Lords
Debate
17 March 2026
Lord Mandelson: Response to Humble Address Motion
My Lords, the humble Address referred on several occasions to electronic communications between officials in the Government and political appointees. Under the Freedom of Information Act, it has been long-standing practice that communications between Ministers and officials, on whatever device, and …
Lords
Proceedings
16 March 2026
2 contributions
Social Cohesion Action Plan
My Lords, may I take the Minister back to—
My Lords, I take the Minister back to the question that she was asked by my noble friend Lady Scott in the context of the excellent report Time for Change by the Union of Jewish Students. This unfortunately makes it clear that antisemitism is being normalised across campuses. If university leaders f…
Lords
Oral Questions
16 March 2026
UK Domestic Visitor Levy
We would not have such a problem with the cost of living if the previous Government had not driven up cost of living pressures, as evidenced by the action we had to take in this Budget to take an average £150 off household energy bills from April and to freeze rail fares and prescription fees for a …
Lords
Debate
13 March 2026
9 contributions
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
I want to pick up a point made by the noble Baroness, Lady Berger, and the noble and learned Lord’s response to it. There are two aspects to what she said: whether the noble and learned Lord thought that any of the specific amendments might need bringing forward in a different form, and whether he t…
My Lords, I will come on to the exposition by the noble Baroness, Lady Finlay, on this group of amendments shortly. I will also pick up on the important and perfectly fair point raised by the noble Baroness, Lady Jay of Paddington, following on from the speech of my noble friend Lord Deben, about wh…
+7 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
11 March 2026
UK Space Economy
The noble Lord makes two important points. On the regulatory framework, the CAA has been doing some excellent work in supporting the development of a space regime that allows the UK to be a very attractive place for all sorts of space activity, including launch. The space indemnities Act is supporti…
Lords
Oral Questions
9 March 2026
Iran and the Middle East
I am sorry, but my noble friend the Minister for Defence was saying something while the noble Lord was speaking. I think he was trying to be helpful.
Lords
Oral Questions
5 March 2026
Access to Work Fund
I am grateful to the noble Lord both for the history lesson and for his support. Access to Work has many challenges, but getting people to apply for it is not chief among them. One of the challenges is that, although we are spending record amounts of money, we are still supporting only around 1% of …
Lords
Oral Questions
3 March 2026
Assisted Dying Legislation: Isle of Man and Jersey
Can anybody think of another way for me to say that the Government are neutral in relation to this Bill? And I am certainly not going to comment on matters that are for the sponsor.
Lords
Oral Questions
3 March 2026
2 contributions
Defence Industrial Strategy 2025: Economic Growth and Job Creation
My Lords—
I understand the point the noble Lord is making, and it raised some mirth in here, but the defence investment plan will be published when it is ready and when the Government have made the decisions about matching the budget to the capabilities they want. These capabilities should be matched to the d…
Lords
Debate
27 February 2026
10 contributions
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
My Lords, I have a couple of points to make on this group of amendments. Let me start on a note of agreement with the Bill’s sponsor, the noble and learned Lord, Lord Falconer, who has in this group Amendment 131A, which would require:
“Before making an appointment under this section, the Prime Min…
I think that is right and that that is a concern. The noble Baroness, Lady Fox, set it out very well. There are two approaches in this group of amendments to deal with that issue, and I want to explain why I have come down on one side rather than the other. There is the approach that my noble and le…
+8 more contributions in this session
Lords
Proceedings
27 February 2026
4 contributions
Arrangement of Business
My Lords, I thank the Chief Whip for the remarks he made earlier and the response that he made in writing to me following the remarks I made at the end of the last session when we had adjourned mid-group. He has committed to make the list that the clerks will compile of those that were present at th…
I hear noble Lords groaning, but the average length of a speech in Committee so far has been less than five—
+2 more contributions in this session
Lords
Proceedings
24 February 2026
Lord Mandelson: Government Response to Humble Address
My Lords, the Leader of the House referred to things we did not know. The problem for the Prime Minister is that he confirmed in the House of Commons that he did know that Lord Mandelson had an ongoing relationship with Jeffrey Epstein after he had been convicted for child sex trafficking, and he st…
Lords
Proceedings
24 February 2026
Labour Together and APCO Worldwide: Cabinet Office Review
My Lords, I point out that the Minister has just highlighted the flaw in this process. When the Prime Minister makes a decision about the continuation of Mr Simons as a Minister, will he have just the information provided by the Independent Adviser on Ministerial Standards, or will he look at Mr Sim…
Lords
Debate
24 February 2026
Sustainable Aviation Fuel Bill
I welcome the passage of this Bill. It will result in a slight increase in costs as far as the training sector of aviation is concerned, but that is a small price to pay for the overall benefits.
Lords
Oral Questions
11 February 2026
Renters’ Rights Act: Implementation
It will lead to better conditions for renters and will remove some of the barriers that stop people renting, as well as barriers that can prevent renters maintaining a tenancy. We have banned rental bidding, levelling the playing field for renters; landlords will no longer be able to encourage prosp…
Lords
Proceedings
10 February 2026
Standards in Public Life
My Lords, on 27 December 2025, the Sunday Times reported that the now noble Lord, Lord Doyle, had campaigned for Sean Morton after he was charged with child sex offences. The Letters Patent were not sealed until 13 January this year, so for 17 days the Prime Minister supported the process of conferr…
Lords
Debate
10 February 2026
6 contributions
Sustainable Aviation Fuel Bill
My Lords, before I start, I draw attention to my entry in the register as non-exec chair of RVL Aviation, which is in the aviation sector but not involved in the production of sustainable aviation fuel.
I strongly support this move to make sure that we do not include food crops. I have one caveat, …
May I press the Minister a little on the point the noble Lord, Lord Moylan, made? I listened very carefully both times he said it. The Government’s intention, unless something changes, is to exclude HEFA. Can he commit that if that intention changes and the Government direct some contracts to be iss…
+4 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
9 February 2026
Hospitals: Delayed Discharges
I always look forward to the noble Lord’s questions. I do not think I have an answer to his question at this moment in time, other than to say that the noble Baroness, Lady Casey, is absolutely determined and committed to this work, and we will do everything we can to support her in it.
Lords
Debate
6 February 2026
7 contributions
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
My Lords, I will speak briefly to put on the record one useful piece of information, which is very relevant to the debates that we have had. Somebody previously referred to the welcome cancer plan that the Government published, and I thought it worth sharing with the Committee that there was an impo…
Having listened to my noble friend Lord Moylan respond to what the Minister said, I confess to being a little confused. The Minister seemed to be saying, in her comments about some of the amendments in this group, that the problem with having a list of conditions is that you could quite often have a…
+5 more contributions in this session
Lords
Proceedings
3 February 2026
Police Reform White Paper
My Lords, I am grateful that the Minister is leaving the British Transport Police alone. In my experience, it works very well and is led by an outstanding chief constable. I may have missed it, but I am not sure he said where royal protection is going to sit in this tier of policing. It is a signifi…
Lords
Debate
30 January 2026
9 contributions
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
My Lords, having listened to this debate, I am struck that there seems to be a fair bit of consensus. Thinking back to the arrangement of business discussion we had about the pace before this debate, I have listened to the number of people who quoted Kim Leadbeater and her uncomfortableness about ma…
The noble Baroness makes a very good point which illustrates the importance of being able to ask people questions directly rather than hearing reports of what they have said or seeing it on a video call. That is the importance of in-person conversation and the ability to ask questions and hear answe…
+7 more contributions in this session