Lords
Proceedings
14 July 2026
National Crime Agency: Reform Party Funding
My Lords, is it not the case that one thing that has allowed Reform and Nigel Farage to get off a little here is the sheer complexity of electoral law and the whole area around this? We are about to start consideration of the 27th Representation of the People Bill, and the 26 others are not consolid…
Lords
Proceedings
9 July 2026
Tributes: Lord Mackay of Clashfern
My Lords, it is a great privilege to follow three such speeches. The cries of dismay that greeted the Lord Speaker’s sad news of the death of the noble and learned Lord, Lord Mackay of Clashfern, were as loud on our Benches as anywhere else in the House, having, as we do, so many of his friends and …
Lords
Proceedings
8 July 2026
Lord Advocate
I also welcome the Minister to her seat. The conflicts that have been described are particularly bad for political party and election law. The Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000, which applies to the whole of the United Kingdom, has an enormous raft of criminal offences. If you lo…
Lords
Proceedings
2 July 2026
Political Party Finance and the Electoral Commission
My Lords, at the core of any western liberal democracy is trust. The citizen must trust the institutions that make up their democracy and the people within those institutions. They must trust also that the oversight arrangements will work and, if someone or something breaches that trust, that there …
Lords
Proceedings
24 June 2026
Hares: Close Season
My Lords, I declare an interest in that I farm organically in Scotland and we have a number of hares around. In fact, when the close season came in in Scotland, it did not really do much to help the hare population, because there are enough foxes around to kill the hares, which I have tried but fail…
Lords
Proceedings
3 June 2026
Access to Nature Green Paper
My Lords, the current 2p piece has an image on the back of a red squirrel. I wonder, as a serious point, whether the Green Paper could look at the establishment of red squirrel enclosures as one way of getting people access to nature. There are one or two red squirrel enclosures in England that have…
Lords
Proceedings
13 May 2026
Senior Deputy Speaker
My Lords, on behalf of the Cross Benches, I congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Ponsonby, on his appointment as Senior Deputy Speaker, and most importantly, actually, as Chairman of Committees, which is sometimes forgotten. I wish the names were reversed in importance in the way we consider them.
The…
Lords
Oral Questions
23 April 2026
Sustainable Farming Incentive: Flood Prevention and Drought Resilience
I know the challenges around Flood Re and insurance that the noble Earl is referring to. The issue we have with the kind of outbuildings the noble Earl describes is that they are registered as businesses in the insurance field. As I am sure he is aware, businesses are not eligible for Flood Re. Ther…
Lords
Proceedings
13 April 2026
Clerk of the Parliaments
My Lords, from these Benches I echo the comments of those noble Lords who have gone before me. I pay tribute to Simon Burton, whose service as Clerk of the Parliaments has been of lasting value to the House.
The strength of our parliamentary life depends not only on those who speak in debate but on…
Lords
Debate
19 March 2026
Pension Schemes Bill
My Lords, the noble Baroness, Lady Noakes, has graciously allowed me to intervene briefly. Earlier today during Question Time there were two Questions which involved insurance. I forgot to mention my insurance interests in the register. I would like to update the House’s record for that.
Lords
Oral Questions
19 March 2026
Rail Infrastructure Resilience: Storms and Floods
The noble Earl asks a very pertinent question, and I will write to him. I believe that is true, but I cannot say for certain. Following the Carmont disaster, when people were killed as a result of an earthworks failure, the noble Lord, Lord Mair, wrote a very powerful report on earthworks maintenanc…
Lords
Oral Questions
19 March 2026
Flood Detection and Prevention: Technological Assistance
I will have to write to the noble Lord with details about our future plans for Flood Re. He is right that it is important that the Environment Agency focuses on outreach, not only to households but to businesses, to help them adapt to changing weather conditions and demographic changes, as well as t…
Lords
Oral Questions
18 March 2026
Strait of Hormuz
I thank the noble Earl. He is right and we are having active conversations with Lloyd’s of London to make sure that shipping is insurable as the strait reopens. At the moment, though, you could have all the insurance you want—if it is not safe, it is not safe. We need to make sure that that is estab…
Lords
Debate
10 March 2026
House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill
My Lords, on Second Reading of this Bill, many, many months ago now—indeed, more than a year ago—I said that this was a nasty little Bill. I thought that, over the next few months, it would be improved. Sadly, it is still a nasty little Bill. History will relate that this was a wasted opportunity. T…
Lords
Oral Questions
26 February 2026
New Housing: Flood Risk
We know that Flood Re has provided cover for 346,000 household policies and 650,000 properties have benefited since the scheme’s launch, so I agree with the noble Earl that it has been a very valuable scheme. We know that all homes built since 2009 are excluded from Flood Re, as that would be incons…
Lords
Oral Questions
12 February 2026
Changing Weather Patterns and Floods
The noble Earl is right. Flood Re has been very successful regarding residential properties but there has always been an issue around the fact that it does not extend to businesses or to multiple-occupancy dwellings over a certain number. I have in the past spent some time working with insurance rep…
Lords
Proceedings
5 February 2026
US Department of Justice Release of Files
My Lords, I have spent some of this morning looking at the US Department of Justice’s Epstein library. I note that the emails have a very matey tone and therefore obviously sit in a sea of emails over an extended period of time. Although these emails are obviously to a private email address of Peter…
Lords
Oral Questions
5 February 2026
Construction Industry: Timber
The noble Earl is always very quick to talk about the grey squirrel, and rightly so. As he says, we have recently published our plan on grey squirrel management—if any Members are interested, they can find it on the Defra website. At the moment, the main way people manage populations is through cull…
Lords
Proceedings
3 February 2026
Tributes: Lord Wallace of Tankerness
My Lords, with a heavy heart, I rise on behalf of these Benches to pay tribute to the noble and learned Lord, Lord Wallace of Tankerness, and to extend our condolences to his wife Rosie and family. His courtesy and genial nature were at the core of his approach to everything in a record that spanned…
Lords
Proceedings
2 February 2026
Tributes: Lord McFall of Alcluith
It is a great pleasure to follow three warm and special reflections on the noble Lord, Lord McFall. I agree with every word and sentiment that has been expressed. On behalf of these Benches, I will just add a little bit of early history of one of our most remarkable colleagues.
The noble Lord, Lord…
Lords
Oral Questions
19 January 2026
Greenland: Proposed US Tariffs
I would not dream of advising noble Lords or my good friends at the other end of the building on what they should and should not say to a visiting speaker from the United States. The noble Earl makes a good point about having clarity in the position—which I think is widely, if not unanimously, held,…
Lords
Oral Questions
19 January 2026
High Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactors
We have a committed ban on using any import from Russian nuclear fuel by 2028. As of now there is no direct use of Russian fuels; by 2028 indirect use will be eliminated as well. By that I mean fuel processed elsewhere that may have originated in Russia. We have also invested £300 million in making …
Lords
Proceedings
12 January 2026
Election of Lord Speaker
My Lords, I will be very brief. I am very much looking forward on the commission to seeing the forensic skills of the noble Lord, Lord Forsyth, as he questions the many people we have to question. I dare say that matters such as the door will have a very rough ride indeed. It is a little hard for us…
Lords
Proceedings
18 December 2025
Tributes
My Lords, I associate myself with all the warm comments made by my fellow members of the usual channels about the staff of the House. I note the kindness, the courtesy and the huge help that those staff provide to Cross-Bench and all Members, and I am very grateful. Before I pay tribute to four very…
Lords
Oral Questions
9 December 2025
Tropical Forest Forever Facility
I am not sure I can give the noble Earl the assurance that the Government will go out and shoot large numbers of grey squirrels in the near future. I accept that squirrels, deer and other similar animals are probably the biggest threat to what we plant as a woodland plantation and whether it actuall…