Lords
Proceedings
24 February 2026
Labour Together and APCO Worldwide: Cabinet Office Review
My Lords, the Prime Minister promised to clean up politics, yet we have had the Cabinet Office investigating one of its own Ministers before belatedly referring the matter to the independent adviser. The process has been conflicted from the outset. The Cabinet Office investigation was conducted by t…
Lords
Proceedings
5 February 2026
US Department of Justice Release of Files
My Lords, over the 34 years since Peter Mandelson was elected to Parliament, he has been disgraced and rehabilitated by successive Labour leaders. The Prime Minister brought him back into the fold for the final time as our ambassador to the United States. We now have a partial explanation of how Man…
Lords
Oral Questions
5 February 2026
Civil Service Pensions: Capita
I want to be very clear that this was a contract signed by the noble Baroness’s Government in 2023, and we are now managing the contract that they signed. As regards where we are in holding Capita to account, we have withheld £9.6 million in transition payments up until this point, from a contract v…
Lords
Oral Questions
4 February 2026
Think Tanks: Funding
I hate to disappoint the noble Baroness, but I cannot and will not. To be very clear, while I appreciate and have worked directly with think tanks—as I think most Members of your Lordships’ House have—and sat on panels and engaged with them, the reality is that if a regulatory framework is required …
Lords
Proceedings
29 January 2026
UK-EU Customs Union
My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Newby, for securing this timely and important debate. It must conclude at 15.02 pm, so I will get through as much as I can. I will obviously look at Hansard . I think I will write a great deal to noble Lords—I apologise.
Before I respond to the substance of th…
Lords
Oral Questions
29 January 2026
Public Trust in National Politics
My Lords, I asked the Labour Party unit how many U-turns the previous Government had done in their 14 years, and they are still to come back to me because they are still counting.
Lords
Proceedings
26 January 2026
Chinese Embassy
My Lords, the Government’s decision to approve planning permission for a new Chinese embassy at the Royal Mint Court site is profoundly troubling. We should be clear about the nature of the regime with which we are dealing. This is a state that our own security services have warned is actively seeki…
Lords
Proceedings
19 January 2026
Digital ID
My Lords, following yet another U-turn from this Government, I—and, I am sure, other noble Lords—have a number of questions. First, can the Minister tell the House the Government’s current projected cost of this digital ID programme and whether the £1.8 billion figure previously cited remains the Go…
Lords
Oral Questions
19 January 2026
Public Inquiries: Costs
The noble Baroness will be very aware of the pre-existing processes that are in place through the public interest immunity certificate and the fact that, in statute, chairs of committees can see intelligence reports that allow them to work to ensure that nothing is being hidden and that key findings…
Lords
Oral Questions
15 January 2026
Exercise Pegasus 2025
The noble Baroness raises an important point about how realistic we can make exercises. Some of this is about making sure that the processes and people are all in place and that they know each other; that was one of the fundamental factors that that did not necessarily work during the pandemic. We s…
Lords
Oral Questions
5 January 2026
Government Communications: X
The noble Baroness will be aware that there is a new Permanent Secretary of the Government Communication Service. All these issues, as ever, are under review, but she will not be surprised to learn that how we engage on social media platforms is constantly under review, given the changing nature of …
Lords
Oral Questions
17 December 2025
2 contributions
Office for the Impact Economy
And there was me hoping for Christmas miracles and not for the Grinch.
Thank you for the “Merry Christmas”.
My Lords, let us be clear about why this is so extraordinary and exceptional. We are working to bring together social investors, social enterprises and philanthropists to deliver, using their expertise and ours to make sure that this works. Already, a significan…
Lords
Proceedings
11 December 2025
The UK’s Demographic Future
My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts, for securing this debate. The report Don’t Stop Thinking About Tomorrow is a timely contribution to our national discussion on population, prosperity and the future of our United Kingdom. Many noble Lords have already highlighted the …
Lords
Statutory Instrument
11 December 2025
Infected Blood Compensation Scheme (Amendment) Regulations 2025
My Lords, I would usually say I thank noble Lords, but I thank the noble Baronesses—as is our wont when we talk about issues of infected blood—for their points and their continued representation of the infected blood community with unwavering dedication. Many in your Lordships’ House have consistent…
Lords
Debate
11 November 2025
2 contributions
Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill
I thank the noble Lord, Lord Palmer, and the noble Baroness, Lady Finn, for what I will take as wholehearted support for what we have done. I am grateful for their contributions and for the constructive engagement that led us to this point, both on these issues and in our earlier discussions with re…
My Lords, as we come to this final group of government amendments on the DWP section of the Bill, I begin by recognising the real progress that has been made on the DWP use of PACE powers and eligibility verification provisions—progress that has been driven by this House’s detailed scrutiny and the …
Lords
Oral Questions
10 November 2025
Office for National Statistics
My Lords, we are very grateful to Emma Rourke, the acting National Statistician, for working with us as we seek to fix some of the current challenges. Since we came to government, we have had the Devereux review to restore public trust and confidence in ONS national statistics; we appointed a new Pe…
Lords
Proceedings
4 November 2025
Infected Blood Compensation Scheme
My Lords, the report of the Infected Blood Inquiry described this tragedy as
“the worst treatment disaster in the history of the NHS”.
Noble Lords across the House and Members in the other place have spoken time and again of the unimaginable suffering endured by those affected. There can be no dou…
Lords
Oral Questions
29 October 2025
Youth Mobility Scheme
I very much appreciate the noble Baroness’s support for the cadet scheme; in fact, I was the honorary president of my local air cadets until I joined the Government. Let me be clear: as no one in this House will be surprised to hear, we had to make some appalling decisions because of the financial i…
Lords
Debate
21 October 2025
Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill
My Lords, I speak in strong support of this amendment, so ably tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Verdirame, and supported by the noble Baroness, Lady Lister, and the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Leicester, and to which I am pleased to have added my name.
The amendment speaks across so many of …
Lords
Debate
21 October 2025
3 contributions
Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill
My Lords, these amendments are tabled in my name and that of my noble friend Lord Younger of Leckie. I am also grateful for the support of the noble Lord, Lord Vaux of Harrowden. The amendments concern the crucial questions of ministerial and parliamentary oversight of the extensive investigatory an…
My Lords, I thank the Minister for her reply, but I must be absolutely clear that we are not satisfied that the tests we have set out have been met, or with the responses received. The Government ask this House to confer upon the Public Sector Fraud Authority powers that are extraordinary in scope: …
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
21 October 2025
Erasmus+
The Turing scheme, the Taith scheme and the SEEP schemes have provided wonderful opportunities for many young people. The noble Baroness will not be surprised to hear that I wanted to know how many people from the Potteries have participated: 200, in case noble Lords are interested. It is incredibly…
Lords
Proceedings
20 October 2025
Official Secret Act Case: Witness Statements
My Lords, can the Minister answer whether the 1 September meeting, as reported by the Sunday Times , between senior officials and intelligence chiefs in the Cabinet Office, and reportedly chaired by the National Security Adviser, Jonathan Powell, discussed the China espionage case and what evidence …
Lords
Debate
15 October 2025
16 contributions
Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill
My Lords, I begin by thanking both Ministers opposite, and noble Lords from across the House, for their engagement with us on the substance of this Bill since we entered Committee. We have had some very valuable discussions and I welcome that the Government have approached this with a view to compro…
My Lords, I began by thanking the noble Baronesses opposite for their constructive engagement with us on the Bill. Our meetings with the Ministers have been genuinely useful, and I welcome the spirit of good faith and collaboration with which the Minister has approached our discussions. Tackling fra…
+14 more contributions in this session
Lords
Proceedings
14 October 2025
Security Update: Official Secrets Act Case
My Lords, the matter before us today is a grave and serious one, and I am glad that we have another opportunity to discuss it, following my noble friend Lord True’s success in securing a PNQ on the matter yesterday. The collapse of the case against Mr Cash and Mr Berry goes to the very heart of this…
Lords
Debate
19 September 2025
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
My Lords, I have no interest to declare other than that I book the Lords Residence Room 2 for Christian Peers of all denominations to meet weekly for interesting conversations and study. The meeting starts at 1 pm and runs for 45 minutes. All are welcome. So, at least I have found something new to s…