Contributions
438 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDCabinet Manual: Guidelines for Government FormationMy Lords—03 Jun 2026HANSARDCabinet Manual: Guidelines for Government FormationCan my noble friend cheer us all up by reminding us, in the election following five years of coalition government, when the public were asked to give their judgment on it, how…03 Jun 2026HANSARDRailways: East Coast Main LineMy Lords, it is great to hear my noble friend’s tributes to the railway engineers, who keep the trains going at the same time that they are trying to build in many places new rail…20 Jan 2026HANSARDNorthern Powerhouse RailMy Lords, there is a great deal in this Statement that I warmly welcome: in particular, the bit the Minister has just referred to about what was HS2, the link from Crewe to…19 Jan 2026HANSARDDiego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory BillMy Lords, I particularly want to speak today because I am on the IRDC. I am proud that we completed a near-impossible task given to us by Parliament, which was to try to summarise…05 Jan 2026HANSARDUK-EU Common Understanding NegotiationsMy Lords, on Erasmus, I remind my noble friend that, as I am sure she knows, we are talking about very large sums of money. It was £570 million in the first year alone, and that…18 Dec 2025HANSARDOBR: Resignation of ChairMy Lords, this is a question asked in all innocence. It is now 15 years since the OBR was established. Some of us have lived through the period before the OBR and the period…08 Dec 2025HANSARDLocal ElectionsDoes my noble friend, with her long and distinguished experience of local government leadership, agree that, all too often, major local government reorganisations take longer than…08 Dec 2025HANSARDWalking, Wheeling and Cycling PathsFurther to the question asked by my noble friend Lord Watts, we all know, and the Minister knows, that if a motorist goes through a red light, there are consequences, whether that…01 Dec 2025HANSARDPolice ReformMy Lords, I strongly support the Statement to which my noble friend the Minister is responding. He was right to remind us of the history, which is that the Labour Party opposed…18 Nov 2025HANSARDDiego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory BillHow far back is the noble Lord going to go in his historic examination of British Governments? Is his position that the British Government should never ever cede sovereignty to…18 Nov 2025HANSARDDiego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory BillMy Lords, I shall speak briefly to Amendment 1 by the noble Lord, Lord Callanan. I take it that he was not entirely serious when he dreamt up this particular innovation, which is…18 Nov 2025HANSARDGaza and HamasMy Lords, amid all the other things that have been going on in Israel and Palestine in the past few weeks, would my noble friend the Minister like to comment on the vote in the…03 Nov 2025HANSARDRules on Duty-Free GoodsMy noble friend will notice the support he gets from the Liberal Democrat Benches. Can I have my noble friend’s assurance that we stand very strongly by the Labour Government’s…22 Oct 2025HANSARDRules on Duty-Free GoodsMy Lords—22 Oct 2025HANSARDRules on Duty-Free GoodsMy noble friend, on this Question and a number of others that I have heard him reply on, demonstrates the passion that he feels for the European Union. It is a passion not shared…22 Oct 2025HANSARDGreat British Railways: Rolling StockCan my noble friend the Minister tell me how adversely the rolling stock strategy has been affected by the cancellation of the Crewe and Manchester legs of HS2?21 Oct 2025HANSARDBusiness of the HouseMy Lords, I will make two very brief points: one specifically aimed at the noble Lord, Lord True, and the other a more general point about the House and its procedures. The point…14 Oct 2025HANSARDBusiness of the HouseI am sorry; I apologise to the Lib Dems. It is an error I have made frequently in life. It is not uncommon at all to have such numbers of people in the House scrutinising. It is…14 Oct 2025HANSARDChinese Espionage: ParliamentDoes my noble friend recall that we once had a Chancellor of the Exchequer called George Osborne? Among the many things he said—this was 10 years ago, in the dying days of the…13 Oct 2025