Speaking in the House of Lords, Lord Bilimoria celebrated the rise of entrepreneurship in the UK since his arrival as a student in the 1980’s. He noted the thriving industries which are often overlooked and taken for granted in Britain, and welcomed the foreign investment that the UK continues to attract, while outlining the action that is needed to improve the UK’s flagging productivity.
Speaking on the occasion on Gurkha pageant at the Royal Hospital Chelsea – Lord Bilimoria led a short debate in the House of Lords to commemorate the service of the Nepalese warriors in the British Army, as well as calling for increased aid and support for veterans by the Ministry of Defence. The speech was well-received by their Lordships, and prompted a number of questions of support to the Defence Minister, the Earl Howe.
Lord Bilimoria today responded to the Government’s last Budget Statement of this Parliament during a debate in the House of Lords. In his speech, he acknowledged the importance of the Government’s austerity agenda to the UK’s long-term prosperity, but stressed that more investment is needed in areas like higher education and research and development, to improve the nation’s productivity, while noting the severity of the Government’s austerity programme on the UK’s growth rate during this Parliament.
This Tuesday, Lord Bilimoria responded to the Select Committee on Soft Power and the UK’s Influence report Persuasion and Power in the Modern World. Speaking in the House of Lords, he praised the report and discussed the significant soft power that India, his country of birth, and the UK, his adoptive country, wield on the world stage.
Lord Bilimoria went on to detail the threats to the UK’s soft and hard power, which include the repeated budget cuts inflicted on Britain’s cultural and defence institutions, and noted the areas in which the UK continues to excel.
Speaking in the House of Lords on Thursday, Lord Bilimoria addressed a number of issues raised by the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement – the penultimate finance statement ahead of next May’s General Election. Lord Bilimoria criticised the slow pace of deficit reduction and missed economic targets by the coalition – whilst also speaking in favour of tax reform, increased government support for research and development and expressing concern at funding levels for the British Armed Forces.
Speaking in the House of Lords on Tuesday, Lord Bilimoria’s addressed a number of issues emerging from the Second Reading of the SME. Touching on matters ranging from the pub tie, to entrepreneurship, to tax relief – his speech was well received and gained positive comments from the Business Minister, Baroness Neville-Rolfe, and from other members of the House including the former Energy Secretary, Lord Wakeham.
Speaking in the House of Lords on Friday, Lord Bilimoria spoke cautiously in favour of the proposed use of military force against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (known various as ‘ISIS’, ‘ISIL’ and ‘IS’) upon the recent request of the Iraqi government and President Obama’s so-called ‘Coalition of the Willing.’
In his speech, Lord Bilimoria noted the slow pace at which the government proposed the military intervention, as well as critiquing the present state of the UK Armed Forces.
The debate ran co-currently with a debate in the House of Commons, which endorsed the principle of military intervention via airstrikes by 524 votes to 43.
Speaking in response to the Queen’s Speech, Lord Bilimoria strongly criticised the government’s continued failure to reform the immigration system and to support international students and higher education failure to understand the tremendous economic and social values that international students bring to the United Kingdom, citing research by the National Union of Students, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, Professor Sir Leszek Borysiewicz, and the Judge Business School.
Lord Bilimoria also criticised the failure of the government to introduce exit-checks as British ports of entry, as well as the negative response to the mooted “Visitor Bond” system, which was scrapped last year after public outcry.
Speaking in a debate concerning higher education in the United Kingdom, Lord Bilimoria spoke out against a number of restrictions on student numbers, especially those concerning the fall in student numbers as a consequence of immigration policy. He noted the increased competition that British universities face from foreign competitors, as well as the need for the government to increase spending on research and development in order to bring the United Kingdom closer to the OECD average.
On Monday 1st April 2014 the Zoroastrian All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) hosted a celebration of Jamsheedi Nowruz – Zoroastrian Iranian Spring New Year in the Houses of Parliament. The event was the second official event to be held by the Zoroastrian All Party Parliamentary Group, which was formed last October by Lord Bilimoria and Gareth Thomas MP to celebrate the work and history of the Zoroastrian community within the United Kingdom and abroad. Almost half of the audience present were representatives from interfaith communities in the United Kingdom.