Contributions
920 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDGreenhouse Gas EmissionsWe have the vision. This year, significant steps will have to be declared. There will be an energy White Paper in a matter of weeks. Following thereafter will be a transportation…05 Feb 2020HANSARDGreenhouse Gas EmissionsThe stakes could not be higher. The question of who is to lead on this issue is simple: the Prime Minister will set the direction and the pace. The question of who delivers that…05 Feb 2020HANSARDGreenhouse Gas EmissionsI come from Scotland; the sun does not shine very often but the wind does indeed blow. It is important to stress that we have powered past coal and it is no longer a vital part of…05 Feb 2020HANSARDGreenhouse Gas EmissionsNever.05 Feb 2020HANSARDGreenhouse Gas EmissionsMy noble friend is of course absolutely right. There will be clarity and, needfully, ambition. We need to be more ambitious than we have been to date to hit the targets of net…05 Feb 2020HANSARDGreenhouse Gas EmissionsThere are three elements to that. The first is that we need to decarbonise domestic heating, which is a real challenge. Most people still heat their homes by gas; I include…05 Feb 2020HANSARDGreenhouse Gas EmissionsMy noble friend is right to remind us that the challenge we face as we move to decarbonise our domestic heating is real. The question of whether we move towards full…05 Feb 2020HANSARDGreenhouse Gas EmissionsWe await the call. Who knows? My noble friend is right to ask when there will be a new COP chairman. I suspect that the Prime Minister will look at that as part of the wider…05 Feb 2020HANSARDPost Office: Prosecution PowersMy Lords, the Post Office’s powers to bring a private prosecution, which fall under Section 6(1) of the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985, are not specific to that company. It has…04 Feb 2020HANSARDPost Office: Prosecution PowersMy noble friend raises challenging points. I must stress that the leadership of the Post Office got it badly wrong and, as a consequence of those actions, people have experienced…04 Feb 2020HANSARDPost Office: Prosecution PowersI suspect that it will be quite some time before the Post Office embarks upon another adventure of this sort, for many obvious reasons. We need to recognise that a number of…04 Feb 2020HANSARDPost Office: Prosecution PowersThe individuals affected are indeed the face of the Post Office in towns and villages up and down the land. The situation which arose was unacceptable and the courts have shown…04 Feb 2020HANSARDPost Office: Prosecution PowersThose who have lost their lives could not possibly get due recompense throughout this process, no matter what the answer might have been. The situation is clear: during a…04 Feb 2020HANSARDPost Office: Prosecution PowersWe have a non-executive director who is responsible for representing the department and the Government. His role has evolved from a perhaps more passive approach to a much more…04 Feb 2020HANSARDPost Office: Prosecution PowersThere is a new chief executive and a new regime is in place. I cannot comment on the individuals who were in positions of power during that time because I simply do not have the…04 Feb 2020HANSARDPost Office: Prosecution PowersThe simple answer to that question is: not enough. The reality is that perhaps only a fraction of the money which has been won in this court case—around £12 million of the £60…04 Feb 2020HANSARDPost Office: Prosecution PowersMy noble friend is right to draw attention to this. As my noble friend Lord Arbuthnot said at the outset, there will be a settlement of nearly £60 million for those who brought…04 Feb 2020HANSARDBusiness ConfidenceMy noble friend is of course entirely correct. As long as we are all pulling on the rope in the same direction, we can achieve great things. Even the CBI appears occasionally to…28 Jan 2020HANSARDBusiness ConfidenceI do have confidence. I am wearing my summer suit right now, but I also have an umbrella. Looking to the year ahead, it is important to recognise that some serious negotiations…28 Jan 2020HANSARDBusiness ConfidenceThe first thing to note is that the report is positive, and the CBI has not always been the most positive in its analysis of the Government’s activities. Secondly, we have…28 Jan 2020