Lords
Proceedings
13 July 2026
9 contributions
Civil Service Pensions
My Lords, I echo the words of the noble Baroness, Lady Finn, and the noble Lord, Lord Pack, and pay tribute to our fantastic public servants. Many Members of your Lordships’ House have worked extremely closely with members of our Civil Service. They deserve, at the very least, the security and digni…
I thank my noble friend for all his work to raise this and to work so constructively with my colleagues here and at the other end. On the specifics, I heard what he said about the interest payment—that may be a little above my pay grade, but I will raise it with colleagues. I very much appreciate my…
+7 more contributions in this session
Lords
Proceedings
7 July 2026
9 contributions
British Industry and Services: Public Procurement
My Lords, on 26 March, the Government announced procurement reforms to protect our national security, boost growth and build a fairer economy. We have now moved from policy direction to delivery. As of last month, government departments can make use of the national security exemption in the Procurem…
I am awfully fond of my noble friend, and he will remember that, over 25 years ago, I helped to run his “Buy British” campaign for our trade union. This is something that he has campaigned on for a very long time. As the Chancellor said in March,
“it matters where things are made and who makes them…
+7 more contributions in this session
Lords
Proceedings
30 June 2026
10 contributions
Civil Service Pension Scheme
My Lords, midnight tonight marks the deadline by which Capita promised a complete return to normal contractual service levels. We will hold Capita’s performance against this important milestone. The Minister for the Cabinet Office intends to provide a comprehensive update in the coming days, once we…
My noble friend raises a very important issue. While there are contractual issues at play, the reality is that behind each and every one of the statistics that we will undoubtedly discuss today there is an individual and a family who are struggling. We have heard many harrowing and heartbreaking sto…
+8 more contributions in this session
Lords
Proceedings
23 June 2026
11 contributions
Social Media: Use of X by Government Departments
My Lords, the Government use a wide range of digital platforms to reach and engage citizens. We continuously evaluate channels for brand safety and suitability. In government, paid advertising on X has been suspended since April 2023, which means that no taxpayers’ money has been spent with the plat…
The noble Lord has been campaigning on this issue for many years, including before he entered your Lordships’ House. A level of pragmatism needs to be adopted. We need to talk to the electorate and to our citizens where they are, and not necessarily on which platforms we wish they were on. When 19.2…
+9 more contributions in this session
Lords
Proceedings
17 June 2026
9 contributions
Foreign Interference in UK Democratic Processes
We do not routinely comment on security matters. We are absolutely committed to safeguarding the UK’s elections and have well-established processes to protect democratic integrity across the country. The Government are implementing the counter political interference and espionage action plan through…
The noble Lord raises a genuinely important point. The responsibility of every Government is to make sure that we keep all our citizens safe. We have seen significant state-based interference, both violent and online, in our democratic space. But rest assured that the Government keep these issues un…
+7 more contributions in this session
Lords
Proceedings
10 June 2026
6 contributions
North Belfast: Violent Attack
I thank the noble Lord for his comments with regard to the Police Service of Northern Ireland. I think that anyone who has watched the news in the last 36 hours can only be in awe of and very grateful to the chief constable, Jon Boutcher, and the brave men and women who are serving in all our emerge…
I thank the noble Baroness for the tone that she has taken. I agree with every word that she said, not least about the appalling comments of Stephen Yaxley-Lennon—someone who I, in a previous incarnation, campaigned against for decades. For all of us, Stephen Ogilvie should be in our prayers, and we…
+4 more contributions in this session
Lords
Proceedings
9 June 2026
12 contributions
Lord Mandelson Humble Address
My Lords, the Government have published all available material, with the exception of a small number of documents that were withheld at the request of the Metropolitan Police, making this the largest ever government response to an humble Address. The Government now consider that they have duly disch…
The noble Lord raises an important point about compliance with the will of both your Lordships’ House and the other place with regard to an humble Address. With regard to the specifics about any penalties, the Government currently have no plans to change the ministerial pension scheme, as I have put…
+10 more contributions in this session
Lords
Proceedings
3 June 2026
11 contributions
Cabinet Manual: Guidelines for Government Formation
My Lords, as the Prime Minister announced yesterday, the Government have committed to updating the Cabinet Manual to ensure that it remains an authoritative guide to our constitutional arrangements. This update will restate and underline the rules and conventions that underpin our democracy, includi…
The noble Lord knows how fond I am, and I am delighted to have been able to announce that we are updating the Cabinet Manual. While I understand that everybody in this building is very excited about elections—we all campaign for them—it is not yet two years since the previous general election and th…
+9 more contributions in this session
Lords
Proceedings
19 May 2026
2 contributions
Supreme Court Dillon Judgment
My Lords, I thank both the noble Lord, Lord Caine, and the noble Baroness, Lady Suttie, for their contributions. I will attempt to address their questions and concerns, considering both the time available to us and the complex nature of this judgment, which I am sure that both noble and noble and le…
My Lords, the noble Viscount makes an important and interesting intervention, but there are so many people who are still in such pain and who made huge compromises and sacrifices in order to deliver the Belfast/Good Friday agreement. While I appreciate that the concept of amnesty could be appealing,…
Lords
Proceedings
19 May 2026
8 contributions
Lord Mandelson: Government Response to Humble Address
My Lords, with the leave of the House, I will repeat an Answer to an Urgent Question that was given earlier in the other place:
“As I have set out to this House on previous occasions, the Government are working to comply with the Motion passed in February. I can reassure the House that this remains…
The noble Baroness knows I have huge respect for her, but I find it extraordinary, given her previous roles working at No. 10 when previous humble Addresses were released that followed exactly the same precedent as we are doing now and redacted the personal information of junior officials. The noble…
+6 more contributions in this session
Lords
Proceedings
19 May 2026
9 contributions
El Niño: Impact
My Lords, El Niño is just one of a number of climatic drivers that can influence UK weather patterns. Any potential impacts will depend on how these drivers combine; this will be assessed in more detail later on in the year as forecasts evolve. The Government continue to take action to strengthen th…
My noble friend is absolutely right: 2022 was the UK’s hottest year on record and saw over 20,000 hectares of land in England burned, the destruction of over 70 properties across the UK and at least 14 fire and rescue services declaring major incidents in their areas, as well as 2,985 excess deaths.…
+7 more contributions in this session
Lords
Proceedings
14 May 2026
King’s Speech
My Lords, it is a great honour for me to open our five-day debate on the gracious Speech. These moments allow us to reflect on how much we have achieved after many constructive hours of debate, lots of votes and the occasional—or maybe not so occasional—late night. Noble Lords know quite how ambitio…
Lords
Proceedings
28 April 2026
5 contributions
Pension Schemes
My Lords, I listened with care to the points raised by the noble Baroness and the noble Lord, and I will have to revert in writing on some of the points raised by the noble Baroness, Lady Finn.
First, I put on record my thanks to the fantastic public servants who have been failed and who we are see…
I thank my noble friend for that series of questions. Let me start with the factual question, because I have that data to hand. There are currently 2,696 retirement cases where a quotation has been issued but the pension is not yet in payment. These cases are the remaining subset of the 6,482 retire…
+3 more contributions in this session
Lords
Proceedings
28 April 2026
6 contributions
Lord Mandelson Humble Address: Government Response Update
My Lords, I thank both the noble Lord and the noble Baroness for their contributions. As I have said before, and will say again, Jeffrey Epstein was a despicable individual and his victims must be our first priority. We should never forget that, every time we discuss Epstein’s horrendous behaviour, …
Again, I put on record my thanks to my noble friend for the many hours he has spent looking at documents, for changing the way his committee is working in terms of the number of meetings, and for all the work that has been done in this space. On setting a deadline for the challenge meeting, I will s…
+4 more contributions in this session
Lords
Statutory Instrument
21 April 2026
3 contributions
Ministerial and other Salaries Act 1975 (Amendment) Order 2026
My Lords, this order is a necessary measure to address the historical misapplication of the Ministerial and other Salaries Act 1975, which sets ministerial and other officeholders’ pay. The other officeholders are the Leaders of the Opposition in both Houses, the Speakers in both Houses, the Opposit…
I am grateful to the Minister for the technical explanation of a complex matter, but could she also answer a couple of relevant questions? First, what is the progress on having more Lords Ministers in receipt of salaries, after our recent discussions and legislation on extending the number of paid p…
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Proceedings
21 April 2026
4 contributions
Infected Blood Compensation Scheme
My Lords, as ever, I am grateful to the noble Baronesses for their thoughtful and productive points. This is a collaborative effort and we all share one goal: to get this right. I hope your Lordships can appreciate that this announcement marks a significant step towards delivering a compensation sch…
May your sister’s memory always be a blessing. Your tireless activism will continue in her name—sorry, it was not meant to be me who got tearful. The noble Baroness has fought tirelessly with her sister. It is important that her name, Della Ryness-Hirsch, is on the record.
On the specifics that the…
+2 more contributions in this session
Lords
Committee Stage
25 March 2026
9 contributions
Northern Ireland After Brexit (Northern Ireland Scrutiny Committee Report)
I thank my noble friend for addressing that issue, but what about InterTradeIreland, which already has a hub and could provide some beneficial information?
Can the Minister say whether the United Kingdom will be tabling proposed improvements to the Windsor Framework as part of the reset negotiations?
+7 more contributions in this session
Lords
Debate
17 March 2026
17 contributions
Lord Mandelson: Response to Humble Address Motion
I thank the noble Baroness and the noble Lord for their questions. It is incredibly important that these matters are addressed, not least because they now drive a huge amount of my own personal work. I will come on to that.
First, I will provide an update following the Statement made in the other p…
It is a true joy to see my noble friend, if only on a screen. I am so pleased that he is well enough to participate, if remotely. I cannot wait to see him back in his place.
My noble friend asked me several questions. I want to focus on the fact that there is a responsibility on every Member of you…
+15 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
16 March 2026
10 contributions
UK Public Servants: International Secondments
I thank the Minister. I should declare from the outset that my Question is not related to any individuals but, rather, is a question of policy. She will know about both the reputational damage to Civil Service morale and the fact that public confidence takes a hit when perceptions of lower standards…
My Lords, it is right that we expect the highest standards of our civil servants, but what does my noble friend make of the statement that emanated from Reform UK that a Reform UK Government would expect to dismiss the top civil servants in every government department and replace them with people se…
+8 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
11 March 2026
11 contributions
Iranian State-sponsored Cyber Attacks: Mitigation and Preparation
My Lords, I am grateful to my noble friend for that reply. I am also grateful for what the National Cyber Security Centre has been doing in terms of targeted advice. However, last week four people were arrested by the Metropolitan Police under the National Security Act for what has been reported as …
My Lords, as the defence production need for entirely new kinds of warfare steps up, as it is now doing, are the Government satisfied that the needs of our strategy, which are rapidly growing, are closely enough aligned with the plans of British industry?
+9 more contributions in this session
Lords
Committee Stage
9 March 2026
3 contributions
Procurement Act 2023 (Specified International Agreements and Saving Provision) (Amendment) Regulations 2026
My Lords, I am going to speak slightly slowly so that my officials have time to swap out, because they are two different teams. The purpose of this statutory instrument is to implement the procurement chapter of the UK-India comprehensive economic and trade agreement, CETA, via an amendment to the P…
My Lords, I thank the Minister for introducing these regulations and for clearly setting out their purpose. As she explained, these regulations amend the Procurement Act 2023 to add the UK-India comprehensive economic and trade agreement to the list of specified international agreements in the Act. …
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Committee Stage
9 March 2026
3 contributions
Procurement (Amendment) Regulations 2026
My Lords, these regulations make targeted amendments to the Procurement Regulations 2024 so that key parts of the Procurement Act 2023 operate effectively in practice. They strengthen transparency in a proportionate and deliverable way, and they make a small number of practical improvements to suppo…
My Lords, it is the “Baroness Anderson and Baroness Finn show” again, I am afraid.
We welcome these regulations. Section 70 of the Procurement Act 2023, introduced by the previous Conservative Government, created new reporting requirements for procurement payments over £30,000. The purposes were cl…
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Proceedings
4 March 2026
13 contributions
Security Update
My Lords, with the indulgence of the House, I shall now repeat a Statement made in another place earlier today relating to espionage. The Statement is as follows:
“With your permission, Mr Speaker, I would like to make a Statement regarding three arrests that took place this morning as part of a Co…
My Lords, I thank the noble Lord and the noble Baroness for their contributions, the very tone of which demonstrates how serious these matters are. I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Finn, for her congratulations on my appointment. My introduction to being a Minister has been a really easy 24 hours.
…
+11 more contributions in this session
Lords
Debate
27 February 2026
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
My Lords, I am reluctant to stand up as my noble friend was referred to. Having said that, I think it will benefit every Member of the Committee if we continue with the debate.