Contributions
1,571 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDEnvironment Bill07 Jul 2021HANSARDEnvironment BillMy Lords, I declare a personal interest in rewilding, which goes back a very long way. I am a strong advocate of supporting species recovery and have been excited to see this…07 Jul 2021HANSARDEnvironment BillBefore I turn to individual amendments, I want to assure noble Lords of our commitment to improving water quality. Our rivers and lakes are an essential and valuable part of our…07 Jul 2021HANSARDEnvironment BillI am happy to go on. I only have a short speech, beginning with Amendment 212 from the noble Lord, Lord Oates. I start by reiterating that local authorities are vital in…07 Jul 2021HANSARDEnvironment Bill07 Jul 2021HANSARDEnvironment BillI thank the noble Baroness, Lady Parminter, for tabling Amendment 209. I would like to assure her that I share her enthusiasm for local nature recovery strategies. These…07 Jul 2021HANSARDEnvironment BillI think we are agreed. In the past, I have heard the noble Earl, Lord Caithness, agree—as most people in this Committee would agree—that we need to do all we can to reverse…07 Jul 2021HANSARDEnvironment BillMy Lords, I thank my noble friend for her useful intervention. She is right: the cost of pollution rarely features on the balance sheet. Her suggestion that, in order to move…07 Jul 2021HANSARDEnvironment Bill05 Jul 2021HANSARDEnvironment BillI shall start by addressing Amendment 152 in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Whitty. Noble Lords are right to shine a light on this topic today, and I hope I can reassure them on…05 Jul 2021HANSARDEnvironment BillMy noble friend raises an incredibly important point and I have to be honest and say that I cannot give him an authoritative answer. He is right that the synergistic effect of…05 Jul 2021HANSARDEnvironment BillI simply thank the noble Duke for his interest in and commitment to this area, and reiterate that I am absolutely persuaded and committed to ensuring that our approach as a…05 Jul 2021HANSARDEnvironment BillI begin by thanking all noble Lords for their contributions on storm overflows. I am grateful to those both in this House and in the other place who have dedicated so much time to…05 Jul 2021HANSARDEnvironment BillMy Lords, deposit return schemes are another important reform introduced by the Bill to maximise our resource productivity. It was heartening to hear support across the House for…05 Jul 2021HANSARDEnvironment BillI thank the noble Lord for his intervention. I remember well the scandal of five to 10 years ago. Indeed, there were a number of people in my own former constituency who were…05 Jul 2021HANSARDEnvironment BillI was not aware of the example from Oregon, but there are plenty examples from around the world of people at the very bottom of the economic ladder deriving livelihoods from being…05 Jul 2021HANSARDEnvironment BillI thank the noble Baroness, Lady Boycott, for her unwavering dedication to this issue. We have discussed it on numerous occasions, both recently and before I became a Minister,…05 Jul 2021HANSARDEnvironment Bill05 Jul 2021HANSARDEnvironment BillI thank my noble friend for her comments. I hope I addressed fines and why the prospect of being held in contempt of court is a far greater concern for a Minister than the…30 Jun 2021HANSARDEnvironment BillI thank the noble Lord for his comments. It is absolutely not the case that I or the Government have rejected all the arguments put forward today, or indeed in any of the debates…30 Jun 2021