My Lords, the key takeaway from the Chancellor’s speech is that the great plan for growth has now been supplanted by the more modest objective of stability. However, there are a couple of claims in the speech that need challenging.
The Chancellor claims that inflation is down but does not provide a…
The noble Lord raises a really important philosophical question. From my personal experience during the last six months, we are trying to readjust to both a post-Brexit world and a new world order with what we are seeing in the US, China and the EU in particular. We have to make sure that we are pro…
LordsOral Questions23 February 20262 contributions
My Lords, the Government are absolutely committed to freedom of speech and academic freedom. I can confirm that the Secretary of State and I have considered the letter and the concerns raised in it, and I had the opportunity to meet with and hear from many of the signatories. While I cannot comment …
As I made clear in my Answer, we have committed to introducing the revised complaints process. It is normal practice not to comment on future legislative opportunities. However, I assure the noble Lord that we are making progress with this. I expect us to be able to introduce the amended complaints …
My Lords, the Statement leaves me puzzled. Are the Government insisting on boots on the ground in Ukraine as a condition of a ceasefire? As the Russian Government have said that under no conditions will they accept NATO boots on the ground, is that not equivalent to a policy of prolonging the war ra…
My Lords, I draw attention to my entry in the register, and in particular to my chairmanship of Direct Special Metals, a company whose recent experience I shall refer to in my brief contribution. It is always a pleasure to follow the noble Lord, Lord Skidelsky, and I join others in thanking my noble…
My Lords, I thank the Government for tabling this debate for us. It was enriched by the maiden speech of the noble Lord, Lord Barrow, which was not bland and, thankfully, not too brief. We learned from it and will do so from him in future. He is a great addition to this House and we welcome him.
Th…
They are having a very real effect on the economy of Russia. I would perhaps describe it by saying that this is a battle, yes, on the front line, but it is also becoming a battle of military-industrial complex. Our ability to supply is at stake, and we are in competition with Russia. The more we can…
My Lords, it is the turn of the noble Baroness, Lady Bennett.
No worries. My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Stuart of Edgbaston, for securing this important debate and for her clear introduction, which rightly highlighted Francis Fukuyama, who was always bizarrely hubristic with his end-of-history thesis and indeed now looks very far into the past.
M…
My Lords, I would like to offer a dissenting opinion, but some noble Lords will be used to that. I strongly support industrial policy, but the coupling of defence and industrial strategy needs some thought. It suggests that industrial policy is driven by military needs, whereas in fact the case for …
LordsOral Questions9 September 20252 contributions
My Lords, before I answer the Question, let me quickly pay tribute to my noble friend Lord Collins for all the work he did with the Foreign Office and wish him well in the future.
We remain focused on putting Ukraine in the strongest possible position. We welcome President Trump’s efforts to end th…
I thank the noble Lord for the question. The first point that needs to be made is that it is up to Russia as well to engage in meaningful talks, and it is up to Russia as well to be sincere in the efforts that it is making to bring about the ceasefire and, in the end, to come to some agreement. The …
My Lords, I will focus on two themes in the SDR: the commitment to “NATO first”, and the concept of “whole-of-society” defence and security. NATO first now means sharing European leadership within NATO to keep the US committed, not standing half-in and half-out of Europe through our beloved special …