Lords
Proceedings
10 June 2026
Refugee Move-on Period Pilot Evaluation Report
My Lords, as this is an immigration-related Question, I take the opportunity to say that I am sure the whole House agrees with me in wishing Mr Stephen Ogilvy, the person who suffered the knife attack in Belfast the other day, well in recovery, as he suffered very severe injuries. We also hope that …
Lords
Proceedings
4 June 2026
Military in the Gulf
I join the Minister in expressing condolences to the families of the service personnel who have been killed in recent accidents. It draws the attention of the whole House to the risks that our service personnel run every single day of their lives.
Is it not the case that the events that overtook us…
Lords
Proceedings
21 May 2026
Youth Offending
My Lords, does the Minister have any plans to amend the minimum age of criminal responsibility?
Lords
Proceedings
18 May 2026
King’s Speech
My Lords, I congratulate the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich on her maiden speech. It is also the end of an era, with the departure from our Benches of the noble Lord, Lord Hennessy of Nympsfield, who is a legend in his own lifetime, with his constitutional expertise.…
Lords
Proceedings
18 May 2026
King’s Speech
My Lords, I congratulate the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich on her maiden speech. It is also the end of an era, with the departure from our Benches of the noble Lord, Lord Hennessy of Nympsfield, who is a legend in his own lifetime, with his constitutional expertise.…
Lords
Committee Stage
15 April 2026
Aviation Safety (Amendment) Regulations 2026
My Lords, as we have heard, these regulations will allow the Civil Aviation Authority to exempt industry from certain safety requirements to allow for such things as greater research and development, as well as allowing increased air traffic control for one-off major events with increased air traffi…
Lords
Oral Questions
13 April 2026
Artificial Intelligence: Impact on Employment
We work closely with Skills England and with the DfE to understand the changes that AI is bringing and what that means in terms of the education system, what skills students need to develop and how to apply them. We are supporting the expansion of AI education in universities, for example through th…
Lords
Debate
27 March 2026
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
My Lords, last Friday we were talking about communication difficulties, whether through hearing, language or something else. In that context, the noble Lord, Lord Rook, has done us a service by proposing his amendments to make it simple and clear. The reason why this is important is that the Bill is…
Lords
Committee Stage
25 March 2026
2 contributions
Northern Ireland After Brexit (Northern Ireland Scrutiny Committee Report)
My Lords, I am grateful to take part in this debate, although I was not a member of the committee until January, so did not have the advantage of taking part in the drawing up of this report, which, as our chairman noted, was agreed unanimously. I share in the tributes to our staff, our chair and th…
I will write to the noble Lord.
Lords
Debate
20 March 2026
4 contributions
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
My Lords, we have heard talk in this debate about respecting the devolution settlement. No, we do not. It is not that long ago, for instance, that the Northern Ireland Assembly voted against abortion but got abortion, and everybody on both Front Benches voted for it. So let us not fool ourselves tha…
My Lords, I think everybody must have been affected by the comments from the noble Baroness, Lady Nicholson. She made very sobering revelations about her experience, which is very broad and much to be admired.
This group of amendments brings into sharp focus the sheer scale of the complexity of bri…
+2 more contributions in this session
Lords
Debate
18 March 2026
Crime and Policing Bill
My Lords, I think it is important to look at this not just from an Irish point of view; we have to look at the big picture. It is clear that there are different pieces of legislation that govern this area, and reference has been made to other pieces of legislation. As the noble Lord, Lord McCrea, sa…
Lords
Debate
13 March 2026
3 contributions
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
My Lords, I want to deal with probing Amendments 887A and 888A, in my name. Throughout the process there has been a potential clash between what decisions might be made here and what decisions might be made in the devolved nations. In the other place, an amendment was introduced by the sponsor of th…
I thank the noble and learned Lord for his explanation. However, I said that it was a probing amendment. Other clauses are also extended to Northern Ireland, not simply Clause 37. Because it was just probing, I reserve the right to reflect on that and perhaps come back at a later stage.
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Debate
12 March 2026
Industry and Exports (Financial Assistance) Bill
My Lords, it is a pleasure to speak on a three-clause Bill. I commend the Government on their brevity. It is a welcome change this week after the 220 clauses of the Crime and Policing Bill, the 178 clauses of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill and the 1,200 amendments that we will be wrestling with again to…
Lords
Statutory Instrument
12 March 2026
2 contributions
Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme (Amendment) (Extension to Maritime Activities) Order 2026
My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow the noble Lord, Lord Jackson of Peterborough, who had more of a maritime emphasis, particularly in his questions. I acknowledge the strong contribution made by my noble friend Lord Greenway. The reality is that the SI before the House is not suitable in its curre…
My Lords, at the beginning of this debate, when I was being nice to the Minister and thanked him for the meeting he asked for with me, I said that I did not want to spoil his career prospects and that I thought that, if it had been his decision, he might have chosen to withdraw the SI at the beginni…
Lords
Debate
27 February 2026
2 contributions
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
My Lords, to some extent this group of amendments goes to the core of a lot of the potential downsides of this Bill because, whether we like it or not, it is going to be a source of coercion.
If we go back a few weeks to the issue that was drawn to our attention by the noble Lord, Lord Stevens, con…
I accept that that may well be the case. I am simply referring to what was in Hansard in 2021. The noble Lord may have changed his mind, as we all do over our lifetime, and rightly so—if you have a completely solid view of everything throughout your life, it is not a good thing. I am not in any sens…
Lords
Proceedings
26 February 2026
Resetting the UK-EU Relationship (European Affairs Committee Report)
My Lords, I very much welcome the report of the committee, very ably introduced by the noble Lord, Lord Ricketts. I particularly welcome the aspects on Erasmus, electricity and, of course, defence and security.
I want to make some reference in my brief remarks—to follow the noble Lords, Lord Empey …
Lords
Debate
6 February 2026
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
My Lords, I will speak to Amendment 89. I think that everybody in the Committee is more or less on the same page in what we are trying to achieve here. This amendment would add,
“or withdrawing medication, hydration, or life-sustaining devices”
to Clause 2(2). This has perhaps been forgotten about…
Lords
Debate
30 January 2026
5 contributions
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
My Lords, I have put my name to some of these amendments. In the spirit of what the Chief Whip said, I will not repeat what the noble Baroness, Lady Coffey, said, but I gently remind the Committee that this Private Member’s Bill is not normal, in so far as most Private Member’s Bills are five, six, …
We are forgetting that we can use the telephone in this circumstance. It is not even that you would have sight of the person, but you could have a pre-recorded telephone call.
+3 more contributions in this session
Lords
Proceedings
26 January 2026
Chinese Embassy
My Lords, I would be grateful if the noble Baroness, if she does not have the figures available right now, could send me a letter and put it in the Library as to how many diplomats from the People’s Republic of China are accredited to the United Kingdom and how many United Kingdom diplomats are accr…
Lords
Debate
23 January 2026
4 contributions
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
My Lords, I wonder whether the proposer of these amendments, the noble Lord, Lord Birt, can tell us whether he has any indication from the relevant royal colleges that their members would be available for this service. The idea is that you will have senior clinicians on a 24-hour basis, 365 days per…
I have to say that that was not my intention—the noble and learned Lord knows that perfectly well. I raised the point merely to indicate the length of time that this is taking and that a lot of the proposals and amendments on the Marshalled List could be addressed if we had amendments put forward by…
+2 more contributions in this session
Lords
Proceedings
23 January 2026
Arrangement of Business
My Lords, the noble Lord kindly allowed a number of us to make representations to him during the week, saying that his door was always open. Indeed it was, and I thank him for that. However, I raised the point last week that for those of us who do not live in London, running to 6 pm or thereabouts m…
Lords
Proceedings
22 January 2026
Retail and Hospitality Sector
My Lords, I congratulate my noble friend Lady Monckton on securing this debate and will take us back to how she started—with the Woolsack, which is currently sustaining the graceful and delicate form of the noble Baroness, Lady Bull. The people who designed this Chamber knew what they were doing. En…
Lords
Debate
16 January 2026
2 contributions
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
My Lords, following on from the proposal in Amendment 39, from the noble Baroness, Lady Grey-Thompson, one of the issues that perhaps is not fully appreciated or understood—it is only if you have actually witnessed it that you get the full implications—is delirium brought about by a combination of m…
My Lords, I am associated with some of these amendments. I do not think we want to get completely hung up on the minutiae of each particular line, because there are variations that one could make. I guess that when one is drafting a Bill there are choices to be made and language can be better if one…
Lords
Proceedings
16 January 2026
Arrangement of Business
My Lords, the Chief Whip will know that I and others have contacted him about this proposal. I accept that the House made its declaration last Thursday—one has to take that seriously and into account. However, the proposal before us now ensures that those of us who cannot go outside the front door, …
Lords
Debate
9 January 2026
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
My Lords, I am indebted to the noble Lord, Lord Carlile, for bringing to a head one of the critical issues in this legislation. As one of the diminishing number of people in this House who is not a lawyer, I say that we have to find our way through this labyrinthine structure where we have chambers …