Category Archives: Speeches

Speech – India Link Awards

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On 3rd July, Lord Bilimoria was invited to be the Chief Guest Speaker at the Annual India Link Awards. He spoke about India-British relations and their smart power on the world stage, and his comprehensive speech (a transcript of which is available below) was extremely well received by all those present.

To cap off a wonderful night, Lord Bilimoria was also awarded with the India Link International Indian of the Year Award 2014-15, which recognised his significant achievements in the business and education sectors.

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Speech – Defence Budget

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In an impassioned speech in the House of Lords, Lord Bilimoria raised serious concerns about the strength of the British armed forces going forward.  Citing a study conducted by PwC, he also stressed the overwhelming public support for the armed forces and detailed the impact that continued cuts to the UK’s defence budget would have on Britain’s capability to project power abroad.

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Speech – Trade and Investment

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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.

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Speech – Gurkhas: Anniversary

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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.

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Speech – Budget Statement

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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.

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Speech – Soft Power and the UK’s influence

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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.

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Speech – Autumn Statement

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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.

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Speech – Pause for Thought

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On Monday 27th October, 2014 – Lord Bilimoria appeared on Chris Evans’ Breakfast Show, talking about Zoroastrianism as part of Faith in The World Week.

Pause For Thought is BBC Radio 2’s flagship slot readling with religion and spirituality and includes contributors from a wide variety of faiths, religions and backgrounds.

Lord Bilimoria was the first Zoroastrian Parsi to enter the House of Lords in 2006 – however, the first three ethnic minority members of the House of Commons, Dadabhai Naoroji, Mancherjee Bhownagree and Shapurji Saklatvala.

Fittingly, Lord Bilimoria is a Crossbencher, whilst Naoroji was a Liberal, Bhownagree a Conservative and Saklatvala a Communist with Labour support. The four largest political groupings in Parliament have therefore all been represented by members of the small British Parsi community.

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Speech – Airstrikes against ISIL

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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.

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Speech – Queen’s Speech

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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.

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