Lord Londesborough (CB)

Speaking in the House of Lords on 28 April 2026

Debate

Contribution

My Lords, as a fair-minded Cross-Bencher, I acknowledge that there have been some encouraging signs in the first quarter, particularly GDP growth and employment in February. But I also recall that we had a brief fireworks display in Q1 last year, followed by a flatlining of the economy throughout H2. Now, as we know, as a result of the war in Iran, both the IMF and the OECD have marked down the UK’s employment forecast by more than any other G7 economy. So I hope the Government will be true to their pledge to be the fastest-growing economy in the G7—noble Lords will remember that pledge—by doing all they can to prove those forecasts wrong: none more so than for our SMEs, as we have heard, particularly our start-ups and scale-ups, which are swimming against the tide of rising taxes and increasing costs. What meaningful encouragement are the Government offering our SMEs, specifically to stimulate growth activity, investment and output, if we are to believe in this growth mission?

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