Contributions
510 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDMilitary Personnel: Strike Action CoverMy Lords, it is the role of the Armed Forces to defend and support this country and its people in difficult times, including times like this. Many of us will remember the serried…19 Dec 2022HANSARDNHS Industrial Action: Government PreparationsMy Lords, if the military personnel are going to drive ambulances, for which they are paid less than the ambulance drivers and paramedics, will my noble friend ensure that all…13 Dec 2022HANSARDUK Asylum and Refugee PolicyWhy, what is going on?09 Dec 2022HANSARDUK Asylum and Refugee PolicyMy Lords, I am delighted to follow the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Leicester, in whose diocese I live and worship. He made an excellent speech. I have never heard him…09 Dec 2022HANSARDUK Asylum and Refugee PolicySome 100 years ago, every parish had a resident priest—and no bishops, because the diocese was founded only in 1927. I will sit down, but I have to say that, as a loyal member of…09 Dec 2022HANSARDScottish IndependenceMy Lords, my noble friend the Minister will recall that in 1997, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown said that devolution and giving the Scottish Parliament greater powers would kill…07 Dec 2022HANSARDChildhood ObesityMy Lords, is it not the case that we have had strategy after strategy, all well intentioned—we all agree on what we want to do—but it is not working? The Government pussyfoot…17 Nov 2022HANSARDRoyal Navy: Conduct towards WomenMy Lords, when I was working at the Ministry of Defence in 2011, the First Sea Lord came to see me, wanting to lift the ban on women serving in submarines. I said that I was not…02 Nov 2022HANSARDUkraineMy Lords, in the light of what is an existential threat not just to Ukraine but to the long-term peace, security and future of the European continent and, I suggest, the world,…01 Nov 2022HANSARDOut-of-work BenefitsThat is helpful, but there is a severe labour shortage in this country. I hope that my noble friend will be able to tell me the exact number of people who are on out-of-work…17 Oct 2022HANSARDOut-of-work BenefitsTo ask His Majesty’s Government what steps they are planning to take to reduce the number of people in receipt of out-of-work benefits.17 Oct 2022HANSARDRussia: Tactical Nuclear Weapon DeploymentDoes my noble friend think that the situation in Ukraine and Russia underlines the need for, and the value of having, an independent continuously at sea nuclear deterrent?11 Oct 2022HANSARDRoyal Navy: F35BMy Lords, given that this hot war has been going on for six months in Ukraine, can my noble friend reassure the House that we have sufficient land forces, as well as naval and air…08 Sept 2022HANSARDUkraine UpdateMy Lords, sanctions, as we know, are a very blunt instrument and, indeed, a double-edged sword—they harm those imposing the sanctions as well as those subject to them—but, as my…05 Sept 2022HANSARDExtreme Heat PreparednessMy Lords, I have been banging on and boring on about climate change for 30 years—at first it was considered a rather eccentric obsession—but the Government’s reaction to this is…19 Jul 2022HANSARDNorthern Ireland: Operation KenovaMy Lords, does the Minister agree that there can never be any moral equivalence between those who were sent by this Parliament to defend the rule of law—they sometimes made…14 Jul 2022HANSARDAustralia Free Trade AgreementAs a farmer, I definitely do not want to do harm to farmers. But I have seen the harm done by the common agricultural policy, which I am sure the noble Lord thinks is marvellous.11 Jul 2022HANSARDAustralia Free Trade AgreementMy Lords, it is a great pleasure to follow the noble Lord, Lord Kerr, with whom I used to sit on this committee. We sparred a little; he particularly did not like my suggestion…11 Jul 2022HANSARDAustralia Free Trade AgreementActually, I agree with the noble Lord, and thank him for asking, but I do not think it is an either/or; I do not think it is binary. The issue with the Pacific is huge, as is the…11 Jul 2022HANSARDAustralia Free Trade AgreementI sense a peroration coming, but does my noble friend have the figures for the amount of beef and lamb given as a quota through the European Union, and how much has actually been…11 Jul 2022