Contributions
2,386 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDElections BillNo, I am not saying that in the slightest. I will address the amendments of the noble Baroness, Lady Meacher, because that is the proper thing to do in Committee. All I…10 Mar 2022HANSARDElections Bill10 Mar 2022HANSARDElections BillI accept what the noble Lord said on that point—and, indeed, what the noble Viscount has said. What I would say is, first, that a Minister at the Dispatch Box should not criticise…10 Mar 2022HANSARDElections BillYes, my Lords, new Section 4A(3)(b) allows the statement to contain—I am repeating what the noble Lord has just read out for the Committee; I am trying to help the Committee by…10 Mar 2022HANSARDElections BillI respectfully disagree with the noble Lord on that. The Electoral Commission is a public body and many other such bodies have important duties and activities that impinge on the…10 Mar 2022HANSARDElections BillMy Lords, I apologise to the Committee at the outset for the large number of amendments in this group. They are technical amendments, in the main, and the overwhelming number of…10 Mar 2022HANSARDOffice for Demographic Change Bill [HL]My Lords, I thank my noble friend for initiating this debate. Of course, as with the noble Lord opposite, I understand fully that he is not making any statement about the terrible…04 Mar 2022HANSARDPeerages: RecommendationsAll right. I will stick to the main point of the debate, although there is a serious issue about whether people have to be here day after day, every day, to make a contribution.…03 Mar 2022HANSARDPeerages: RecommendationsI welcome that clarification. The Governments of the previous and current Prime Ministers have made it clear that they did not accept the proposal from the Burns committee, which…03 Mar 2022HANSARDPeerages: RecommendationsI shall read very carefully what my noble friend said in Hansard tomorrow. I believe he said that we should pay attention to the numbers actually participating, and he certainly…03 Mar 2022HANSARDPeerages: RecommendationsMy Lords, I am grateful to my noble friend Lord Balfe for securing this important and very interesting short debate. I was happy to yield the Floor, as they say in the US, to the…03 Mar 2022HANSARDPeerages: RecommendationsMy Lords, I will continue. My noble friend Lord Balfe was right to ask how Governments ensure that nominations are properly vetted. As noble Lords will be aware, the Prime…03 Mar 2022HANSARDLobbying of MinistersMy Lords, obviously I agree with what the noble Lord said in the first part of his question: in a free society it is an inherent right to make representations. As I have told the…01 Mar 2022HANSARDLobbying of MinistersI apologise but I did not absolutely get the point that the noble Viscount makes. It is certainly the case that in a free society and a free country, it is perfectly reasonable…01 Mar 2022HANSARDLobbying of MinistersMy noble friend makes a very fair point and I pay tribute to him for taking up the work that he tells us Mr Clegg did not wish to take up. The transparency of publishing the…01 Mar 2022HANSARDLobbying of MinistersMy Lords, a number of important documents and proposals have been presented to the Government; the noble Lord mentions one of them. We have the Boardman recommendations and the…01 Mar 2022HANSARDLobbying of MinistersMy Lords, we are in regular contact with my noble friend Lord Pickles, who chairs ACOBA. Its work is important. As I have said to your Lordships, we think that putting it on a…01 Mar 2022HANSARDLobbying of MinistersMy Lords, the noble Baroness makes an allegation under privilege; perhaps she would like to repeat that outside the House.01 Mar 2022HANSARDLobbying of MinistersI would indeed; I am quite old fashioned and I greatly respect the trade union tradition. I also respect the freedom of politicians such as Mr Ed Davey, who became a lobbyist…01 Mar 2022HANSARDLobbying of MinistersMy Lords, once again, I take note of what the noble Lord says. In the system that we have in this country, ministerial meetings are noted by officials; as we established earlier…01 Mar 2022