Contributions
879 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDElections BillToo young for the Lords!23 Mar 2022HANSARDElections BillMy Lords, in withdrawing this amendment, I point out that, if we are saying that there is a problem—which the Minister has admitted, but has said that this is not the answer—then…23 Mar 2022HANSARDElections Bill23 Mar 2022HANSARDElections BillMy Lords, I speak to Amendment 150 and on some of the broader issues. I was quite worried, listening to the last debate and the Government’s answer. They now seem to be saying…23 Mar 2022HANSARDElections BillOr Belgium: exactly. There are many weaknesses in this. We put down another amendment, which comes in the next group, suggesting that the appropriate answer is overseas…23 Mar 2022HANSARDElections BillMy Lords, Amendments 137 and 138 are grouped with Amendment 143 in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Holmes of Richmond, who will undoubtedly want to speak to that amendment. We…23 Mar 2022HANSARDElections BillI am sure that the Minister knows that this is copied from the SNP amendment in the Commons. One may talk about umpteen different proportional systems—and no electoral system is…23 Mar 2022HANSARDElections BillMy Lords, the amendment which was introduced in the Commons and is now Clause 11 was a Christmas-tree addition to the Bill by the Government.23 Mar 2022HANSARDElections BillMy Lords, that is not at all surprising as an answer. I point out that the extensive and bureaucratic challenges to which the Minister refers are involved in extending the vote to…23 Mar 2022HANSARDElections BillThe noble Lord and I will have conversations about list systems and non-list systems off the Floor of the House. On Amendment 144C on proportional representation in local…23 Mar 2022HANSARDElections BillI thank the noble Lord for the invitation. He will remember that this was the first occasion on which Dominic Cummings managed very successfully to make the argument that it would…23 Mar 2022HANSARDElections BillMy Lords, my name is on some amendments in this group. As Members of the Committee will know, I am extremely disturbed by this Bill as a whole and by the way it has been…23 Mar 2022HANSARDElections BillI said “at length”. I assure the noble Lord that I can discuss proportional representation at very great length, but I fear that might tire the Committee.23 Mar 2022HANSARDElections BillThese were exchanges on and off the Floor of the House of Commons. That would have been a major set of changes to voting rights that might even have included some form of…23 Mar 2022HANSARDP&O FerriesMy Lords, did I understand the Minister to say that that a company incorporated in Jersey is not subject to UK law? I was under the impression that Jersey was under UK…23 Mar 2022HANSARDElections BillI shall give my noble friend an American example, which has been debated in the United States very recently. There have been Catholic bishops who have suggested that President…21 Mar 2022HANSARDElections BillMy Lords, I will speak to Amendment 106A. As I have already said to the Minister, this is very much a probing amendment. Clause 8 is an important clause. We all recognise that it…21 Mar 2022HANSARDElections BillMy Lords, I think it is the sense of quite a few of us that it might be wiser to remove the phrase “causing spiritual injury to” because that is, I think, the most difficult…21 Mar 2022HANSARDConstitutional ReformMy Lords, could the Minister tell us who is responsible as Minister for the Constitution? I looked it up this morning on the government website, and it said that Chloe Smith had…21 Mar 2022HANSARDElections BillMy Lords, this has been a long and often confused debate. I have to say that I am as confused at the end of it as to what the rationale for Clause 1 is as I was at the beginning.…21 Mar 2022