Lords
Oral Questions
17 March 2026
BBC World Service: Sustainability
It is important that the BBC has editorial independence, but there is no doubt that there were issues that needed to be responded to following the Prescott revelations. I was pleased to see the way that the BBC reacted to that; it owned the problem and it has put in place measures to deal with it. T…
Lords
Committee Stage
16 March 2026
3 contributions
Treaty Scrutiny in Westminster (International Agreements Committee Report)
My Lords, I was developing a point about the Government’s refusal, under the Ponsonby rule, to grant a debate in the House of Commons on the Diego Garcia Bill. Their refusal to do that prevented the ratification of the treaty, making the CRaG Act, in essence, worthless in that respect.
Of course, t…
My Lords, it is a pleasure to speak on behalf of the Government in response to this debate. I am well aware of the poacher-turned-gamekeeper nature of the response that I am about to give. I remember saying something very similar to what the noble Lord, Lord Lilley, shared with us earlier. I probabl…
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
9 March 2026
Iran and the Middle East
There are vast books written about international law that the noble Lord may wish to consult. But, clearly, after Iran strikes civilian sites—hotels in Dubai where British nationals are staying, with their lives put at risk—then what we are doing to support the United States is clearly a defensive a…
Lords
Oral Questions
4 March 2026
Taiwan
On the last point, I do not think the noble Lord would expect me to comment on information sharing—he is smiling from a sedentary position, so I think he expected that answer. As the whole House knows, we did a China audit, which formed part of the national security strategy published last year. As …
Lords
Proceedings
3 March 2026
Gibraltar Treaty
I am grateful to the Minister for giving the House the opportunity to ask questions on this Statement. I should begin by saying that the Official Opposition welcome the fact that the Government of Gibraltar have been at the table throughout these negotiations. Gibraltar is British. The Government te…
Lords
Proceedings
26 February 2026
Diego Garcia and British Indian Ocean Territory
My Lords, I warmly welcome the Statement from the Minister in the other place that this dreadful surrender Bill is being paused pending further discussions with the United States. My amendment of a few weeks ago, which the noble Baroness described at the time as “wrecking”, called for exactly that, …
Lords
Oral Questions
10 February 2026
Ambassadors: Vetting Process
I honestly do not know who originally had the idea; I bet they wish they had not. I am afraid I cannot enlighten the noble Lord. As far as Morgan McSweeney goes, he has done great service over very many years to the Labour Party, and by extension to this country. He remains someone who many of us ho…
Lords
Oral Questions
9 February 2026
Jimmy Lai: Prison Sentence
I explained just now about the BNO passport holders—if the noble Lord knew anything about this at all, he would understand that that will be absolutely opposed by China—so we have already done that. We will continue to make the case, and we now have a better ability to do that than we had previously…
Lords
Proceedings
5 February 2026
Iran
My Lords, while, understandably, all our attention in this country at the moment has been focused on the survival of our own Government, we should also be keeping a close eye on the future of the regime in Tehran. It has destroyed and brutalised one of the world’s great civilisations, threatened the…
Lords
Oral Questions
2 February 2026
China: Jimmy Lai
I advise noble Lords that the Prime Minister will make a Statement in the other place later this afternoon, in which more detail may well be discussed. I am not in a position to pre-empt that Statement now, but I note the Opposition Benches’ support for the Prime Minister raising the cases of Jimmy …
Lords
Proceedings
29 January 2026
UK Development Partnership Assistance
My Lords, I join with others in congratulating the two new Peers on their maiden speeches. It is with great pleasure that I welcome my noble friend Lady Hyde of Bemerton to her place in your Lordships’ House and congratulate her on a really inspiring and wonderful maiden speech. I am delighted to he…
Lords
Debate
26 January 2026
Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill
My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness for repeating that Answer. In repeating it, she has accused my amendment of being “wrecking”. That is simply not true, and I have it in writing from our excellent clerks that the amendment is dilatory and not fatal. It is not wrecking. I hope the noble Baroness w…
Lords
Oral Questions
22 January 2026
Diego Garcia: Comments by the President of the United States
As I have explained on I do not know how many occasions, this is a joint initiative. It is about securing a base for the United Kingdom and the United States, which we believe to be in the interests of us here in the UK, our allies in the US and global stability. That is why we have gone about this …
Lords
Debate
19 January 2026
Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Bill
My Lords, the treaty came into operation on Saturday, so this is a very appropriate day. My only sadness on this excellent occasion is that, as I said on Report, I believe that this is probably one of the last agreements that we will have internationally from the United Nations in the near future, g…
Lords
Oral Questions
19 January 2026
Greenland: Proposed US Tariffs
We talk with relevant partners as appropriate, but the main conversations that have happened between the United Kingdom and the United States have taken place between our Prime Minister and President Trump—most recently yesterday, and there may have been more contact since then that I am not aware o…
Lords
Proceedings
15 January 2026
Iran
My Lords, the situation in Iran is very fast-moving, and there have been significant developments since the original Statement by the Government last Tuesday. Before moving on to the specific questions I would like to raise with the Minister, I would like to take a moment to reflect on the incredibl…
Lords
Oral Questions
13 January 2026
United States: Withdrawal from International Organisations
It is important that we keep this in a bit of perspective. The amount of money that would come as a consequence of the announcement that the US made is about 3% of the UN’s overall budget. We already fund some organisations in the UN that the US does not fund, and we are not members of some of the 6…
Lords
Debate
12 January 2026
3 contributions
Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Bill
My Lords, the Bill enables the Government to go ahead and ratify the treaty, which we signed when we were in government and we still support. We have discussed the treaty and the Bill at length in Committee, and we are pleased that the Government are continuing with this work to implement the treaty…
I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Miller of Chilthorne Domer, for leading this group. The objective of the treaty is to protect areas of the ocean that lie beyond national jurisdiction in line with the treaty that we agreed. Plastic pellet pollution is a concerning environmental risk, and I thank the…
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Debate
12 January 2026
3 contributions
Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill
My Lords, I first of all associate myself with the remarks of my noble friend Lord Callanan. I preface my further remarks by saying there was a very useful debate on Report, which brought out a number of important points which command attention. In that context, I spoke then exclusively on the defen…
I thank the Minister for her courtesy and patience throughout this very unusual Bill and its passage through this House. I will make a few remarks on the financial costs.
The treaty makes provision for a financial agreement that requires the UK to make payments to the Republic of Mauritius for the …
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Proceedings
12 January 2026
Iran: Protests
The UK is clear in its condemnation of the regime’s brutality towards protesters. For many different reasons, we fundamentally support the right of those who are bravely taking to the streets and showing enormous courage to make their case in the way that they wish. Communication with the Iranian re…
Lords
Oral Questions
8 January 2026
Mining: Pollution
My Lords, I start by saying how grateful I am to the noble Lord, Lord Oates, for his speech. I was moved by what he had to say and the accounts he shared with us. They really brought to life the issues that we are turning our attention to, which too often can seem very distant and abstract. I was af…
Lords
Oral Questions
8 January 2026
Greenland
I have explained to the noble Lord the issue of the right to self-determination countless times, and I refer the noble Lord to my previous seven or eight answers.
Lords
Oral Questions
7 January 2026
Venezuela
Of course, I am aware of the events in the North Atlantic. I understand that the Defence Secretary will shortly be making some remarks about this and I think it is better to allow the House to be updated properly in due course on this quickly evolving matter.
Lords
Proceedings
6 January 2026
Venezuela
My Lords, I begin by associating myself with the condolences expressed by the Foreign Secretary in the other place following the appalling tragedy in Crans-Montana. I know that the victims of that tragic fire, their friends and their families will be in all our thoughts at this very difficult time.
…
Lords
Debate
5 January 2026
14 contributions
Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill
My Lords, as we begin our proceedings on Report, let me reiterate our view, as the Official Opposition, that the treaty that the Government have agreed with Mauritius puts the interests of the British people last. It is an abject surrender that we would never have agreed to. It was mentioned nowhere…
My Lords, throughout our debates on the Bill, we have heard time and again from noble Lords across your Lordships’ House that the Chagossian people have not been properly consulted by the Government. That is a view with which I heartily agree. They should be formally consulted on the whole treaty an…
+12 more contributions in this session