Contributions
879 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDStrategic Defence Review 2025My Lords, I will focus on two themes in the SDR: the commitment to “NATO first”, and the concept of “whole-of-society” defence and security. NATO first now means sharing European…18 Jul 2025HANSARDNewspapers: Foreign OwnershipMy Lords, I note that the strategic defence review lists “efforts to manipulate information” among the methods of attack in any future security crisis. Clearly, the question of…16 Jul 2025HANSARDRutland LieutenancyI have just been reading the newly published English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill; I have not yet got through the full 300 pages but I am puzzled by the term…15 Jul 2025HANSARDRutland LieutenancyMy Lords—15 Jul 2025HANSARDTax IncreasesMy Lords, I was very struck by the article in the Times the other day by Paul Johnson, former leader of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, in which he said that we have an entirely…10 Jul 2025HANSARDHouse of Lords (Hereditary Peers) BillA constant argument of the Conservatives against any changes to our electoral system has been that the public would be unable to understand a voting system in which one put “1”,…09 Jul 2025HANSARDHouse of Lords (Hereditary Peers) BillIf I may also correct the noble Lord, I pointed out that the consequence of this would be a reduction in the number of Ministers in the Lords, which would be extremely bad for…09 Jul 2025HANSARDHouse of Lords (Hereditary Peers) BillThat was an imaginative idea from the noble Lord, Lord Forsyth, but it is the first time that I have heard it. I am not sure where his sources may be. I do not wish to detain the…09 Jul 2025HANSARDHouse of Lords (Hereditary Peers) BillMy Lords, the combination of titles with membership of the second Chamber is one of the many things that we have inherited from the medieval period and the 16th and 17th…09 Jul 2025HANSARDHouse of Lords (Hereditary Peers) BillMy Lords, I declare an interest: for five years, I was an unpaid Lords Minister and Whip in the coalition Government. When we have a coalition Government—we may very well find…09 Jul 2025HANSARDUnpaid TaxMy Lords, in pursuing tax evasion, the question of information from our dependent territories is key. There was an agreement between the Treasury and the dependent territories on…07 Jul 2025HANSARDUK Constitution: Oversight and Responsibility (Report from the Constitution Committee)My Lord, the UK is a constitutional democracy without a written constitution. It is a very odd constitution. The integrity of our system of government therefore depends on the…04 Jul 2025HANSARDUK Constitution: Oversight and Responsibility (Report from the Constitution Committee)Probably.04 Jul 2025HANSARDUK Constitution: Oversight and Responsibility (Report from the Constitution Committee)I ask for an assurance that when the Cabinet Manual is renewed, there will be consultation with the appropriate committees in both Houses before it is published.04 Jul 2025HANSARDUK–EU Defence and Security Co-operationMy Lords, on Tuesday, the Minister made it clear that the United States remains Britain’s prime ally. Does that imply that this is very much a secondary partnership with the EU,…03 Jul 2025HANSARDHouse of Lords (Hereditary Peers) BillMy Lords, this debate has gone a good deal wider than our modest amendment. Perhaps we will come back to oaths, and the question of the balance in appointments of Cross-Benchers,…02 Jul 2025HANSARDHouse of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill02 Jul 2025HANSARDHouse of Lords (Hereditary Peers) BillMy apologies. The Prime Minister in future would have to justify overriding the House of Lords Appointments Commission. This perhaps is some control mechanism on the Prime…02 Jul 2025HANSARDHouse of Lords (Hereditary Peers) BillMy Lords, Amendment 5 is in the names of my noble friend Lord Newby, me and others. In preparing for this, I was also looking at preparation for Friday’s debate on a report from…02 Jul 2025HANSARDHouse of Lords (Hereditary Peers) BillIn that case, I must have misspoken and I apologise. The Prime Minister makes the nominations and HOLAC considers them. That seems to us to be a valuable part of the checks and…02 Jul 2025