My Lords, is the Minister aware that there are scientists who are propagating nonsense that nothing can be done about the obesity epidemic because it is all genetic? These people are saying that the individual cannot be relied upon to take action and that it must be the Government who do it. It is c…
My Lords, I want to raise briefly the issue of modern slavery and specifically the proposals in the immigration and asylum Bill that were announced in the gracious Speech last week. In the background notes for the Bill, I liked the intention to embed provisions to ensure that child victims of exploi…
My Lords, I want to raise briefly the issue of modern slavery and specifically the proposals in the immigration and asylum Bill that were announced in the gracious Speech last week. In the background notes for the Bill, I liked the intention to embed provisions to ensure that child victims of exploi…
Is the noble Lord aware of a rather alarming story from Holland that is relevant to the separation of the two services that he mentioned? A gentleman witnessed the euthanasia of his mother. It was done by an anaesthetist, who came in and said to the lady, “Now, I’m just going to put a needle into yo…
My Lords, I wish to speak to my Amendment 941. As a medical professional, I know only too well that medical interventions can be driven by financial motives; organ harvesting for a profit is one such example. When medical interventions are financially motivated, the best interests of the patient may…
LordsOral Questions25 February 20262 contributions
The noble Lord always tempts me to agree with him. The causes of obesity are complex and include what people eat, how much they eat and who they are. It is the reason that the Government have taken on the responsibilities they can, such as restricting junk food advertising on TV and online, giving l…
I am grateful to the noble Lord for that astute observation. The principle behind the Government’s commitment in this area is straightforward: where animals have to be used, they will be used, but we seek to find alternatives. We are seeking to phase out the use of animals as a whole, and we continu…
I was hoping I looked a bit skinny today, but maybe not.
The noble Lord raises an important point about how we ensure that the general public are as well as they can be, given that we do not know what the next threat may be and how it will touch society. That is why this Government launched their 1…
The noble Lord will be pleased to know that I do not agree with anything that he has said this morning in this Chamber. It is absolutely clear that the science says that we have a severe problem as far as global warming is concerned, and we need to take action to deal with it. That is precisely what…
My Lords, my Amendment 481 seeks to address the specific part that delivery services play in broader criminal activity. Delivery riders make regular deliveries to residential accommodation, which often houses vulnerable people. The identity of these riders is unknown, because they wear masks and hel…
My Lords, I declare my interest as chair of Big Brother Watch. I welcome the earlier comment by the noble Lord, Lord Herbert, that the non-crime hate incident regime is not fit for purpose. This Bill has much to recommend it, but four minutes is nowhere near enough to do it justice, so I will focus …
My Lords, I start, as others have, by thanking all those who have taken the trouble to write to me, raising some very personal stories, some very tragic. I have no personal stories myself, but I am very moved by those who have. It is one of the few debates in which I wish I was speaking much later o…
My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name in the Order Paper and declare my interest as vice-president of the Shaftesbury Society and my involvement in many other similar charities.
My Lords, the Government have had to take difficult decisions to repair the public finances and rebuild the public services. Giving careful consideration to and properly assessing the impact of these decisions is a priority. A tax information impact note was published alongside the introduction of t…
I am very glad that the noble Lord asked for permission. I take his point. I know that he understands the value of in vitro point-of-care testing, but he makes the good point that what matters is what is clinically appropriate in the circumstance. We would all expect that to happen for the benefit o…
My Lords, we have plenty of time. We will hear from the Cross Benches next.
I am grateful to the noble Lord for his appreciation of the Government’s efforts in this regard. I believe we have to consider the role of ultra-processed foods, but that has to be based on evidence and scientific truth, rather than speculation. That is why the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutri…
The noble Lord always has interesting observations that I listen closely to. I certainly agree that obesity is a major contributor to ill health. Some 64% of the adult population is overweight or living with obesity, and it does indeed, as he says, pose a major health inequality issue. The approach …
My Lords, I am very grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Mackinlay, for introducing this debate. When I first introduced myself to him as someone interested in continuing to be involved in the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Sepsis, because of my late husband’s experience in losing a leg to sepsis, his…