Lords
Oral Questions
12 January 2026
Defending Democracy Taskforce
It is important that any information that comes from Sir Philip Rycroft’s review or from the separate review from the Security Minister is analysed. There will always obviously be restrictions on the information we can put into the public domain, but I will take away what the noble Lord has requeste…
Lords
Oral Questions
8 January 2026
Greenland
That is why there are now contracts out for more such vessels. I draw noble Lords’ attention to the fact that we made some difficult decisions last year about spending. The purpose of that was to increase our spending on defence, which I think is being shown this year to have been the right decision…
Lords
Oral Questions
5 January 2026
Muslim Brotherhood
President Trump is responsible for the policy of the United States. The noble Lord will know that, before Christmas, the United States produced a document on its approach to foreign policy. We are an independent nation and we will look at any issues with the interests of the United Kingdom. In this …
Lords
Proceedings
18 December 2025
UK-EU Common Understanding Negotiations
My Lords, we on these Benches welcome the Statement and the achievement. We regret only that the Government are moving so slowly. I note that this means we differ considerably from the Conservative Front Bench, although I was relieved that the noble Earl’s words were a little less hysterical than th…
Lords
Oral Questions
17 December 2025
Office for the Impact Economy
My Lords, I thought it was the season of goodwill and I genuinely thought there was going to be a positive question. In terms of visibility, let us be clear that the Office for the Impact Economy was announced by the Prime Minister—I am not sure how much more visible or committed we can be. Also, th…
Lords
Proceedings
16 December 2025
US National Security Strategy
My Lords, I declare an interest as someone who lived in the United States for four years and has spent a lot of time since then working on US-UK and transatlantic relations. The Government should not underestimate the seriousness of what is behind this. We have three more years of a Trump presidency…
Lords
Proceedings
10 December 2025
Ajax Armoured Vehicle
My Lords, we on these Benches also recognise the responsibilities we have with troops now helping to train the Ukrainian army and we send our condolences; we know that we are committed to Ukraine. Now that we are waiting for further comments on what is really happening with the Ajax vehicle, can I a…
Lords
Proceedings
26 November 2025
Ministerial Code
My Lords, we on these Benches see a very large pot attacking a rather smaller kettle. The Conservatives, as a responsible Opposition, must own and admit their own past record on this; on public appointments, including to the BBC board, the Conservatives have a number of answers to give. I am constan…
Lords
Oral Questions
26 November 2025
Charities: Advancement of Religion
My understanding is that a number of the measures being considered would not require primary legislation, but others might at some point in the future. I am happy to write to the noble Lord relating to the specific point that he raises.
Lords
Oral Questions
19 November 2025
Telegraph Media Group
We would love to have a bit more balance in the written media. However, I am absolutely committed, as is the Secretary of State, to continuing to see the Telegraph remain as one of the key newspapers among a whole host of newspapers with centuries-old traditions.
Lords
Oral Questions
11 November 2025
Police: Records
Absolutely. The whole principle of policing is that it represents and is accountable to the local community. If I may say so to the noble Lord, it is still absolutely vital that we get best value out of the police resources that are put in. It is a valuable course of action to follow to find mechani…
Lords
Oral Questions
10 November 2025
Office for National Statistics
The noble Lord raises a very important point about data sharing of statistics. The ONS, which we all talk about regularly, is only one of nearly 200 organisations that provide government data and are governed by the Office for Statistics Regulation. As for how we can move forward, there is a new fra…
Lords
Oral Questions
29 October 2025
Youth Mobility Scheme
I would like to reassure the noble Lord that a teaching assistant exchange already exists, and I am more than happy to write to him with the details of that scheme. The Turing scheme has provided over 35,000 opportunities for young people, and in Wales and Scotland there are the Taith and SEEP schem…
Lords
Oral Questions
28 October 2025
Built Environment Sector
The noble Lord raises some very interesting observations on density in the UK and in his local area. This is probably something that local planning authorities and developers are best placed to opine on, in consultation and taking into account the local area. One thing that the New Towns Taskforce s…
Lords
Oral Questions
22 October 2025
International Maritime Organization: Net-Zero Framework
I will certainly take away the noble Lord’s suggestion of regional action, but it is not the same as a worldwide agreement to change emissions from shipping, and we should not shy away from trying to persuade people of that, not least because the technology used will always be better and cheaper if …
Lords
Oral Questions
11 September 2025
UK and EU Trade: Arts and Creative Industries
I do not recognise the timidity that the noble Lord suggests that this Government are approaching this with. This Government have been extremely clear on what our priorities are for the EU reset. That includes not going in aggressively but working constructively with our EU neighbours to ensure that…
Lords
Oral Questions
2 September 2025
Civil Service: Interns
The noble Lord raises a very good point. That is exactly what we are trying to do. Many Members of your Lordships’ House have had extraordinary opportunities. I am the first one in my family to have gone to university and yet I find myself in your Lordships’ House. Some of us have benefited hugely f…
Lords
Proceedings
18 July 2025
Strategic Defence Review 2025
My Lords, I declare my interests as stated in the register, and I too congratulate the noble Lord, Lord McCabe, on his interesting maiden speech. I thank the noble Lord, Lord Robertson of Port Ellen, for giving us this opportunity to debate the most thorough defence review for a long time, and I con…
Lords
Oral Questions
16 July 2025
Newspapers: Foreign Ownership
If there were any attempt to intervene in the direction of the newspaper, the Secretary of State would, as I have mentioned, have a specific duty to intervene. We have followed the CMA guidance very closely; I ask your Lordships’ House to note that page 20 of the CMA’s jurisdiction and procedure gui…
Lords
Oral Questions
15 July 2025
2 contributions
Rutland Lieutenancy
My Lords—
I am sorry but I strongly disagree with the noble Lord’s view on that. We want to improve engagement, and this will create a fantastic role for community councillors to work with their local areas. We are very clear on the importance of engagement and of developing proposals for strong, stable unita…
Lords
Oral Questions
10 July 2025
Tax Increases
In the spending review, the Government set out our spending plans and a fully funded path to spending 2.6% of GDP on defence. We have an ambition to increase it to 3% in the next Parliament, as the noble Lord knows. I will not speculate on the next Budget now. As I have said, there will be an OBR fo…
Lords
Debate
9 July 2025
5 contributions
House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill
My Lords, I declare an interest: for five years, I was an unpaid Lords Minister and Whip in the coalition Government. When we have a coalition Government—we may very well find ourselves with a rather messy coalition after the next election—there may be an argument for having a larger number of Minis…
If I may also correct the noble Lord, I pointed out that the consequence of this would be a reduction in the number of Ministers in the Lords, which would be extremely bad for this House.
+3 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
7 July 2025
Unpaid Tax
Yes, those discussions are ongoing.
Lords
Proceedings
4 July 2025
3 contributions
UK Constitution: Oversight and Responsibility (Report from the Constitution Committee)
I hear “probably” from the Liberal Democrat Front Bench, and I fear that that may be right.
Having just been at the Local Government Association conference in Liverpool, I warn the Minister and the Government that there will be resistance to the plans to abolish district councils—the form of govern…
My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Beith, for so eloquently introducing the debate on the report today. I also take the opportunity to thank the noble Baroness, Lady Drake, who unfortunately cannot be here today, for her excellent leadership as chair of the Constitution Committee. It was a real …
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
3 July 2025
UK–EU Defence and Security Co-operation
I think that is in our interests. To run through this, NATO is our prime alliance and something of which we can all be proud—we have been a member for decades. Alongside that, having a better, more secure relationship with Europe and working with it where that is appropriate, whether in Bosnia or in…