Lords
Oral Questions
26 February 2026
Duty Relief Exemption: Small Parcels
The Government are on top of it, perhaps slightly more so than the noble Baroness, given that her question was incorrect. I have already clearly said that these facilitations under the Windsor Framework are unaffected by the EU’s change to its duty relief exemption, and therefore there will be no ne…
Lords
Committee Stage
24 February 2026
12 contributions
National Insurance Contributions (Employer Pensions Contributions) Bill
My Lords, I am delighted to open proceedings with my noble friend Lord Altrincham on our first day in Committee and to be joined in this group by my noble friend Lord Leigh and the noble Baroness, Lady Altmann.
This is not a Bill we welcome. Contributors to research done by HMRC published last year…
My Lords, I am pleased that we have begun Committee by addressing this issue and grateful to all noble Lords who have spoken. I am grateful to my noble friend Lord Leigh of Hurley, who seemed to be saying—I think with support from outside bodies—that the Treasury’s financial estimates were over-opti…
+10 more contributions in this session
Lords
Committee Stage
23 February 2026
2 contributions
Pension Schemes Bill
My Lords, Amendment 217 would require the Secretary of State to conduct and publish a review of public sector pensions. I am very grateful to my noble friend Lady Noakes for her support and am only sorry that she has other commitments this evening.
I have always worried about the cost and sustainab…
My Lords, I am grateful for the support I have received this evening, particularly from my noble friend Lady Stedman-Scott and the noble Baroness, Lady Bowles, who, like me, cares a lot about transparency and favours a review. I listened with care to what the Minister said, and will look carefully a…
Lords
Committee Stage
5 February 2026
3 contributions
Pension Schemes Bill
My Lords, I shall speak to government Amendments 194 to 202. The Government’s letter states that the liabilities of the AWE pension scheme will no longer be pre-funded, that the assets of the scheme will be sold and that scheme members will be protected in line with the approach taken to other pensi…
My Lords, it may be that those are precedents that have been passed in legislation, but I am not clear that they have been put into this sort of Bill. The problem with the amendments is that they are a mixture of the general and the individual. That is what creates hybridity, which is why I ran into…
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Debate
4 February 2026
National Insurance Contributions (Employer Pensions Contributions) Bill
My Lords, I accept that this Government, like their predecessor, have little room for manoeuvre if they are to keep within their fiscal rules at a time of sluggish growth, so I am not surprised to see them bearing down on the tax efficiencies of employer pension contributions, which the Treasury bel…
Lords
Oral Questions
4 February 2026
Baby Milk Powder: Cereulide
I am certainly convinced that more than a decent job has been done on this occasion. I know that the FSA, along with the department and the UK Health Security Agency, have, as was said to me, been working non-stop since the incident was notified, and I am genuinely reassured by that. What I would sa…
Lords
Committee Stage
3 February 2026
3 contributions
Pension Schemes Bill
My Lords, it is fair to say that I am not keen on Chapter 4 of the Bill, which appears to allow the state to trample on and prevent the establishment of smaller funds, and, if necessary, requires their assets to be moved, presumably to another fund. “Squashing new entrants” was the telling phrase us…
Before the Minister moves on, entry is essential to innovation. The idea that the big firms or any regulators are going to be able to decide the right path for the innovative future is picking winners, and it does not work in my humble business experience.
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Proceedings
29 January 2026
2 contributions
Business Rates
My Lords, here we are again, discussing yet another U-turn when the Government conclude, after public outrage at an announcement that they have made and after some tardy reflection, that perhaps they did not get matters right first time. What is offered here is not merely tardy but inadequate. It fa…
My Lords, the Official Opposition have actually come forward with plans for the high street, which we would be very glad to share with the Minister as he does his high street review. I think we should have not only Lib Dem ideas but Conservative ideas. We have a new Opposition now. We are looking fo…
Lords
Committee Stage
28 January 2026
3 contributions
Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Cryptoassets) Regulations 2025
I was thanking the Minister for his response to the scrutiny committee’s concerns. I also thank the noble Baroness, Lady Kramer, for her well-informed insights, as usual, and her correct reference to risk. I very much look forward to the Minister’s response on that point.
While the Official Opposit…
My Lords, I thank noble Lords for their contributions. This has been an interesting debate. There are a lot of questions on this and I will do my best to answer them—I have been making notes. I may not get to respond to them all but, if I do not, as before, I will scour through Hansard and respond a…
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Debate
27 January 2026
2 contributions
Crime and Policing Bill
My Lords, Amendment 454C seeks to increase the punishment for sabotaging an undersea cable to a 15-year prison sentence and an unlimited fine. This constitutes critical national infrastructure and we need a stronger deterrent, I believe—as do one or two others from the Back Benches who have probably…
My Lords, it is late, but I am grateful for the support of the noble Lord, Lord Cromwell, the noble Earl, Lord Russell, and my noble friend the opposition spokesman Lord Cameron of Lochiel, with his compelling Scottish perspective.
Given the vulnerabilities that have been identified, and identified…
Lords
Debate
27 January 2026
2 contributions
Crime and Policing Bill
My Lords, in moving my Amendment 436, I will also speak to my Amendment 437. I thank my noble friend Lord Jackson for his support on the crucial issue of police force publication of enforcement data and the noble Baroness, Lady Fox, for supporting my proposed review of police paperwork or its online…
I think this has been a constructive discussion with a good tone. I thank the Minister for his comments, including on the new dashboard and the plan to review that again in 2027-28, and other mechanisms such as the policy activity review and things that have been proposed in the White Paper. I will …
Lords
Committee Stage
26 January 2026
Pension Schemes Bill
My Lords, I support Amendments 91 and 95 in the name of my noble friend Lady Noakes, to which I have added my name. I apologise for not being able to contribute to the Committee’s discussions on Thursday because of competing business on the Floor of the House. I have read Hansard and I should record…
Lords
Proceedings
22 January 2026
Retail and Hospitality Sector
My Lords, I thank my noble friend Lady Monckton for securing this important and timely debate today and wish her every success and good luck with her pub venture. She, like others, will need some luck when being involved with the hospitality industry.
I declare my interests as set out in the regist…
Lords
Debate
22 January 2026
4 contributions
Crime and Policing Bill
Could the Minister say something about the Police Federation’s attitude to the list of changes to enforcement that he has laid out?
I am very interested in this area and supportive of the right use of AI in policing, because it can be enormously helpful to the police in terms of resources. I remember when I was at the Cabinet Office, they were doing a trial where they were using AI instead of officers to look through CCTV of abu…
+2 more contributions in this session
Lords
Debate
20 January 2026
2 contributions
Crime and Policing Bill
My Lords, my Amendment 416 would get around the problem of cyclists hiding themselves from the police by covering their faces when breaking the law.
I was extremely grateful to the Minister for taking time to meet me to discuss the various amendments to the Bill that I had tabled or supported. I en…
My Lords, I am grateful to the Minister for recognising the concern across the Committee—it is a serious problem—and for trying out his winter of action. However, I am disappointed by his response. The existing 1994 Act powers and the local authority arrangements he mentioned are too narrow and spec…
Lords
Proceedings
20 January 2026
Business Rates: Retail, Hospitality and Leisure
My Lords, we have more bad news this morning from the ONS on job numbers in hospitality. That makes it even more important that we receive clear answers to the following questions. Why did the Government not get the new rating arrangements right first time in the Budget, when we now know that they a…
Lords
Committee Stage
12 January 2026
Pension Schemes Bill
I will speak simply to support the noble Lord, Lord Sharkey. It seems to me that there is an extraordinarily wide use of delegated powers in the Bill and, for all the reasons that he set out, we should look at that again. If the Government do not feel able to make a change to respond to his very per…
Lords
Debate
7 January 2026
2 contributions
Crime and Policing Bill
My Lords, I rise to move Amendment 366 and speak to Amendment 538 in the name of my noble friend Lord Jackson of Peterborough, who has commitments overseas today. I am particularly delighted to have the support of the noble Lord, Lord Hogan-Howe, with his experience as Met Commissioner and the wisdo…
I thank the Minister for his constructive response to this important amendment, and all those who took part in the debate. The powerful combination of the noble Lords, Lord Clement-Jones and Lord Hogan-Howe, my noble friends Lord Blencathra and Lord Davies of Gower and the Minister himself represent…
Lords
Oral Questions
7 January 2026
2 contributions
Public Sector Productivity
My Lords, in the decade from 2010, the UK economy saw the lowest productivity growth since the Napoleonic Wars. This led to the lowest growth in living standards ever recorded. This Government inherited a situation where public sector productivity was 5.6% below pre-pandemic levels. Reversing that p…
I do not agree with that. On a point of fact, the noble Baroness mentions NHS productivity. The latest figures from the NHS show that NHS productivity has grown by 2.4% in April to July 2025 compared to the same period last year. Once again, the noble Baroness criticises the fact that we are seeking…
Lords
Debate
6 January 2026
2 contributions
Sentencing Bill
My Lords, I will speak to my Amendments 64 and 66, and I thank my noble friend Lord Hailsham for his Amendments 65 and 67. Although my amendments would apply only to new sentences, because that is the scope of the Bill, I am content with my noble friend’s amendments because, disappointingly, as we h…
My Lords, I am very grateful to noble Lords across the House for drawing attention earlier to education and training in prisons. However, we have some very important amendments we need to get to tonight and, in the circumstances, I will not call a vote or move my amendment.
Lords
Proceedings
6 January 2026
Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief
My Lords, the Government quietly announced over Christmas that the agricultural and business property reliefs threshold would increase from £1 million to £2.5 million. That change is welcome but it is plainly a U-turn, following well over a year of pressure from farmers, other family businesses and …
Lords
Proceedings
15 December 2025
Resident Doctors: Industrial Action
I agree with the noble Lord, Lord Patel, on strikes. Why are we still allowing in overseas doctors, when domestically trained doctors cannot secure the speciality jobs that they are applying for? When will the legislation that the Government have talked about come in? It really would make a differen…
Lords
Debate
15 December 2025
Crime and Policing Bill
My Lords, I will speak to Amendments 346A and 346B, in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Hogan-Howe, who has just spoken, as I have added my name to them. I support the other amendments in this group in general terms. There is a lot of dissatisfaction about the arrangements for cycles, e-bikes and e-…
Lords
Proceedings
11 December 2025
The UK’s Demographic Future
My Lords, like others, I pay tribute to the noble Lord, Lord Hodgson, for securing this debate but also for bringing forward what I think is his third major report. Of course, there have been numerous contributions in between. I guess that over the years, he has become somewhat discouraged, perhaps,…