Contributions
307 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDHouse of Lords (Hereditary Peers) BillMy Lords, on these Benches, we strongly agree with the central thrust of the amendment from the noble Lord, Lord Burns, which is that the House is too big and should be reduced in…25 Mar 2025HANSARDHouse of Lords (Hereditary Peers) BillMy Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Strathclyde, for this ingenious proposal. The aim of getting down to 600 Members would be achieved by having a retirement age and sensible…25 Mar 2025HANSARDHouse of Lords (Hereditary Peers) BillMy Lords, this group and the next deal with the vexed question of how we ensure that Peers do the job for which they have been summoned by the monarch, when we know—the noble…12 Mar 2025HANSARDHouse of Lords (Hereditary Peers) BillThe noble Viscount will not be surprised at me saying again that the only way to deal with the problem that this amendment seeks to address is to have an election.12 Mar 2025HANSARDHouse of Lords (Hereditary Peers) BillMy Lords, I am afraid I cannot agree with this amendment, because it requires all these changes to be implemented via a legislative route. As I said in my earlier speech, I do not…12 Mar 2025HANSARDHouse of Lords (Hereditary Peers) BillIt is always very dangerous to make a general comment in your Lordships’ House. But judges have a retirement age of 75. We know that bishops aged more than 70, and indeed judges…10 Mar 2025HANSARDHouse of Lords (Hereditary Peers) BillYes, it would constrain the Prime Minister’s powers; that is what I want to do. In my view, the Prime Minister has, on rare occasions in the past, acted in a manner that has…10 Mar 2025HANSARDHouse of Lords (Hereditary Peers) BillMy Lords, I thank everyone who has spoken, and I slightly apologise for initiating such a long debate. I am grateful to noble Lords who have supported our proposal, and doubly…10 Mar 2025HANSARDHouse of Lords (Hereditary Peers) BillIt may be interesting to the noble Lord; I think it is totally irrelevant to this case. We are obviously done with this issue today. I will withdraw my amendment but I will come…10 Mar 2025HANSARDHouse of Lords (Hereditary Peers) BillMy Lords, I am happy to debate the numbers, but I disagree that the majority of people who take a party Whip can legitimately not call themselves politicians. The Cross-Benchers…10 Mar 2025HANSARDHouse of Lords (Hereditary Peers) BillMy Lords, I should begin by saying that the reason I am speaking to this group rather than my noble friend Lord Wallace of Saltaire is not simply that he has a conflict of…10 Mar 2025HANSARDHouse of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill10 Mar 2025HANSARDHouse of Lords (Hereditary Peers) BillMy Lords, Amendment 11, standing in my name and those of other noble Lords, seeks to take forward proposals for a democratic mandate for the House of Lords. When we debated Lords…10 Mar 2025HANSARDHouse of Lords (Hereditary Peers) BillMy Lords, I hope and trust that this debate will be at least marginally shorter than the last. Amendment 12 and its consequential Amendment 116, in my name and that of the noble…10 Mar 2025HANSARDHouse of Lords (Hereditary Peers) BillMy Lords, I thank all noble Lords for a typically interesting debate. As I said at the outset, we were not seeking a fundamental reform of the way that HOLAC operates; we were…10 Mar 2025HANSARDHouse of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill10 Mar 2025HANSARDConduct CommitteeMy Lords, I congratulate the noble Baroness and her committee on their work in reviewing the code of conduct and the manner in which they did it. It was a privilege to give…05 Mar 2025HANSARDUkraineMy Lords, I too thank the noble Baroness for repeating the Statement. The adage that a week is a long time in politics has rarely been so graphically demonstrated than over the…04 Mar 2025HANSARDHouse of Lords (Hereditary Peers) BillMy Lords, I think this amendment shows the problem that we were discussing earlier with the groupings, because we have actually been discussing, along with this amendment,…03 Mar 2025HANSARDHouse of Lords (Hereditary Peers) BillMy Lords, when I spoke to Amendment 5, I dealt with a number of issues which I thought were common to that amendment and this amendment, and I will not repeat them. I begin by…03 Mar 2025