Lords
Oral Questions
22 October 2025
International Maritime Organization: Net-Zero Framework
The purpose of the IMO, of course, is to have an international way of policing things, because shipping is necessarily carried out at sea, so policing in the sense of communities does not work. The way it works is that IMO resolves as a whole to have binding regulations and that is what is being dis…
Lords
Oral Questions
21 October 2025
Great British Railways: Rolling Stock
My noble friend is accurate: 90 trains were procured; some of them were delivered five years ago. At the time that the South Western Railway operation reverted to public ownership, six out of the 90 were in service; as of today, 23 are now in service. The new management is doing what the old one did…
Lords
Committee Stage
14 October 2025
National Policy Statement for Ports
My Lords, for domestic reasons, I was unable to put my name down to speak today. I should like to make just a couple of quick observations. Much has been talked about electricity, both for powering ships and transport within ports. I agree entirely with the noble Lord who spoke about this. The grid …
Lords
Debate
13 October 2025
2 contributions
Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill
My Lords, in moving Amendment 208 in my name and that of my noble friend Lord Dubs, I will also speak to my Amendment 208A. This is a rather odd end to this part of the Bill, but it relates to the issue of saving lives across the channel, regardless of whether the people whose lives may be saved are…
My Lords, I am very grateful to my noble friend for his comprehensive responses, which I shall read with great interest. On first reflection, it all sounds like a positive way forward, although I will have to investigate whether the right equipment is being procured and used, because people cannot r…
Lords
Oral Questions
18 September 2025
Rail Fares
I thank my noble friend. It is right that there is compensation. The rates vary and the system of paying it is complex; for example, if you have bought your ticket from a third-party ticket retailer, it is sometimes not easy to get your money back through Delay Repay. We know that we need to address…
Lords
Debate
11 September 2025
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
My Lords, I support Amendment 147 on chalk streams. I was brought up in the Chilterns and I have been studying some of the streams there for a very long time. As other noble Lords have said, they are the most wonderful bits of the countryside, with clear water—which comes and goes, but it is usually…
Lords
Debate
4 September 2025
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
My Lords, I am not a planner, but I do have the joy of owning a small property in Cornwall, which is part-listed. I took a lot of advice when I wanted a new kitchen at the back of the building on whether I needed listed building consent. The answer was, “If it’s in Cornwall, yes, but if it’s in Lond…
Lords
Oral Questions
4 September 2025
European Framework Programme 10
I am going to have to get somebody else to answer that question in writing, I am afraid, because I do not know the answer.
Lords
Debate
1 September 2025
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
My Lords, the news that my noble friend has given us about the further checks and balances and reports on fire safety are very encouraging. However, the noble Lord, Lord Fuller, raised the question of the fire on top of the multi-storey carpark in Luton. There was a similar incident—just as bad, if …
Lords
Debate
24 July 2025
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
My Lords, I am very pleased to support the amendment in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Lucas. My interest in animal welfare and good-quality meat comes from the south-west and talking over many years with the butchers who supply good meat. The two problems which noble Lords have identified are: th…
Lords
Debate
23 July 2025
Employment Rights Bill
My Lords, I will just add a few words to my noble friend’s contribution. This little item that we are discussing came out of a debate we had in Committee when we established that there was a link between the small boats with what we might call illegal immigrants coming across the channel and the del…
Lords
Debate
21 July 2025
2 contributions
Employment Rights Bill
I want to intervene very briefly to reflect on the difference between the debate this afternoon and the debate we had at the time of the P&O disaster—I call it a disaster for all the people who were basically sacked. It was very difficult to get information about what was right and what was wron…
My Lords, I support this amendment wholeheartedly. I have attended many meetings of the heritage rail group, and I congratulate my noble friend on the way he has taken it forward.
One thing we have not mentioned is the quite regular reports from members who run the small railways about the fear of …
Lords
Debate
17 July 2025
2 contributions
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
My Lords, the amendment from the noble Lord, Lord Ravensdale, is a very good amendment, but it refers only to low-carbon energy infrastructure. Of course, he is an expert in that, and that is fine. The comments made by him, my noble friend Lord Hunt and the noble Baroness, Lady Bennett, referred to …
My Lords, my noble friend spent a lot of time complaining about the A303. The simple solution is to go by train.
My noble friend is quite right that the planning process takes a very long time. I spent many years trying to do it in relation to building the Channel Tunnel. It is a long time ago now,…
Lords
Proceedings
14 July 2025
Road and Rail Projects
My Lords, I congratulate the Secretary of State and my noble friend on producing a comprehensive list of railway and road schemes they intend to go ahead with. This is the first time that we have seen such a list for years. In her introduction, the Secretary of State says that she is green-lighting …
Lords
Oral Questions
10 July 2025
Falkland Islands: Fisheries Exports Tariffs
I thought that I had done so well with regards to agriculture, and now I have Chagos and fishing. I genuinely am not aware of the fishing rights around the Chagos Islands, but I will write to the noble Lord.
Lords
Oral Questions
9 July 2025
European Union Entry/Exit System
I thank my noble friend. I will have to take some advice on how that works; it is not immediately apparent that it is connected with the EES, but I will go away and answer his question in writing.
Lords
Debate
25 June 2025
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
My Lords, the Government’s ambition to build more homes and infrastructure for our country is welcome. It is indeed time to get Britain building again. However, there is a danger in this Bill of council blaming and nature blaming, which ignores recent history.
According to the CPRE, a staggering 1.…
Lords
Debate
24 June 2025
4 contributions
Employment Rights Bill
My Lords, the new clause proposed in Amendment 323E in my name has been given the rather surprising title “Substitution”, and one or two noble Lords may be wondering what that means, so I will try and explain. It refers to the substitution of people with the intention of avoiding paying tax, nationa…
My Lords, I am really grateful to noble Lords who have taken part in this short debate and made many contributions, which indicate that it is a difficult subject and it would the better if the whole thing went away. But of course, it will not go away. When my noble friend the Minister said that this…
+2 more contributions in this session
Lords
Proceedings
19 June 2025
HS2 Reset
My Lords, I welcome the Government’s Statement on HS2 yesterday. It has good detail and a lot of the plans that the Government intend to do. I was also pleased that the latest cost estimate of about £100 billion to get it to Birmingham, is much closer to the one that Michael Byng and I have been ped…
Lords
Oral Questions
19 June 2025
Rivers and Estuaries: Derelict Boats
My Lords, we leave such matters to the experts. My noble friend raises an interesting point, which I am sure navigation authorities consider. This is why it is important that the Government, while they are in close consultation with navigation authorities, do not step in on operational matters but e…
Lords
Proceedings
12 June 2025
Parliamentary Commercial Department
My Lords, I want to pick up what the noble Lord, Lord Forsyth, said about use of the Commons Terrace. I have been a Member of this House for very many years and occasionally have used the Commons Terrace. About a year ago I had one of my grandsons here for lunch in the Commons canteen, and I wanted …
Lords
Oral Questions
12 June 2025
3 contributions
European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service
My Lords, it gives me great pleasure to introduce this short debate. I have an interest to declare in that I live in the Isles of Scilly much of the time, to which the only passenger access in the winter is by air. There are a few problems there, which I shall come on to. In my short speech, I shall…
My Lords, it is always a pleasure to follow the noble Lord, Lord Berkeley. I always feel that I learn things by participating in debates with him and following him in debates, but I am also grateful to him for raising this interesting issue.
I wanted to participate in this debate not because I prof…
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Proceedings
9 May 2025
80th Anniversary of Victory in Europe and Victory over Japan
My Lords, I join many others in complimenting, first, the Minister on his inspiring opening speech to this debate. I also compliment the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Peterborough on her speech. I was particularly encouraged by her focus on families, a subject dear to my heart.
These victori…
Lords
Proceedings
6 May 2025
Energy Grid Resilience
My Lords, one of the contributors to clean power, which the Government are quite rightly promoting, is solar panels on the roofs of new houses. I commend what the Government are trying to do, but has my noble friend not seen all the opposition from the housebuilders, who say it is too expensive, it …