Baroness Kramer (LD)

My Lords, my noble friend Lord Fox has had to leave, as the cold lurgy got him; undoubtedly, it will now get me over the weekend. The core point of his speech—the significance of and need for ambitious and strong leadership now—is almost the central point of the debate we have had today. I hope that the Government are going to take that on board. The impact of the turbulence we face domestically and overseas on the cost of living for ordinary people is really quite devastating. The Government have to deliver bold action in response. I am not sure that this King’s Speech meets that test. I say to the Government: stop pussyfooting in the European partnership Bill and seize the opportunity. The noble Lord, Lord Livermore, has talked in the past about the 6% to 8% scarring of the economy in 2025. I have seen the numbers and I am with him, but I will leave him to argue that case with the Conservatives, who do not appear to have taken note of them. I also want to point to the speech made by my noble friend Lord Strasburger, who talked about the specific damage done to one of our most important industries—the creative industry—by Brexit. I could bring industry after industry before this House to make exactly the same case. To those who think that Brexit has not been a huge damage, I say: go out and speak to industry after industry. I defy anyone to continue to make that statement.