Contributions
455 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDTributes: Lord LamingMy Lords, it is a great privilege to follow three such wonderful speeches that have so captured the man who is so dear to my colleagues on the Cross Bench here. Herbert Laming was…22 Jul 2026HANSARDBBC Royal Charter: Gaelic BroadcastingMy Lords, another language in Scotland is Scots. Indeed, Burns wrote roughly half his poetry in in Scots, not least “Address to a Haggis”. Can the Minister tell us whether there…16 Jul 2026HANSARDMini-tender Offers: Protection for ShareholdersCan the Minister tell us what the Treasury is doing to collect the stamp duty that should be chargeable on transactions where there is documentation executed in the United…15 Jul 2026HANSARDNational Crime Agency: Reform Party FundingMy Lords, is it not the case that one thing that has allowed Reform and Nigel Farage to get off a little here is the sheer complexity of electoral law and the whole area around…14 Jul 2026HANSARDTributes: Lord Mackay of ClashfernMy Lords, it is a great privilege to follow three such speeches. The cries of dismay that greeted the Lord Speaker’s sad news of the death of the noble and learned Lord, Lord…09 Jul 2026HANSARDLord AdvocateI also welcome the Minister to her seat. The conflicts that have been described are particularly bad for political party and election law. The Political Parties, Elections and…08 Jul 2026HANSARDPolitical Party Finance and the Electoral CommissionThat this House takes note of the regulatory regime for political party finance and the role of the Electoral Commission.02 Jul 2026HANSARDPolitical Party Finance and the Electoral CommissionMy Lords, at the core of any western liberal democracy is trust. The citizen must trust the institutions that make up their democracy and the people within those institutions.…02 Jul 2026HANSARDPolitical Party Finance and the Electoral CommissionI thank all noble Lords who have taken part in the last very interesting 90 minutes. I thank particularly the Minister for answering very fully quite a lot of questions that were…02 Jul 2026HANSARDHares: Close SeasonMy Lords, I declare an interest in that I farm organically in Scotland and we have a number of hares around. In fact, when the close season came in in Scotland, it did not really…24 Jun 2026HANSARDAccess to Nature Green PaperMy Lords, the current 2p piece has an image on the back of a red squirrel. I wonder, as a serious point, whether the Green Paper could look at the establishment of red squirrel…03 Jun 2026HANSARDKing’s SpeechMy Lords, it is a great pleasure to follow on from the speeches of the noble Lords, Lord True and Lord Purvis. It was, if they do not mind me saying so, an even greater pleasure…13 May 2026HANSARDSenior Deputy SpeakerMy Lords, on behalf of the Cross Benches, I congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Ponsonby, on his appointment as Senior Deputy Speaker, and most importantly, actually, as Chairman of…13 May 2026HANSARDSustainable Farming Incentive: Flood Prevention and Drought ResilienceMy Lords, flood prevention still requires affordable insurance to back it up, because floods still happen when you try to prevent them. The eligibility criteria of Flood Re mean…23 Apr 2026HANSARDClerk of the ParliamentsMy Lords, it is a great pleasure to follow the noble Lord, Lord Purvis, and indeed to hear the wonderful remarks from the Leader and from the noble Lord, Lord True, earlier on. I…13 Apr 2026HANSARDFlood Detection and Prevention: Technological AssistanceMy Lords, no matter how good one is at detection and prevention, there will always be floods. That is why it is important to have insurance. The Flood Re scheme, which was…19 Mar 2026HANSARDRail Infrastructure Resilience: Storms and FloodsMy Lords, Network Rail—being, of course, a state entity—does not buy third-party insurance from anywhere, but the insurance industry has an amazing number of modellers and…19 Mar 2026HANSARDPension Schemes BillMy Lords, the noble Baroness, Lady Noakes, has graciously allowed me to intervene briefly. Earlier today during Question Time there were two Questions which involved insurance. I…19 Mar 2026HANSARDStrait of HormuzMy Lords, one of the precursors to the reopening of the commercial shipping lanes in the Strait of Hormuz would be the availability of reasonably priced insurance—and lots of it.…18 Mar 2026HANSARDHouse of Lords (Hereditary Peers) BillMy Lords, I will be brief. Finding the balance between, first, the Government’s 2024 manifesto, secondly, the maintenance of the separation of powers among the three legs of our…10 Mar 2026