Lord Walker of Broxton (Lab)

My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow the noble Lord, Lord Evans, and I congratulate him on securing this debate. I must declare an interest as the executive chairman of Iceland Foods. Hanging on the wall in our boardroom is a framed version of the company’s guiding values. It proclaims just four things: Simplification, Focus, Urgency and Accept Reality. There is also a framed picture of a cartoon, in which half a dozen people are sitting round a board table and the chairman is saying: “Instead of risking anything new, let’s continue our slow decline into obsolescence”. Business success is not about being ruthless; we are always in the Sunday Times list of best companies to work for. It is about being a business that can thrive, grow, adapt, change to circumstances and move quickly to outfox the competition. In doing so, wealth and jobs are created, taxes are paid and society benefits. As I said in my maiden speech, I support the Labour Party, not the “Benefits Party”: a party that promised to be pro-growth, pro-business and on the side of the builders, not the blockers. Yet hard truths must be spoken, because we cannot keep kicking the can down the road. We must urgently reform the welfare system so that the safety net catches those who truly need it, not those who choose it as a lifestyle. But let us jettison the worn-out stereotype of who constitutes the biggest drain on our benefits system. We should have the courage to challenge the pensions triple lock. It is mathematically unsustainable, politically untouchable and profoundly unfair: we all know it. As for the epidemic of youth unemployment, it is a tragedy that will be made worse by the challenges of AI but also because the reality is that incentives to work are diminishing. The bottom line is this: we will cure the problem only by growing the economy. It really is that simple. I was happy to support Labour in 2024 precisely because it promised a growth-first mission. Yet I have to confess that progress has been slower than I imagined, and in my short time working within No. 10 as the cost of living champion, I have been disappointed to find out how hard it actually is to get stuff done, a frustration that I know the Prime Minister shares. I recently presented a comprehensive report to No. 10, setting out practical steps that could be taken immediately to ease the pressures facing many households, including young people. The report focuses on energy debt relief, winter energy affordability, faster support payments, action on consumer rip-offs and reform of punitive debt collection. These recommendations need to be translated into urgent action; let us see what No. 10 does with it. On the broader stage of the national economy, we need to break out of the endless cycle of consultations and procrastination and actually get stuff done. To grow the economy, the Government need to be more business friendly. It is only business that creates wealth and jobs and pays tax. I repeat: it is only business that can grow the economy. If time permitted, I could list 100 things the Government could do today to help businesses prosper, thereby driving down youth unemployment and reducing the need for welfare. But in brief, my recommendation is: put those two framed pictures we have at Iceland’s HQ in every single office within government. Simplicity, focus, urgency and accepting reality are the proven keys to success, and that really would be trying something new. The hour is late, the stakes are high and it is time to choose. Adapt and thrive, or drift and die.