Contributions
2,365 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment BillMy Lords, I declare my position as a vice-president of the Local Government Association. Other than that, I can declare only a very modest involvement in councils in London. I…29 Jan 2026HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment BillI am sorry but I must interrupt the noble Lord, if he will allow me one second. He said “self-appointed”; the whole idea of people’s assemblies is that they are a representative…29 Jan 2026HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment BillMy Lords, Amendments 103 and 104 appear under my name. I confess that I can take no credit for drafting them; they started with my honourable friend Siân Berry in the other place.…29 Jan 2026HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment BillMy Lords, I am sorry if I am speaking out of order; we are missing quite a few signatories. I will speak to Amendment 197 in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Pinnock, and…29 Jan 2026HANSARDChildren’s Wellbeing and Schools BillMy Lords, I will speak chiefly to Amendment 196A in my name and to Amendment 197 in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Storey, to which I also attached my name. Given the hour, I am…28 Jan 2026HANSARDChildren’s Wellbeing and Schools BillMy Lords, it is a great pleasure to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Boycott, who has powerfully made the case for Amendment 119. She referred to the Netflix documentary that we…28 Jan 2026HANSARDChildren’s Wellbeing and Schools BillMy Lords, it is a great pleasure to follow the powerful and important speech from the noble Baroness, Lady Lister, and the equally important speech from the noble Lord, Lord Bird.…28 Jan 2026HANSARDWater White PaperMy Lords, since there is time, following on from the question from the noble Lord, Lord Teverson, about science and citizen science, one thing that some of that sampling is…26 Jan 2026HANSARDChinese EmbassyMy Lords, the Minister acknowledged earlier the concern among Chinese dissidents in the UK about the embassy. She may have heard the comments from Chloe Cheung, a British resident…26 Jan 2026HANSARDLocal Government ReorganisationMy Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Pack, referred to the some 250 councillors who could face seven-year terms under the Government’s plans. Four of the county councils are…26 Jan 2026HANSARDWater White PaperMy Lords, in responding to the Front-Bench questions, the Minister said the Government are not opposed “in principle” to mutual or co-operative ownership. I am sure that will be…26 Jan 2026HANSARDLocal Government ReorganisationThe Minister said, and I very much agree, that the officers, staff and structures of the councils that have asked for extensions are extremely stretched—I declare my position as a…26 Jan 2026HANSARDLocal Elections: CancellationMy Lords, my question is asked in the light of the result of today’s Horsley by-election for Derbyshire County Council, in which the Green Party took the seat from Reform with 43%…21 Jan 2026HANSARDChildren’s Wellbeing and Schools BillMy Lords, I have two original points to make that have not been covered at all. We should bring ourselves back to the fact that there is an enormous amount of agreement around…21 Jan 2026HANSARDChildren’s Wellbeing and Schools BillMy Lords, I will speak extremely briefly, having signed the amendment so powerfully introduced and presented by the noble Baroness, Lady Grey-Thompson. I did so after having met…21 Jan 2026HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment BillPerhaps I might come back to the issue of food security. In her answer, the Minister talked about access to food, which is obviously a crucial part of food security and very much…20 Jan 2026HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment BillMy Lords, in following the noble Lord, Lord Mawson, I feel the need to stress that we should not write off deliberative democracy, where people can access information and ideas…20 Jan 2026HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment BillI would like to make a point of clarification, if I may, on the Ipswich cuts. The Greens were protesting the cuts, not doing them.20 Jan 2026HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment BillMy Lords, it is a pleasure to follow the noble Lord, Lord Shipley, and I commend him on drafting what I think is a terribly important amendment, as he has just outlined. The noble…20 Jan 2026HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment BillMy Lords, as I have attached my name to Amendment 7, in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Royall, and tabled my own Amendment 129, I will briefly join this very rich debate in…20 Jan 2026