Lords
Proceedings
18 June 2026
2 contributions
Face-to-face Banking Services
My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper. In so doing, I am sure the whole House will want to join me in wishing Garter King of Arms, this being his last Introduction, a very happy retirement and all best wishes.
My Lords, I welcome the Minister’s reply, as well as the Government’s Access to Banking Services review and the powers they have committed to taking through the Financial Services and Markets Bill. Everybody knows the negative impacts that the denial of face-to-face banking has on communities, small…
Lords
Proceedings
10 June 2026
North Belfast: Violent Attack
My Lords, scenes of appalling violence that we have seen in Belfast and in north Belfast, which I used to have the honour to represent in the other place, have been rightly condemned by everybody. Such violence serves absolutely no purpose except to hurt communities and innocent people and should no…
Lords
Proceedings
20 May 2026
King’s Speech
It is a pleasure to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Wheatcroft, and I entirely agree with what she said about social care and the need for a timetable—that is a glaring omission from the Government’s programme.
I will speak mainly about health. The NHS modernisation Bill in the gracious Speech prom…
Lords
Proceedings
19 May 2026
VAT Relief: Business Donations
My Lords, I welcome what the Minister said about this relief. Could he expand on what regard he had to Article 8 of the Windsor Framework, which requires part of the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland, to be aligned with the EU, rather than with the rest of the UK, in VAT and excise duties? Perhaps he…
Lords
Committee Stage
25 March 2026
Northern Ireland After Brexit (Northern Ireland Scrutiny Committee Report)
My Lords, I will not delay the Committee in repeating what both the chairman and the noble Lord, Lord Murphy, said, with which I am in complete agreement. I thank the noble Lord, Lord Murphy, for working with us on his report. It was wonderful to have these two reports going simultaneously. I thank …
Lords
Statutory Instrument
12 March 2026
2 contributions
Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme (Amendment) (Extension to Maritime Activities) Order 2026
I thank the noble Baroness, who raises a very important point, because when the Safeguarding the Union Command Paper was published, and was heavily sold in order to get the restoration of the Assembly and the Executive and so on, great emphasis was put upon this guarantee in the United Kingdom Inter…
My Lords, we have heard from the noble Baroness, Lady Hoey, my noble friend Lord Moynihan and from other noble Lords regarding the situation facing Northern Ireland’s ferry services and the shenanigans that are certainly coming to light today. Having been raised in the Republic of Ireland, I well re…
Lords
Debate
3 March 2026
Tobacco and Vapes Bill
My Lords, I am grateful to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Ritchie, but say gently to her that Brexit has allowed the UK Government to pursue this legislation. As we have seen in the cases of Denmark and the Irish Republic, both Governments, whatever they might decide to do in the future, are decidi…
Lords
Proceedings
26 February 2026
Resetting the UK-EU Relationship (European Affairs Committee Report)
My Lords, I am very glad that the title of the excellent report we are discussing refers to a “reset”. Indeed, there seems general agreement in all the documents, including the Government’s response, that it is a reset, which we can define very widely. It is certainly “unfinished business” and certa…
Lords
Oral Questions
26 February 2026
Duty Relief Exemption: Small Parcels
I am grateful to the noble Lord for the points that he makes. As I said, the EU negotiations will cover an SPS agreement, which will have significant advantages for trade and the movement of goods between Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the EU, and help boost our exports. Similarly, the negot…
Lords
Proceedings
29 January 2026
UK-EU Customs Union
My Lords, I too congratulate the maiden speakers on their contributions. Time restricts me from saying more, but time does not diminish the warmth of my welcome to them, and I look forward to hearing from them on many occasions in the future.
When I began to consider this Motion from the noble Lord…
Lords
Debate
27 January 2026
Crime and Policing Bill
My Lords, I want to contribute briefly, because we have had some powerful speeches and important contributions. Wherever you stand on the issue of Palestine Action and the arguments around that, one thing that we are all agreed on, as we have heard in this debate, is that the glorification of terror…
Lords
Proceedings
8 January 2026
Broadcasting: Recent Developments
My Lords, I add my thanks to my noble friend Lord Fowler for his powerful introduction and declare my interest as a state secondary school teacher.
When talking about broadcasting, there is a tendency to look back at a pre-internet, pre-satellite halcyon time: a golden age of TV with three channels…
Lords
Committee Stage
25 November 2025
3 contributions
Road Vehicles (Type-Approval) (Amendment) Regulations 2025
My Lords, I will speak also to the Road Vehicles (Type-Approval) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations.
The stated purpose of these regulations is to bring Great Britain’s vehicle type approval regime into closer alignment with the European Union legislation—legislation which, of course, applies in North…
My Lords, I know there are a lot of colleagues from Northern Ireland present. Before we hear the elaboration here, I would just like to get some clarification, if I may, from the Minister.
We are, of course, party to the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe—1958 was the agreement signed by…
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Debate
21 November 2025
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
Some noble Lords are becoming exasperated or resentful about the time that we are taking to consider these important amendments today. I say gently that, had some of these issues been dealt with in a different way in the other place, we would not have to spend the time we are spending in this House …
Lords
Statutory Instrument
20 November 2025
Radio Equipment (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2025
At the commencement of her address to the Chamber, the noble Baroness said that she was a member of the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee. I noticed that its 39th report said, at paragraph 35, that the Department for Business and Trade
“therefore does not anticipate ‘any significant impacts’…
Lords
Committee Stage
13 November 2025
Tobacco and Vapes Bill
My Lords, I support the amendment standing in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Hoey, and of course Amendment 200, which stands in her name and my own. I look forward to the Minister’s response to this debate, because she is now expected to deliver not just political answers but legal judgments. …
Lords
Proceedings
5 November 2025
“Soldier F” Trial Verdict
My Lords, when even the judge in this case has said that the evidence fell well short of the standard required, can the Minister understand why most people regard these prosecutions, particularly this one, as vexatious? Can she understand the feeling among many people in Northern Ireland, from all c…
Lords
Statutory Instrument
30 October 2025
Control of Mercury (Enforcement) (Amendment) Regulations 2025
My Lords, I welcome the amendment from the noble Baroness, Lady Hoey, because it allows us to debate a very important subject. It is important on two counts, as we heard in the debate: first, on the constitutional issue, and, secondly, on the merits or demerits of amalgam—and some powerful speeches …
Lords
Proceedings
20 October 2025
Northern Ireland Troubles
My Lords, I thank the Minister for repeating the Statement. I too pay tribute to all the victims, the survivors and their families, who have suffered so much over many decades of the Troubles. She will be aware that there was great annoyance that this Statement was originally made when the other pla…
Lords
Debate
12 September 2025
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
My Lords, as we heard earlier, this past Wednesday was World Suicide Prevention Day. Suicide is always a tragedy, and its effects profoundly felt by whole communities as well as the immediate family. As legislators, I believe we have a responsibility to affirm every life as having inherent and equal…
Lords
Proceedings
1 July 2025
G7 and NATO Summits
I thank the Minister for what she said about Glastonbury and the BBC, but it should be remembered that more than one act engaged in vile, pro-violence, pro-terror remarks. This Kneecap outfit from Belfast also needs to be condemned and called out for their pro-terrorism activities.
I also welcome w…
Lords
Statutory Instrument
30 June 2025
Marking of Retail Goods Regulations 2025
My Lords, we need to think of the Minister’s welfare. I am quite sure that she probably needs counselling, coming to these debates. We see the array of people on the Benches beside me here and the degree of interest there is in this. But that should not undermine the significance of what we are disc…
Lords
Proceedings
24 June 2025
UK Infrastructure: 10-year Strategy
I very much welcome the strategy that the Minister relayed to your Lordships’ House. However, I refer him to the decision yesterday in the Northern Ireland High Court, which struck down the Northern Ireland Executive’s major flagship project from the Department for Infrastructure—a £1.7 billion upgr…