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1,897 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDStrait of HormuzWe need to resolve this with great care, co-ordination and collaboration with our allies and partners. It is complicated. As the noble Lord said, it is directly related to the…18 Mar 2026HANSARDStrait of HormuzI thank the noble Earl. He is right and we are having active conversations with Lloyd’s of London to make sure that shipping is insurable as the strait reopens. At the moment,…18 Mar 2026HANSARDStrait of HormuzMy noble friend is right about UN Article 51. That has been used for our activities in the region, not just most recently, but against the Houthis, the Iranian proxies in Yemen.…18 Mar 2026HANSARDStrait of HormuzI do not accept the premise that the noble Baroness began with, which was about detachment. The positions that we have taken are ones in which we feel there is consistency with…18 Mar 2026HANSARDStrait of HormuzI agree with my noble friend and I thank him for putting it that way. All these situations ultimately end in resolution through dialogue and negotiation, but this is an urgent…18 Mar 2026HANSARDStrait of HormuzThey are very close allies and partners, and they played no role in instigating what has happened. They have found themselves directly under attack, and we have all seen the…18 Mar 2026HANSARDStrait of HormuzIt was fantastic to see President Zelensky welcomed so warmly here in London in a cross-party way, and I pay tribute to the noble Baroness and her colleagues for their steadfast…18 Mar 2026HANSARDBBC World Service: SustainabilityMulti-year allocations are incredibly important. That is why, in all the allocations that we are making as part of this process—not just for the World Service but for our teams in…17 Mar 2026HANSARDBBC World Service: SustainabilityI will look into the issue that my noble friend raises. I was not aware of it, but I will make sure that officials and the relevant Ministers attend to that.17 Mar 2026HANSARDBBC World Service: SustainabilityAs the right reverend Prelate says, the World Service does a very good job of this, as it does in so many areas of public life. Although it is independent of government, and it is…17 Mar 2026HANSARDBBC World Service: SustainabilityDo I think it is fair? I guess that depends on what you think the licence fee is for. That is part of what the charter review process will tease out. I accept that what a licence…17 Mar 2026HANSARDBBC World Service: SustainabilityBBC Monitoring provides an exceptionally important service. If noble Lords have not had the chance to look into what it does, I would highly recommend it, particularly for…17 Mar 2026HANSARDBBC World Service: SustainabilityI thank my noble friend. Her support for the World Service is long-standing and well known, and quite right too. The longer-term funding proposition for the World Service will…17 Mar 2026HANSARDBBC World Service: SustainabilityMy Lords, the Government highly value the BBC World Service; it is a soft power asset and the world’s most trusted news provider. The significant uplift in our funding to £137…17 Mar 2026HANSARDBBC World Service: SustainabilityIt is important that the BBC has editorial independence, but there is no doubt that there were issues that needed to be responded to following the Prescott revelations. I was…17 Mar 2026HANSARDBBC World Service: SustainabilityAs the noble Lord will know, this is not a situation of our making but one that we inherited, and we are where we are. Our task, together with the BBC, is to make sure that the…17 Mar 2026HANSARDBBC World Service: SustainabilityI have not read that evidence, but I will do. What the noble Lord describes is transnational repression and criminality. We will do whatever we need to do to stamp it out, and he…17 Mar 2026HANSARDTreaty Scrutiny in Westminster (International Agreements Committee Report)I answered that in saying that I did not know why the debate in the other place, which the noble Lord thought the answer to that question hinged on, did not take place. I thank…16 Mar 2026HANSARDTreaty Scrutiny in Westminster (International Agreements Committee Report)My Lords, I am sorry that I did not manage to conclude what was left of my speech before the Division Bells rang, slightly earlier than we expected. There is an important debate…16 Mar 2026HANSARDTreaty Scrutiny in Westminster (International Agreements Committee Report)My Lords, it is a pleasure to speak on behalf of the Government in response to this debate. I am well aware of the poacher-turned-gamekeeper nature of the response that I am about…16 Mar 2026