed, so the hero stabs her heart with an adrenaline shot. Between 1986 and 2008, the banking system overdosed. Bankers were out of control; politicians failed to regulate the system. The result, as your Lordships know, was a financial heart...
Lord Palumbo of Southwark: My Lords, I thank my noble friend Lady Northover for bringing this debate forward and allowing me the opportunity to contribute today. I would also like to thank noble Lords too numerous to mention for their warm welcome. It is an honour to be speaking for the first time. I owe a debt of gratitude to the excellent staff who have helped me navigate my new life as a Peer. Throughout the past...