My Lords, on behalf of my noble friend Lord Bruce of Bennachie, and at his request, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in his name on the Order Paper.
I thank the Minister for that Answer. In 2025-26, the total social security spend in Scotland was £6.9 billion, which amounts to £1.3 billion more than that which is transferred by the Treasury. It is far from clear how the SNP Government will manage to sustain this level of funding. Does the Minist…
My Lords, I too deeply deplore Monday’s violent attack and condemn in the strongest possible terms those who seek to weaponise pain and suffering. In particular, I condemn those inciting violence from abroad, including Tommy Robinson from Moscow yesterday evening. Our thoughts are with the victim an…
My Lords, I, too, begin by sending our thoughts to the victim and his family in north Belfast. I believe we have an Urgent Question on this matter tomorrow, and we will be able to express our thoughts more fully at that time.
I, too, thank the noble Baroness, Lady Hoey, for allowing us to have this…
My Lords, one week ago, the day after the King’s Speech, a Russian drone destroyed a nine-storey apartment block in south-east Kyiv. Some 24 people were killed, including three teenage girls aged between 12 and 15. Some 18 apartments were destroyed, and yet more lives were shattered. Last Friday, th…
My Lords, I too thank the Minister for dealing with questions following last Thursday’s Statement from the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. The judgment is undoubtedly a complex one, but we believe it firmly vindicates the many concerns that were raised during the passage of the previous Con…
We have a problem with the Isle of Wight. One of the vessels has done everything that it could possibly do to decarbonise. It has no option to go anywhere else because the power is not there. It is a fully hybrid boat, as the noble Lord, Lord Greenway, pointed out with a great deal more technical ab…
My Lords, I welcome the publication of this report, but the process in these negotiations is very uncertain and it remains to be seen whether the outcome will be in the best interests of the United Kingdom. The report suggests that the Government have made a good start but, for Northern Ireland, tha…
My Lords, this is an important and detailed report that is a welcome further step in trying to get to the truth of what happened. Like the Minister, I commend its authors. Families have had to wait such a long time for truth and justice. Do the Government accept the finding of serious organisational…
My Lords, there has been such a remarkable degree of unanimity of view on this topic, especially from the voices from Northern Ireland, that I worry that I may start by saying some things that sound a little harsh. The first is that I do not accept the proposition that Northern Ireland voted to rema…
My Lords, I am grateful for this debate on Ukraine and the opportunity that it presents. Mine will be an uncomfortable but honest contribution. I start by observing that it is difficult to draw any comfort from an analysis of the tactical situation on the ground, and it is even more difficult to der…
My Lords, I was tempted to make a joke about filling the gap in the noble Lord’s information, given what we are talking about. Noble Lords are aware that I am passionate about Northern Ireland, and there are many issues that I thoroughly enjoy talking about with Members of your Lordships’ House. I d…
My Lords, I too thank the Minister for repeating the Statement that was made in the House of Commons last week. Dealing with the past is a highly complex subject that inevitably provokes strong emotions. It is not surprising but is, I believe, highly regrettable that when the Good Friday/Belfast agr…
My Lords, my officials told me to say, “Let’s go, Giants”, so for them, at the end of term, I say, “Let’s go, Giants”. The noble Baroness is absolutely right. My good friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, when he met his hero Pat Jennings on Thursday, said:
“Sport has this extraordina…
My Lords, being here tonight reminded me of some of those wonderful days in the House of Commons in the 1980s and 1990s, when we used to do Northern Ireland business on Wednesday, and it would go on until 10 pm, 11pm, one, two or three in the morning, before Tony Blair changed the hours and we could…
My Lords, I am pleased that we all share the same tone with regard to current events and what is happening. The policing family are currently having to cope with a great deal, knowing that there may well be further operations in due course. I am pleased that the whole House sends its support.
Noble…
The noble Baroness is absolutely right. Everything in the delivery of the Belfast/Good Friday agreement and the ongoing peace in Northern Ireland is about trust and bringing people together. With regards to forthcoming legislation, we were clear in our manifesto, and we have been clear by having it …
My Lords, from these Benches we utterly condemn these remarks. Incitement to violence against our democratically elected MPs is never acceptable. We should not underestimate the pain caused by these remarks to the families of Sir David Amess and Jo Cox, as well as to the families of Airey Neave and …