Contributions
24 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDChildren’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill18 Sept 2025HANSARDChildren’s Wellbeing and Schools BillMy Lords, this amendment aims to remedy one of the greatest injustices in our whole education system: the acute shortage of apprenticeships for young people not going to…18 Sept 2025HANSARDChildren’s Wellbeing and Schools BillMy Lords, I am most grateful to everyone who spoke in this excellent debate. The noble Lord, Lord Macpherson, got us off to a good start on the economics, which is, of course, a…18 Sept 2025HANSARDChildren’s Wellbeing and Schools BillMy Lords, children’s well-being is referenced in the title of this Bill, and so it should be. Obviously, children’s well-being matters, but it is also the best predictor of how…01 May 2025HANSARDNational Insurance Contributions (Secondary Class 1 Contributions) BillMy Lords, there have been two main criticisms of the Bill. The first is that it expands the size of the state and is therefore bad, and the second is that it destroys jobs. Both…06 Jan 2025HANSARDInstitute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (Transfer of Functions etc) Bill [HL]My Lords, I congratulate my noble friend Lord Beamish. I warmly welcome this Bill for two reasons. The first is economic growth. That is obvious, but equally importantly—I want to…22 Oct 2024HANSARDKing’s Speech (4th Day)My Lords, how wonderful that we have two such excellent new Ministers. We are talking about growth, and growth depends on only two things: productivity and employment. Higher…22 Jul 2024HANSARDWorkers (Economic Affairs Committee Report)My Lords, I am delighted to follow our chairman, who does such a wonderful job in leading our work. This report is timely because everybody wants to see more economic growth. The…08 Feb 2024HANSARDCost of Living: Public Well-beingMy Lords, we all know the problem facing our country: as a nation, we have become poorer. Our import prices have risen more than our export prices and, on that account, we are 5%…20 Oct 2022HANSARDGambling Harm (Social and Economic Impact of the Gambling Industry Committee Report)My Lords, I had the honour of being a member of this committee. It was beautifully chaired by the noble Lord, Lord Grade, and had a brilliant secretary. It is an outstanding…27 Apr 2022HANSARDHealth and Care BillMy Lords, Amendment 101B, in my name and those of the noble Baroness, Lady Watkins, and the noble Lord, Lord Alderdice, is a fundamental amendment to remedy the shocking imbalance…20 Jan 2022HANSARDAssisted Dying Bill [HL]I want to make just three points. The main argument that we have heard against the Bill is the fear that relatives will exert undue pressure. For many years, I was persuaded by…22 Oct 2021HANSARDSkills and Post-16 Education Bill [HL]I support Amendment 50, which could transform the lives of hundreds of thousands of our young people. Given the time, I shall make just four points. The problem is much bigger…21 Oct 2021HANSARDSkills and Post-16 Education Bill [HL]My Lords, I rise to support Amendment 76. As the noble and learned Lord, Lord Clarke, has argued so powerfully, we are, as a nation, very good at producing graduates and pretty…19 Jul 2021HANSARDSkills and Post-16 Education Bill [HL]My Lords, we should really welcome this Bill, because, as we know, our country does a pretty good job with its graduates but a much less good job with the other 50%. If we are…15 Jun 2021HANSARDCovid-19: EconomyMy Lords, the huge danger that we face is mass long-term unemployment. Once that takes root, it is extremely difficult to reduce it. It kills the human spirit but also of course…04 Jun 2020HANSARDCoronavirusMy Lords, if we look abroad, especially to Japan and China, it is clearly not as inevitable as the Government assume that this disease will become widely spread through the…12 Mar 2020HANSARDWell-beingMy Lords, I really welcome this debate and congratulate the noble Baroness on securing it. As she said, this is a timely moment to consider the fundamental question of what the…12 Mar 2020HANSARDQueen’s SpeechMy Lords, the first question one should ask about any Queen’s Speech is: what is the overall objective of government policy? Is it the nation’s wealth? Is it the well-being of the…22 Oct 2019HANSARDApprenticeshipsMy Lords, I welcome this debate because we are talking about the future of at least half of all our young people. For those who do not go to university, apprenticeship has always…04 Jul 2019