Lords
Committee Stage
10 September 2026
2 contributions
Railways Bill
My Lords, I rise briefly to support what my noble friend Lord Lansley has said on his Amendment 26. I had some dealings on this when the Prime Minister was the Mayor of the Greater Manchester and when Andy Street was Mayor of the West Midlands. Both of them engaged with the department on their desir…
Before the Minister concludes, may I respond, since I was one of the Members who raised this issue? I thank him for what he has just said and for the very helpful letter that he sent, to which the noble Lord, Lord Moylan, referred. I took the time to study it this morning, since I was the one who ra…
Lords
Proceedings
7 September 2026
2 contributions
Local Government Reorganisation
My Lords—
My Lords, I would like to probe the Minister on a couple of the things she said, because I think they were a tiny bit inconsistent. The Statement says that there will be a full review and the Minister said it would be a rapid review—and she also said in one of her answers that outside organisations …
Lords
Proceedings
21 July 2026
Domestic Travel and Holidays: Visitor Levy
My Lords, I noticed very carefully the Minister’s well-crafted job application. I hope the Prime Minister notices it as well and that the Minister is successful. He has done it with a smile on his face and with the right attitude, so I wish him good luck. I noticed that, in his Answer, he referred t…
Lords
Proceedings
20 July 2026
People with Learning Disabilities: Acute Illness
My Lords, in her Answer, the Minister mentioned accountability. Given that the report demonstrated that the gaps are very significant, with something like 50% of hospitals not even being able to record a patient’s learning disability on their digital record, what are the Government doing to track pr…
Lords
Debate
13 July 2026
Railways Bill
Just before the Minister rises, I ask him to forgive me, as an even newer Member of the House than my noble friend. I fear that we, as former Transport Secretaries, have managed to appear in threes; I hope that will not be a precedent.
I echo what my noble friends said. This is supposed to be a fla…
Lords
Debate
13 July 2026
Civil Aviation (Consumer Protection and Regulatory Reform) Bill [HL]
My Lords, I will speak briefly in support of my noble friend Lord Moylan’s two amendments. I have some general remarks about them, and two specific points which are questions to the Minister.
The first point, which I will not labour at length since we dealt with it in Committee, is the focus of my …
Lords
Proceedings
8 July 2026
Maritime and Coastguard Agency
My Lords, I am grateful for the Minister’s opening Answer, when he noted that the Maritime Minister was reflecting. This sounds like a case where it would be better to embrace the court decision, recognise the worker status and take the steps necessary to properly reward people who do incredibly val…
Lords
Proceedings
1 July 2026
Drink-Driving
My Lords, perhaps I might ask the Minister, given that there have been questions both about reducing the threshold for drink driving but also about enforcement from the noble Baroness, Lady Hayter, what is the Government’s assessment, because it was not clear from the road safety plan, of the bigges…
Lords
Proceedings
29 June 2026
Immigration and Asylum: Appeals
My Lords, I accept that the Minister is a little frustrated, but this is what happens when you trail things in the media ahead of a Bill being published. He cannot expect people not to have questions. If he does not want questions in advance, he should not do the trailing. In the trailing in the med…
Lords
Proceedings
25 June 2026
Waste Management Carriers: Regulation
My Lords, to follow up on the Minister’s answer to the noble Lord, Lord Beamish, he perfectly properly trumpeted increased prosecution and enforcement statistics, but those are meaningful only if we know how big a proportion of the whole problem they represent. What confidence does she have that the…
Lords
Proceedings
22 June 2026
NHS: Dementia Treatment Trials
My Lords, NHS England has said that implementing some of the new, promising drugs that exist, when they get clearance from NICE, is going to be one of the biggest challenges the NHS has faced in its 75 years. Is the Minister confident that the steps that she has set out for improving diagnosis are u…
Lords
Proceedings
9 June 2026
Lord Mandelson Humble Address
My Lords, can I just probe the Minister a little more on that question? The messages that were published between Lord Mandelson and the Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister were clearly within the terms of the humble Address. They were not published. That raises two questions. First, why did the Mi…
Lords
Proceedings
8 June 2026
UK Defence Capability
My Lords, the Minister drew attention to recent reports in the media about funding the defence investment plan. Given that we are only a few weeks away from its publication, assuming it does hit the pre-NATO summit deadline, does he think that what can only be described as a Cabinet whip-round to pa…
Lords
Committee Stage
4 June 2026
2 contributions
AI Regulation Bill
My Lords, I thank my noble friend Lord Holmes for securing this debate, which has given us the opportunity, albeit briefly, to talk about this subject. I also thank the noble Baroness, Lady Alexander, for what I think was intended as a kind remark.
I support a principles-based approach, which is no…
Just before the Minister sits down—we have seven minutes left before the debate runs out—can I ask her a question? My noble friend Lord Holmes drew attention to the Government’s original commitment to legislate for a cross-sector approach, and he referenced how the Government have now dropped that c…
Lords
Proceedings
3 June 2026
Cabinet Manual: Guidelines for Government Formation
My Lords, as the Minister responsible for the production of the Cabinet Manual in 2011, I have to confess that I expected that it would have been updated before now, so I welcomed the Prime Minister’s announcement yesterday. I can confirm that one section that does not need updating is the bit about…
Lords
Debate
2 June 2026
Civil Aviation (Consumer Protection and Regulatory Reform) Bill [HL]
My Lords, before I start my remarks, I draw attention to my declaration in the register of interests as the non-executive chair of RVL Aviation.
The Minister will, I hope, be pleased to know that I, for one, broadly support the Bill, although there are some areas where I have some questions and con…
Lords
Proceedings
1 June 2026
For Women Scotland Ltd v Scottish Ministers
My Lords, I draw the Minister back to the noble Lord’s original Question, which was about which government departments are not complying with the Supreme Court’s judgment. I asked the noble Lord, Lord Collins, twice in this House to confirm that all government departments were fully complying with t…
Lords
Proceedings
20 May 2026
2 contributions
Supermarkets: Voluntary Price Caps
My Lords—
I am grateful to the Government Chief Whip. The Minister will be aware that the Scottish Government are proposing compulsory caps on the prices of basic foodstuffs in supermarkets that operate in Scotland. Can the Minister confirm for the benefit of your Lordships whether that power is actually with…
Lords
Proceedings
19 May 2026
Defence, Security and Resilience Bank
My Lords, on a note of agreement, I agree with the Minister—I think—on his position on the defence bank, which may surprise him. He set out the importance of defence procurement. Given that there was much speculative briefing over the past few days about the Government’s defence spending commitments…
Lords
Proceedings
19 May 2026
Lord Mandelson: Government Response to Humble Address
My Lords, can I press the Minister a little on the timing point and the need for scrutiny? Presumably, the Government are planning on a Minister, in both the other place and this place, making a Statement when this information is published: I see that the noble Baroness is nodding. She was careful t…
Lords
Debate
24 April 2026
2 contributions
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
I thank the noble Lord for giving way. As he indicated, over 300 disability groups have expressed concerns about this. I do not think that a single disability group has come out in favour of it. That has led, in part, to the problems that we have faced. There has been a wide range of amendments, par…
My Lords, the House of Commons and the public want the Bill, but the number of amendments and the length of the speeches mean that we have run out of time, so it cannot go back to the Commons. This is bad for democracy. Even more seriously, it is bad for the terminally ill—those mentally competent a…
Lords
Proceedings
20 April 2026
Security Vetting
My Lords, the Prime Minister made it clear that he would have not made the appointment if he had the information from UK Security Vetting. At any point, did the Prime Minister or those working for him ask what the result of the UK security vetting process was? If not, why not?