Lords
Proceedings
19 May 2026
VAT Relief: Business Donations
My Lords, we on these Benches very much agree that food and other waste should be minimised, and we sympathise with the objective of this measure. However, are the Government satisfied that the proposal will be effectively administered? I speak, of course, as a former retailer.
Lords
Committee Stage
18 May 2026
Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Amendment) Regulations 2026
My Lords, these regulations introduce a number of changes following the Government’s 2022 review and the 2024 consultation. I thank the Minister for his clear introduction and for emphasising the important principle of getting things right first time, which partly explains why these reforms have tak…
Lords
Proceedings
28 April 2026
Middle East: Economic Update
My Lords, the International Monetary Fund, in its latest World Economic Outlook , has warned that the energy shock stemming from the Iran war will hit the United Kingdom harder than any other advanced economy, notably in terms of growth and inflation. It is also the case that UK borrowing costs are …
Lords
Oral Questions
27 April 2026
Online Challenger Banks
I do not think I agree with the noble Baroness on the question she asked about disadvantaging challenger banks. As I have said already, the regulations are not prescriptive in setting out specific steps that banks should undertake to satisfy customer due diligence; instead, they require them to take…
Lords
Debate
22 April 2026
Pension Schemes Bill
My Lords, since we have only one group of Motions today, I shall address our three key areas—scale and competition, public sector pensions and mandation—together.
First, on scale and competition, I am grateful to the Minister for bringing forward these amendments in lieu. The government response do…
Lords
Oral Questions
22 April 2026
World Economic Outlook: UK Growth and Inflation
Yes, and we are doing most of that, but the noble Baroness is opposing most of it. She said that we need to pursue a growth path. She will know that one of the most important things for growth is keeping inflation and interest rates as low as possible, but her party has unfunded proposals to deal wi…
Lords
Debate
20 April 2026
3 contributions
Pension Schemes Bill
My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Altmann, my noble friend Lady Neville-Rolfe and the noble Viscount, Lord Thurso, for their Motions in this group. In the interest of brevity, I shall focus my remarks only on Motion J1.
My noble friend Lady Neville-Rolfe is fundamentally asking the importa…
Leave out from “House” to end and insert “do insist on its Amendments 77 and 85 to which the Commons have disagreed for their Reason 85A.”
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Proceedings
26 March 2026
Middle East: Economic Update
My Lords, for the third time in as many weeks, the Chancellor came before the other place on Tuesday and once again delivered a Statement remarkable only for its lack of substance.
I welcome the confirmation respecting nuclear power, including the implementation of the Fingleton review, which shoul…
Lords
Oral Questions
26 March 2026
HBOS: Fraud Investigation
As I said to the House previously, the independent Foskett Panel was established by Lloyds Banking Group in 2020, in part following engagement with the FCA and Treasury, to determine the right level of compensation in individual cases. As I said before, the review is independent. I understand that i…
Lords
Debate
25 March 2026
3 contributions
National Insurance Contributions (Employer Pensions Contributions) Bill
My Lords, I will speak briefly to this group of amendments in lieu. I am grateful to my noble friend Lady Neville-Rolfe for returning these issues to the House despite the very disappointing decision to cloak all our previous amendments in the financial privilege. Up and down the country, SME busine…
My Lords, I rise to throw my support behind the four Motions in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Neville-Rolfe. I will be brief. Is the Government’s apparent resistance to the impact assessments proposed in these amendments in any way connected to the fact that the measures in this Bill will not…
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
24 March 2026
Reducing Government Spending
We do. As I said already, and as we know, the full economic impact of the conflict will depend on its severity and duration, but this year borrowing falls by almost one percentage point to its lowest level for six years, 4.3%. This is the largest fall in the deficit since 2016. For the first time si…
Lords
Debate
23 March 2026
2 contributions
Pension Schemes Bill
My Lords, my Amendment 157 would require the Secretary of State to conduct and publish a review of unfunded public sector pensions. I am very grateful to my noble friends Lord Moynihan of Chelsea and Lady Noakes for their support. My amendment is the same as the one I moved in Committee but, in the …
My Lords, I thank the Minister for her comments, and all those who have spoken on the wide variety of reviews that have been proposed, some of which I think will be picked up by the Pensions Commission, by action following the Bill and, indeed, by other reviews that may be undertaken in the coming y…
Lords
Debate
19 March 2026
2 contributions
Pension Schemes Bill
My Lords, I support Amendment 105A and the proposed new clause in the name of my noble friend Lady Noakes, to which I added my name. It is essential, in my view, to require the regulations to be pro-innovation and pro-competition rather than over-exclusionary. The £25 billion minimum provided for in…
Before the Minister proceeds, could she tell us whether competition and innovation feature at all in the Bill?
Lords
Debate
18 March 2026
2 contributions
Crime and Policing Bill
My Lords, it is the luck of the draw: I rise again, late in the evening, moving Amendment 438 in my name and those of the noble Earl, Lord Russell, and my noble friend Lord Jackson of Peterborough, which we have adjusted in the light of the discussion in Committee. It would tackle serious sabotage o…
I have to say that I am very grateful, again, for support across the House—even, it seems, on the government Benches. Given the late hour, I shall not detain the House further. But with the noble Earl, Lord Russell, I very much look forward to meeting the Minister and the noble Baroness, Lady Lloyd,…
Lords
Proceedings
17 March 2026
Spring Forecast Statement
My Lords, it is with a mix of sadness and excitement that I address your Lordships’ House this last time. The sadness is because I shall miss participating in debates, particularly on Africa, and especially participating in the Select Committee work of your Lordships’ House and the APPG work. It has…
Lords
Debate
12 March 2026
National Insurance Contributions (Employer Pensions Contributions) Bill
My Lords, this was a very short Bill but, frankly, I do not know how it got through the House of Commons and came to this House without clarity on the fundamental issue of whether we were talking about a cap that was per employee or per employment. I thank the noble Lord, Lord Livermore, for seeking…
Lords
Debate
11 March 2026
2 contributions
Crime and Policing Bill
My Lords, in moving my Amendment 409D, I will speak to the other amendments in my name. I thank my noble friend Lord Jackson for his support on the crucial issues of police force publication of enforcement data, reducing police paperwork and the reform of disclosure to that end. I have discovered in…
I thank the Minister for his courteous reply. The prospect of a meeting is most welcome: I will be able to clarify one or two outstanding points in relation to the material that he has kindly set out. I was glad to hear about the pilot on redaction in the south-east. I hope that, in due course, that…
Lords
Committee Stage
11 March 2026
Secondary International Competitiveness and Growth Objective (FSR Committee Report)
My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Baroness, Lady Noakes, for introducing this report and to the noble Lord, Lord Forsyth, the outgoing chair and now the Lord Speaker. Having been on the receiving end of some of his incisive questions in the Chamber, I can just imagine what he was like as the chai…
Lords
Oral Questions
9 March 2026
Crown Estate: Wales
Just to repeat my response to the previous question, we have to make sure that we are independent of these problems that we are facing. Rather than relying on fossil fuel, the prices of which are set internationally, we need to have home-grown green energy to ensure that we can resist these problems…
Lords
Debate
5 March 2026
7 contributions
National Insurance Contributions (Employer Pensions Contributions) Bill
My Lords, I am pleased to be opening our deliberations on Report by speaking to a powerful group of amendments tabled by not only the Opposition but noble Lords from across the Chamber. This group in many respects shows the scale and breadth of the concerns that are held by noble Lords with respect …
My Lords, I thank all noble Lords who contributed to this debate. I welcome the noble Lord, Lord Freyberg, to the fray and thank the Minister for his responses. He did not respond to the question raised by my noble friend Lord Ashcombe, the noble Lord, Lord de Clifford, the noble Baroness, Lady Altm…
+5 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
5 March 2026
Small Businesses: VAT Threshold
In a previous answer, I discussed the issues surrounding changing the threshold. The noble Baroness may know that the Windsor Framework imposes an upper limit of just over £90,000 on the threshold in Northern Ireland. The Windsor Framework is relevant by extension to the Government’s decisions in Gr…
Lords
Debate
4 March 2026
Crime and Policing Bill
My Lords, I support my noble friend Lord Jackson. I was delighted to move the amendment in Committee in his absence and to attract so much cross-party support. We also had the support of the police, of the esteemed former Met Commissioner, the noble Lord, Lord Hogan-Howe, who I am glad to see in his…
Lords
Debate
4 March 2026
Crime and Policing Bill
My Lords, I rise to reiterate the concerns I expressed in Committee about the havoc being created by speeding cyclists, e-cyclists and e-scooters—a Wild West, as I have said before, particularly on London streets. I was nearly run over again this week in the Haymarket, and my next-door neighbour was…
Lords
Oral Questions
2 March 2026
UK Streaming and Cinema Sector
The only thing I am very clear on is that, like noble Lords, we want a copyright regime that values and protects human creativity, can be trusted and unlocks innovation. As I said, I cannot pre-empt the report, but I look forward to future debates on this matter.