My Lords, my family owns the local pub, and therefore I can speak from trying to employ people. We have very high employment standards in our business, and we have had to reduce staff because of what the Government have done on employment taxes of all kinds. That is true of the whole hospitality industry. It is all right for people to groan, but those who are actually running pubs know that we are closing one after another because the Government have not helped us; they have made life much more difficult.

My Lords, my family owns the local pub, and therefore I can speak from trying to employ people. We have very high employment standards in our business, and we have had to reduce staff because of what the Government have done on employment taxes of all kinds. That is true of the whole hospitality industry. It is all right for people to groan, but those who are actually running pubs know that we are closing one after another because the Government have not helped us; they have made life much more difficult.

Does the Minister accept that there are some areas where the law has already told the HMRC that it ought not to be demanding VAT—for example, agricultural shows—and that it refuses to accept the law and keeps on standing in the way of spreading what it has had to do for the Great Yorkshire Show to other shows? It is also true that the HMRC has lost its case about plug-in electric cars and is

supposed to reduce the VAT to the same level as you pay at home. At the moment, it is penalising people who do not have a drive, and therefore people who do have a drive get their VAT very much lower. Why does he not intervene and make the HMRC accept the law?

Does the Minister accept that there are some areas where the law has already told the HMRC that it ought not to be demanding VAT—for example, agricultural shows—and that it refuses to accept the law and keeps on standing in the way of spreading what it has had to do for the Great Yorkshire Show to other shows? It is also true that the HMRC has lost its case about plug-in electric cars and is

supposed to reduce the VAT to the same level as you pay at home. At the moment, it is penalising people who do not have a drive, and therefore people who do have a drive get their VAT very much lower. Why does he not intervene and make the HMRC accept the law?

Does the Minister accept that although we respect her position, the present Government are extremely unpopular in the countryside and that she is going to have to work extremely hard to make sure that rural people believe that this consultation is serious? So far, they do not, and she will have to work very hard indeed.

Does the Minister accept that although we respect her position, the present Government are extremely unpopular in the countryside and that she is going to have to work extremely hard to make sure that rural people believe that this consultation is serious? So far, they do not, and she will have to work very hard indeed.

It is nonsense for the Minister to say that the Chancellor has helped the hospitality industry. The industry is up in arms because the Chancellor has increased the costs of employment and of the goods it sells, thereby damaging the sector considerably. To say that, somehow or other, her Budgets have helped is frankly not true.

It is nonsense for the Minister to say that the Chancellor has helped the hospitality industry. The industry is up in arms because the Chancellor has increased the costs of employment and of the goods it sells, thereby damaging the sector considerably. To say that, somehow or other, her Budgets have helped is frankly not true.

In opposition, the Labour Party was very clear about the unfairness of the way in which money was given to Wales under the Barnett formula. Why is it that it is still cheating Wales and giving it much less money than any other part of the United Kingdom?

In opposition, the Labour Party was very clear about the unfairness of the way in which money was given to Wales under the Barnett formula. Why is it that it is still cheating Wales and giving it much less money than any other part of the United Kingdom?

My Lords, I declare an interest as a trustee of Cool Earth, which tries to do precisely this work in the areas of forests. I wonder whether the Minister can help us. There are some things for which only forestry products can be used. If we use them for things for which there are alternative products—for example, the generation of electricity—we will not have enough of this material for the things for which it is uniquely designed. What are the Government doing to ensure that we make the best use of that material which is real waste, from forests that have been properly looked after?

My Lords, I declare an interest as a trustee of Cool Earth, which tries to do precisely this work in the areas of forests. I wonder whether the Minister can help us. There are some things for which only forestry products can be used. If we use them for things for which there are alternative products—for example, the generation of electricity—we will not have enough of this material for the things for which it is uniquely designed. What are the Government doing to ensure that we make the best use of that material which is real waste, from forests that have been properly looked after?

Essex & Suffolk Water has announced that it cannot provide any extra water to any new business or extension of any business until 2036 and that the offices that are on site for Sizewell C are provided water by tankers. How on earth can we build this ridiculous Sizewell C when we do not have enough water to provide the office with drink?

Essex & Suffolk Water has announced that it cannot provide any extra water to any new business or extension of any business until 2036 and that the offices that are on site for Sizewell C are provided water by tankers. How on earth can we build this ridiculous Sizewell C when we do not have enough water to provide the office with drink?

Will the noble Baroness accept that I joined with many of her colleagues in fighting against the Barnett formula, and that the Labour Party strongly attacked the Conservative Government because they did not do anything about it? Why is she now telling us that she is not going to do anything about it, when it is clearly wrong?

Will the noble Baroness accept that I joined with many of her colleagues in fighting against the Barnett formula, and that the Labour Party strongly attacked the Conservative Government because they did not do anything about it? Why is she now telling us that she is not going to do anything about it, when it is clearly wrong?

The targets having been set up by the previous Government, the present Government should stick to them and give British motor manufacturers certainty about what is going to happen, rather than uncertainty of the kind that has recently been stirred up.

The targets having been set up by the previous Government, the present Government should stick to them and give British motor manufacturers certainty about what is going to happen, rather than uncertainty of the kind that has recently been stirred up.

My Lords, when we finally get the new homes standard, will the Minister ensure that it comes into operation immediately and does not take about five years to roll out, as the previous ones have? Will she also take up with the companies which build houses that, since 2017, they have built 1.5 million houses that are not fit for the future, taken the profits and left the people who have bought those houses to meet the costs of retrofitting? Is it not a scandal? Should there not be a fund which they give to that can repay the people who have bought these houses, so that they can do what needs to be done to them?

My Lords, when we finally get the new homes standard, will the Minister ensure that it comes into operation immediately and does not take about five years to roll out, as the previous ones have? Will she also take up with the companies which build houses that, since 2017, they have built 1.5 million houses that are not fit for the future, taken the profits and left the people who have bought those houses to meet the costs of retrofitting? Is it not a scandal? Should there not be a fund which they give to that can repay the people who have bought these houses, so that they can do what needs to be done to them?

My Lords, the French Government have given this Government a great opportunity to stop any further growth of Sizewell C and use that money for small modular nuclear reactors. This is an out-of-date proposal. It will cost much more than we bargained for. It is a brave and sensible Government who would say, “We will stop that and move to new technology”.

My Lords, the French Government have given this Government a great opportunity to stop any further growth of Sizewell C and use that money for small modular nuclear reactors. This is an out-of-date proposal. It will cost much more than we bargained for. It is a brave and sensible Government who would say, “We will stop that and move to new technology”.

The whole House owes a great debt of gratitude to the noble Lord, Lord Lexden, for his constant concern about these very big issues. But the thing that really matters to ordinary people to keep confidence in the police is, for example, the police answering complaints. That does not happen with the Metropolitan Police. If you send a complaint by email there seems to be no means of reply. The police ought surely always to be seen to be obeying the law that others obey. Every day, along the road from here, a long line of police cars are parked on double yellow lines. I do not mind it being designated as a police place, but on yellow lines, where ordinary motorists cannot stop, people just say that it is the police, again, not doing as police should do, which is to obey the law that everyone else has to obey.

The whole House owes a great debt of gratitude to the noble Lord, Lord Lexden, for his constant concern about these very big issues. But the thing that really matters to ordinary people to keep confidence in the police is, for example, the police answering complaints. That does not happen with the Metropolitan Police. If you send a complaint by email there seems to be no means of reply. The police ought surely always to be seen to be obeying the law that others obey. Every day, along the road from here, a long line of police cars are parked on double yellow lines. I do not mind it being designated as a police place, but on yellow lines, where ordinary motorists cannot stop, people just say that it is the police, again, not doing as police should do, which is to obey the law that everyone else has to obey.

This disease can be spread from the smallest of flocks. Is the Minister confident that we now have the registration of all people who are keeping birds? Without that, we are not able to enforce the necessary protections, should this particular event increase. We are bound to have such events in the future as well.

This disease can be spread from the smallest of flocks. Is the Minister confident that we now have the registration of all people who are keeping birds? Without that, we are not able to enforce the necessary protections, should this particular event increase. We are bound to have such events in the future as well.

Notwithstanding that the Government gave more money to Wales in the Budget, is not the noble Lord, Lord Wigley, right that the Barnett formula, which is deeply unfair to Wales, needs to be looked at finally for the future, rather than brushed off and pushed behind a carpet?

Notwithstanding that the Government gave more money to Wales in the Budget, is not the noble Lord, Lord Wigley, right that the Barnett formula, which is deeply unfair to Wales, needs to be looked at finally for the future, rather than brushed off and pushed behind a carpet?

My Lords, the Minister told the House that there were no promises broken in the Budget. The Secretary of State for Defra, which looks after agriculture, promised farmers that there would be no tax on inheritance. Why has he not resigned?

My Lords, the Minister told the House that there were no promises broken in the Budget. The Secretary of State for Defra, which looks after agriculture, promised farmers that there would be no tax on inheritance. Why has he not resigned?

It is not sensible to pay taxpayers’ money to people who do not need it—the Government are right on that. My worry is simply that those who apply for pension credit appear in many cases to find the bureaucracy difficult and not quick enough to deliver. Will the Minister assure the House that she will make sure that everybody who applies will get this in time and without bureaucratic delay?

It is not sensible to pay taxpayers’ money to people who do not need it—the Government are right on that. My worry is simply that those who apply for pension credit appear in many cases to find the bureaucracy difficult and not quick enough to deliver. Will the Minister assure the House that she will make sure that everybody who applies will get this in time and without bureaucratic delay?

Does the Minister accept that most of these people are not criminals, that they are welcome in this country and that the way we deal with them should show that people with whom we share culture, history and a great deal of common interest are welcomed, instead of sounding as if they are being pushed back?

Does the Minister accept that most of these people are not criminals, that they are welcome in this country and that the way we deal with them should show that people with whom we share culture, history and a great deal of common interest are welcomed, instead of sounding as if they are being pushed back?

Is it not true that we are culturally part of Europe and that the culture connections are very important, but that at the moment they are held up because of the “Wrecksiteers” and their attitudes to all this? Can we please get on with this and not fuss about?

Is it not true that we are culturally part of Europe and that the culture connections are very important, but that at the moment they are held up because of the “Wrecksiteers” and their attitudes to all this? Can we please get on with this and not fuss about?

My Lords, it would not be reasonable to ask the Minister to talk in detail about scallop dredging, but I think it would be reasonable to ask her to make sure that the regulations, when changed under the new law, enable the Crown Estate to stop the terrible destruction on the seabed, which is very damaging in respect of climate change. All sorts of bottom trawling ought to be banned. The Crown Estate ought to have the power, as it owns the seabed, to say, “No more of that kind of behaviour”.

My Lords, it would not be reasonable to ask the Minister to talk in detail about scallop dredging, but I think it would be reasonable to ask her to make sure that the regulations, when changed under the new law, enable the Crown Estate to stop the terrible destruction on the seabed, which is very damaging in respect of climate change. All sorts of bottom trawling ought to be banned. The Crown Estate ought to have the power, as it owns the seabed, to say, “No more of that kind of behaviour”.

Does my noble friend agree that if we do not get some of these things out pretty quickly and the European Union goes on improving its situation, many people will ask whether there was any point in taking back control in the first place?

Does my noble friend agree that if we do not get some of these things out pretty quickly and the European Union goes on improving its situation, many people will ask whether there was any point in taking back control in the first place?