Lords
Debate
24 February 2026
2 contributions
Tobacco and Vapes Bill
My Lords, as we have already heard, the amendments in this group seek to carve out exemptions for specialist tobacconists, particularly when it comes to cigars. I will focus primarily on Amendments 126, 127, 147 and 192. I begin by focusing on what cigars actually are. They are often described—and w…
I am very aware of the hour, but I just had a quick look online and saw “Andrew Tate’s favourite cigars”—exactly the kind of very expensive products that the noble Earl is talking about. That is what is being promoted to young men in particular.
Lords
Proceedings
24 February 2026
Schools White Paper: Every Child Achieving and Thriving
My Lords, my question relates to the plans for a review of education, health and care plans after primary school from 2030. For children with a special school place from September 2029, there is a promise to keep their place, but their EHCP will be reviewed.
I am drawing on my experience as a gover…
Lords
Debate
24 February 2026
2 contributions
Tobacco and Vapes Bill
My Lords, I rise to welcome government Amendments 14 and 15, and I look forward to hearing from the Minister. I will not go through them in detail, as I am sure she will, but I note that this is a lovely practical example, and all credit to the Government that their campaigning has worked. We heard …
My Lords, it is a great pleasure to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Grey-Thompson, with whom I nearly always agree, but not on this occasion. The noble Baroness and your Lordships’ House will know that concern about plastics, microplastics, nanoplastics and public health, including the way in which …
Lords
Oral Questions
23 February 2026
Free Speech Complaints Scheme
The noble Baroness is right that the freezing of tuition fees by the previous Government put considerable financial strain on the university sector, which is why I am sure she will support this Government in our inflation-linked increases to tuition fees in order to fund universities. There is no po…
Lords
Committee Stage
23 February 2026
2 contributions
Pension Schemes Bill
My Lords, I will speak in favour of all the amendments in this group, particularly Amendment 212, to which I have attached my name. As has already been widely noted, it has broad, cross-party support. I would have attached my name to Amendment 218A had there been space and to Amendment 218E had I ca…
It is very easy to cherry-pick individual schemes that have taken action but, as I said in my initial comments, the Financial Innovation Lab says that there are still more than £10 billion in thermal coal investments. Some industry research due to be published shortly by Corporate Adviser Intelligen…
Lords
Oral Questions
5 February 2026
Construction Industry: Timber
I am sure the noble Baroness is aware the UK timber regulations prohibit the placing of illegally harvested timber and wood products on the UK market and require the operators to exercise due diligence. The primary objective of the UK timber regulations is to tackle illegal logging and create demand…
Lords
Statutory Instrument
4 February 2026
4 contributions
Public Order Act 2023 (Interference With Use or Operation of Key National Infrastructure) Regulations 2025
I did not agree with the noble Baroness, Lady Bennett, about Just Stop Oil blocking motorways and I do not agree with her now about animal testing, which must be carefully controlled but is still essential, but I come to the same conclusion as she does for the constitutional reason that she gave as …
Does the noble Lord accept that proper animal research goes on well beyond laboratories, in fields and many other places? He underestimates the issue in considering laboratories; it is far wider than that.
+2 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
4 February 2026
2 contributions
Baby Milk Powder: Cereulide
My Lords, Nestlé and Danone launched product recalls of certain infant formula products because of the possible presence of cereulide toxin. This is a live incidence and it is too early to identify any systemic issues.
The Food Standards Agency is working across agencies and with the Department of …
Obviously, we are very concerned about toxins and ensuring that there is no damage done to people: that is the reason for the product recall. The effect of this is that it creates bacteria, so it is like food poisoning in that respect.
With regard to what the noble Baroness has said about ARA oil, …
Lords
Committee Stage
4 February 2026
2 contributions
English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill
I will be very brief. It is a pleasure to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Freeman of Steventon, and to recollect with great fondness the debate on bird-safe buildings. The Committee will probably be pleased to hear that I will not go further, but please, if noble Lords were not there, they should re…
My Lords, it is a pleasure to speak to Amendment 159 and a number of other amendments in this group. I begin by reassuring the noble Lord, Lord Addington, that he is not ploughing a lonely furrow. I would have signed his amendment if I could have caught up with myself, among many other things. Last …
Lords
Debate
3 February 2026
2 contributions
Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill
My Lords, I will speak briefly, having attached my name to Amendment 209, as the noble Baroness, Lady Morgan of Cotes, so powerfully introduced. I express my strongest possible support for Amendment 209 and commend the noble Lord, Lord Freyberg, for making important points in his amendments.
I will…
My Lords, I will speak very briefly. I strongly support Amendment 233, as I did in Committee, as well as the other amendments in this group. It is a great pleasure to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Lister, who reflected what many of us have been saying: the children’s well-being Bill has been short…
Lords
Debate
3 February 2026
3 contributions
Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill
My Lords, it is a great pleasure to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Morris, and largely to agree, although I would go somewhat further and say that I think we have reached the situation of a market in schools in which very crude judgments are being applied by Ofsted, and schools are being pushed to …
My Lords, I entirely agree with the noble Lord, Lord Norton, except that I do not believe that we can put all the pressure on schools, which have so many other pressures on them.
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Debate
2 February 2026
4 contributions
Crime and Policing Bill
My Lords, the Committee may be pleased to know that I plan to be comparatively brief.
Before the dinner break, the noble Baroness, Lady Maclean, asked how many people in your Lordships’ House have had abortions. Of course I cannot answer that question, but it is worth putting on the record the fact…
The noble Lord has very powerfully made the case for ensuring that we are able to make that provision as early as possible.
I particularly want to address one amendment that we have only really heard the presenter address. Amendment 461B from the noble Lord, Lord Bailey, would subject any female ac…
+2 more contributions in this session
Lords
Proceedings
2 February 2026
Women’s State Pension Age Communication: PHSO Report
My Lords, following the previous question, I note that saving for a pension is extraordinarily difficult for so many people who are struggling to put food on the table and keep a roof over their head. It is really important not to preach to them about savings that they cannot possibly make.
I decla…
Lords
Debate
2 February 2026
Crime and Policing Bill
I thank the noble Lord for giving way because I can save the Minister here. A study in 2023 by the National Centre for Social Research found that the majority of people did not want to see women criminalised in the kind of circumstances that we are talking about.
Lords
Committee Stage
29 January 2026
5 contributions
English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill
My Lords, I declare my position as a vice-president of the Local Government Association. Other than that, I can declare only a very modest involvement in councils in London. I twice unsuccessfully ran for Camden Council in the days when the Green Party was in a different position from where we are t…
My Lords, I am sorry if I am speaking out of order; we are missing quite a few signatories. I will speak to Amendment 197 in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Pinnock, and Amendment 252—about local and community banking powers—which the noble Lord, Lord Shipley, just addressed. The timing of this…
+3 more contributions in this session
Lords
Debate
28 January 2026
3 contributions
Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill
My Lords, it is a great pleasure to follow the powerful and important speech from the noble Baroness, Lady Lister, and the equally important speech from the noble Lord, Lord Bird. I signed the similar amendment in Committee, but I left a space on this one in the hope against hope that a party less l…
My Lords, it is a great pleasure to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Boycott, who has powerfully made the case for Amendment 119. She referred to the Netflix documentary that we have not yet seen. I am going to go back a little further to a review article that came out in January last year, titled Ef…
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Proceedings
26 January 2026
2 contributions
Local Government Reorganisation
My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Pack, referred to the some 250 councillors who could face seven-year terms under the Government’s plans. Four of the county councils are majority-Tory led, and they last held elections in May 2021. Noble Lords will have to cast their minds right back: Boris Johnson was…
The Minister said, and I very much agree, that the officers, staff and structures of the councils that have asked for extensions are extremely stretched—I declare my position as a vice-president of the Local Government Association. One of the alternatives would have been for the Government to provid…
Lords
Proceedings
26 January 2026
2 contributions
Water White Paper
My Lords, in responding to the Front-Bench questions, the Minister said the Government are not opposed “in principle” to mutual or co-operative ownership. I am sure that will be delightful news to the Co-operative Party, which of course has been in an electoral partnership with the Labour Party sinc…
My Lords, since there is time, following on from the question from the noble Lord, Lord Teverson, about science and citizen science, one thing that some of that sampling is starting to expose is the level of contamination from new areas of concern, such as PFAS, pesticide contamination and microplas…
Lords
Proceedings
26 January 2026
Chinese Embassy
My Lords, the Minister acknowledged earlier the concern among Chinese dissidents in the UK about the embassy. She may have heard the comments from Chloe Cheung, a British resident and former Hong Konger—a young woman who has a bounty on her head from China. She has said she feels betrayed by the agr…
Lords
Debate
21 January 2026
2 contributions
Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill
My Lords, I will speak extremely briefly, having signed the amendment so powerfully introduced and presented by the noble Baroness, Lady Grey-Thompson. I did so after having met Ceri and Frances. I saw that the amendment did not have a second name attached to it and thought that there needed to be a…
My Lords, I have two original points to make that have not been covered at all. We should bring ourselves back to the fact that there is an enormous amount of agreement around this Chamber. I think everyone will say we feel enormous sympathy for the families, some of whom are here today, who have lo…
Lords
Proceedings
21 January 2026
Local Elections: Cancellation
My Lords, my question is asked in the light of the result of today’s Horsley by-election for Derbyshire County Council, in which the Green Party took the seat from Reform with 43% of the vote. Reform had 35% of the vote, the Conservatives 14% and Labour 4%. Given that the political landscape is clea…
Lords
Committee Stage
20 January 2026
6 contributions
English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill
My Lords, in following the noble Lord, Lord Mawson, I feel the need to stress that we should not write off deliberative democracy, where people can access information and ideas and come together to reach new conclusions. Let us also stress that the economy—businesses and jobs—is one part of a much l…
Perhaps I might come back to the issue of food security. In her answer, the Minister talked about access to food, which is obviously a crucial part of food security and very much related to poverty, but I do not think she really talked about food production and local systems of food distribution, wh…
+4 more contributions in this session
Lords
Debate
19 January 2026
Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill
My Lords, it is a great pleasure to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Lister, as I have many times before on this subject, joining the terrier pack yet again. It is a great pity that that pack still needs to form; all the other occasions were under the previous Government and we were hoping that we mi…
Lords
Proceedings
19 January 2026
2 contributions
Offshore Wind
My Lords, for the Green Party I welcome both this Statement and the decisions that it records.
I have a question about a specific area which is going to need vastly more development. The allocation includes two floating offshore wind projects. They have higher prices but there is a clear strategic …
My Lords, the Minister referred to onshore wind. Under previous Governments, we saw onshore wind come to a grinding halt for reasons of apparent short-term political advantage. Onshore wind has the potential to be part of community energy schemes. Offshore wind inevitably tends to involve large mult…