Lords
Proceedings
17 March 2026
Arrangement of Business
My Lords, following on from the questions I was asked yesterday, I thought today, before Oral Questions, was a good time to remind all noble Lords that at Question Time the House wants short, sharp, crisp, clear questions, not speeches. Ministers responding have an equal duty to be short, sharp, cri…
Lords
Proceedings
16 March 2026
3 contributions
Arrangement of Business
My Lords, I advise the House that one of our colleagues has been taken ill. I thank the usual channels and all Members for coming together in order to do the Statement an hour early. Our friend and colleague has now been moved to hospital, so the Lobbies are now open. Before we adjourned, we were ab…
I thank the noble Lord for those comments. Obviously, I am happy to chat to him outside the Chamber, but we have allocated the proper time of 40 minutes—20 for the Front Benches and 20 for the Back Benches—which is quite normal for these Statements.
We should now move on to the next business, but a…
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
16 March 2026
UK Domestic Visitor Levy
Does my noble friend the Minister agree that one of the key achievements of the last Labour Government was free entry into museums, which had a huge effect on boosting tourism? Can she assure me that this Labour Government will continue to do all they can to boost tourism in that way and keep free e…
Lords
Debate
13 March 2026
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
My Lords, for the benefit of the Committee, I will let noble Lords know that when we have heard from my noble and learned friend Lord Falconer of Thoroton, I intend to bring the Committee to a conclusion. It would be wiser to wait to start the next group next week, rather than to get half way throug…
Lords
Proceedings
13 March 2026
2 contributions
Arrangement of Business
My Lords—
I did not want to disappoint noble Lords. Before we begin this day in Committee, I shall make my usual brief remarks. First, I reiterate my thanks, on behalf of the whole House, to all the staff across the House who are facilitating this Sitting. I know that noble Lords are aware of the huge amount …
Lords
Oral Questions
11 March 2026
Sustainable Farming Incentive: Small Farms
My Lords, can the Minister confirm that, in the first round of SFI26, the maximum per farm will be capped at £100,000? According to my mathematics, these aspirant billionaires with 50 hectares cannot possibly fit enough options in there to get to £100,000. Would it not be better to reduce the cap—ma…
Lords
Proceedings
10 March 2026
Arrangement of Business
My Lords, before we start Questions, I point out that the clocks are broken. Thankfully, the Lord Speaker will call the next Question after 10 minutes.
Lords
Oral Questions
9 March 2026
Iran and the Middle East
Could the Minister comment on the emerging evidence from BBC Verify that a US Tomahawk missile hit an Iranian primary school in Minab, where more than 168 people, mostly children, were killed? Are the Government liaising with the United States on this case and the issues that may arise from it?
Lords
Oral Questions
3 March 2026
Defence Industrial Strategy 2025: Economic Growth and Job Creation
My Lords, may I press the Minister a little on the point that the noble and gallant Lord just raised about the defence investment plan? When I asked him about this in January, he referred to the comments of the Secretary of State at the beginning of January that the Government were working flat out …
Lords
Oral Questions
3 March 2026
Carbon Budget 6
My Lords, I am very pleased to hear that the Government continually reassess carbon budget 6, but I would like to hear the Minister’s response to the concerns of Ofgem, which has said that the volume of grid connection applications
“exceeds even the most ambitious demand forecasts”.
Further, last …
Lords
Proceedings
2 March 2026
2 contributions
Middle East
My Lords, we now have 20 minutes of Back-Bench questions. In order that we can get as many noble Lords in as possible, I remind noble Lords that their contributions should be questions, not speeches.
We will hear from the Cross Benches next and then from the Conservative Benches.
Lords
Oral Questions
2 March 2026
UK Streaming and Cinema Sector
My Lords, I declare an interest as a television producer. The Media Act set up prominence for public service broadcasters in the digital space, but it does not cover video-sharing platforms such as YouTube, which is where increasing numbers of young people are watching their content. Now that the BB…
Lords
Debate
27 February 2026
2 contributions
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
I am conscious of the time; it is now nearly quarter to six. So, it quite clear that this debate is not going to finish tonight and we are going to have to adjourn mid-group. This is absolutely fine, but we will take the intervention from the noble Lord, Lord Jackson, and maybe one other contributio…
My Lords, the Clerk of the Parliaments has confirmed to me that the clerks have recorded the names of every noble Lord who was here at the start of this debate. They will be circulated to the Chief Whips, including me, and the Convenor of the Cross Benches next week.
Lords
Proceedings
27 February 2026
2 contributions
Arrangement of Business
My Lords, before we begin debate in Committee today, I have a few brief remarks to make. First, I reiterate my thanks, on behalf of the whole House, to all staff across the House for their work facilitating this sitting. A huge amount of work takes place during the day of the sitting, and in the day…
My Lords, my noble and learned friend Lord Falconer gave some very useful statistics to the House. I do not intend to comment on them further. I will make the list the noble Lord, Lord Harper, asked for available; I do so very happily. The noble Lord, Lord Lansley, made very good points about how we…
Lords
Oral Questions
26 February 2026
3 contributions
Equality and Human Rights Commission
The Minister will be aware that organisations such as the Women’s Institute and Girlguiding have described their current difficulties arising from the draft code as costly and difficult. How will the Government and the EHRC reduce anxiety about the code, so that organisations can act proportionately…
I am grateful to the Chief Whip. The Minister will remember that on 2 February I asked him to confirm whether the Government were in full compliance with the law, as set out by the Supreme Court, across all the public services and functions that they deliver. He gave an unequivocal, one-word answer:…
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Proceedings
25 February 2026
Local Government Reorganisation
My Lords, we now move on to a maximum of 20 minutes of Back-Bench contributions. The key is Back-Bench and we want questions, not speeches. This is set out at point 6.7 in chapter 6 of the Companion .
Lords
Oral Questions
25 February 2026
Imran Khan: Imprisonment
My Lords, I thank the Chief Whip. Following on from the question from my noble friend Lord Goldsmith, specific facilitation can be done. The Minister—for whom many in the House, if not all, have great respect—can practically help to facilitate access for British citizens. Sulaiman and Kasim, the son…
Lords
Oral Questions
25 February 2026
2 contributions
British Military Equipment: Chinese Components
My Lords, the fact that 85% of all drone components worldwide come from China illustrates the urgent need for a more resilient supply chain. The development of such a supply chain depends on the placing of orders in the appropriate industries to build up their capacity. In the UK’s case, the placing…
My Lords, under the Washington declaration of 2023, we were promised by the then American Administration that all electric vehicles, military and civil, exported from this country, provided that they contained critical minerals or rare earths mined either in America or here, would be subject to the …
Lords
Oral Questions
25 February 2026
Cyclists: Safety
My Lords, the safety of cyclists is critical, as is the safety of all road users. To that end, will the Minister consider reviewing the recently published guidance on so-called floating bus stops, which does not deliver safety for cyclists, pedestrians or, indeed, anyone? It fails on being inclusive…
Lords
Oral Questions
24 February 2026
Prisons: Education
My Lords, I pay tribute to the work of the Minister, but can he explain why we continue to release prisoners early without requiring or securing a measurable improvement in literacy and numeracy?
Lords
Oral Questions
24 February 2026
Quantum Technology
My Lords, quantum technology clearly has profound implications for our future national security, including for the secure communications on which we all rely and for potential future threats to cryptography. How are the Government working to ensure the alignment of the national quantum strategy with…
Lords
Oral Questions
12 February 2026
Animal Welfare Strategy: Rural Communities
Given its mention in the animal welfare strategy, what progress have His Majesty’s Government made towards introducing a close season for the brown hare in England?
Lords
Oral Questions
11 February 2026
2 contributions
New Homes Target
My Lords, obviously, the noble Lord was not quick enough today.
Research by Crisis and the National Housing Federation found that we need to build 90,000 social homes a year to tackle the current homelessness situation. We know that councils are spending around £2.8 billion a year on temporary acco…
My Lords, my noble friend the Minister has outlined very clearly what a great opportunity this target is, for not only local jobs but local training schemes and use of local materials in building the houses. She mentioned local authorities, but what discussions are being held with developers and hou…
Lords
Oral Questions
11 February 2026
Renters’ Rights Act: Implementation
My Lords, tenants are a group of people close to my heart. They have been promised that the Renters’ Rights Act will transform their security and will do so from 1 May this year. They will be relying on local authorities to enforce those rights. But I say to the Minister that there is still no evide…