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…
Lords
Debate
12 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. As we adjourn our proceedings, I am sure all noble Lords will join with me in thanking the catering staff, the attendants, the clerks, Hansard staff, the broadcasting unit, the police, security staff and the doorkeepers for their excel…
Lords
Proceedings
12 September 2025
Arrangement of Business
My Lords, before we begin Second Reading, I want to remind all noble Lords of a few important points. There is an advisory speaking time limit for Back-Bench contributions of four minutes. This reflects the large number of speakers, while providing a respectable amount of time for everyone to outlin…
Lords
Oral Questions
11 September 2025
Youth Unemployment
My Lords, building on an earlier question and the Minister’s reply, she will be aware that, as well as young people claiming unemployment benefits, large numbers of them are not in education, employment or training. Given the lasting damage that long periods out of the labour market can have, especi…
Lords
Oral Questions
8 September 2025
Gaza City
My Lords, given the general consensus that the displacement of the Palestinian people is in itself a war crime, will the Government now take the opportunity to place before the House all the assistance that we give to the State of Israel now, so that harder decisions can be taken on what sanctions m…
Lords
Proceedings
5 September 2025
Arrangement of Business
My Lords, we have four important Private Members’ Bills to consider today. I draw colleagues’ attention to the advisory speaking time. If we all stick to that, we will be able to leave the House at a reasonable time, and it shows respect to colleagues who come in later.
Lords
Debate
3 September 2025
Employment Rights 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 Employment Rights Bill, has consented to place his interest, so far as it is affected by the Bill, at the disposal of Parliament for the purposes of the Bill.
Lords
Proceedings
2 September 2025
Borders and Asylum
Before we move on to the 20 minutes of protected time for Back-Benchers, I want to make it clear that this is 20 minutes for Back-Benchers only and that the form of the Back-Bench contributions should be questions on the Statement and not speeches.
Lords
Oral Questions
2 September 2025
Public Order Legislation
My Lords, I point out to the Minister that the large majorities he is so proud of were achieved by bundling together Palestine Action with two obvious and very extreme terrorist organisations. In Israel, many citizens are lawfully protesting against the slaughter and starvation of the people of Gaza…
Lords
Oral Questions
1 September 2025
Palestinian Territories: Development Support
My Lords, the viability of any potential Palestinian state must surely depend not just on effective institutions but on credible, capable political leadership. What assessment have His Majesty’s Government made of the prospect of that emerging in the Palestinian Territories in the near term?
Lords
Oral Questions
1 September 2025
Civil Service: Artificial Intelligence Productivity Gains
My Lords, while the results from the landmark Civil Service AI trial are clearly encouraging, does the Minister agree that it highlights the urgent need to train up public sector workers across all departments on the effective and appropriate use of generative AI? I suggest that such training and gu…
Lords
Proceedings
24 July 2025
Tributes
My Lords, before we move on to the main business, I want to start with some words of thanks to staff across the House and all colleagues ahead of Summer Recess. I am delighted to be able to confirm the current plan for the start of Summer Recess next year. Subject to the progress of business, we wil…
Lords
Proceedings
23 July 2025
Arrangement of Business
My Lords, as set out in T oday’s L ist s , at a convenient point after 7.30 pm we are taking ping-pong on the Armed Forces Commissioner Bill. Due to an oversight, while appearing on T oday’s L ist s , it does not appear on the green sheets, for which I apologise to the House. Once we have finished p…
Lords
Oral Questions
23 July 2025
Pensions: Low-income and Self-employed Workers
My Lords, the Minister is quite right to talk about the success of automatic enrolment but, as she touched on, the pension contributions of the self-employed raise alarm. Could the Government think of ways of increasing this, perhaps using the tax return process as an opportunity to get self-employe…