Lord Gadhia: My Lords, I note my interests as a board member of the Bank of England and the housebuilder Taylor Wimpey, but I speak in a personal capacity. Over the weekend, I read an article that began: “Moments of change usher in moments of hope”. That certainly feels like the zeitgeist surrounding the new Government and King’s Speech. Cynics will no doubt presage the triumph of hope over...
Lord Gadhia: My Lords, I declare my interest as a member of the Court of Directors of the Bank of England but speak today in a personal capacity. First, I offer my compliments to the noble Lord, Lord Bridges of Headley, and his committee for the thoroughness of their evidence sessions, attracting a star cast of witnesses, to provide a timely review of the Bank’s 25 years of operational independence....
Lord Gadhia: My Lords, I congratulate my noble friend Lord Popat on securing this important debate. Like him, I was born in Uganda, arriving in this country 50 years ago this year as a toddler. So, today’s proceedings are much more than a debate; this is deeply personal. It is the story of my family, our community and my own identity. Discussing this topic in the same week as the appointment of our...
Lord Gadhia: My Lords, as we gather on this sombre and sad occasion, a huge void is felt not only by the Royal Family and our whole nation but by the entire world. It is difficult to think of a public figure who has ever had such a global impact. We often speak about the United Kingdom’s soft power and of global Britain, but so much of this was embodied in, and personified by, Her late Majesty the...
Lord Gadhia: My Lords, as we seek to make sense of the unfolding tragedy in Afghanistan, the waning political courage and leadership from successive US Administrations is now clear. This has been compounded by strategic miscalculations and amplified by tactical errors, especially in implementing the withdrawal of US troops. Our experience during the pandemic has demonstrated that policy driven by dates,...
Lord Gadhia: My Lords, in contributing to today’s debate on the humble Address, I should like to give voice to the sentiments of the British Indian and wider British Asian community, who share fully in this moment of national loss, and in giving thanks for a life of extraordinary public service. The many moving tributes paid to Prince Philip have highlighted two recurring themes. The first is his...
Lord Gadhia: My Lords, I offer five brief reflections on the Budget. First, faced with the sharpest economic contraction in more than 300 years, the Chancellor’s overall fiscal judgment and priorities are hard to fault. The narrative of “spend now, tax later” has stuck but, as the OBR points out, there is a risk that the Government cannot rein in spending and does not raise enough revenue....
Lord Gadhia: My Lords, I congratulate my noble friends Lord Hammond of Runnymede and Lady Shafik on their maiden speeches. Their choice of debate is especially appropriate, and the quality of their contributions demonstrates how much they will enrich your Lordships’ House. I look forward to their future active participation. I turn to our main topic. I welcome this omnibus Financial Services Bill in the...
Lord Gadhia: My Lords, I welcome the content of this Statement and the recognition of the significant contribution of financial services to our economy. However, could I press my noble friend on equivalence? For those following the trajectory of our approach to securing continuing market access, we have been on a ski slope for mutual recognition to enhanced equivalence to equivalence and now to unilateral...
Lord Gadhia: My Lords, Milton Friedman’s dictum that the business of business is business was always an exaggerated and oversimplified representation of the role of private enterprise in society. Today’s debate has highlighted how the vast majority of businesses take their wider responsibilities seriously and are playing a crucial role in our effort to combat the current pandemic. This forms part of a...
Lord Gadhia: My Lords, in speaking in today’s debate on the green economy I draw attention to my register of interests as a board member and investor in Calisen plc, which owns and manages critical energy infrastructure, including smart meters. This experience has provided me with not only direct insight into the Government-mandated smart meter rollout programme, but perspectives on how the right policy...
Lord Gadhia: My Lords, I welcome the opportunity provided by the right reverend Prelate to take stock of progress since the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards first reported over six years ago. I also join other noble Lords in welcoming the noble Lord, Lord Bethell, to the Government Front Bench, and I look forward to his debut at the Dispatch Box. Since the PCBS made its recommendations,...
Lord Gadhia: My Lords, I welcome the overall thrust of the statement made by my noble friend. It seeks to demonstrate that our seeming political meltdown over Brexit is not matched by an economic meltdown. This was brought home to me recently when I participated in a panel with the former Italian Prime Minister, Matteo Renzi, and the former Greek Prime Minister, George Papandreou. While they were able to...
Lord Gadhia: My Lords, Napoleon once said, “I do not want a good general, I want a lucky one”. The same logic surely applies to Chancellors and their stewardship of the economy. Faced with headwinds in the global economy and a downturn in business investment from Brexit uncertainty, the Spring Statement could easily have been a more testing experience for Mr Hammond. Instead, the Chancellor has...
Lord Gadhia: My Lords, many of us hoped that the holiday season would clear our minds and lift the Brexit fog, but, alas, the fuzziness remains and has come back with a vengeance. More worryingly, the ideological divides between and within families, communities and political parties show little sign of being resolved, let alone healed. Yet the eyes of the world are on us, particularly from the business...
Lord Gadhia: My Lords, the adage that one should never drive a car simply by observing the rear-view mirror applies equally, if not more so, to the stewardship of the economy. The Chancellor’s room for manoeuvre in his 2018 Budget benefited significantly from the hard decisions taken over the past eight years, especially the buoyancy of current and projected tax receipts. It has also been underpinned by...
Lord Gadhia: My Lords, if I may help my noble friend on land value, a report on a review of build out was commissioned by the Chancellor and led by Oliver Letwin, which I was also part of. That was published last Monday at the time of the Budget, and includes specific proposals to address the important issue of land value.
Lord Gadhia: My Lords, I would like to focus my remarks today on the crucial contribution made by over 3 million Commonwealth soldiers during World War I, almost half of whom came from undivided India, encompassing present-day Pakistan and Bangladesh. My noble friend Lord Lexden led an excellent debate on this topic on 4 June this year, during which he highlighted comments by David Lloyd George, who said...
Lord Gadhia: My Lords, is my noble friend aware that the Chancellor has recently allocated £36 million to Swansea University for active buildings? These are buildings that can store and release energy back into the grid and help to stabilise it. That funding has already recently been allocated.
Lord Gadhia: My Lords, having dinner yesterday evening with the CEO of the London Stock Exchange, Nikhil Rathi, made me aware that green finance is one of its big priorities, including the establishment of a green sustainable investment centre. Will my noble friend join me in welcoming the development of green indices which can prompt institutional investors to shift their asset allocation to sustainable...
