Contributions
879 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDRepresentation of the People (Variation of Election Expenses and Exclusions) Regulations 2024My Lords, I add to what my noble friend Lord Rennard said just a few brief comments. First, on the timing, I note that when the committee considered this, the Minister in the…19 Mar 2024HANSARDRepresentation of the People (Variation of Election Expenses and Exclusions) Regulations 2024The Minister has used the phrase “level playing field” several times. Does she think that there ought to be something about a financial level playing field in political campaigns…19 Mar 2024HANSARDScottish Government: Devolved CompetencesMy Lords, despite our having some years of experience now with the devolved settlements, we still have a separate Scottish Office and Welsh Office in London and seats in the…13 Mar 2024HANSARDMinisters: Legal CostsMy Lords, may I ask the Minister about the Civil Service dimension of this? It is reported that a number of senior civil servants were working until midnight on a Friday evening…12 Mar 2024HANSARDHigher EducationMy Lords, this has been a very interesting debate from which I have learned a lot. We thank the noble Lord, Lord Blunkett, for introducing it; I am sorry that he did not say more…07 Mar 2024HANSARDBrexit: Benefits to Economy and SocietyTo ask His Majesty’s Government whether they plan to report to Parliament on the benefits that leaving the European Union has brought to the United Kingdom’s economy and society…06 Mar 2024HANSARDBrexit: Benefits to Economy and SocietyMy Lords, I am extremely sorry that the Minister’s department gave such little publicity to its fourth anniversary paper. Given that the Government fought the last election, very…06 Mar 2024HANSARDForeign AffairsMy Lords, we have heard a lot about the challenges that we face in the world: Ukraine, China, Middle Eastern crises, climate change, the backlash against globalisation, and…05 Mar 2024HANSARDSituation in the Red SeaMy Lords, in lessons learned, I hope the Government are also looking back at Operation Atalanta, which the noble Lord may recall was an EU operation commanded by the UK through…29 Feb 2024HANSARDPavement ParkingMy Lords, one of the reasons for parking on pavements is that cars have got wider. Do the Government have any plans to discriminate between 4x4s—which are wide, long and heavy,…21 Feb 2024HANSARDEconomic Activity of Public Bodies (Overseas Matters) BillMy Lords, when I read through the Commons debates on this Bill, a number of things struck me: the frequency with which MPs of all parties described it as badly drafted, the large…20 Feb 2024HANSARDEconomic Activity of Public Bodies (Overseas Matters) BillMy Lords, regarding public investment and private investment, a lot of our universities have very substantial endowments. Will the Minister clarify that these are well outside the…20 Feb 2024HANSARDNetwork NorthI am glad to hear that the Minister is interested in removing lorries from roads. The major problem on the trans-Pennine links is lack of rail capacity. The M62 is jammed with…14 Feb 2024HANSARDElectoral Commission Strategy and Policy StatementMy Lords, we are talking about the quality of our democracy and the central role of the Electoral Commission in maintaining that quality. I thank the noble Lord, Lord Hayward, for…06 Feb 2024HANSARDCivil Servants: Working from HomeMy Lords, I declare an interest as an academic who has worked from home for at least two days of the working week throughout my career. Email and mobile phones have made it a…01 Feb 2024HANSARDFreedom of InformationMy Lords, I know that freedom of information is an embarrassment to government and that, when Governments get their feet well under the table, they regret it. I have just been…23 Jan 2024HANSARDIntergovernmental Relations Within the United KingdomMy Lords, in winding up his speech, the noble Earl, Lord Kinnoull, said that what we needed was constitutional stability. We have not had it for the last five years. We have had…18 Jan 2024HANSARDTrade Union (Deduction of Union Subscriptions from Wages in the Public Sector) Regulations 2023My Lords, I have seen many Chekhov plays; this is not half as enjoyable an “Enterprise”. This SI comes here under an Act of 1992, as amended in 2016. The House of Commons briefing…18 Dec 2023HANSARDTrade Union (Deduction of Union Subscriptions from Wages in the Public Sector) Regulations 2023Just to add, the disgust with which we saw the depth of dependence on the TaxPayers’ Alliance relates to the position of this body, which received an E—the bottom range—from Who…18 Dec 2023HANSARDEuropean Political Community SummitApologies. I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper.12 Dec 2023