Lords
Proceedings
25 June 2026
Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder
My Lords, the Department of Health and Social Care’s own health needs assessment noted that there are still no reliable prevalence studies for foetal alcohol spectrum disorder in England, despite estimates suggesting that the UK may have one of the highest rates in Europe. How can the Government eff…
Lords
Proceedings
25 June 2026
Healthcare Services: Acute, Primary and Community
My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Janke, for securing this important debate. There is broad agreement across the House on one central point: if we are to build an NHS that is sustainable for the future, we cannot rely solely on treating people once they arrive at hospital. We need strong pr…
Lords
Proceedings
24 June 2026
Resistant Hypertension
My Lords, NICE has recognised renal denervation as a potential treatment option for resistant hypertension, yet its use remains limited and subject to special arrangements for governance and research. What assessment have the Government made of the extent to which eligible patients are able to acces…
Lords
Proceedings
17 June 2026
State of Extremism Report
My Lords, I will give the Minister a case study that he has previously referred to. In university campuses, student union committees get elected on a platform of antisemitism, Holocaust denial and insisting on the sacking of a Jewish professor of economics. Does the Minister agree that, while antise…
Lords
Proceedings
11 June 2026
Welfare Reforms and Youth Unemployment
My Lords, I pay tribute to my noble friend Lord Younger on his 15 years’ service on the Front Bench. He was an outstanding public servant and is very much missed in your Lordships’ House.
All of us can remember our first job and the moment we got our first pay cheque—or, depending on how old you ar…
Lords
Proceedings
1 June 2026
Devolved Public Services: Funding
My Lords, Lord Barnett was an outstanding public servant as a Manchester Member of Parliament and a Treasury Minister under the Callaghan Government, and he was given the task to come up with this formula in 1978 to placate the Scottish nationalists. I had the good fortune to spend some time on trai…
Lords
Proceedings
20 May 2026
Self-employed: Paternity Leave
The Minister has said twice at the Dispatch Box that she will report back with a decision in early 2027. Will that be January or February 2027?
Lords
Proceedings
19 May 2026
VAT Relief: Business Donations
My Lords, what assessment have the Government made of VAT registration for high street businesses such as mini-markets, vape shops and the like? I recently bought a phone charger and was surprised not to see a VAT receipt, and that business—there are many businesses like this—had significant turnove…
Lords
Committee Stage
21 April 2026
Cancer Outcomes in the UK
My Lords, I am grateful to contribute to this debate, and I too thank the noble Lord, Lord Patel. I declare my interest: I am a practising GP just across the river, and, over the past 40 years, I have diagnosed and cared for many tens of thousands of patients with cancer. We currently use AI to help…
Lords
Oral Questions
25 March 2026
Equality: Break Down Barriers to Opportunity Mission
The work that happens in Select Committees of the House is absolutely essential, and the noble Lord is right to ask about what comes next. On that specific issue, I will get back to him.
Lords
Oral Questions
24 March 2026
Public Transport: Accessibility
I am sorry—I know quite a lot about the railway system, but I do not know the completion date for the station works at Macclesfield. I will find out for the noble Lord and write to him.
Lords
Oral Questions
17 March 2026
Birmingham City Council and Unite: Refuse Workers’ Pay
I think it is fair to say that the situation on equal pay has now been resolved in most councils. In my own council, it took a very long time indeed to resolve because it had not been looked at for a number of years. It often results in large costs for the councils. I cannot say specifically how man…
Lords
Debate
13 March 2026
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
My Lords, Amendments 158 and 163 are in my name. I will speak also to Amendments 157 and 164, in the name of my noble friend Lord Ahmad, who cannot be with us here today. Amendment 157 in my noble friend’s name
“seeks to ensure that a doctor may not raise assisted suicide with a patient who has ‘op…
Lords
Proceedings
11 March 2026
Middle East: Defence
My Lords, I am most grateful to the Minister. The whole House is very lucky to have him as our Minister. If it took only six days for HMS Dragon to get ready, why was readiness not instructed on or after 11 February?
Lords
Oral Questions
10 March 2026
Special Educational Needs: Dyscalculia
The noble Lord raises a crucial point. I do not think there has been enough emphasis in early years on this whole area of SEND. What he says is an interesting idea. It is complex. As a Government we will make sure there is training right across the different phases, through early years, primary and …
Lords
Oral Questions
5 March 2026
PFAS
Absolutely. Diversity in the rural economy is important. I just wondered whether there is a particular explosion of PFAS in pubs.
Lords
Proceedings
4 March 2026
Security Update
My Lords, further to the excellent question from the noble Lord, Lord Rooker, the Chinese make British Army uniforms. On the point about the content of those uniforms, can the Minister let the House know why the Chinese are making British Army uniforms?
Lords
Debate
27 February 2026
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
My Lords, my Amendment 144 relates to those tabled by my noble friend Lord Frost, who has made many of the points I was about to make. To add to what my noble friend has said, he used the word “paperwork” all the way through his remarks, and he outlined its importance. The point I would make, over a…
Lords
Oral Questions
25 February 2026
3 contributions
British Military Equipment: Chinese Components
It is the turn of the Cross Benches.
It is the turn of the Conservative Benches. If they can make their minds up, someone can ask a question.
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
23 February 2026
Free Speech Complaints Scheme
I cannot quite remember when it was that I appeared in front of the committee on that report, but I enjoyed the experience. I do not think it will be very long, from memory.
Lords
Oral Questions
12 February 2026
Security of Candidates, MPs and Elections
I entirely agree. We have to continue to strive for a respectful discourse. I am all in favour of disagreement—it is one of my favourite pastimes; I think that is what got me here—but we have to conduct our business in a way that does respect not only to this House but to the whole political class. …
Lords
Oral Questions
11 February 2026
Electric Vehicles: Transition
I have a feeling that the noble Lord might be speaking from experience given the depth of his knowledge. I met my neighbour—not that we live in a particularly rural area—who had these issues. That is why the Government are investing so significantly into the whole area of charging. One of the issues…
Lords
Debate
6 February 2026
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Shamash, mentioned a very moving story from his family regarding Duchenne muscular dystrophy, and I have a similar story but from a slightly different angle. My cousin Stephen was diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy in the 1960s, when this was a terminal illness…
Lords
Oral Questions
4 February 2026
Land Covenants: Supermarket Chains
Again, the noble Lord raises an important issue about our high streets. While it is not within the range of this Question, I am willing to follow it up. The Government announced a £150 million package for supporting our high streets, but I agree that we should go further on this.
Lords
Debate
30 January 2026
2 contributions
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
My Lords, I will speak to my Amendment 376. It is a pleasure to follow the noble Lord, Lord Empey. Last Friday, like many of your Lordships, I sat here all day and did not say a word. My amendment was in the following group, but sadly we did not get to it. However, there was an excellent discussion,…
Will the noble Baroness give way?