Lords
Proceedings
9 July 2026
Holding the Line Against Tyranny and Anarchy (Constitution Committee Report)
My Lords, it was a great privilege to serve on the Constitution Committee and a great pleasure to serve under the chairmanship of the noble Lord, Lord Strathclyde, particularly for this important report. As the House might expect, he conducted the committee with tremendous brio and a great sense of …
Lords
Proceedings
10 June 2026
New Towns: Laying the Foundations (Built Environment Committee Report)
My Lords, this is a very welcome debate not only because it is the opportunity to discuss our first report of the Built Environment Committee, but also because it is turning into a very interesting debate in all manner of ways. I pay tribute to our excellent chairman, the noble Lord, Lord Gascoigne,…
Lords
Debate
24 April 2026
2 contributions
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
My Lords, the law should be changed. The current law on aiding and abetting suicide does not address the issues the promoters of the Bill undoubtedly seek to address.
The structure and detail of the Bill before the House are deeply flawed. It required restructuring and the debate we have had in the…
There were grave problems with having the judges. As the noble and learned Lord knows, it would have occupied far too much court time. It simply was not practicable to put it into the courts. If it was to be dealt with properly by a judge it would have been at least half a day, sometimes a day. If y…
Lords
Proceedings
21 April 2026
House of Lords: Legislative Procedures
My Lords, before answering this Question I looked with some care at the recommendations from the Goodlad committee, and a number were not accepted at the time, including that Ministers should be able to answer Questions in either House, that the Lord Privy Seal should have a dedicated Question Time,…
Lords
Proceedings
14 April 2026
Statement of Changes in Immigration Rules
My Lords, I know what a lonely place the Government Dispatch Box can be when one is introducing a firm bit of immigration legislation. One notes immediately the surreal disconnection between the Overton window of the views in this House and the views in the country at large. I am afraid that the Min…
Lords
Debate
27 March 2026
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
My Lords, with some diffidence, I first put on the record that the Bill is abundantly clear that it is an opt-in system. Clause 31, “No obligation to provide assistance etc”, says:
“No person is under any duty to participate in the provision of assistance in accordance with this Act … No registered…
Lords
Debate
24 March 2026
English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill
My Lords, I regret not having taken part in Committee. If you come to the arguments on Report quite fresh, they have a curiously powerful impact. This afternoon, we have heard speeches on aspects of the amendments on rural needs and ambitions that have been very powerful. We do not have planning and…
Lords
Oral Questions
19 March 2026
Unpaid Carers: Patient Hospital Discharge
My noble friend makes exactly the right points. We certainly recognise the vital role that unpaid carers play in supporting those who are to be discharged. Decisions about staffing and the approach—I emphasise that a multidisciplinary approach is clearly needed here—are a matter for local areas, but…
Lords
Oral Questions
12 March 2026
NHS: Heart Valve Disease
My noble friend is right and, certainly, as we move through our 10-year health plan, the opportunity to make every contact count is very important. I refer my noble friend to the advances that we have made in services available in community pharmacies, because measuring blood pressure is hugely impo…
Lords
Proceedings
10 February 2026
Standards in Public Life
My Lords, I thank the Leader for the way in which she introduced this Statement on this very serious situation. I want to pick up a point made by the noble Lord, Lord Wallace. In his raft of suggestions, he made one which I think is particularly important, which is the revision of the Cabinet Manual…
Lords
Debate
30 January 2026
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
My Lords, I think it is right, as my noble friend Lord Rooker said, that this clause stand part debate is an opportunity for a reset and a rethink about how we are approaching the Bill and the way we are prioritising the arguments. Where I slightly take issue with my noble friend is that I do not th…
Lords
Oral Questions
12 January 2026
2 contributions
Heritage Craft and Building Sector
My Lords—
I am sure that my noble friend is in no doubt about the commitment of the Prime Minister and this Government to apprenticeships. From my perspective, it is an exciting opportunity for us to make sure that we increase the number of apprenticeships available in heritage skills. We have a problem in th…
Lords
Oral Questions
11 December 2025
Business Improvement Districts: Town Centre Renewal
I absolutely agree with my noble friend. One of the benefits of local councils is that they do know what bins are—we are very familiar with that. I agree with her about the presence of both the public and private sectors in our public spaces. When I took part in the regeneration of my own town centr…
Lords
Debate
14 November 2025
2 contributions
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
My Lords, under the Mental Capacity Act, the decision is not made by one individual; the Mental Capacity Act provides for decision-making, which includes the experiences of families et cetera. It is a profound process. This is not a profound process; it provides for a doctor to make a decision about…
My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Finlay of Llandaff, for her amazing dedication to her patients. That is beyond question. I hope we are united as a House in paying due respect to that fact and also to the fact that her professional experience is a tremendous asset to this House.
The noble…
Lords
Oral Questions
14 October 2025
2 contributions
Prisoners: Reoffending
Reducing reoffending is my top priority. To break the cycle of crime, we are strengthening the rehabilitation offer in prison and the community, including increasing probation funding by 45%. We are recruiting more staff, expanding community housing and ramping up electronic monitoring—and that incl…
My noble friend is right. We inherited a very difficult situation. Having been around prisons for 25 years, I know that we need to get to a point where it is sustainable, and that includes when people leave prison and find a job, housing and support. Since I came into the role, I have rolled out the…
Lords
Debate
11 September 2025
4 contributions
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
My Lords, I am intrigued by this exchange, because the thought had occurred to me that, by introducing a principle of proportionality into the legislation, we would then open the floodgates to contention about what is proportional. The question of JR seems to be immediately rearing its head. Therefo…
My Lords, in another life, I had the privilege of taking through the then Planning Bill 2008, which introduced CIL. In this House, we had some very vigorous arguments, not about its purpose but about its methodology. I was very interested to hear what the noble Lord said about the subsequent review.…
+2 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
8 September 2025
Planning Delivery: Acceleration
I am grateful to my noble friend for highlighting a key issue. The Government have announced additional funding to support the recruitment and training of 300 graduates and apprentices into local planning authorities. That is part of a wider £46 million package of investment in the planning system t…
Lords
Debate
22 July 2025
Universal Credit Bill
My Lords, I am grateful to my noble friend the Minister for her introduction and to noble Lords for what has already been a broad discussion. I look forward to hearing the maiden speech of the noble Baroness, Lady Shawcross-Wolfson, and to her contribution to your Lordships’ House in the days to com…
Lords
Oral Questions
3 July 2025
Housing Associations: Financial Assistance
As I have discussed before at the Dispatch Box, summer is quite a flexible concept in the Civil Service, but we expect the report of the New Towns Taskforce imminently. I would like to say how successful it has been with the task force running an extensive round of consultation around the current ne…
Lords
Oral Questions
30 June 2025
Arts Sector
My noble friend makes an important point. Participation in publicly funded arts programmes is associated with improved mental health and well-being, as well as the impact on social capital and social cohesion to which my noble friend pointed. Research already commissioned by DCMS reveals that cultur…
Lords
Proceedings
12 June 2025
Spending Review 2025
My Lords, one of the most welcome aspects of the spending review is the terrific increase in science and technology spending, which will drive innovation across the country. It is long overdue, especially as it is now linked to Horizon, with an explicit reference to the building of new partnerships …
Lords
Oral Questions
22 May 2025
2 contributions
Social Care Reform
My Lords, it is the turn of the Labour Party.
Yes, the relevant officials and Ministers are working on that. I realise the difficulty it has caused and they, too, are very sensitive to that point. I will reflect my noble friend’s comments to my ministerial colleagues.
Lords
Debate
20 May 2025
Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill
The noble Lord has made an important and timely intervention about the focus of the Bill, which is indeed on children. It is the first Bill of its kind that has the phrase “well-being” in its Title. He reminded us why we are here.
In the context of the debate we have been having across the House ab…
Lords
Committee Stage
13 May 2025
High Streets (Built Environment Committee Report)
My Lords, it is always a pleasure to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Andrews, with her knowledge and expertise. I think she put it in a nutshell when she described a high street where things can get done as opposed to just bought. My thanks go to our new chair, the noble Lord, Lord Gascoigne, for so…
Lords
Oral Questions
1 May 2025
Arm’s-length Bodies
My noble friend makes an excellent point. I assure your Lordships’ House that there is no way we will engage in this process with that approach. We want to make sure that we can deliver an agile Government, fit for purpose in the 21st century, with the people in the right places and the appropriate …