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1,156 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDGrenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 ReportOne of the starkest issues in here is about dishonesty, incompetence and responsibility, including not even checking the qualifications of those responsible for undertaking…09 Sept 2024HANSARDGrenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 ReportThe noble Lord is absolutely right. I can remember from a time when I was a county councillor that the emergency planning committee was quite a central committee of the council;…09 Sept 2024HANSARDGrenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 ReportThat is the great challenge for government and public sector organisations. The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster is leading on a resilience review, and that is the kind of…09 Sept 2024HANSARDGrenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 ReportThe noble Baroness is right but I think we would all want to ensure that the CPS has the time and the resources to ensure that, if it brings prosecutions, it is confident that it…09 Sept 2024HANSARDGrenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 ReportI very sincerely hope not. It is our intention to accelerate this as quickly as possible. It would be a failure if, in 15 years, we still had cladding on those buildings. We would…09 Sept 2024HANSARDGrenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 ReportMy Lords, nothing is more important than feeling safe and secure in your own home. My noble friend Lady Taylor, who is sitting with me, is well aware of this as a former council…09 Sept 2024HANSARDGrenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 ReportMy Lords, I understood that different schemes were in place, but I will take that back, look into it and come back to my noble friend with a response.09 Sept 2024HANSARDHouse of Lords: CompositionThe noble Lord is being a little patronising in saying that I do not understand constitutional issues. I will be happy to reach consensus, where it is possible. As the noble Lord,…05 Sept 2024HANSARDHouse of Lords: CompositionMy Lords, I think the noble Lord’s Question referred to excepted hereditary Peers. Today, probably as we speak, the Government are introducing a Bill in the other place to deliver…05 Sept 2024HANSARDHouse of Lords: CompositionThis was part of the Labour Party manifesto at the last election. Noble Lords may recall that the passage of my noble friend Lord Grocott’s Bill to end the hereditary Peers…05 Sept 2024HANSARDHouse of Lords: CompositionI have had no approaches from the party opposite about its numbers. On the noble Lord’s point about wider Lords reform, for the last 25 years one of the arguments has been that…05 Sept 2024HANSARDHouse of Lords: CompositionI have always admired the noble Lord’s ingenuity, and never more so than today. It is a bit of a reach to say that a Statement should have been made to this House first. This was…05 Sept 2024HANSARDHouse of Lords: CompositionI recall the Countess of Mar from some years ago, and there may have been one other Member of the House of Lords who was a female hereditary Peer. There is none currently and, as…05 Sept 2024HANSARDHouse of Lords: CompositionI thank the noble Lord for his comments on hereditary Peers’ by-elections; both he and the noble Earl, Lord Kinnoull, have approached me. In terms of constructive debate, I spoke…05 Sept 2024HANSARDHouse of Lords: CompositionI think there are mixed views across the House about this issue—I have to say that Mr Smith might not appreciate having a title. It does seem an anomaly, although not one that…05 Sept 2024HANSARDHouse of Lords: CompositionI disagree with the noble Lord on his final point, but I would expect him to make it because he is committed to an elected House. It is interesting that, when the debate was going…05 Sept 2024HANSARDHouse of Lords: CompositionWhen that decision was taken, it was entirely and completely within the rule of law. The legislation states that the House should hold by-elections. How it holds them is a matter…05 Sept 2024HANSARDHouse of Lords: CompositionAgain, the noble Lord’s ingenuity is always impressive. He knows that that is not the case. He also knows that the Labour Party manifesto at the last election was the only one I…05 Sept 2024HANSARDCivil Service: RecruitmentMy Lords, I am confident that the rules in place mean that no Government have made dodgy appointments to the Civil Service—because the rules are very clear on this. On the first…04 Sept 2024HANSARDBusiness of the HouseThat, in the event that the Budget Responsibility Bill has been brought from the Commons, Standing Order 44 ( No two stages of a Bill to be taken on one day ) be dispensed with on…04 Sept 2024