Lords
Proceedings
15 July 2026
Sudan: Operational Restrictions on Humanitarian Actors
My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Brown of Silvertown, for bringing this up, and I could not agree more with everything she has said. The essential thing is to get the aid flowing—to remove the impediments to the flow of aid to these people. We must have an end to the conflict in the first …
Lords
Committee Stage
9 July 2026
Women and Girls: Impact of ODA Cuts
My Lords, I thank my noble friend Lady Sugg for bringing this debate forward. Her long-standing commitment to international development is respected across the House, and I pay tribute to her for her continued work.
Before I address the issue of overseas development assistance, I hope that the Comm…
Lords
Committee Stage
9 July 2026
Ukraine: Decentralisation and Municipal Partnerships
My Lords, first, I thank my noble friend Lord Risby for securing this valuable debate. Last week, in our debate on the Convention establishing an International Claims Commission for Ukraine, my noble friend Lord Callanan noted that, while the war continues, it is right that we look to the future of …
Lords
Proceedings
24 June 2026
Darfur: Atrocities
My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Alton, for bringing this subject to the attention of the House once again. It is an incredibly important subject, and we should be concentrating more on it. The UN Human Rights Office has said that it has verified 546 instances of conflict-related sexual violen…
Lords
Proceedings
19 March 2026
Middle East
My Lords, I thank the Minister for giving the House the opportunity to ask questions on this Statement. Before I say anything else, I thank the men and women of our Armed Forces who are serving in the region and who stand ready to support operations there, as well as all the officials and diplomatic…
Lords
Proceedings
18 March 2026
Digital ID: Public Consultation
My Lords, this Statement was delivered just one week ago and has already run into some serious difficulty. Reports in the press suggest that both the Health Secretary and the Education Secretary have made it clear that their departments will not provide some of the data required for the scheme. If t…
Lords
Proceedings
26 January 2026
Water White Paper
My Lords, we welcome the progress made by the Government on the recommendations of the Independent Water Commission. In particular, we welcome the proposed integrated regulator to replace Ofwat and combine functions of the Environment Agency, Natural England and the Drinking Water Inspectorate.
How…
Lords
Oral Questions
20 January 2026
Atrocity Crimes
My Lords, I begin as everybody else has done, by thanking the noble Lord, Lord Alton of Liverpool. I know he does not need this, but I will just say how much I respect and value his contributions in this House generally; tonight we heard a particularly powerful speech from him.
By contributing in t…
Lords
Oral Questions
13 January 2026
Official Development Assistance
My Lords, I am genuinely grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Bates, for providing us with the opportunity to have this discussion. It is probably rather overdue, and there seems to be some pent-up frustration and anger in the Chamber about decisions that have been made, and I absolutely hear that. He g…
Lords
Oral Questions
8 January 2026
Israel: Trade
My Lords, I am pleased to respond to this Question for Short Debate. I start by saying that I have visited Israel on many occasions over the years, both for personal and business reasons. Some visits started many years ago, as mentioned by the noble Lord, Lord Livingston. I still have a number of fr…
Lords
Proceedings
7 January 2026
Middle East and North Africa
My Lords, I thank the Minister for giving us the opportunity to ask questions on this Statement, which covered events in Iran, Gaza, Syria and Yemen, and the case of Alaa Abd el-Fattah. That alone demonstrates the increasing instability we are facing globally. The Official Opposition are clear that …
Lords
Oral Questions
5 January 2026
Muslim Brotherhood
The Government keep proscription under review and do not comment upon it, so I am not commenting for or against proscription; we always keep that under review and will make an announcement in due course if one is required. But we always examine, as the noble Earl has rightly identified, where there …
Lords
Proceedings
18 December 2025
UK-EU Common Understanding Negotiations
My Lords, there is little doubt across the House that the opportunity to live, study and work abroad can bring real benefits for young people. It enables them to experience different cultures, encounter new ways of thinking, build confidence and form relationships and friendships that can last a lif…
Lords
Proceedings
17 December 2025
Jimmy Lai Conviction
My Lords, His Majesty’s Opposition echo calls for the immediate release of Jimmy Lai. Persecuted under the national security law, which is a breach of the 1984 Sino-British joint declaration, Lai’s verdict was made by politically appointed judges, and the trial was conducted without a jury.
Jimmy L…
Lords
Oral Questions
11 December 2025
United States: Intelligence Sharing
I can assure the noble Earl, and for once, this question does fall within my direct responsibilities. There are a number of areas where the UK Government, particularly with the overseas territories, are working in partnership, looking at how we can support the reduction of drugs, the reduction of ga…
Lords
Proceedings
19 November 2025
Gaza and Sudan
My Lords, I thank the Minister for giving the House the opportunity to respond to the Government’s Statement in the other place on two of the most serious conflicts in the world today. Given that these are two distinct issues, I will address the situation in Gaza first and then move on to the confli…
Lords
Oral Questions
4 November 2025
Energy Market Reforms
We need both. We need renewable energy—I have talked about including wind farms and solar, for example—but that baseload of nuclear power is also important. That is why we are also investing in nuclear and making commitments to nuclear power. It is about finding a balance and getting both, because w…
Lords
Oral Questions
29 October 2025
Jamaica: Hurricane Melissa
The noble Earl is right that this is a problem. We encourage British nationals to register their presence; we have 24/7 telephone access available, and we have our team in Kingston. The situation is incredibly difficult; there is local advice issued by authorities in Jamaica, which we encourage Brit…
Lords
Oral Questions
28 October 2025
Offshore Oil and Gas: Venting and Flaring
As we know, Great British Energy has been set up in recent months. We have a great approach on the strategy for creating jobs. We are going to see jobs in solar, wind farms and nuclear, and we are making predictions that there will be thousands of jobs in the pipeline. As I said on a previous occasi…
Lords
Debate
24 October 2025
Unauthorised Entry to Football Matches Bill
My Lords, I thank all the noble Lords who have spoken today in what has been a very important and interesting debate. I am particularly grateful to my noble friend Lord Brennan of Canton for his work in sponsoring the Bill not just in your Lordships’ House but, as he noted, in the other place. I adm…
Lords
Oral Questions
23 October 2025
MBRRACE-UK Report 2025
I agree with the core of the noble Earl’s observation, which is why the maternity care bundle—to be published next month and actioned next year—is so crucial. It will pick up the point he is making about the five clinical areas for urgent action. They have been chosen because of their ability to imp…
Lords
Debate
5 September 2025
Animal Welfare (Import of Dogs, Cats and Ferrets) Bill
My Lords, I congratulate my Liberal Democrat colleague and vet, the honourable Dr Danny Chambers, MP for Winchester, on tabling this Bill, the noble Lord, Lord Trees, his veterinary teacher, for sponsoring it in the Lords, and the Minister for working with them both to make this a Bill backed by the…
Lords
Oral Questions
21 July 2025
Official Development Assistance
ODA is not being spent on the Chagos deal, as the noble Earl should know; I have told him about four times. We inherited a situation in which about one-third of the ODA budget was spent on in-donor refugee costs, and I think that is disgraceful. I want to see that percentage reduced. The Home Office…
Lords
Proceedings
18 July 2025
Strategic Defence Review 2025
My Lords, it is a great privilege to wind up this debate, which has been, as usual, of a very high standard and very interesting. I start by saying to my noble friend Lord McCabe that we came into the other place at the same time, and we have followed each other. I slightly smiled when he said that …
Lords
Proceedings
17 July 2025
Sudan
My Lords, the situation in Sudan, as we have heard, is now a catastrophe. No part of the country or indeed any neighbouring country has been unaffected. Some 11 million people are displaced inside Sudan and millions more have fled to neighbouring countries. What actions are the Government taking to …