Lords
Oral Questions
19 November 2025
3 contributions
Road Injuries and Deaths
And me next?
My Lords, I also express my condolences to the noble Lord.
The Minister will be aware that yesterday in Australia it was announced for the first time that the number of road deaths caused by taking drugs exceeded the number of deaths caused by drink-driving. Given that, since 2013, the number of de…
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
18 November 2025
2 contributions
Ministry of Defence Procurement: UK-manufactured Products
I declare an interest in that one of my sons works in defence procurement. In light of concerns raised about the reliance on overseas supply chains, can the Minister set out what steps the Government are taking to ensure that procurement decisions actively support UK-based manufacturers so that our …
Noble Lords will recall the Prime Minister’s announcement earlier this year of £1.6 billion in contracts for Thales in Belfast to supply air defence missiles for Ukraine, creating 200 jobs in Northern Ireland. The deal also included the prospect of a further £500 million of additional work to be add…
Lords
Oral Questions
17 November 2025
Artificial Intelligence Legislation
I thank the noble Lord. The World Economic Forum has said that dis- and misinformation is the number one threat to economic stability. Generative AI has hugely increased the scale of that threat. There is concern from AI safety groups that companies are not adequately tackling the problem. Can the M…
Lords
Debate
14 November 2025
6 contributions
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
My Lords, group 1 is perhaps not the ordinary place to start when we are considering the issue of Wales, but I have tabled 40 amendments with specific reference to Wales for a reason. We will get into aspects of this in more detail and I am grateful to the noble Baroness, Lady Smith, and the noble a…
Can the noble Lord give some guidance on the issue of timing? As has just been indicated, if it were not obvious before this morning, it is now perfectly obvious that four days is not going to be enough for the Committee stage of this Bill. There is unanimity that this is an exceptionally important …
+4 more contributions in this session
Lords
Proceedings
13 November 2025
2 contributions
Arrangement of Business
My Lords, before we move on to the next business, I will make a brief statement about how we will handle the Committee stage of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill tomorrow. I will send this statement, by email, to all Members shortly. I understand that colleagues are keen to prepare and ho…
The Whips’ Office will shortly distribute draft groupings of amendments to noble Lords in the usual manner. As the Government are neutral, any changes requested will simply be actioned. The sponsor, my noble and learned friend Lord Falconer of Thoroton, will lead on negotiating any changes, should h…
Lords
Proceedings
12 November 2025
BBC Leadership
We will hear from the Labour Benches next, then the Cross Benches.
Lords
Oral Questions
12 November 2025
Barnett Formula: Wales
The strengthened representation and increased democracy we are about to see in Wales with the Senedd elections under the new system surely add further weight to the needs-based argument of the noble Lord, Lord Wigley, for looking again at improving the Barnett formula for Wales. Should the elected p…
Lords
Oral Questions
11 November 2025
British Council
My Lords, as the trade envoy to Bangladesh, I hosted here in Parliament, attended by the noble Baroness, Lady Alexander, the signing of a higher education partnership between the British Council and the University Grants Commission of Bangladesh, which will improve not only higher education links bu…
Lords
Oral Questions
11 November 2025
2 contributions
Airport Expansion
My Lords, what specific work are the Government undertaking to understand the emissions not only from aircraft but from the surface-access and freight traffic associated with airport expansion? How can the Government meet net-zero commitments while supporting airport expansion at Gatwick and Heathro…
My Lords, can the Minister answer a question that is very puzzling to me? When we proposed airport expansion, it was about increasing business traffic into this country. Since Covid, that has simply not been the case; so much business is done online, and in fact, what we are benefiting is tourism. A…
Lords
Proceedings
5 November 2025
Arrangement of Business
My Lords, before we finish and enjoy the long weekend, I thought I would further sweeten the shorter working week by updating colleagues on my current plans for recesses in 2026. I like to give noble Lords as much notice as I possibly can, as this enables everyone to plan more effectively for when t…
Lords
Oral Questions
29 October 2025
Youth Mobility Scheme
My Lords, is this not yet another example of how badly the previous Government negotiated the Brexit deal, leaving our young people with worse options than they had before?
Lords
Proceedings
23 October 2025
Steel Industry (Special Measures) Act 2025
My Lords, before the House adjourns, I congratulate my noble friend Lord Stockwood on a truly excellent maiden speech. I was honoured to have been one of his supporters when he came into the House only a week ago. He has had an extensive and successful business career and will be of great benefit to…
Lords
Debate
23 October 2025
Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill
My Lords, I have it in command from His Majesty the King to acquaint the House that His Majesty, having been informed of the purport of the Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill, has consented to place his interests, so far as affected by the Bill, at the disposal of Parliament for the…
Lords
Oral Questions
23 October 2025
2 contributions
Chinese Embassy
My Lords, I do not wish to put my noble friend in the position of having to repeat the mantra that she has had to issue several times already, but could she tell us whether, in any planning application which goes to Ministers for consideration, it would indeed be normal practice for the applicant to…
I am obliged to the noble Lord. Is the Minister saying that, if the Cabinet takes the view that national security is being compromised, the Prime Minister is unable to overrule a decision by the Planning Minister?
Lords
Debate
22 October 2025
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
I can very briefly come to the Dispatch Box now. Can I first say how much I respect the noble Lord? We are very clear: I know that the noble Lord and his party did not support the suggestion of starting at 11 am, but that was a decision of the House. My intention is that, when these votes are finish…
Lords
Oral Questions
22 October 2025
Rules on Duty-Free Goods
My Lords, will the Government please start to renegotiate our entry into the customs union? It would eliminate the issues raised by the noble Baroness, Lady Hoey, and many others and increase prosperity for us. There is a very simple and direct set of answers.
Lords
Oral Questions
21 October 2025
Education in Prisons
I am grateful to the noble Lord.
Does the Minister accept that the damage done in individual institutions by cuts in education and skills training is compounded by the effect of the churn going on in the prison population at the moment, meaning that many prisoners are in individual institutions for…
Lords
Debate
13 October 2025
3 contributions
Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill
My Lords, I do not like doing this, but I am conscious that a number of noble Lords have arrived here for the buses Bill ping-pong. While it is not ideal, we may need to break mid-group and come back to this important group after the ping-pong.
I note that my noble friend Lord Hendy has just popped…
I will keep talking while we get my noble friend Lord Hendy in. He will be here shortly. I thank all noble Lords particularly for their consideration today at Question Time, which was much appreciated by everyone here. My noble friend is, I hope, here now. No, he is not.
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
13 October 2025
Jobs Market
The Minister quite rightly mentioned young people and the importance of opportunities for them, but there seems to be increasing evidence that entry-level opportunities are reducing and that it is becoming more difficult for young people to take that all-important first step into work. So can the Mi…
Lords
Proceedings
13 October 2025
Arrangement of Business
My Lords, before we start Oral Questions today, I thought this would be a good opportunity to remind Members that the House wishes the questions that are asked to be short, sharp, succinct and to the point. As I have said before, it is called Question Time for a reason. There is no greater favour th…
Lords
Debate
19 September 2025
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
My Lords, it has been a long day at the end of a very long week, at the end of this September sitting, when we have made good progress on the legislation before the House. I thank the usual channels and all Members for that most sincerely. As we adjourn our proceedings, I am sure all noble Lords wil…
Lords
Proceedings
19 September 2025
Arrangement of Business
My Lords, before the debate is resumed, I want to remind the House of a few important points. First, I think the whole House will join me in recognising, as the Senior Deputy Speaker did yesterday, that the first day of the Second Reading last week was the House of Lords at its best. Noble Lords obs…
Lords
Oral Questions
18 September 2025
2 contributions
Gaza: UN Commission of Inquiry Report
My Lords, I thank the Minister for her further explanation and updating of what she said yesterday about how it is not for politicians to determine whether there is a genocide or not—I fully agree with that principle. However, I am slightly confused, because only two weeks ago the Foreign Secretary …
My Lords, to nobody’s surprise, it has been reported that the Government are going to proceed with recognition of the state of Palestine, probably this weekend. While I accept that it was not their intention, this decision has been warmly welcomed by Hamas and its supporters, who regularly wave thei…
Lords
Oral Questions
15 September 2025
Online Safety Act 2023: Virtual Private Networks
My Lords, I was interested to read comments from Republican politicians over the weekend calling out the role of social media in polluting political discourse, particularly after the horrific events in America last week. Can we please recognise that we are pioneers in this country in terms of regula…