Lords
Oral Questions
3 November 2025
Public/Private Partnerships: Shares
We will look at public/private partnerships in the future. We are looking at them in a limited way for neighbourhood health centres, for example, and public estate decontamination projects, but we need certainty over future funding, which is why we have committed over the next decade at least £725 b…
Lords
Oral Questions
30 October 2025
Heathrow Airport: Third Runway
I had a feeling that fish and books would come up again because they came up on Monday. Of course, value and size are two different things. The point of an international hub airport—of which I should continue to say we have only one and we will have only one, which is Heathrow—is international conne…
Lords
Oral Questions
30 October 2025
Public and Private Sector Productivity Trends
Yes, I absolutely recognise the problem and I agree with 90% of what the noble Baroness said. The only part I disagreed with was when she criticised the Government. I agree: digital adoption and AI adoption will be central to solving the productivity problem. SMEs are vital to that. It is why digita…
Lords
Proceedings
27 October 2025
2 contributions
Heathrow: National Airports Review
My Lords—oh, I am sorry.
My Lords, on the freight issue, the noble Lord, Lord Harper, as a former Transport Secretary, will know that the primary freight exported out of Heathrow is fish. That is overwhelmingly the majority of the freight. Number two is books. The notion that there is high-value product going through the sy…
Lords
Oral Questions
22 October 2025
2 contributions
Rules on Duty-Free Goods
My Lords—
I am grateful to the noble Baroness for her question and I pay tribute to her consistency on this matter. We share many similarities in our observations and analysis of the impact of Brexit. She will know that we are engaged in the EU reset, which will achieve substantial benefits for growth in the …
Lords
Debate
21 October 2025
Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill
My Lords, I will be very brief. I laid Amendment 92 in the same spirit as the amendments that I laid in an earlier group. The part of paragraph 3 of Schedule 5 that I find most difficult is a subset of the requirement for banks to provide information. The overarching requirement instructs banks to h…
Lords
Debate
21 October 2025
Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill
My Lords, I will be very brief. The noble Lord, Lord Vaux, has amendments in this and other groups, several of which I have signed, to try to ameliorate or provide safeguards for some of the most intrusive elements of the current draft of the Bill. I also have great sympathy with the amendments tabl…
Lords
Oral Questions
21 October 2025
2 contributions
Great British Railways: Rolling Stock
Oh!
The noble Baroness is right that there are a lot of old vehicles. The average age of vehicles on the national network is 17 years. There are 12,000 vehicles across 14 operators, and it is essential that we plan for the future, if only because several thousand jobs in the manufacturing plant in Derby…
Lords
Debate
20 October 2025
2 contributions
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
My Lords, I recognise there is a lot of business to get through tonight, so I will be brief.
When whistleblowing was discussed in Committee, speakers from around the Chamber—except, sadly, the Government—seemed to recognise that the current whistleblowing framework is unfit for purpose. It is the f…
My Lords, I am saddened by the Government’s response. The next time we have a major project and there is a major scandal, they will have to take ownership of it. They looked at the framework that delivered us the problems on HS2. The names of the whistleblowers are now public: Doug Thornton and othe…
Lords
Oral Questions
20 October 2025
GDP Per Capita
I hear what the noble Baroness says. The OBR is currently considering the economic and fiscal impacts of the immigration White Paper published in May and will report back in its forecast in the autumn. Of course, she is right that we are in a global race for talent, with many countries seeking to im…
Lords
Oral Questions
16 October 2025
Stablecoin Ownership
I do not accept what the noble Baroness says. There are, of course, financial stability and other considerations associated with stablecoin, but these need to be balanced against supporting innovation and ensuring the UK positions itself as a competitive global destination for digital assets. As I s…
Lords
Debate
15 October 2025
3 contributions
Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill
My Lords, I have tabled Amendments 1 and 20 in this group to raise again the issue of whistleblowing. Sadly, I do not think it is necessary to repeat in any detail why the existing whistleblowing framework is completely inadequate. We have to look only at the scandals of the Post Office, contaminate…
My Lords, the Minister has described some real momentum. As I say, we would always want more; when we put down amendments, we have an ideal target in mind, but this is an area where progress matters. I thank the Minister and I will indeed withdraw my amendment.
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
13 October 2025
School Fees: VAT
I am grateful to the noble Baroness for her question. I know that this is an issue that she cares deeply about; we have had discussions on this point in the past. We recognise that the current SEN system is not delivering the outcomes that pupils and parents rightly expect and is placing unsustainab…
Lords
Oral Questions
18 September 2025
Rail Fares
The noble Baroness highlights that the number of discount cards has grown over the years. Some of them have different conditions from others, so it is quite hard to understand, if you do not have one, which one might be applicable. We are mindful that, when GBR is up and running, it addresses consis…
Lords
Committee Stage
17 September 2025
Financial Services (Overseas Recognition Regime Designations) Regulations 2025
My Lords, I am grateful to the Minister for introducing the statutory instrument crisply and clearly. I am also grateful to the noble Baroness, Lady Kramer, for her usual well-informed comments, including those on the digital aspects of this proposal. I think that I am, however, more in favour of gr…
Lords
Oral Questions
17 September 2025
Making Tax Digital
If I may, I disagree with the premise of the noble Baroness’s question. Making Tax Digital is about increasing productivity for businesses and helping HMRC close the tax gap, which I am sure the noble Baroness would agree should be a priority. There are clear benefits of Making Tax Digital, such as …
Lords
Oral Questions
9 September 2025
Pension Funds: Use of UK-listed Investment Companies
I am grateful to the noble Baroness and pay tribute to her for her expertise in this matter and her continued campaigning. As I have said before, the Mansion House accord is an industry-led agreement. The Government are not participants in it. The proposed backstop powers in the legislation that she…
Lords
Oral Questions
2 September 2025
Gilt Yields
I am grateful to the noble Baroness for her question. As I have said, recent gilt yields have risen in line with global peers, mainly driven by global factors. Recent gilt market moves have been orderly; the gilt market is deep and liquid, with a good track record in responding smoothly to volatilit…
Lords
Debate
24 July 2025
2 contributions
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
My Lords, Amendment 53A is in my name and that of my noble friend Lord Shipley, who is unable to be here today. This Bill is part of the Government’s programme to unleash new infrastructure projects across sectors and in every part of the country. It is a vital part of the strategy for growth. Such …
My Lords, I am obviously not encouraged by the government response. It seems a weakness not to recognise how essential it is that there is transparency in major infrastructure projects, for the sake of everybody involved—but I was very encouraged by the comments across the Floor. I am not precious a…
Lords
Proceedings
23 July 2025
Financial Services Reform
My Lords, I spent two years on the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards following the 2008 crash. We were all aware that the financial sector and the City would, over time, work hard to erode the protections that we recommended to prevent a repeat of financial instability, casino-type risk-…
Lords
Debate
23 July 2025
Armed Forces Commissioner Bill
My Lords, I will be so brief that they will not have enough time to put my name on the annunciator.
I welcome the agreement that has been reached and I think that this is a good example of the House improving what is an important Bill, which I hope will succeed in every respect. I pay tribute to al…
Lords
Oral Questions
22 July 2025
2 contributions
Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy: Givinostat
NICE is currently evaluating givinostat for the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy to determine whether it should be funded by the NHS, based on the evidence of its costs and benefits. Its independent appraisal committee met on 10 July, and I understand that NICE will issue draft guidance shor…
The noble Baroness raises a very interesting point. The drug companies will provide the drugs for free, but it is down to individual trusts to pay the administrative costs. She highlights that one boy in one trust is being supported, while another boy is not. It is a difficult situation; I completel…
Lords
Debate
16 July 2025
2 contributions
Employment Rights Bill
My Lords, I will not move Amendment 95, but I take a different position on Amendment 96.
On Monday, the Government published their long-awaited Grant Thornton review of the existing whistleblower framework. Despite its narrow remit, the review is, frankly, jaw-dropping, and the Government have no c…
On this amendment, I wish to test the opinion of the House.
Lords
Oral Questions
15 July 2025
Taxes
The noble Baroness is speculating on a speech that has not been delivered yet, so perhaps we should wait for the Mansion House speech this evening to see what my right honourable friend the Chancellor of Exchequer says in it. Absolutely, though, the Chancellor wants to see a greater rebalancing from…