The Middle East, Afghanistan and Pakistan is possibly the most politically unstable area in the world, combining immense wealth, political tensions, religious hostilities, vast inequality, and many autocratic governments. For more than a century, its enormous fossil fuel reserves helped fuel the economies of major economies. This has led the major Western powers, in their foreign policies, to prioritise secure oil supplies. Although the regime change in Syria gave some slight grounds for optimism, the subsequent Israel/Iran confrontation could have enormous implications for the region and the whole world. For such reasons, we have invited Hamish Falconer MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Middle East, Afghanistan and Pakistan to lead this roundtable which will be a good opportunity for members to raise key issues that affect their own businesses.

Adequate housing is essential for the social and economic functioning of a nation. Nevertheless, the UK suffers from a serious shortage of housing to buy or to rent at affordable prices, and this adversely affects living standards and labour mobility. After the destruction of WW2, the country had a continuous and successful house building programme. Much of the housing stock in this period, was owned and managed by councils who could adjust rents to allow for the circumstances of tenants. However, policy changes in the 1980s allowed council tenants to buy their houses and also drastically reduced council house building programmes. Since then, house purchase prices and rental prices have climbed greatly in relation to incomes, and the rate of building of new housing has declined. The current government has undertaken to address the housing shortage by overseeing the building of 300,000 houses per year for the five-year duration of this parliament. Florence Eshalomi MP, Chair of the Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee, will lead this roundtable looking at the plans for this programme and the obstacles that must be addressed.