Speaking in a debate moved by the former Chief of the General Staff and current Crossbench Peer, General Lord Dannett, Lord Bilimoria spoke out against a number of cuts to the defence budget taken up by the coalition government since 2010. In his speech, Lord Bilimoria warned against the decision to reform the army more heavily towards reserve forces, citing the risks that this could have on the ability of the United Kingdom to project her forces overseas.
Speaking on a debate on the level of employment in the United Kingdom, Lord Bilimoria expressed his continued support for manufacturing concerns outside London and the valuable role that aviation, automobiles and engineering all have to play in re-balancing the British economy. He also commented on the tremendous benefits of immigration to the country and the role that migration has played in numerous businesses at the regional, national and international level.
Lord Bilimoria spoke to the BBC and Reuters on Wednesday 19th March 2014 as part of the media coverage of the 2014 United Kingdom Budget. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, made a number of decisions on pensions, manufacturing exports and duty that Lord Bilimoria, the Founder and Chairman of Cobra Beer, felt would make a positive contribution to the future of the British economy.
In the run-up to the Chancellor’s statement at 12:30, Lord Bilimoria was interviewed by the BBC on College Green alongside Frances O’Grady, the General Secretary of the Trade Union Congress.
Following the Budget, Lord Bilimoria was interviewed by Reuters Business New, alongside Emma Jones and the IT entrepreneur, Stan Boland about the Chancellor’s announcements of a cut in Corporation Tax, a 1p fall in Beer Duty and the news that direct lending from government to UK businesses to promote exports is to be doubled to £3 billion.
The link to the interview can be found here.
For the first time since 2011, the House of Lords Team was victorious in the annual Pancake Day Race in Victoria Tower Gardens. The event, which celebrated its fourteenth anniversary on Tuesday, has become a fixture of the political calender. Taking place in in the shadow of the Palace of Westminster, the race sees three competing teams, representing the House of Commons, the House of Lords and the Parliamentary Press Gallery, flipping away around a course in order to raise money for Rehab.
Lord Bilimoria was one of a number of peers to criticise various aspects of the government’s Immigration Bill, which had its Second Reading in the House of Lords on Monday. Speaking in opposition to the additional charges that would be forced upon new migrants to the United Kingdom, Lord Bilimoria noted the damaging effects that the Bill would have for universities and higher education in general, which could also have long-term repercussions for the British economy.
Lord Bilimoria participated in a major debate on Scottish independence, which was moved by the former Scottish Secretary, Lord Lang of Monkton. In his speech – Lord Bilimoria noted the tremendous benefits and potential that comes from the historic Union between England and Scotland, as well as the fiscal risks associated with the proposals for an independent Scotland to become part of the Stirling Zone;
My Lords, I have just returned this morning from attending the UK-India Roundtable in Delhi.
We started our meeting on the morning of the 6th December with two minutes of silence for Nelson Mandela.
India immediately declared five days of state mourning. In fact, there was no alcohol allowed to be served at our gathering!
My Lords, Sir Bob Worcester, the chairman of the Magna Carta 800th anniversary commemoration committee, in a recent speech, summed it up really well—foundation of human rights, father of all constitutions, basis of our civil liberties, rights of free men and now women and of legal tradition, the bedrock of our systems of democracy. Then he says, “Who are its guardians?” He says it is our system of rule of law, jurisprudence, of justice. I say the guardian of this nation is this wonderful, unelected House, which is the cornerstone of our democracy.
My Lords, I declare my various interests in this area. I congratulate the noble Lord, Lord MacGregor, on initiating the debate. I also congratulate my friend the noble Lord, Lord Leigh of Hurley, on his excellent maiden speech. He is a fellow chartered accountant and we have known each other for many years. As he humbly said in his speech, he is also a fellow entrepreneur and a successful one at that. I read a book by a Wharton professor about givers and takers: in life you have givers, takers and matchers. It is not necessarily the case that the givers will get further in life, but when they do get there they always get there in a much better way and have a more sustainable, happier future. The noble Lord, Lord Leigh, is a giver. He has given to this House today his expertise as an entrepreneur, as an expert in corporate finance and as a chartered accountant. We welcome him here.
Lord Bilimoria of Chelsea, CBL, DL and Gareth Thomas MP are pleased to announce the establishment of the Zoroastrian All Party Parliamentary Group.
The event, hosted in the Members’ Dining Room of the House of Commons on Monday 14th October with the assistance of the Zoroastrian Trust Funds of Europe (ZTFE), was attended by over a hundred MPs, Peers and members of the international Zoroastrian community, including the Rt Hon Eric Pickles MP, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, and Dr Virander Paul, the Acting High Commissioner of India to the United Kingdom.