Contributions
71 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment BillMy Lords, I have one amendment on its own in splendid isolation in this group. It is, as I hope noble Lords will agree, on an important topic: the use of social media in local…05 Mar 2026HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment BillI thank both noble Baronesses for their comments on my amendment. Although I do not agree fully with them all, I welcome the recognition of the importance of social media for…05 Mar 2026HANSARDLocal Government ReorganisationMy Lords, here we are again with a topic we have discussed and debated in different forms several times. I will do my best not to simply repeat the points made previously,…25 Feb 2026HANSARDDonations to Political PartiesMy Lords, likewise, I should acknowledge the exceptionally impressive timing of this debate, coming just after the Government have published the Representation of the People Bill.…12 Feb 2026HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment BillMy Lords, I will speak particularly to Amendments 211 and 212 in this group, which are in my name and that of the noble Baroness, Lady Pinnock. On the return to this vexed…11 Feb 2026HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment BillMy Lords, I will speak to Amendments 219 and 220. As the noble Baroness, Lady McIntosh, has indicated, they attempt to achieve something very similar to Amendment 218 but go a bit…11 Feb 2026HANSARDAmbassadors: Vetting ProcessI thank the Minister for that Answer. The other part of the process is the due diligence process that the Cabinet Office undertook for the ambassador to the US. How many other…10 Feb 2026HANSARDAmbassadors: Vetting ProcessTo ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether the vetting process for ambassadors is sufficiently robust.10 Feb 2026HANSARDCivil Service Pensions: CapitaMy Lords, the Cabinet Office told the Public Accounts Committee last year that it was aware of very significant problems with Capita’s preparations to take over the contract on 1…05 Feb 2026HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment BillThe answer is largely yes, although the provisions under the Highways Act get into the use of adjoining land and the circumstances in which adjoining land might be used,…02 Feb 2026HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment BillMy Lords, Amendment 236 in this group is on perhaps a slightly more niche issue than the others raised so far in this group, but it is a detail of relevance which raises some…02 Feb 2026HANSARDPublic Trust in National PoliticsMy Lords—29 Jan 2026HANSARDPublic Trust in National PoliticsMy Lords, is not a key element of trust in politics that elections are run fairly and independently? Therefore, I hope that the Minister might commit to restoring the full…29 Jan 2026HANSARDLocal Government ReorganisationMy Lords, the Government are presenting this latest round of election cancellations as an unexceptional administrative move that is justified by precedent, but I think that is…26 Jan 2026HANSARDLocal Elections: CancellationMy Lords, it is disappointing that the Government appear set on disregarding the Electoral Commission’s views, which were that “we do not think that capacity constraints are a…21 Jan 2026HANSARDSocial Media: Non-consensual Sexual DeepfakesMy Lords, last week the Government stated in this House that 10.8 million families use X as their main news source, which obviously would be many more people in total, but Ofcom’s…14 Jan 2026HANSARDGovernment Communications: XTo ask His Majesty’s Government what plans they have to reduce their reliance on the social media platform X for government communications.05 Jan 2026HANSARDGovernment Communications: XMy Lords, I am sure that the Minister has seen the recent reports of X generating on-request sexualised images of people without their consent, including of children, yet the…05 Jan 2026HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment BillMy Lords, like my colleagues on these Benches, I am a strong supporter of devolution. I was therefore sadly disappointed to see in this Bill the number of areas where power is…08 Dec 2025HANSARDElection LawTo ask His Majesty’s Government what plans they have to commence work on the consolidation of election law.18 Nov 2025