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,…
Lords
Oral Questions
25 November 2025
Forthcoming Fiscal Changes
The noble Baroness talks about stability and chaos; let us talk about 14 years of chaos. First, there was austerity, which took demand out of the economy at exactly the wrong moment, cutting investment and undermining the economy’s ability to grow. Then we saw a disastrous and tragically misjudged B…
Lords
Debate
19 November 2025
4 contributions
Crime and Policing Bill
My Lords, I rise to speak to Amendments 214F and 214G, in my name, as we move away from the regulation of weapons to retail crime and shoplifting. I will try to be brief.
In my 15 or so years as an executive at Tesco and as vice-chair of the British Retail Consortium, I spent many hours investigati…
My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Doocey, and my noble friend Lord Davies for their support for my amendment. I thank the Minister for agreeing to further discussions, and to a meeting, although I have to say that I am slightly disappointed by his initial remarks. I would also like to thank…
+2 more contributions in this session
Lords
Proceedings
18 November 2025
Budget: Press Briefings
My Lords, two weeks ago the Chancellor held an unprecedented press conference at Downing Street. As a result, everyone believed that income tax rates would be increased in the Budget. However, last Friday, the Financial Times , obviously briefed by Downing Street, said that this plan had been scrapp…
Lords
Oral Questions
17 November 2025
Inheritance Tax: Pensions
I presume the noble Baroness is referring to the proposal of the noble Baroness, Lady Altmann, for a flat tax, and it is very interesting that she raises that. Currently, fewer than 10% of estates will have an inheritance tax liability. If you put a flat tax on all pensions, you are asking 90% of es…
Lords
Proceedings
13 November 2025
Economic and Taxation Policies: Jobs, Growth and Prosperity
My Lords, I congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Elliott of Mickle Fell, on securing this debate and on his thoughtful, interesting and wide-ranging opening speech. I very much look forward to reading his book, once I receive the free copy that I was promised. I also join the noble Lord in his heartfel…
Lords
Oral Questions
12 November 2025
Cryptocurrencies: US Regulation
I am grateful to the noble Baroness for her question. As she knows, the Bank of England is the independent regulator for systemic stablecoin and will design its regime as necessary to manage the associated risks. On 10 November, just earlier this week, the Bank of England launched a consultation to …
Lords
Oral Questions
12 November 2025
Barnett Formula: Wales
I would dispute what the noble Baroness has just said—I do not recognise that picture of what is going on in Wales. Obviously, the increase in the amount of funding that will go to Wales through the Barnett formula is welcome. As I pointed out, there is more direct funding to Wales as well, such as …
Lords
Oral Questions
10 November 2025
2 contributions
National Insurance: Partnerships
My Lords, the Government do not comment on tax speculation outside of fiscal events. The Chancellor will set out the Government’s fiscal plans at the forthcoming Budget.
I am grateful to the noble Baroness for her question. However, she knows that I am not going to speculate or give a running commentary on the next Budget now. There has been much speculation, as is usual ahead of a Budget. A lot of that speculation is irresponsible. I am not going to comment on indi…
Lords
Oral Questions
3 November 2025
Public/Private Partnerships: Shares
I was agreeing with some of that until it got to the very end. I thank the noble Baroness for her question. Obviously, we need to look at this closely. We want to open up public/private partnerships, where they are to happen, to investment from consumers and shareholders, but we need to wait until t…
Lords
Oral Questions
30 October 2025
Public and Private Sector Productivity Trends
The noble Baroness is correct to say that public sector productivity is a major issue. I know that it is something she cares about deeply. Obviously, she will be aware that the Government inherited a situation where public sector productivity was 7.2% below pre-pandemic levels; that is obviously and…