Earlier today, Lord Bilimoria spoke about the recently published Spending Defence and Security Review 2015 in the House of Lords. The review, which sets out the government’s approach to national security for the next 5 years, was warmly received by many in the chamber and Lord Bilimoria was keen the praise the government’s commitment of 2% of GDP on defence spending. He criticised the 2010 Review as negligent and celebrated the defence budget’s dedication towards scientific research.
Earlier this evening, Lord Bilimoria spoke in a debate in the House of Lords about whether the UK should engage in military operations in Syria. He noted the mistakes made in past operations and outlined the reasons for intervening in the region now, while stressing the limitations of relying on air power alone.
Monday saw a passionate exchange of words in the House of Lords as Lords debated the government’s contentious tax credit reform proposals. During the session, Lord Bilimoria voted in favour measures which forced the government to review its current proposals – which many criticise for being too blunt and for being too harsh to the lowest earners in the UK.
Shortly after the debate, Lord Bilimoria wrote to the Daily Mirror to explain the actions he took to ensure that the poorest people in the UK were protected from the proposals put forth by the government.
Lord Bilimoria spoke in the House of Lords yesterday about the government’s plans to update the Reserve Forces. He praised the Chancellor’s decision to commit to 2% of the UK’s GDP on defence spending, which ensures that Britain continues to meet NATO’s spending defence target, and agreed with measures that would strengthen and modernise the armed forces reserves. Lord Bilimoria noted several concerns, chiefly about the ability of the UK to project power in the short term and about the way in which reservists are being integrated into the armed forces, and he called on the government to ensure that the armed forces are suitably equipped to carry out the actions that may be required of them.
In a wide-ranging interview, Lord Bilimoria spoke to Michael Skapinker, a journalist at the Financial Times, about his experiences as an immigrant in the UK, the evolution of Cobra Beer, the government’s immigration policies regarding international students, and the role of the House of Lords.
On October 6th Lord Bilimoria successfully launched PictoSo, a photo sharing app designed to operate in small groups, at the Cambridge Freshers’ Fair. The launch saw huge interest in the picture sharing app, with students eager to learn more about how the Founder of Cobra Beer’s tech venture would change they way they shared photos with friends.
PictoSo provides a platform for groups of people to share photos among themselves in a more private setting than Instagram or Facebook. Moving away from the traditional broadcasting nature of social media, PictoSo aims to help people share the moments that matter with the people that matter. The app works well at any occasion, from small gatherings among family and friends to huge parties and boasts a number of innovative features – pictures can be customised before sharing with filters, effects, stickers and more, and 10-second videos can also be shared in groups of your choosing by creating albums and inviting your friends from your phone contacts.
Lord Bilimoria spoke to Tom Knowles of The Times to discuss the launch:
In an interview with David Watts for Asian Affairs magazine Lord Bilimoria referenced his own background as an immigrant to demonstrate the damaging nature of Britain’s current immigration policy. He noted the negative consequences of the government’s approach to immigration, such as its impact on the UK’s Higher Education and curry industries, and stressed that the government’s flawed approach, championed by Theresa May, is destroying Britain’s future business success potential.
Lord Bilimoria recently gave an interview with Customer Focus magazine, the quarterly publication from the Institute of Customer Service, where he stressed the importance of good customer service in any industry and explained how the partnerships he formed at the outset of the business were crucial to the continued success of Cobra. Read More →
On the 12th September Lord Bilimoria delivered the Asian Development Research Institute (ADRI) Foundation Lecture in Patna. In the lecture, which has previously been delivered by Nobel Laureates Amartya Sen and Joseph Stiglitz, Lord Bilimoria discussed the role of Jamshetji Tata and the contribution of Parsis in the Indian freedom struggle. Drawing on his personal experiences as a Zoroastrian Parsi, Lord Bilimoria talked passionately about the role that the Parsi minority has had in business both in India and the UK. He also highlighted how the struggle of Tata, both as a visionary businessman and as a freedom fighter, was representative of the struggle of the Parsi minority and closed with words by Mahatma Gandhi, stressing both their general importance, as well as the specific resonance they hold for the Zoroastrian community.
Yesterday, Lord Bilimoria spoke about the government’s planned proposals to increase productivity in the UK in a debate in the House of Lords. Titled: Fixing the foundations: Creating a more prosperous nation, the government’s productivity plan stressed the need for Britain to boost productivity and advocated a series of reforms designed to bolster long term investment and create a more dynamic economy. Speaking in the debate, Lord Bilimoria welcomed plans to make the UK more attractive to inward investment but lamented the lack of action that the government has taken on funding for research and development. He also quizzed the Minister, Lord O’Neill of Gatley, about the level of support that the government is providing to quickly growing businesses to scale up their operations.