Lords
Proceedings
7 July 2026
British Industry and Services: Public Procurement
My Lords, can the noble Baroness explain how it can possibly be right that Transport for London has bought 500 electric buses from China, when Wrightbus in County Antrim produces wonderful electric buses that go all over the world? How is this supporting British business?
Lords
Proceedings
18 May 2026
King’s Speech
My Lords, I share the pleasure that “Chagos” did not appear in the gracious Speech, and hope that this is the end of the matter.
In the gracious Speech there was a great deal of talk about commitment to the strength and integrity of the union of the United Kingdom; yet, because of the Windsor Frame…
Lords
Proceedings
18 May 2026
King’s Speech
My Lords, I share the pleasure that “Chagos” did not appear in the gracious Speech, and hope that this is the end of the matter.
In the gracious Speech there was a great deal of talk about commitment to the strength and integrity of the union of the United Kingdom; yet, because of the Windsor Frame…
Lords
Proceedings
20 April 2026
Security Vetting
My Lords, is the noble Baroness aware of whether the Foreign Office has turned down red flag security briefings on ambassadors before? How many times has this happened before? If it has, what is the point of spending money on security services if nobody listens to them?
Lords
Oral Questions
15 April 2026
2 contributions
Zimbabwe: Constitution
My Lords, UK officials remain in contact with the Government of Zimbabwe, civil society and other stakeholders as part of our ongoing engagement on this matter. The ambassador raised these issues yesterday with senior officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. However, constitutional amendments a…
There are a lot of questions there, but I will set out the position as clearly as I can. We share the concerns that have been highlighted in the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission’s report, that the constitutional amendment public consultations —to which the noble Baroness refers—were highly managed, …
Lords
Debate
13 April 2026
2 contributions
English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill
My Lords, I will speak briefly to my Amendments 263A and 263B. I also support Amendment 263ZB on the consultation with Sport England, which I think is very important. We must not remove Sport England as a consultee. I declare an interest as the honorary president of the London Playing Fields Foundat…
But surely the market value depends on what is going to be done with the particular playing field?
Lords
Oral Questions
18 March 2026
Trail-hunting
Do not open that Pandora’s box—that is what I would say to the noble Baroness. More seriously, I know that there are concerns on both sides. This is a polarising debate, with strong feelings on both sides. That is why I am determined to hold a proper, detailed consultation, where everyone has the ab…
Lords
Debate
17 March 2026
Lord Mandelson: Response to Humble Address Motion
My Lords, the Minister quite rightly referred to Epstein as a despicable person, as did the Prime Minister and other members of the Government. However, was he not a despicable person the first time he was put in jail for the appalling abuse of young women? Peter Mandelson stayed in Epstein’s house …
Lords
Statutory Instrument
12 March 2026
4 contributions
Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme (Amendment) (Extension to Maritime Activities) Order 2026
The noble Baroness referenced the good work of the Scotland Office in lobbying to ensure that Scotland was exempted. Does she agree that this stands in sharp contrast to the Northern Ireland Office, which was instead lobbying parties in Northern Ireland to back this order and ensure that it was impl…
The noble Lord almost pre-empts what I was about to say, so I thank him. As if this is not enough to give politics a bad name, the events of last week, I am afraid, leave a nasty taste in the mouth. The Northern Ireland Assembly’s DAERA scrutiny committee met last Thursday and heard from Stena Line,…
+2 more contributions in this session
Lords
Debate
3 March 2026
3 contributions
Tobacco and Vapes Bill
My Lords, in moving this amendment in my name and that of the noble Lord, Lord Dodds of Duncairn, I will speak also to Amendments 120, 201 and 216, in my name, to which the noble Lords, Lord Dodds and Lord Naseby, have added their names. I should say at the beginning that I wholeheartedly support Am…
I thank the noble Lord for his view on that. Could he explain why Denmark and Ireland were not allowed to go ahead, and why seven countries feel so differently from what he has just said?
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
26 February 2026
2 contributions
Duty Relief Exemption: Small Parcels
My Lords, the Government are committed to the smooth flow of goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland under the Windsor Framework. The Government are aware of the EU’s plans to remove its relief for low-value imports from 1 July 2026. The facilitations under the Windsor Framework are unaffected …
Yes, I can give the noble Baroness the clarification she seeks. The answer to the first question she asked is yes. As I said in my opening Answer, in May last year the Government introduced important new arrangements for freight and parcel movements to ensure that goods can continue to move smoothly…
Lords
Debate
24 February 2026
Tobacco and Vapes Bill
Before I say a few brief words about the amendment from the noble Lord, Lord Murray, and his excellent speech, I congratulate my former constituent, the noble Lord, Lord Clarke of Nottingham, who made an excellent speech. He spoke for common sense in how we treat adults. We will probably be allowing…
Lords
Oral Questions
9 February 2026
Jimmy Lai: Prison Sentence
That is not how it works: I wish that we could secure everything that we want, and give nothing that anybody else wants, ahead of any diplomatic engagement. For many years there has been no engagement and we are playing catch up: we must start building a relationship now in order to get the things t…
Lords
Oral Questions
9 February 2026
Life Sciences: Beagles
We are going very wide of the Question today. Those are matters that the Government continue to keep under review. It is not within the Home Office’s gift to discuss the point the noble Baroness has brought forward. On the issue before the House in the original Question, we are going to phase it out…
Lords
Proceedings
4 February 2026
China and Japan
My Lords, one British citizen is being held by the Chinese in solitary confinement, as other noble Lords have mentioned. There is something I genuinely cannot understand: as the visit was being arranged, and as we were giving permission for a huge Chinese embassy, why was this one British citizen no…
Lords
Debate
26 January 2026
Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill
My Lords, the Minister in the other place called the House of Lords irresponsible, not just the Opposition. I find that very offensive. Many of us have spent a long time trying to get this issue debated properly. I have a simple and straightforward question and I hope I will get a straight answer. C…
Lords
Oral Questions
19 January 2026
Greenland: Proposed US Tariffs
As I think we examined at length through the progress of the Bill, the right to self-determination is not something that you can claim for yourself; it is something that can be legally determined. When this question was tested before every court which has considered it so far, including here in the …
Lords
Proceedings
15 January 2026
Iran
My Lords, there are a lot of questions that the Minister, quite understandably, cannot answer, but she gave a rather strange response to one question that I asked the other day. Could she simply just say thank you to Elon Musk for providing Starlink into Iran?
Lords
Proceedings
15 January 2026
Chinese Embassy
My Lords, most Londoners know just how difficult it is to get a tiny little extension approved for the back of their house. Why on earth does a foreign embassy need such a huge building in such an important area? Even the United States of America does not have such a huge embassy. Aside from securit…
Lords
Oral Questions
13 January 2026
2 contributions
Meat Labelling
My Lords, the Government encourage the highest standards of animal welfare and slaughter and would prefer all animals to be stunned before slaughter. As set out in the Government’s animal welfare strategy, we are also committed to ensuring that consumers have access to clear information on how their…
As I said in my Answer, we encourage all animals to be stunned before slaughter. It is what we would prefer as a Government—clearly, as someone who strongly supports animal welfare, it is what I would prefer. We have to recognise the religious sensitivities around this issue, and we are looking at t…
Lords
Debate
12 January 2026
Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill
My Lords, apart from thanking the Minister and her noble colleague for the courteous way in which they have responded the points I made—which she found exuberant and my noble colleague found forensic—I can limit my remarks to four sentences, two of which are questions.
First, the Government have ac…
Lords
Proceedings
12 January 2026
Iran: Protests
Do you know what: the noble Baroness is right about this. Because we have been unable to gain access for journalists, citizen journalism has become all that we have, and the reports that have been able to be shared have been vital in alerting the world to what is going on. That can be said for very …
Lords
Debate
5 January 2026
3 contributions
Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill
My Lords, before I speak to my Amendments 33A and 18, I totally support the noble Baroness, Lady Foster, in her Amendment 32 and hope that noble Lords will accept that it is a really sensible way forward. So much has happened even since we started talking about this issue a while ago. We have heard …
Before the Minister sits down, could she tell us whether our very distinguished Attorney-General, the noble and learned Lord, Lord Hermer, had given any advice—admittedly, she cannot tell us what advice—to the Government on the report of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, …
+1 more contribution in this session