Contributions
281 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDNHS, Armed Forces and Civil Service Staff: Public MeetingsMy Lords—02 Jul 2025HANSARDNHS, Armed Forces and Civil Service Staff: Public MeetingsMy Lords, I had a long and much reshuffled career in a variety of Governments, going right back to the early 1970s. In my last post, under the Cameron Government, I was introduced…02 Jul 2025HANSARDMigrants: Hotel AccommodationAre the Government making any progress in their search for safe third countries where applicants for asylum could have their case processed before being admitted to this country…01 Jul 2025HANSARDWinter Fuel PaymentMy Lords, this is certainly a shambolic way of conducting a government, but otherwise, I find myself unfortunately rather out of step with the exchanges so far. The winter fuel…10 Jun 2025HANSARDUK-EU SummitMy Lords, I congratulate the Government on their progress in strengthening the European arm of NATO in the light of the changed circumstances we have, and on the start they have…21 May 2025HANSARDFuture Defence CapabilityMy Lords, do the Government now agree with the opinion that President Macron has held for some years, that the European arm of NATO must be made stronger and credible, and…26 Mar 2025HANSARDSentencing Council GuidelinesMy Lords, are the Minister and the Lord Chancellor having discussions on a more sensible subject, on which I know he has some views: reducing the amazingly high level of…19 Mar 2025HANSARDNational Insurance Contributions (Secondary Class 1 Contributions) BillMy Lords, I agree with the noble Viscount, Lord Chandos, and others that, in principle, it is not a very good idea to have a system of taxation in which you suddenly start…25 Feb 2025HANSARDEconomic Growth: Public SpendingThe biggest mistake the Government made was during the general election, which they were obviously going to win, when they promised not to raise the basic taxes—income tax, VAT,…12 Feb 2025HANSARDUK EntrepreneursDoes the Minister agree that the best way to attract investment to this country is for the Government to demonstrate some economic competence and fiscal discipline? Will he…04 Dec 2024HANSARDNational Insurance Contributions: HealthcareMy Lords, the root of this problem is that, in an election that the Labour Party was bound to win, it made a promise that it would not raise income tax, national insurance or…19 Nov 2024HANSARDCouncil TaxMy Lords, the most obvious problem with the council tax system in this country is that it is based on a hopelessly out-of-date valuation which no Government have dared to address…19 Nov 2024HANSARDMinisterial Code: Policy AnnouncementsMy Lords, I will not repeat what I said yesterday, but I was outraged by the complete circus of trailing in advance and trying things out that has gone on for three months while…30 Oct 2024HANSARDMinisterial Code: Policy AnnouncementsWe did not—even the Cabinet did not know what was going to be in the Budget until the day before, because someone in the Cabinet would have leaked it. Will the Minister not…30 Oct 2024HANSARDFiscal RulesMy Lords, we used to have a rule of Budget purdah in this country for the very good reason that it prevented market speculation in the run-up to the House of Commons hearing the…29 Oct 2024HANSARDMiddle EastMy Lords, I am proud to say that I have been a member of Conservative Friends of Israel for many years and I still am. I strongly support the attacks on military targets in Iran,…29 Oct 2024HANSARDSentencing Review and Prison CapacityMy Lords, I congratulate the Minister on his role in introducing this package of measures and look forward to its speedy progress. When I was Home Secretary and Lord Chancellor, I…23 Oct 2024HANSARDMinisterial Gifts and HospitalityMy Lords, I am pleased to say that, throughout my political career, I have always thought that the British political system was remarkably free—almost entirely free—of any hint of…16 Oct 2024HANSARDPrison CapacityMy Lords, I welcome very warmly the noble Lord to his position, and congratulate him and his family company on the most remarkable work they have done for the past two decades in…24 Jul 2024HANSARDCompany Directors: IdentificationMy Lords, the previous Parliament passed an amendment to extend to the overseas territories of the United Kingdom the legal obligation to have a company register show beneficial…22 May 2024