Lord Bilimoria spoke during the Second Reading of the Armed Forces Bill in the House of Lords yesterday. His speech focused on the implications of spurious lawsuits against the UK Armed Forces and stressed the need for the Government to ensure that soldiers were given the freedom to do their jobs effectively. After debate, the motion was agreed to and the bill was committed to a Grand Committee.
In his first parliamentary speech of 2016, Lord Bilimoria participated in a debate moved by Baroness Guildford relating to adult education and lifelong learning, and the need to develop the skills needed to strengthen the United Kingdom economy.
In his speech, Lord Bilimoria detailed the impact that his education has had on his career and raised concerns about funding cuts to adult education and lifelong learning. He urged the Government to invest in adult learning in order to improve skills and productivity and stated that the Government should play to win, rather than playing not to lose.
Lord Bilimoria, Vice Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on the Curry Catering Industry, was recently interviewed as part of a comprehensive article written about the British curry industry by Malcolm Moore, a journalist at the Financial Times. The article, titled the The Great British Curry Crisis, detailed the history of curry restaurants in Britain and noted the major issues facing the industry, focusing in particular on the impact that a shortage of skilled South Asian chefs entering the business is having on the industry as a whole. Read More →
Lord Bilimoria recently took part in the BBC’s CEO Secrets series. The series, which sees prominent businesspeople dishing out business advice to budding entrepreneurs, was published on the BBC’s website at the start of the New Year. Lord Bilimoria’s thoughts are available here.
Yesterday, Lord Bilimoria responded to the UK Government’s Autumn Statement 2015 in a debate in the House of Lords. In his speech, Lord Bilimoria welcomed the Chancellor’s change of heart over planned cuts to tax credits. He also applauded the introduction of measures which improve the provision of funding to mature and part-time students, as well as those which provide further support to postgraduate students, while calling for the government to introduce measures to help increase the UK’s manufacturing output.
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.