Lords
Proceedings
14 July 2026
State of Climate and Nature
My Lords, I thank the Minister for his kind words earlier about my contributions—I think they were kind words. I also welcome the Statement from the Minister in the other place, because it was a good Statement. The spending plans sound great, but it is not only about how much you spend but about how…
Lords
Debate
13 July 2026
Clean Water Bill: Chalk Streams
I do not understand the Government’s reluctance to take Thames Water into special administration when it so clearly behaved appallingly and refuses to clean up the mess it has made of not only our chalk streams but the rest of our countryside.
Lords
Proceedings
13 July 2026
Climate Change: Housing Insurability, Mortgage Lending and Financial Resilience
My Lords, the Minister has been saying some very important things about climate change: that it is happening and is very dangerous. But I do not really understand why he keeps using the term “longer term” because, quite honestly, it is happening now. It is not only about economic and financial stabi…
Lords
Proceedings
6 July 2026
International Marine Protected Area: Sargasso Sea
My Lords, in the UK, there are 377 marine protected areas, and, of those, only 38 ban the destructive practice of bottom trawling. What makes the Government think that they can do any better in the Sargasso Sea?
Lords
Debate
24 June 2026
Sporting Events Bill [HL]
Thank you. I am so sorry I was not at Second Reading. This is very much the sort of thing that I feel very strongly about. My three amendments in this group are on three different topics. One is transport, one is sustainability reporting and the third is on climate duty, all of which I feel very str…
Lords
Proceedings
8 June 2026
Affordable Housing: Young People
My Lords, speaking of innovation, Green Party-led Bristol City Council has had some success in creating housing for younger people by using ownership co-operatives and co-housing schemes. Is that something that the Government are looking into and perhaps encouraging in Labour-led councils?
Lords
Proceedings
1 June 2026
Devolved Public Services: Funding
My Lords, apart from a fair rail infrastructure allocation, which is absolutely needed—the Welsh Government are owed £4 billion for HS2 being misnamed as being for England and Wales—the Welsh Government are asking for other things, such as devolution of policing and justice and of the Crown Estate. …
Lords
Proceedings
20 May 2026
King’s Speech
My Lords, why do we have five days of debate on the King’s Speech but no mention of the environment—it is not included in the issues to cover? I point out that the Conservative Government always put the environment down as an issue that should be debated, but here, Labour has failed, as it always do…
Lords
Proceedings
20 May 2026
Supermarkets: Voluntary Price Caps
My Lords, I asked the Minister yesterday about caps on food prices and he said then that that was not the role of the Government. Having said that, the suggested freeze is voluntary, as I understand it. Given that supermarkets— I think I might get booed here—squeeze producers of all kinds, farmers a…
Lords
Proceedings
19 May 2026
VAT Relief: Business Donations
My Lords, one thing the Government could perhaps do for people who are on very low incomes and suffering from food poverty is to cap the price of some essential items at supermarkets. Supermarkets make a huge profit from us customers, so capping a few prices might help the general population.
Lords
Proceedings
19 May 2026
Climate Change: Government Action
My Lords, the King’s Speech did mention climate change. He said that his Government would be a “leading advocate” in the fight against climate change, yet there is not a single policy specifically about nature or the environment in the whole speech, in the whole government agenda. Given that and giv…
Lords
Oral Questions
28 April 2026
Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025
The Martyn’s law provisions, which were passed by both Houses of Parliament, set two tiers of organisation. The first tier, with around 155,000 premises in scope, is called the “standard tier”. Larger organisations facing potential threats of terrorism—there are some 24,000 of them—must have in plac…
Lords
Oral Questions
22 April 2026
3 contributions
Plastic Pollution Reduction
Oh!
I certainly agree that the noble Baroness, Lady Boycott, knows what she is talking about. She has spoken authoritatively and knowledgeably on this for many years. But the noble Baroness is absolutely right to talk about microbeads and microplastics. As I said, we will publish our circular economy gr…
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
16 April 2026
2 contributions
Southport Inquiry: Prevent Programme
This was a horrific attack and my thoughts remain with the families of victims. Since the attack in Southport, Ministers have taken steps to improve Prevent, including new guidance, training and assessment tools, a stronger approach to repeat referrals and new Channel interventions. We have also int…
The second phase of Sir Adrian Fulford’s investigation into the events at Southport includes examining the very issue the noble Baroness has mentioned: the wider, non-ideologically driven potential activity that leads to terrorist or violent behaviour. That second phase, and the terms of reference t…
Lords
Debate
13 April 2026
5 contributions
English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill
My Lords, I support every word that the noble Lord, Lord Shipley, said. This amendment is also in the name of my noble friend Lady Bennett of Manor Castle and the noble Lord, Lord Mohammed of Tinsley. I point out the title of the Bill we are debating: the English Devolution and Community Empowerment…
My Lords, I support Amendment 247. My noble friend Lady Bennett supported the noble Baroness, Lady Pinnock, on this amendment. I will speak also to Amendments 255 and 257. I am grateful to the Minister for the time she took to meet me following Committee; that was very generous. However, I am much l…
+3 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
26 March 2026
AI Growth Lab
The purpose of the AI growth lab is to provide a sandbox so that we can harness some of the novel uses. Those novel uses might for example be in energy efficiency, or water efficiency. There are many ways in which AI can be harnessed to minimise environmental impacts. We are cognisant of the potenti…
Lords
Debate
25 March 2026
Crime and Policing Bill
My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow noble Lords who have spoken in support of the amendments from the noble Baroness, Lady Owen of Alderley Edge. I rise to express our firm support on these Benches for Amendments 2 to 13, which the noble Baroness has brought forward and which I have signed, to the …
Lords
Debate
18 March 2026
2 contributions
Crime and Policing Bill
My Lords, before I speak to my amendment and the others in this group, I just say that, as the Green Peers are not part of the usual channels, we were not able to give our views on the fact that this very important piece of legislation is being bullied through this House by the Government. It is abs…
My Lords, I will speak to Amendments 420 and 422B, both of which I have supported. I go to a lot of events where the right to protest is debated, and people are quite shocked when I describe how this Government bundled three organisations together so that they could push through the proscription of …
Lords
Oral Questions
17 March 2026
Birmingham City Council and Unite: Refuse Workers’ Pay
As I have said, it is not correct to say that the commissioners blocked a viable deal. We want to urge both parties to get back around the negotiating table to find a sustainable solution to end the dispute in the interests of residents. Of course, it is very important that both the equal pay settle…
Lords
Oral Questions
11 March 2026
2 contributions
Sustainable Farming Incentive: Small Farms
It is the turn of the Cross Benches.
The short answer is yes, I very much hope that they will be. We are keen to support organic farming and to see more farms become more, shall we say, environmentally friendly.
Lords
Debate
10 March 2026
Victims and Courts Bill
My Lords, it is a pleasure to support the noble Lord, Lord Hacking, especially when he is so right on an issue. This is an interesting group. Clearly, the Government are going to have a choice of routes to increase human rights for victims, because we need a justice system that puts victims first. W…
Lords
Debate
9 March 2026
3 contributions
Crime and Policing Bill
My Lords, before I speak to my amendments in this group, I would like to say that I learned to read a long time ago—more than 70 years ago, before I went to school. This alphabet soup of a Bill is quite confusing, partly because so many people disagree with it. The noble Lord, Lord Hanson, should pe…
I will speak to you all later.
I think the noble Lord is wrong. You cannot have these vague terms. I would have thought the noble Lord would appreciate the fact that you need clarity in legislation. How can the police know what “in the vicinity” means? How can they possibly make good judgments? The…
+1 more contribution in this session