Contributions
617 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDIdentity and Language (Northern Ireland) Bill [HL]06 Jul 2022HANSARDIdentity and Language (Northern Ireland) Bill [HL]My Lords, I am incredibly grateful to all noble Lords who have participated in this Report stage for their contributions. I single out my noble friend Lord Lexden, who appears to…06 Jul 2022HANSARDIdentity and Language (Northern Ireland) Bill [HL]06 Jul 2022HANSARDIdentity and Language (Northern Ireland) Bill [HL]06 Jul 2022HANSARDIdentity and Language (Northern Ireland) Bill [HL]My Lords, these amendments in my name all concern proposed changes to the differentiation in the Bill between Ulster Scots as a recognised national minority and the Ulster British…06 Jul 2022HANSARDIdentity and Language (Northern Ireland) Bill [HL]06 Jul 2022HANSARDIdentity and Language (Northern Ireland) Bill [HL]06 Jul 2022HANSARDIdentity and Language (Northern Ireland) Bill [HL]My Lords, I am very grateful to the noble Lords who have spoken to these amendments. I say at the outset how grateful I am to the noble Lord, Lord Murphy. As I made clear in my…06 Jul 2022HANSARDIdentity and Language (Northern Ireland) Bill [HL]I apologise for having to take issue with the noble Lord right at the conclusion of the debate, but I challenge the assertion that New Decade, New Approach is being cherry-picked.…22 Jun 2022HANSARDIdentity and Language (Northern Ireland) Bill [HL]My Lords, I am grateful to all those who have spoken to the first group of amendments before us. Before I turn to the detail of the amendments, I place on record my sorrow that…22 Jun 2022HANSARDIdentity and Language (Northern Ireland) Bill [HL]My Lords, I again thank noble Lords for their amendments in this group, which broadly focus on the role of public authorities within the Bill including, as the noble Lord, Lord…22 Jun 2022HANSARDIdentity and Language (Northern Ireland) Bill [HL]I am very familiar with that case, because I was an adviser in the Northern Ireland Office at the time. It was the subject of legal proceedings and, if the noble Baroness will…22 Jun 2022HANSARDIdentity and Language (Northern Ireland) Bill [HL]I am extremely grateful to my noble friend, who makes a very powerful point. I agree with him entirely on those matters. The national flag—the union flag—is the flag of Northern…22 Jun 2022HANSARDIdentity and Language (Northern Ireland) Bill [HL]My Lords, I think we should probably move on. In summary, the provisions of the Bill—22 Jun 2022HANSARDIdentity and Language (Northern Ireland) Bill [HL]I can: there has been a review of the number of days on which the union flag is flown officially throughout Great Britain. There has been a reduction in the number of such days,…22 Jun 2022HANSARDIdentity and Language (Northern Ireland) Bill [HL]My Lords, again, I am very grateful to all noble Lords who spoke to this group of amendments. I start by saying that the Government are committed to supporting the culture and…22 Jun 2022HANSARDIdentity and Language (Northern Ireland) Bill [HL]I am grateful to my noble friend. On this, as on many issues, I have a huge amount of respect for what he says. But in this particular area, and on the point he makes, all we are…22 Jun 2022HANSARDIdentity and Language (Northern Ireland) Bill [HL]My Lords, I thank my noble friend Lord Dodds of Duncairn for the way in which moved his amendment. The effect of this group of amendments would be to place the Secretary of State…22 Jun 2022HANSARDIdentity and Language (Northern Ireland) Bill [HL]My Lords, it is a great pleasure to respond to the speeches that have been made on this group of amendments. I thank, in particular, my noble friend, Lord Lexden and the noble…22 Jun 2022HANSARDIdentity and Language (Northern Ireland) Bill [HL]I am very grateful to the noble Baroness, Lady Goudie, for speaking to these amendments on behalf of the noble Baroness, Lady Ritchie of Downpatrick, which I will address with…22 Jun 2022