Contributions
97 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDOperaMy Lords, I warmly thank my noble friend Lord Murphy for securing this debate and the crystal clarity with which he set out the case for opera. I fear that, after such an…10 Dec 2024HANSARDHorn of AfricaMy Lords, I am pleased to follow the illuminating and powerful speeches of the noble Lords, Lord Polak and Lord Bruce. I thank them for their welcome. I am more than pleased to…29 Oct 2024HANSARD Valedictory DebateThis is my last speech. The House of Commons records show that I have spoken in this Chamber 9,880 times. [Hon. Members: “More!”] I have to say that, when you discover that the…24 May 2024HANSARD Retirement of the Clerk of the HouseThank you, Mr Speaker. I associate myself with everything you said about Sir John, and also what the Leader of the House and the shadow Leader of the House, my hon. Friend the…12 Sept 2023HANSARD Non-disclosure Agreements in the WorkplaceI thank the right hon. Member for her initiative in bringing forward this debate; I absolutely agree with every word that she has said and how she has put the case. I say to the…05 Sept 2023HANSARD Non-disclosure Agreements in the WorkplaceThe hon. Member has demonstrated himself to be a male ally, and we would not underestimate the importance of having male allies on this. There is an opportunity for the Minister…05 Sept 2023HANSARDPrivileges Committee Special ReportI think the hon. Gentleman will be making a speech.10 Jul 2023HANSARDPrivileges Committee Special ReportI thank the Leader of the House for tabling the motion, which arises out of the special report of the Privileges Committee. When it approved with an emphatic majority the report…10 Jul 2023HANSARDPrivileges Committee Special ReportThe hon. Gentleman named himself on Twitter by calling the Committee a “witch hunt”, and that was in the public domain. The thread ahead of his tweet was quite clear, so we simply…10 Jul 2023HANSARDPrivileges Committee Special ReportThank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. If the hon. Member for Workington (Mark Jenkinson) is saying that he does not believe the Privileges Committee’s inquiry into Boris Johnson was a…10 Jul 2023HANSARDPrivileges Committee Special ReportThe points and issues that we included in the annex to our report were put in the public domain on Twitter. Indeed, the hon. Gentleman himself put into the public domain that, in…10 Jul 2023HANSARDPrivileges Committee Special ReportThank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. If the hon. Member for Lichfield (Michael Fabricant) wants to say that he does not believe the Committee was motivated by malice and prejudice, we…10 Jul 2023HANSARDPrivileges Committee Special ReportIs the hon. Gentleman, in what he has said, withdrawing what he said on Twitter, which was that the Committee was a “witch-hunt which would put a banana republic to shame”? That…10 Jul 2023HANSARDPrivileges Committee Special ReportPerhaps I may reiterate that we are not saying that the Committee is immune. We are saying that it is evident that any Member of the House can challenge the appointment to the…10 Jul 2023HANSARDPrivileges Committee Special ReportThat is absolutely right, and that is so that the Committee can do its business properly, as mandated by the House, as is the case with the Standards Committee. We cannot have a…10 Jul 2023HANSARDPrivileges Committee Special ReportMy hon. Friend makes an extremely important point. If this work of the Privileges Committee is to be done in-house by Members of this House, this House must support them in that…10 Jul 2023HANSARDPrivileges Committee Special ReportAgain, this is very unfortunate. I say to the hon. Lady that hon. Members are given a task to do on behalf of the House. They do it to the best of their ability, with integrity,…10 Jul 2023HANSARDPrivileges Committee Special ReportYes, Sir Ernest Ryder, who provided us with advice for the fifth report, which was the substantive report into Boris Johnson, also provided us with advice for this special report,…10 Jul 2023HANSARDPrivilege: Conduct of Right Hon. Boris JohnsonIt is a privilege to follow the serious and important speech of the right hon. Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May), every word of which I agreed with. The evidence on which our…19 Jun 2023HANSARDPrivilege: Conduct of Right Hon. Boris JohnsonI am happy to answer the right hon. Gentleman. I was appointed by this House in the expectation that I would chair the Committee, with no one speaking against it. After the tweets…19 Jun 2023