Lords
Debate
5 January 2026
5 contributions
Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill
My Lords, I will please the Government by being extremely brief, because I spoke at length at Second Reading and in Committee and have contributed to every Question we have had on this subject.
I agree entirely with the noble Baronesses, Lady Hoey and Lady Meyer. Why do we have this indecent rush? …
Before the Minister sits down, could I clarify one point? She is aware that the committee was set up under the UN charter to monitor the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. All UN members signed up to that and, although it is advisory, it carries a huge…
+3 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
11 December 2025
Business Improvement Districts: Town Centre Renewal
As I have already said, the Chancellor announced a number of steps to support our high street businesses as part of the Budget process, including steps on business rates. We are all focused on making sure that we do all we can to support the hospitality industry, including the licensed trade, and we…
Lords
Oral Questions
9 December 2025
Tropical Forest Forever Facility
No. The particular circumstance surrounding the TFFF itself, as I am sure the noble Lord will be aware, was one of intense UK participation in the setting up of the TFFF. As the noble Lord mentions, we consider it to be an essential and significant initiative as far as the future of forests and biod…
Lords
Debate
25 November 2025
2 contributions
Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill
My Lords, I certainly do support the amendment moved by the noble Lord, Lord Hannan. I will be very brief. The amendment on which I want to focus is not one regarding referenda and consulting the Chagossian people, even though that is very important. Amendment 20L simply states—and I would be surpri…
I understand that, but circumstances can change and this may well be seen as a precedent in the future.
I want to mention one other territory: Anguilla. As the Minister will know, Anguilla went through a period of huge unrest to resist becoming part of St Kitts and Nevis. The consequence was that a…
Lords
Debate
25 November 2025
4 contributions
Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill
My Lords, I would certainly agree with the noble Lord, Lord Jay, when he says that the Chagossian people, in the disparate parts of the world in which they live, are not united on many issues. However, one thing on which they are united is their desire for employment opportunities on Diego Garcia, s…
Yes, the previous Government set out to give sovereignty to Mauritius across the archipelago, but not necessarily on the sovereign base. In fact, the noble Lord, Lord Cameron, has made it very clear that one of his red lines was protecting the sovereign base in perpetuity, as in Cyprus. That would h…
+2 more contributions in this session
Lords
Debate
18 November 2025
3 contributions
Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill
My Lords, I rise in support of the noble Lord, Lord Callanan. I think the noble Lord, Lord Grocott, was being a little bit unfair on him. He said very clearly that this is an appalling Bill that he wants to stop, and he has an amendment about Clause 1 standing part.
I would like to speak on one poi…
Will the Minister give way? We keep hearing that the previous Government negotiated over 11 rounds and went on negotiating, but surely that reveals something about the previous Government’s steadfast determination to secure a good deal. If the Government had not been able to get a deal, would they h…
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Proceedings
11 November 2025
Conflict in Sudan
My Lords, those were very moving remarks by the Minister. In addition to what the noble Baroness, Lady Sugg, said a moment ago, there are many other examples that the most appalling war crimes are being committed—crimes against humanity. The Minister mentioned the gathering of evidence. What early d…
Lords
Oral Questions
11 November 2025
Police: Records
The noble Lord makes a very important point. There is the idea of 43 police forces, going back to the noble Viscount’s initial point, but we should be trying to encourage co-operation on procurement, on personnel services and on a whole range of other issues where we can save resource and put it int…
Lords
Oral Questions
5 November 2025
Prison Services: Insourcing
The noble Lord is right that drugs are a huge problem: 49% of prisoners who arrive in prison declare to us that they are addicted to drugs and alcohol. We then put them in prison with many serious organised criminals, who make their livelihood from supplying drugs. That is where we have the problem.…
Lords
Debate
4 November 2025
2 contributions
Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill
My Lords, it is always a pleasure to follow the noble Lord, Lord Bellingham, and particularly his very thoughtful speech today. I say at the outset that I support the Bill as a necessary consequence of the Chagos Islands agreement, which I also support.
I will not deal with the future of the Chagos…
I am grateful to the noble Lord; I listened carefully to his speech, which he made in his characteristically sincere way. I will try to address that point in a moment.
I asked: what changed? In the absence of the noble Baroness, Lady Goldie, explaining when she winds up on behalf of her party what …
Lords
Oral Questions
29 October 2025
Corruption: Low and Middle-income Countries
We have had a great deal of success in seizing assets and returning them to those Governments. I remind the House that most people in positions of leadership across Africa are not corrupt and are working incredibly hard for the benefit of their populations. I know the noble Lord agrees with that. We…
Lords
Debate
27 October 2025
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
My Lords, I support both amendments. I made a speech in Committee in which I laid out very similar arguments to those put by the right reverend Prelate and the noble Baroness, Lady Willis. I will not repeat them now, except to say that the right reverend Prelate referred to a number of chalk streams…
Lords
Oral Questions
23 October 2025
Jobcentres: Staffing Levels
My Lords, I suspect that the noble Lord has been reading our Get Britain Working plan—that is the only explanation for that comment. That is exactly what we want to do, and he is so right on this. We have been saying from the beginning that one size does not fit all, and that in employment intervent…
Lords
Oral Questions
22 October 2025
Rules on Duty-Free Goods
This may have been another of the fantasies that people had about certain Brexit outcomes rather than reflecting reality. What we have ended up with—I pay tribute to the previous Government for negotiating this—is the Windsor Framework, which, as I said, is the best workable solution to Northern Ire…
Lords
Oral Questions
17 September 2025
Making Tax Digital
We have an extensive growth agenda, not least in the Planning and Infrastructure Bill that we talked about yesterday, and I hope all noble Lords will help that to move swiftly through the House.
Lords
Oral Questions
16 September 2025
Ethiopia and Eritrea
I thank the noble Lord; I would be delighted to play my part. I put that on record now. The question of working with international partners is central to this Government’s approach. The approach to any tensions should be about dialogue. We have helped to identify suitable facilitators for that dialo…
Lords
Debate
15 September 2025
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
My Lords, I support this amendment, which my noble friend has proposed with a very powerful argument indeed. He is not asking for a stop to housing or these other developments; he is asking for an audit so we have the information to hand.
I want to make just three quick points. Quite often, when it…
Lords
Debate
11 September 2025
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
My Lords, I speak in favour of Amendment 146, on which I am a co-signatory, and Amendments 147 and 148. I will be brief because we have already heard from three noble Lords who have made very powerful contributions—the noble Lords, Lord Blencathra and Lord Berkeley, and the noble Viscount, Lord Tren…
Lords
Oral Questions
16 July 2025
Diplomatic Missions: Unpaid Charges
I detect some co-ordination across the House this afternoon. We consider these to be debts, and we would like them to be paid. Like TfL and the Mayor of London, we continue to use our diplomatic best efforts to bring that about.
Lords
Oral Questions
10 July 2025
Falkland Islands: Fisheries Exports Tariffs
I wish the noble Lord had had that conversation with the previous Government, but he is right. I have been to the Falkland Islands—I went in 2018—and it is an incredibly important part of the British family in terms of its sovereignty. As regards what happens next, a key point in our conversations w…
Lords
Oral Questions
3 July 2025
2 contributions
Music Festivals: Hate Speech
My Lords, the Prime Minister has been very clear that there is no excuse for hate speech. Performers making threats or inciting violence should not be given a platform at any event. The Culture Secretary has confirmed that she will be having conversations with the BBC and festival organisers to ensu…
First, let me just say to the noble Lord that my right honourable friend the Culture Secretary is in urgent conversation with the BBC and has requested urgent clarification on what action was taken and why it was not taken in the way in which the noble Lord has mentioned. If he will allow me, I will…
Lords
Proceedings
30 June 2025
UK-Mauritius Agreement on the Chagos Archipelago
My Lords, I am delighted to have listened to the noble and learned Baroness, Lady Prentis, give an absolutely wonderful oration and to demonstrate how the one-in, one-out principle might usefully be applied on Wednesday.
A deal is not a deal until it is done. Regardless of what happened before July…
Lords
Debate
19 June 2025
Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill
My Lords, I was not originally planning to trouble this chorus, so I will be very brief. It is a pleasure to follow my noble friend Lord Moynihan. I absolutely endorse and support his Amendment 185A, which he spoke to just now in very cogent and powerful terms. If we can ensure that there is more sp…
Lords
Debate
17 June 2025
2 contributions
Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill
My Lords, I open this important group of amendments on regional care co-operatives with my Amendment 107D.
We will hear later about the stresses and pressures on local authorities in relation to the cost of children’s homes. The establishment of regional care co-operatives was a key recommendation …
My Lords, I am very grateful to the Minister for the extremely comprehensive response that she has given the Committee; it lasted a while but she covered a lot of ground on a lot of amendments.
I certainly agree with what she had to say about the wider strategy of trying to fix the current placemen…
Lords
Debate
12 June 2025
2 contributions
Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill
My Lords, my Amendment 83 seeks to address what is currently a series of gaps in the information that we have about the effectiveness of the virtual school head role. Clause 6 extends the statutory duties of the VSH role to children with a social worker and children in kinship care. The question is …
I am very grateful for the comprehensive and courteous way that the Minister has responded to the amendments. Can she comment on the need, as I see it, for some sort of report back to Parliament?