Lords
Debate
5 September 2025
Animal Welfare (Import of Dogs, Cats and Ferrets) Bill
My Lords, I thank everybody who has contributed to this fairly short but extremely entertaining and good debate about this Bill. There have been some excellent contributions. The passion and enthusiasm for improving animal welfare is a wonderful thing and a great credit to the House.
In my introduc…
Lords
Committee Stage
3 September 2025
5 contributions
Warm Home Discount (Amendment) Regulations 2025
My Lords, these regulations were laid before the House on 19 June 2025. Before I proceed, I draw the Committee’s attention to a correction slip that was issued on 4 July in relation to the draft instrument. It corrected a typographical error on page three of the draft regulations that are the subjec…
My Lords, I thank the Minister for presenting the draft regulations before us. I am conscious that this is not her department. Nevertheless, with her Cumbrian background—not just background but experience—she will be conscious of the number of families in fuel poverty, in particular those off the ga…
+3 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
1 September 2025
10 contributions
Animals (Low-Welfare Activities Abroad) Act 2023
I thank the Minister for her reply. She said that this is an important piece of legislation, which was piloted through this Chamber by my noble friend Lord Black of Brentwood. It is now two years since this important legislation was passed with strong cross-party support from the then Opposition, an…
My Lords, is the Minister aware of media reports suggesting that this appalling practice is on the increase? In the light of that, what urgent support and guidance can she provide for the UK tourism industry that could be used right now to reduce this immediately, particularly given the current dela…
+8 more contributions in this session
Lords
Proceedings
23 July 2025
13 contributions
Independent Water Commission
I thank noble Lords for their broad support for the recommendations that have come out of the Cunliffe report. This is a very important step forward in cleaning up our waterways.
The Statement talks about the five recommendations that we are taking forward immediately, including: the new statutory …
Any new board must have the right expertise if it is to deliver what we want for the industry. The noble Lord makes a very important point that whatever that expertise is, we must ensure that any future regulatory systems are set up to do the job they are supposed to do and that they have the knowle…
+11 more contributions in this session
Lords
Proceedings
21 July 2025
12 contributions
State of Climate and Nature
My Lords, I thank the noble Lord and the noble Earl for their interest in the Statement.
Going on some of the comments made by the noble Lord, Lord Offord, he seems to be a bit glass half-empty at the moment. I encourage him to work with the Government to become a little more positive in his outloo…
I can be very brief in my response. I can confirm that, agree with the noble Baroness and thank her for bringing it up, because the costs of not acting are huge. We must do it and work with others right around the globe to achieve it. Our clean energy mission and moving into cleaner, greener jobs fo…
+10 more contributions in this session
Lords
Committee Stage
15 July 2025
5 contributions
Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (Amendment, etc.) Regulations 2025
My Lords, in heading off the ever-growing tide of waste which blights our planet, we must prioritise both responsibility and fairness. Those who create waste must rightly take responsibility for its safe treatment at the end of its life, and those costs should be shared fairly and borne by those who…
My Lords, I am grateful to the Minister for introducing these regulations, which I warmly welcome and support. In the case of her road haulier friend, I hope that he had good insurance and was able to recover the costs and get back on the road again. I have a couple of questions in order to understa…
+3 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
8 July 2025
10 contributions
Forest Risk Commodities
I thank the Minister. The problem is that there is no way in which to stabilise our warming planet if we continue to destroy vital sinks like forests. The UK has a real opportunity to show ambition in tackling deforestation at the upcoming COP 30 in the Brazilian Amazon. Will the Government’s ambiti…
My Lords, since the Environment Act was passed in 2021, the deforestation footprint from direct imports grew by more than 39,300 hectares, which is larger than the area of our New Forest. Does the Minister agree that action is a matter of extreme urgency?
+8 more contributions in this session
Lords
Committee Stage
7 July 2025
4 contributions
Sheep Carcase (Classification and Price Reporting) (England) Regulations 2025
My Lords, these regulations were laid before this House on 2 June. I draw the Committee’s attention to a correction slip that was issued on 5 June in relation to the draft instrument. This corrected a typographical error on page 20, in Schedule 2, in the heading to the second table, “Table 1”, which…
My Lords, I thank the Minister for, and congratulate her on, introducing these regulations, of which I wholeheartedly approve. This must be the most consulted-on SI in the history of SIs; obviously, it is a brilliant piece of work, because it was started under the outgoing Conservative Government.
…
+2 more contributions in this session
Lords
Statutory Instrument
1 July 2025
2 contributions
Marking of Retail Goods Regulations 2025
My Lords, I have already spoken to this Motion and therefore beg to move formally.
My Lords, I hope my words did not provoke last night. I was reminiscing with Northern Ireland Members about those days in the 1980s and 1990s in the Commons when we used to speak all night on Northern Ireland business and then my late colleague Eric Forth and I pulled the stunt of having a renegade …
Lords
Oral Questions
1 July 2025
9 contributions
Plastic Pollution
In the last 20 years, global plastic production and plastic waste have doubled, despite national and voluntary initiatives, so it is fantastic that the Government have signed up to the Nice declaration. Can I press the Minister to ask exactly what conversations and discussions are being had to ensur…
My Lords, plastic pollution starts with packaging. Will the Minister therefore join me in commending the British retail sector, which has done so much, particularly recently, to produce packaging of a better environmental nature for recycling and to draw to the attention of all customers who visit r…
+7 more contributions in this session
Lords
Statutory Instrument
30 June 2025
5 contributions
Marking of Retail Goods Regulations 2025
My Lords, this instrument will help ensure the security of food supply to Northern Ireland and maintain consumer choice for the people of Northern Ireland. The purpose of this legislation is to deliver the UK Government’s long-standing public commitment to safeguard the supply of retail goods into N…
My Lords, I thank the Minister for laying out the regulations in detail. She will not be surprised that she has not convinced me. I hope that the short debate that we have tonight—even though there is not much interest on the Labour Back Benches or even the Conservative Back Benches—will get down in…
+3 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
26 June 2025
8 contributions
Food Allergens
Too many food-allergic customers are still being put at risk when eating out or ordering food from an online platform. New research by the Natasha Allergy Research Foundation has found that more than a quarter—26%—of young adults have had, or know someone who has had, an allergic reaction to takeawa…
My Lords, although the guidelines are very welcome, and I applaud the Food Standards Agency’s work in this area, does the Minister share my concern about whether local authorities have the resources to do the necessary work to visit the establishments concerned to ensure that the guidelines are bein…
+6 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
18 June 2025
8 contributions
Wild Camping
My Lords, I thank the Minister for her Answer. I am glad she recognises how courageous the Dartmoor National Park Authority was in defending the public’s right to wild camp or backpack camp on Dartmoor. She will know that it took years of good practice, developing a camping code and maps of where ca…
My Lords, in considering this matter, would the Government kindly remember that the lack of understanding of the meaning of, and rights under, wild camping is likely to be comparable to the lack of understanding of the meaning of national park? When I represented the southern part of the Lake Distri…
+6 more contributions in this session
Lords
Proceedings
4 June 2025
8 contributions
Thames Water
My Lords, the Government do not have any intention for consumers to pay towards this. We do not see that consumer bills need to go up to cover these debts. It is not for consumers to pay for the mistakes and poor behaviour of the water companies. In response to the second question, within the regime…
One of the reasons that bills are going up—not just for Thames Water customers but for other consumers—is the lack of investment for years and years by the water companies in infrastructure, which is why we have so many problems with pollution, for example. While it is not something that the Governm…
+6 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
3 June 2025
9 contributions
Reservoirs: Protection from Contamination
My Lords, I am grateful to my noble friend the Minister for that reply. As she knows, yesterday’s strategic defence review talked a lot about hostile actors sabotaging critical infrastructure. I wonder whether my noble friend’s department is being a tad complacent in talking simply about monitoring …
I apologise to the House and to the Minister that in my earlier question, I did not declare my farming interests as set out in the register, and I do so now.
+7 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
3 June 2025
10 contributions
Farmers: Competitiveness
My Lords, farmers in Scotland and the EU enjoy area-based payments of around €280 per hectare, with minimal environmental obligations, while farmers in the US are reported to receive subsidies worth $30 billion. Our own farmers receive de minimis area-based payments and no further access to SFIs whi…
My Lords, has the Minister noticed that the Opposition seem to be obsessed with millionaire farmers? Is it not about time that they worried more about families in poverty? They call for more resources for farmers, but have they indicated where that resource is going to come from? They used to accuse…
+8 more contributions in this session
Lords
Statutory Instrument
19 May 2025
Fair Dealing Obligations (Pigs) Regulations 2025
That the draft Regulations laid before the House on 13 March be approved. Relevant document: 21st Report from the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee. Considered in Grand Committee on 12 May.
Lords
Committee Stage
12 May 2025
4 contributions
Fair Dealing Obligations (Pigs) Regulations 2025
My Lord, these regulations use powers contained within the Agriculture Act 2020 which enable the Government to address power imbalances within agricultural markets. These fair dealing powers allow for regulations that impose obligations in relation to the contracts of those businesses—usually larger…
My Lords, I welcome the regulations before us this afternoon and thank the Minister for giving us the outline. It is an interesting backdrop, in the sense that pig prices seem to have been at their highest for a while now. I have come straight from a meeting with some Danish businesses—none of them …
+2 more contributions in this session
Lords
Statutory Instrument
6 May 2025
3 contributions
Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Regulations 2025
My Lords, these regulations implement the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act 2023 for precision-bred plants in England. They provide the practical and technical detail to implement a new science-based and proportionate regulatory system for precision-bred plants, as set out in the Act.
The…
My Lords, for clarity, I express that this is a regret amendment, not a fatal one. That is due in part to an error of mine, but I am choosing to regard this as an opportunity. I know that many Members would not vote for a fatal amendment, but here is an opportunity for noble Lords to show their conc…
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Statutory Instrument
30 April 2025
3 contributions
Agriculture (Delinked Payments) (Reductions) (England) Regulations 2025
My Lords, I declare an interest as I am in receipt of delinked payments. This instrument sets the reductions that will apply to delinked payments in England in 2025. These reductions are a vital part of the transition to more targeted public investment supporting farmers to boost nature and sustaina…
My Lords, I thank the Minister for her explanation of these regulations and I recognise her strong commitment to solving this vexed issue. Sadly, the instrument proposes deeply damaging and cruel cuts to the payments expected by our farmers. That is why, on behalf of these Benches, I am asking that …
+1 more contribution in this session