Lords
Proceedings
14 July 2026
State of Climate and Nature
My Lords, I welcome the Statement, but does the Minister agree that marine areas are very important both in terms of climate change, as a carbon sink, and in terms of biodiversity? Does he therefore agree that it is an urgent issue for the Government to make the decision to end bottom trawling in ma…
Lords
Proceedings
9 July 2026
Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
My Lords, I thank the Minister for her reply. She will appreciate that the threat of nuclear war is as great as it ever was. The fact that the NPT did not reach a consensus was very disappointing, as she says. Will the Government continue, with all the energy they have, to pursue the things that the…
Lords
Proceedings
23 June 2026
2 contributions
Legal Protections for Ancient Trees
My Lords—
My Lords, I am happy to hear from the Minister that the recommendations will result in the tree action plan by the end of this year, but will she bear in mind that there are no protections for trees that do not have tree preservation orders? By the time people realise those trees are under threat, i…
Lords
Oral Questions
20 April 2026
Civil Preparedness for War
My Lords, I echo the gratitude that everybody has expressed to the noble Baroness, Lady Harris, for this debate. The interest in it suggests that we need more time, and I suggest that government time should be made available to extend it properly.
The Government talk about a whole-of-society approa…
Lords
Debate
9 March 2026
Crime and Policing Bill
I thank the noble Lord for giving way, but perhaps I could give him a very small example of something that is completely relevant to what he says. On 5 March this year, the Metropolitan Police raided a Quaker meeting house and arrested a number of young, non-violent activists who were being trained …
Lords
Debate
5 February 2026
4 contributions
Crime and Policing Bill
My Lords, I was very pleased to add my name to this amendment in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Chakrabarti. To me, it is the most important amendment to the Bill, and she laid out fully why it is so needed. As she said, this will be about trust in the police, and without this sort of regulati…
I would like the noble Lord to give way to my noble friend.
+2 more contributions in this session
Lords
Statutory Instrument
4 February 2026
2 contributions
Public Order Act 2023 (Interference With Use or Operation of Key National Infrastructure) Regulations 2025
My Lords, I just want to throw in a bit of a spanner—which is to say that I am completely torn between the two sides. It might be helpful to explain my dilemma. First, I would like to give real credit to the noble Lord, Lord Winston, for the work that he has done scientifically and the need to use a…
I had planned to make a number of points in this debate, but I am pleased to see that they have all been made for me in far more elegant style than I could have attained myself. I will emphasise one point that has not had quite enough attention yet, and that is that this country is a world leader in…
Lords
Debate
2 February 2026
2 contributions
Crime and Policing Bill
My Lords, I have my name to Amendment 461—
My Lords, I added my name to Amendment 461J, to which the noble Baroness, Lady Thornton, spoke so eloquently. It addresses the pardoning of women who have already been criminalised. When Clause 191 becomes law, I look forward to this amendment being part of it because, as your Lordships all know, ha…
Lords
Oral Questions
29 January 2026
Water Companies: Fines
I disagree with the noble Baroness about the White Paper being timid. I believe it sets out once-in-a-generation reforms that will really transform the water system for good and lead to a water Bill which Members of this House, including the noble Baroness, can help us make the best piece of legisla…
Lords
Debate
12 January 2026
2 contributions
Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Bill
My Lords, in moving Amendment 4, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Jones of Moulsecoomb, for putting her name to it as well. This is a very important issue that we debated at length in Committee. The reason I am bringing something back on Report, albeit in a more focused form just dealing with plasti…
I thank the Minister for her helpful reply. It is constructive that the loss of containers has to be reported, but I look forward to a time when we are not just hearing that the horse has bolted but have actually got bolts on the stable door. I am sure that the Government will continue to press for …
Lords
Committee Stage
16 December 2025
3 contributions
Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Bill
I will speak to Amendment 3 in this group on the UK’s capacity to comply with Article 5 of the BBNJ, which is about capacity building—building the international capacity to understand the problems and issues and to develop solutions.
The UK is particularly well placed to do that because we have the…
My Lords, this amendment and Amendment 10 are concerned with plastics pollution. Amendment 6 would require the Secretary of State to assess and respond to the risks to marine biodiversity of plastics pollution that arise from activities that are either under UK control or within UK jurisdiction. Thi…
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
10 December 2025
2 contributions
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference 2026
My Lords, before I answer the noble Baroness’s Question, I follow the Prime Minister in expressing our deepest condolences to the family and loved ones of Lance Corporal George Hooley, who died yesterday in Ukraine. He served his country with honour in the cause of freedom, and all of us in your Lor…
My Lords, we will always consider any suggestions, but let me be clear: we chair the P5 as part of the NPT. We are very proud to do that. We established the process. This country has as its goal a nuclear-free world, but we also recognise today’s strategic realities, and to meet these challenges, we…
Lords
Oral Questions
20 November 2025
Plastic Recycling Targets
My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Baronesses who have taken part in today’s debate. It is important that we reflect on both the importance of the recycling targets and the current situation we find ourselves in. Only if we reflect on both will we be able to reach our targets sustainably.
This de…
Lords
Debate
3 November 2025
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
My Lords, I have added my name to this amendment. I have the honour to serve on your Lordships’ Built Environment Committee. It is no coincidence that two of us who have added our names to this amendment are on that committee, the second being the noble Lord, Lord Gascoigne, who is its chair.
An is…
Lords
Debate
27 October 2025
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
My Lords, I rise to speak to Amendment 88, to which I have added my name. I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Willis, for all her work on this, and the Minister and the noble Baroness, Lady Hayman, for meeting us to talk about this amendment.
Without this amendment putting green and blue spaces on a s…
Lords
Debate
16 October 2025
Crime and Policing Bill
My Lords, I believe—well, I hope—that there is one thing that all Members of this noble House agree upon: that none of us wish to see the rise of the far right or of any political movement that feeds upon public fear and the failures of our institutions. Yet that is precisely what is happening in th…
Lords
Debate
9 September 2025
2 contributions
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
My Lords, with the amendments in this group being supported all around the Committee, it suggests to me that there is a strong opinion that the Bill should not be so silent on green spaces. My Amendment 121 seeks to make it mandatory that provision for green space must be included in any application…
My Lords, it really was an honour to take part in a debate of this nature. The theme of inequity came through so strongly, and the fact that we have in this House the noble Baroness, Lady Willis, and the noble Lord, Lord Layard, who have done research into these issues, points to a very strong road …
Lords
Debate
4 September 2025
3 contributions
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
Given how much business we still have to get through today, I wonder whether the noble Lord would very kindly observe the advisory time that is given to speeches?
My Lords, as well as moving Amendment 107, I shall also speak to the other amendments in this group in my name and the names of the noble Lord, Lord Lucas, and the noble Viscount, Lord Hanworth. I am not personally someone who naturally embraces the cutting edge of technology, and I am very glad tha…
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Proceedings
18 July 2025
Strategic Defence Review 2025
My Lords, I welcome the deep analysis, thoroughness and hard-hitting contents of this review. Many have made speeches here and elsewhere over the years, raising concerns about the depleted state of our defensibilities in an increasingly volatile world. But if this report can reinforce the need for G…
Lords
Debate
17 July 2025
2 contributions
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
My Lords, I support my noble friend Lady Pinnock’s amendment. Pre-application consultation, as she correctly said, not only gives communities a chance to shape proposals but can speed up things further down the line. It is not necessarily a delaying factor.
The noble Baroness, Lady Neville-Rolfe, j…
I apologise for interrupting the Minister, but it might be useful for the Committee to know that I had asked for my amendment to be degrouped. I am not sure what has happened here, but it is my intention to move the amendment in its place after Clause 51.
Lords
Debate
7 July 2025
4 contributions
Renters’ Rights Bill
My Lords, I start by declaring an interest: I own a dog that is subject to approval by a superior landlord of the flat in which we live. It has that approval.
In Committee, the Minister laid out the Government’s commitment to enabling many more tenants to have pets in rented properties, which is, o…
My Lords, I thank everybody who has contributed to this debate and thank the Minister for her reply. I found very helpful her response to the amendment from the noble Earl, Lord Kinnoull—which we do support—saying that she will write to ensure clarity and consistency.
I had a slight dread when the …
+2 more contributions in this session
Lords
Statutory Instrument
3 July 2025
Terrorism Act 2000 (Proscribed Organisations) (Amendment) Order 2025
My Lords, I will be brief. Invoking the terrorism laws has consequences and, although I do not object to invoking them in relation to any of these three groups, we need to understand properly what those consequences are. Many people want to speak, and I will make only one point, which is that the co…
Lords
Debate
25 June 2025
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
My Lords, I declare my interest as a councillor in central Bedfordshire.
It is widely recognised that we need a simpler, more consistent and faster planning system that delivers higher-quality outcomes at lower costs. As others have raised, there has been a failure to deliver infrastructure, housin…