Seema Malhotra
MP for Feltham and Heston · Labour (Co-op) · United Kingdom
“Public sector productivity is improving, with the latest Office for National Statistics figures showing output continuing to grow faster than inputs, and Departments being challenged to improve efficiency and modernise outdated processes.”
“I was proud to support the Feltham Convening Partnership’s young leaders summer programme last month. What struck me was their ambition for themselves and their community, as well as their call for more work experience opportunities.”
“We will be working to commence the socioeconomic duty on public bodies in section 1 of the Equality Act to require public authorities to put addressing socioeconomic disadvantage at the heart of their strategic decision making. There will be more on that to follow. Let me again thank my hon.”
“For generations, the message to those who want to enter public life or elite professions has been that if they want to get on, they must sound like everybody else. When Margaret Thatcher became leader of her party in the 1970s, she famously underwent intensive elocution lessons with a tutor from the National Theatre.”
“Whether a young person chooses a degree or a trade, their journey must be determined by merit and their potential—never by whether they have to change their voice or pretend to be someone else to fit in.”
“Interestingly, studies also regularly show that regional accents such as Welsh or Yorkshire are rated by the public as trustworthy, warm and honest. Yet when those same studies measure perceived intelligence or employability, standard southern English and received pronunciation invariably top the metrics.”
The complete record
Every one of 5,023 lines we hold for Seema Malhotra, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 32 of 101.
“Those who sell high-value items—kitchens, some white goods and furniture items—generally are members of ADR schemes. Those who sell groceries, as they are generally called these days, including food and non-food, tend to feel that it is not really appropriate for them because of the cost. When dealing with something worth only a few pounds, it is much cheaper and much more sensible to just deal with the consumer and, ideally, give them their money back if there is a problem, rather than take everyone through ADR. It is not necessarily the best approach. However, the accreditation system and making sure that companies abide by what they are supposed to do in ADR is vital to have confidence in general.”
“Q An area that we have not covered is much is alternative dispute resolution. Part 4 of the Bill would make accreditation of ADR providers compulsory unless an exception applies. How effective do you think that provision will in protecting consumers, and do you think it is the right approach? Graham Wynn: ADR is not something that our members are exercised about in the same way as some other people are. Those who are responsible for selling high-value items tend to be members of ADR schemes. Their criticism of the current arrangement has been that they are not convinced that there is a full assessment of the ADR providers, so everything that is necessary to give them the confidence to use the systems. They believe that that perhaps has held back ADR schemes from really taking off in some places.”
“Essentially, in those areas around drip pricing, fake reviews, subscription traps and greenwashing, we think there are opportunities to go further or for some further discussion. We also think the Bill addresses the national issues around the CMA’s powers, but we do not think it is sufficiently robust in some areas to enable trading standards which, in the context of this conversation, does the place-based and local regulatory enforcement and support for local businesses and enterprise. That national system does not work effectively if you do not have the local system working effectively alongside it, because they are mutually supportive of each other as part of that same system.”
“We think it will enable quicker and stronger action, and we think it is very supportive of competition and innovation but, as you have alluded to, we do think there are some opportunities in the Bill where it could go further and where it would not impact on competition and innovation, and also where it would be more supportive of consumer confidence. We are happy to talk in more detail about those. It is probably best to explain that we are both here because I can take that very strategic view and answer questions about that. David is our lead officer for the online marketplaces, so when we get into more of the technical detail he will be able to answer some of those questions.”
“We have also seen that dramatic change in business and consumer behaviours, particularly during the pandemic, which is good for consumers, businesses and the economy. Trading standards absolutely sees that first hand. Trading standards plays a very unique role in this discussion; we are at that interface between the business and the consumer, so the lens through which we look at this is consumer confidence. Essentially, that is what we are really taking a perspective on. We very much welcome the Bill and the new powers, particularly for the scope of the CMA, which we work with closely. We think it provides clearer legislation and changes to CPRs.”
“Q Thank you very much for coming to give evidence to the Committee. I know from your briefings that you have welcomed the Bill, but I wonder if you might be able to talk us through where you see gaps. Specifically, where do you think there should be, for the successful implementation and enforcement of the new regimes, a greater role for trading standards officers, and why? John Herriman: Obviously, as you have heard, we have been very publicly supportive of the Bill. The key point, which I know others have made, is that in the online marketplace and the landscape, it feels like a bit of a wild west out there—I know that term was used this morning—and there has been a lack of protection for consumers and clarity for businesses.”
“The way that I like to characterise it is that the existing powers are very good, but are they very good for a world that is changing all the time? They are essentially based on one of our officers being on physical premises, doing the work. The powers are all really good: powers of entry, of inspection, to test, to get documents, and all that kind of stuff. But we increasingly find that, when it comes to the documents side of things, if somebody still has a filing cabinet with bits of paper in it, that is fine—we can get that and use it as part of our investigation—but, as we would all expect nowadays, even small business do not operate in that way anymore. The information will be in the cloud; it will be somewhere else that is not necessarily accessible from those premises.”
“That potentially strengthens our position, and we really welcome that. At the same time, as John says, that is really dependent on our guys up and down the country being able to utilise that through civil enforcement, which is still a relatively newish thing for us. Our officers are very well versed, over many decades, in criminal law investigations and going for prosecutions. The civil law is relatively newer. Along with these new powers, there needs to be a bit of a campaign across the whole UK to ensure that local authorities have the skills and necessary legal backing to take these cases. I have certainly discussed that with the Department and will continue to do so. Those are the good things in the Bill—giving us more powers and more sanctions. Our disappointment is what is not included: officers’ powers.”
“Trading standards has been hit exponentially harder than some of those other services. If we do not have enough capacity, we cannot do the enforcement activity. If we cannot do the enforcement activity, we cannot ensure that there is a level playing field for businesses. There is a definite capacity issue there. This Bill will make the legislation more robust, but we also need the capacity alongside that to make that system work effectively, because regulatory systems do not work effectively unless you have the right levels of enforcement capacity. David, do you want to answer the other part of that question? David MacKenzie: We really welcome the strengthening of civil enforcement in the Bill. It introduces a range of potential punitive sanctions that can be imposed on businesses.”
“Q Is that a point about greater powers that trading standards officers should also have alongside the CMA’s role, or is it a question of resources? John Herriman: It is a combination of both. David will be best placed to comment on the powers. Essentially, there are some issues there that we would like to consider, but it is also a factor of capacity. If I just focus on that, David can answer the second part of the question. From a capacity point of view, trading standards over the last 10 years or so—I think the National Audit Office reported back in 2021; it has also just done a very recent report—has been hit by about 50%. Relative to other regulatory services and local governments, regulatory services—according to the latest National Audit Office report—have been hit by about 25% cuts.”
“It is long past time that we got a formal takedown power.”
“Even when the power is exercised through warrant, and we are able to use the new provision, that is only when the files are accessible from that premises, but we are increasingly finding that the local branch manager just does not have access to that information. I suppose that we are calling for a general power to access that information, in the same way as if it happened to physically be on those premises, and to be able to use it in all cases, including criminal prosecutions. The other point that goes along with that is about online enforcement and takedown powers. I think it would really surprise the public if we told them that we do not have any formal powers of takedown at all for any online content. The only way we can do that is through ways and means—trying to get platforms to do the right thing and all that kind of stuff.”
“Q What happens in that situation? Do you just not get access to the data and the files? David MacKenzie: The current powers do not give us direct access to that—they just don’t. The Bill addresses that to a degree in that, in terms of entry under a warrant, as long as the files are accessible—again, from that physical premises—there is an extra power there. We welcome that. That is good progress. But it is important to realise that the vast majority of our investigations are done not under warrant, but using normal powers of entry, so the vast majority of situations are not covered by the change.”
“Q Would that be specifically for websites where that may be misleading or scamming consumers? David MacKenzie: Absolutely, yes. It could be a whole website, an account on a website or just a narrow bit of content. The Bill contains the concept of online interface orders that the CMA can apply to the court for, and we think that that should be applied to other regulators—particularly trading standards, from my point of view, but to other regulators as well. I think that if we are to be taken seriously in—”
“To be fair to other businesses that operate on the site, we think this is a necessary change that is not in the Bill.”
“When does a consumer become a trader? How many things do you have to sell in an online marketplace before you become a trader? That is a difficult judgment for us to make and we feel that some work should be done on that. The point you have made is equally important: the status of the seller in an online marketplace. We think there should be a requirement for the online marketplace to declare whether the seller is a consumer or a business because that makes a massive difference to the consumer rights of the buyer and it also makes a difference to what we do. If someone is a business seller, they have to comply with all consumer law; if they are a private seller, they do not really have to comply with anything, so this is for both consumers and for us.”
“Q Sorry, in the interests of time—we may have to go to a vote shortly—I have just one small question, and then I will hand over to colleagues. You said in your evidence that it is important that more is done, because there is nothing requiring online marketplaces and other collaborative platforms to make buyers aware of who the seller is—whether it is a business or a private seller—and that that has implications for consumer rights. Could you explain a bit more about what you think needs to happen that is not in the Bill? David MacKenzie: Absolutely. A lot of the stuff in the Bill that replaces the consumer protection regulations is really good, and we really welcome it. There is still some stuff around the definition of “trader” that we think is a little bit of a missed opportunity. There are two angles.”
“I would be grateful if he came back to me on that point in my previous correspondence. In summary, the Opposition support the changes introduced by the SI, but it is utterly vital that the Government get their act together on dealing with economic crime, tackling loopholes and ensuring that we can take action quickly. It is years since action was initially promised, and there is a financial and security cost to that delay. I look forward to the Minister’s response.”
“What assessment has he made of the level of resources and whether they are sufficient for the analysis that needs to be done, the issuing of notices and financial penalties, and penalty enforcement, which, as he outlined, is also an important part of the SI? As I have raised previously with the Minister, there are still issues with the register of overseas entities not covered by the SI. I thank him for responding to my concerns around the 25% threshold for beneficial ownership, on which I think we still disagree, but I note that in his written response to me dated 9 May he did not respond to my concerns about another major loophole: the use of opaque offshore trusts, which enable overseas entities to access UK property and markets behind a cloak of anonymity.”
“It would be helpful to be clear whether any payments sought in relation to a penalty, whether it is a fixed penalty or a daily penalty, have to be paid within 28 days. Is that the case prior to the interest accruing? I would be grateful for clarity on that. For those who have billions to spare, is that just what will happen? Will it be 28 days, plus the interest accruing? How does the £2,500-a-day fine that was discussed during the passing of the parent legislation align with the bands that the Minister has talked about today? I think the amounts that he described were £10,000, £20,000 and £50,000. I think that would be significantly lower than a fine of £2,500 a day, but perhaps he can clarify how that will be calculated, and how the period since 31 January has been accounted for.”
“The draft regulations state that the period contained within any warning notices “must be at least 28 days beginning on the day after the date of the warning notice”. Is the period within which a company or entity would have to make a representation to the registrar if they disagreed with what was in the warning notice within 28 days or a minimum of 28 days? That was not very clear, and it is important for it to be clear. If any warning notices have been issued—I am not fully clear on the detail of the legislation, which seems to imply that warning notices and financial penalties can be issued only after the SI is passed—have any written representations been received? Draft regulation 5(2)(f) in part 2 also refers to 28 days.”
“Estimates from the BBC investigation suggest that had we been imposing fines since the January deadline, they could have added up to £1 billion. I will ask the Minister about the detail of the SI, so that we can all be confident that it will be fit for purpose. First, how soon after the passing of the SI will the registrar be able to issue financial penalties? I imagine warning notices will have to be issued first, unless there has been any provision for warning notices to be sent out in advance of the SI being passed, so financial penalties can be issued immediately. Secondly, on the warning notices the dates of appeal suggest that a period of 28 days needs to be passed. We had some debate around that previously, and I was not very clear on it then.”
“That was increased in Committee from a measly £500—that figure was challenged, and an amendment was accepted that made it £2,500 a day—but I understand that, because it has taken so long since the Act was passed to implement the power to impose financial penalties, no person or entity has been issued with a penalty. That includes firms that have been linked to oligarchs such as Roman Abramovich. I would be grateful if the Minister could confirm that it is the case that no warning notices have gone out and, therefore, no financial penalties have been issued, and that no penalties will be able to be applied in respect of the three and a half months since January. Perhaps the Minister can clarify that, because there may be something in the legislation that I have missed that suggests that it may be possible for a fine to be retrospective.”
“He also suggested that around 750 overseas entities that sold their property before the end of the transition period had complied with legislation by sending their information through to Companies House. Are there some that did not do so? It would be helpful if the Minister could update me on that and provide more information; he can do so in writing after the Committee, but perhaps he can go back over some of the figures he provided. The 2022 Act set a fine of up to £2,500 a day for overseas companies that own UK property but do not declare their owners.”
“In our last SI debate, the Minister sought to reassure me—as he does today—that “Companies House is…preparing cases for enforcement”—[ Official Report, First Delegated Legislation Committee, 24 April 2023; c. 8.] against some of those companies. I will come back to the respect in which that enforcement preparation is under way, and how quickly some of the powers will be used. This is important, because a BBC investigation noted a few days ago that 5,000 firms with property in England or Wales have failed to submit their details, three months after the January deadline. The Minister says today that the figure is more like 3,000 firms. He suggested some of the reasons why, and he may have evidence for that.”
“Failing to update the register, failing to respond to an information notice, responding with false information, or selling land before the transitional period ended without providing information about its status are some of the offences in the Act to which the penalties that we are debating could apply. Transparency International claimed in February 2023 that almost half of the companies required to declare their ownership—more than 18,000 companies, which between them hold almost 52,000 properties—had failed to do so. Last month, I asked the Minister how many were yet to comply, and at that point around 7,000 companies had yet to register.”
“During the passage of the Act, we debated at length the speed with which action was required, so it is utterly frustrating that going through these important SIs to ensure that the registrar has the necessary powers is taking so long. The provisions of this SI are common sense and we support them, but the delays have had a cost. We want to see action stepped up against those failing to comply with the new legislation who have yet to face financial penalties, and we want the system to be robust enough to operate as a deterrent against further economic crime. The register was set up on 1 August 2022, and overseas entities had a transitional period of six months to register.”
“However, there was ongoing concern about overseas entities owning property in the UK to obscure their identity when concealing illicit funds or laundering money through UK property. The establishment of the register of overseas entities introduced a requirement for any legal entity governed by the law of a country other than the UK to register the details of individuals who own property in the UK who would otherwise hide their identity behind a foreign company. There is no doubt that we need it as part of our tools to deter and disrupt economic crime and money laundering, as well as to protect our financial systems and our economic security and, frankly, to know who owns what in Britain.”
“Its primary purpose was to set up a register of overseas entities and their beneficial owners and require overseas entities who own land in the UK to register in certain circumstances. Back then, we said that the Government had dragged their feet on stopping dirty money flowing through our economy. These steps were first promised in 2016, and since then £1.5 billion-worth of property has been bought by Russians accused of corruption or links to the Kremlin. In 2016, the UK implemented a register of beneficial ownership of UK companies that is called the people with significant control register and provides information to Companies House about who holds significant control of UK companies.”
“The SI implements aspects of the register of overseas entities by conferring a power on the registrar to impose a financial penalty on a person if they are satisfied, beyond reasonable doubt, that the person has engaged in conduct amounting to an offence under part 1 of the Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act, and by allowing the Secretary of State to consent to the registration of a land transaction that would otherwise be prohibited in relation to Northern Ireland, bringing it in line with England, Scotland and Wales. We should remember that the Act was passed last year as emergency legislation in the light of the situation in Ukraine and the need to sanction Russian oligarchs.”
“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dame Angela. This is a very important statutory instrument and one that I am sure the Minister will agree with me is well overdue; it was seven years ago that the then Prime Minister, David Cameron, made the first of many promises to introduce a register of overseas owners of UK property.”
“It is staggering that fraud now accounts for almost half of crime, yet barely any of those crimes are investigated, and less than 0.1% of them make it to court. Hardly anything seems to be being done to upgrade police technology and practice to help deal with that. Seriously, what are the Government doing that will make any sort of difference?”
“Labour welcomes competition, consumer choice and protection as signs of a healthy, functioning market economy. We are committed to making the UK the best place in the world to start and grow a business. We believe there is a pro-business, pro-worker, pro-society agenda to be built for Britain, and that consumer and competition law play an essential part in that. I look forward to the Minister’s response.”
“The Government’s own impact assessment acknowledges: “The Bill’s impacts are expected to begin in 2025 once the package of Bill measures has been implemented”. That is the earliest it could be, but action is needed now. We are prepared to work with the Government not only to ensure effective scrutiny of the Bill, but to get it on to the statute book as soon as possible. That includes ensuring speed on guidance and codes of practice, and sufficiency of resources. There should be no more delays. This legislation is welcomed by the Opposition but it is well overdue. It is a welcome step in creating a new competition and digital markets regime that will enable the competition authorities to work closely and fairly with business to ensure fair competition, and promote growth and innovation.”
“I would therefore welcome clarification from the Minister on why this has been left out, and whether he is able to expand on what banning fake reviews will look like in practice? On broader consumer harms, the Bill represents an opportunity to take action on a number of issues affecting consumers in the digital economy. That includes taking action against drip-pricing and misleading green claims, and requiring online marketplaces and social media platforms to make buyers aware of the status of a seller, none of which are dealt with in this Bill. Do we need stronger statutory consumer advocates? I ask the Minister: why does the legislation stop where it does? Should it not go further in addressing further consumer harms in the digital economy? Finally, on delay, it has been a year since this legislation was promised in Parliament.”
“News headlines last month trumpeted the Government’s briefing, saying: “Buying, selling or hosting fake reviews will become illegal as part of changes planned in new laws.” Fake reviews cause huge damage, both by encouraging consumers to buy unsafe or poor-quality products, and by ruining the reputation of hospitality venues in the UK. Such reviews are utterly unfair for honest businesses, which have no means of redress, but banning fake reviews is not mentioned in this legislation once. What has been lauded as a huge step in banning fake reviews appears to be a clause allowing the Secretary of State to add to the list of unfair trading practices in schedule 18. This is quite vague and so it could be very weak.”
“This Bill goes part of the way to addressing that by introducing new requirements to remind customers at the end of a trial and the beginning of an auto-renewed subscription charge. But it does not go far enough in tackling these traps and adopting Labour’s full proposals, which stakeholders also support. We will be seeking to strengthen the legislation in this area to make subscription auto-renewals opt-in, rather than opt-out. Secondly, the Government, with much fanfare, announced that this Bill would introduce provisions outlawing fake reviews.”
“In April, we announced Labour’s plans to crack down on rip-off subscription traps, which trap people into subscriptions they no longer want. We want to legislate to ensure that customers must opt in to, rather than opt out of, subscriptions that automatically renew. That will end automatic renewal as the default option, ensuring that consumers are offered an alternative. Instead, businesses would have to offer customers a default option without automatic renewal, with the option for customers to seek automatic renewal if they prefer. At present, consumers only need to be informed about their continued subscription, not given a genuine choice. That means they can end up trapped into contracts they no longer want or use. Citizens Advice estimates that £306 million per year is spent in the UK on unwanted subscriptions.”
“This is about working in partnership with business, and in the public interest, and this Bill represents a pragmatic step towards achieving that. We also welcome the inclusion of proposals such as monetary penalties for failures to comply and making undertakings directly enforceable, which were raised at the consultation. We welcome the strengthening of the alternative dispute resolution provisions, although we believe they could be strengthened further. However, there are notable gaps that we are concerned about—areas where we are surprised and concerned the Bill does not go further. Such areas include subscription traps, tackling fake reviews and other consumer harms. First, on subscription traps, it is always to be welcomed when the Government decide to adopt a Labour party policy, which seems to be happening increasingly often.”
“Legislators across the world are all learning, and we all want to see this be an effective regulatory framework that helps innovation, rather than hinders it, and protects consumers. An example of how this is beginning to work is how the CMA has worked with Google on its digital Sandbox. An issue relating to third-party cookies emerged during the CMA’s digital advertising market study and a Competition Act 1998 case was then opened. Google’s proposed changes could have had privacy benefits, but they could also have given Google an anti-competitive advantage, strengthening even further its position in digital advertising markets. The CMA reached legally binding commitments with Google to address these concerns. It is important to say that both sides continue to work together and with the Information Commissioner’s Office.”
“I am sure we will discuss the checks and balances in detail in Committee, not least because 35 new Henry VIII powers are in the Bill, as listed in the delegated powers memorandum. The November 2021 House of Lords Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee report noted: “Henry VIII powers are controversial and for good reason. Every such power; and its scope, must always be fully justified.” Let me say a few further words about what we welcome in this Bill. We support the approach taken to the legislation, which seeks to be targeted to specific anti-competitive digital activities and is arguably more flexible than the reforms brought about in the EU. If that allows a more proportionate and targeted set of interventions, that is welcome.”
“The interests and rights of consumers, and the enforcement of those rights through effective competition in this new, complex and evolving digital marketplace, need to be at the core of this legislation, which is vital for all of our constituents. The challenge now is to get the legislation right. It is important that the new powers given to the CMA to ensure competition in digital markets are not watered down as the Bill progresses. Powers are needed to crack down on unfair practices. That means there must be clarity on how the new powers will be used, along with the right scrutiny, transparency and accountability, both of the CMA and of the Government to Parliament. In addition, there must be clarity on thresholds and the process of appeals.”
“The Office for National Statistics reports that, between 2008 and 2020, the percentage of adults reporting having shopped online in the previous 12 months increased from 53% to 87%. This ongoing trend has increased consumer exposure to the harms associated with the digital economy, including the use of consumer data, harmful online choice architecture and misleading information. Those are reasons why the Bill needs to deliver on being a pro-competition, pro-consumer and pro-growth Bill. We welcome steps to address consumer harm resulting from monopolisation of our increasingly digital economy, while making sure that innovation is not stifled and that we are realising the benefits of new technology for social and economic progress.”
“Indeed, the OECD’s global forum on competition highlighted this five years ago, outlining how many digital markets “exhibit certain characteristics, such as low variable costs, high fixed costs and strong network effects, that result in high market shares for a small number of firms… Firms in these concentrated markets may possess market power, the ability to unilaterally and profitably raise prices or reduce quality beyond the level that would prevail under competition.” In the UK, the Furman report concluded in 2019 that competition in digital markets needed a “new approach,” and in December 2020 the CMA convened a taskforce that recommended the creation of the Digital Markets Unit with a new regime for regulating digital firms with strategic market status.”
“The subsequent lack of competition and regulation has acted as a barrier to entry and expansion in digital markets, preventing new entrants from bringing innovation and choice to the market. The seriousness of this for our economy and consumers has become apparent in the billions of pounds in penalties levied for anti-trust violations. Legislators around the world are catching up with the challenges we face in relation to this abuse of dominance in digital markets.”
“Member for Thirsk and Malton (Kevin Hollinrake), and his officials for their meetings with me and my hon. Friend the Member for Pontypridd (Alex Davies-Jones). I hope this is the spirit in which the Bill will be considered in Committee and in which we constructively debate the gaps we believe there to be in the Bill, which I will highlight today. I also thank those who have been involved in the development of this important policy and legislation, from the CMA, Which?, UKHospitality, the Chartered Trading Standards Institute, Citizens Advice, techUK and smaller enterprises. In digital markets, a small number of large technology companies have an ever-increasing dominance.”
“Since the Bill was announced a year ago we have had three Prime Ministers, four Business Secretaries and four small business Ministers. I congratulate the Under-Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, the hon. Member for Sutton and Cheam (Paul Scully), who has done a full circle. He was the first Minister I shadowed in my role, and he will be winding up this debate. It has been a year since this Bill was promised and five years since the Government established their digital competition expert panel. With these delays, we have fallen behind our European neighbours in this vital policy area, so this is an important Bill and we will support its Second Reading. I thank the Under-Secretary of State for Business and Trade, the hon.”
“Secondly, the Competition and Markets Authority will have new powers on market investigations, enforcement of existing competition rules and enhanced mergers and anti-trust activity. Thirdly, there are updates to consumer law, reforming consumer policy to increase consumer protection. As long ago as 1950, the Labour manifesto written by Michael Young promised: “An independent Consumer Advice Centre will be set up to test and report on the various consumer goods on the market. Good manufacturers will be protected and unscrupulous advertising exposed.” Since then, Labour has certainly been the champion of consumers. Consumer rights are a proud part of the Labour and Co-operative tradition and values. The Government needlessly delayed this Bill as a result of infighting and the changing of Ministers and Secretaries of State.”
“As the Minister alluded to, fairer markets will save billions of pounds for consumers. This important Bill updates the UK’s competition and consumer rules, in line with a changing economy and changing consumer behaviours, through three main areas of reform. First, it creates a new pro-competition regime for digital markets by putting the Digital Markets Unit on a statutory footing and establishing a process for designating the “strategic market status” of firms that meet specific criteria in relation to certain specific digital activities. These firms will be subject to regulated behaviour regarding such digital activities, in the form of conduct requirements to help ensure fair competition.”
“It is a pleasure to speak on the Second Reading of this important Bill on behalf of His Majesty’s Opposition. The world has changed enormously, as has technology. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Bristol North West (Darren Jones), the hon. Member for Weston-super-Mare (John Penrose) and other colleagues for their important and influential work in the development of this Bill, which Labour welcomes, having led the way in calling for large tech companies to be properly regulated to ensure competition in digital markets. We have long called for measures to protect consumers, enhance innovation and promote competition in digital markets, to unlock growth and level the playing field for innovative smaller businesses. In the midst of a cost of living crisis, the Bill could not be more important.”