Contributions
879 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDSecurity UpdateMy Lords, we also thank the Minister for repeating this Statement, and appreciate the subtleties of where we are now and the limits as to what we can say about this specific case.…04 Mar 2026HANSARDResetting the UK-EU Relationship (European Affairs Committee Report)My Lords, I express my sympathy to the noble Baroness, Lady Finn, who has to wind up and present a coherent, responsible and constructive opposition position on this for the…26 Feb 2026HANSARDLord Mandelson: Government Response to Humble AddressMy Lords, we all now recognise that it was a massive misjudgment to appoint Lord Mandelson to the post of ambassador in Washington. The Prime Minister has already apologised for…24 Feb 2026HANSARDLabour Together and APCO Worldwide: Cabinet Office ReviewMy Lords, the serious questions about the behaviour of Josh Simons, who is now a Minister, and the inappropriateness of his pursuit of particular journalists are now under…24 Feb 2026HANSARDUS TariffsMy Lords, we all know that President Trump is extremely transactional in his international relations and respects only those who bargain hard with him. Are His Majesty’s…23 Feb 2026HANSARDDonations to Political PartiesMy Lords, I particularly welcome the suggestion that the noble Lord, Lord Mott, made. The ideal way to fund political parties is a large number of donations from your voters and…12 Feb 2026HANSARDLord Mandelson: Government Response to Humble Address MotionMy Lords, we on these Benches welcome the degree of transparency that is happening over the Mandelson appointment. We stress as strongly as we can that the maximum amount of…12 Feb 2026HANSARDSecurity of Candidates, MPs and ElectionsMy Lords, can we be assured that the police are now fully supportive of preventing intimidation? I do my politics in Bradford where there has been quite active intimidation of…12 Feb 2026HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment BillMy Lords, my amendment and the others in this group all stem from a degree of unease, in particular about Clause 60 but also generally about the ethos of this Bill towards local…11 Feb 2026HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill11 Feb 2026HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment BillMy Lords, I feel bound to remind the noble Lord, Lord Fuller, that the Bill is a Labour continuation of a local government reorganisation started under the Conservatives. This is…11 Feb 2026HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment BillWe need to recognise where we are. If we want mayors to have public acceptance and credibility, they had better not be elected on less than a quarter of the vote. If we have a…11 Feb 2026HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment BillMy Lords, I will speak a little about the proposals to change to a supplementary vote. I have some memories of how this came to be, since I was involved between 1996 and 1998 in…11 Feb 2026HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment BillMy Lords, my unease has not been lessened by the Minister’s answers, and I suspect that others will feel the same way. The Minister says that they do not want to impose a single…11 Feb 2026HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment BillI apologise for intervening, but it is not just about legitimacy—it is also that local areas occasionally want to pay for local amenities that the large unitary does not want to…11 Feb 2026HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment BillMy Lords, might I ask the noble Lord a question about which areas are not parishes? My strong impression is that the unparished areas in Britain are, by and large, poorer…11 Feb 2026HANSARDAmbassadors: Vetting ProcessCan I press the Minister on what she said about being in favour of public appointments having parliamentary scrutiny? We on these Benches strongly support that. It sounds a very…10 Feb 2026HANSARDStandards in Public LifeMy Lords, I must apologise for being a little late; the annunciator was not operating properly in my room. I must also apologise that I am speaking and not my noble friend Lord…10 Feb 2026HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment BillHave the implications of the strategic defence review been taken into account in all this? Chapter 6 of the defence review talks about the need to mobilise a “whole-of-society…09 Feb 2026HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment BillThe noble Lord did not mention the questions of where the taxes are raised and who is responsible. For those of us on the Liberal Democrat Benches, the differences between…09 Feb 2026