Contributions
1,244 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARD House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) BillNo I haven’t.04 Sept 2025HANSARD House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) BillI am grateful to the Paymaster General for giving way, as I feel that he is drawing to the end of his comments. One thing he has not discussed in his round-up of the debate is…04 Sept 2025HANSARD House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) BillSit down. Those public servants are in the Lords because the last Labour Government put them there as part of the deal that it struck on long-term constitutional change.04 Sept 2025HANSARD House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) BillThe hon. Gentleman will understand that this legislation is not being blocked but improved. That is what Parliament does, and that is how the process of scrutiny works. He will…04 Sept 2025HANSARD House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) BillI fully accept that the Labour party has changed its mind, but in doing so it has reneged on the deal that it struck in the late ’90s. Let us be clear about what is happening. The…04 Sept 2025HANSARD House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) BillI am interested in my hon. Friend’s excellent point, and I hope the Minister will respond to that in his closing remarks. What we will see is the removal of a group of public…04 Sept 2025HANSARD House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) BillI do not recall us saying that it was a terrible idea. I distinctly remember many Conservative peers speaking in favour of it actually, but that is part of the joy of the…04 Sept 2025HANSARD House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) BillI will let the Paymaster General intervene if he wants to provide clarity on that technical point.04 Sept 2025HANSARD House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Billrose —04 Sept 2025HANSARD House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) BillGo on—one more time.04 Sept 2025HANSARD House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) BillThe hon. Gentleman makes a good point—there are other types of honour—but we already have peers who have stood down, and they get to keep their titles. They are called Members of…04 Sept 2025HANSARD House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) BillWell, I don’t know—he looks like he has made an effort today, and he is looking at me in a particular sort of way. There is a suggestion that everyone is busting a gut to create a…04 Sept 2025HANSARD House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) BillI am not sure whether his voters would be that impressed by the Ministers in the Commons at the moment, to be honest. The point of principle still stands: if somebody is a…04 Sept 2025HANSARD House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) BillWith the amendment, what the Government could do is reduce the number of paid Ministers in the Commons and have more paid Ministers in the Lords. That would be possible under the…04 Sept 2025HANSARD PrivilegeI put on record my gratitude to the Minister for reaching out to me earlier to explain her position; to the Clerk of the Journals for briefing me this afternoon; and to my hon.…14 Jul 2025HANSARDPlan for ChangeIt is no surprise that the Minister could not point to any analysis, because no such analysis exists. That is because the Government have no plan for growth. They do have a plan…10 Jul 2025HANSARDPlan for ChangeIn their plan for change, the Government pledged to get the country the highest sustained growth in the G7—or back to where the Conservative Government left it. However, it seems…10 Jul 2025HANSARDTopical QuestionsWell, I will just fill in the House. For those who are not as well informed as the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, the simple fact is that senior civil servants should not…10 Jul 2025HANSARDTopical QuestionsWill the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster confirm that civil servants should not engage in public fundraising for political parties?10 Jul 2025HANSARDGovernment Resilience Action PlanI thank the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster for advance sight of his statement and the associated documentation. I also thank him for the date on which the UK emergency alert…08 Jul 2025