Lords
Proceedings
15 July 2026
Maximum Temperature for Indoor Workplaces
My Lords, I thank the Minister for her reply, but let me outline the urgency. There were 1,311 heat-related deaths in 2024, 1,504 in 2025 and 2,700 in the last two months alone. Research shows that high workplace temperature damages health and is a safety hazard. Countries such as Spain and Belgium …
Lords
Debate
13 July 2026
Clean Water Bill: Chalk Streams
My Lords, Wessex Water, Thames Water, Southern Water, Anglian Water and Yorkshire Water have terrible records of dumping untreated sewage into chalk streams. None has had its licence to operate revoked. Can the Minister explain how many criminal convictions these companies need before the Government…
Lords
Proceedings
30 June 2026
University Student Finance
As the Minister just said, the student debt in England is £296 billion and is expected to hit £500 billion by the late 2040s. Interest is added until debt is repaid or written off. What assessment have the Government made of the impact of student loan repayments on the ability of the affected people…
Lords
Proceedings
29 June 2026
Covid Fraud
My Lords, one of the problems with the commissioner’s report on Covid fraud is that it pays little attention to the role of consultants in devising various schemes. For example, the furlough support scheme did not ask companies to provide the national insurance numbers of employees; it was, therefor…
Lords
Proceedings
23 June 2026
G7 Summit
My Lords, my concern is about the relevance of the G7. It was held together by the economic might of various countries, but now India and China are challenging, and they are not part of the G7. It was held together by the advancement of the rules-based international order, which has been undermined …
Lords
Proceedings
17 June 2026
Thames Water
My Lords, on 9 June the Minister said that
“we consider the regulated capital value of the water sector to be the closest proximity for the total value of the sector’s debt and equity; it is currently £107 billion ”.—[Official Report, 9/6/26; col. 1241.]
On that basis, Thames Water is worth £21.89…
Lords
Proceedings
15 June 2026
World Ocean Day
My Lords, carbon emissions harm the oceans through warming, acidification and deoxygenation, and threaten climate, food and jobs. Since 1990, the carbon emissions of the UK’s richest 0.1% have increased by 53%, while the bottom 90% have cut theirs by 26%. Can the Minister explain how the Government …
Lords
Proceedings
9 June 2026
Water Companies
My Lords, water companies have knowingly violated their licence conditions and have more convictions than hardened criminal gangs, yet no executive has been fined and no company forced to relinquish its licence. What will it take for the Government to recognise that privatisation has failed and that…
Lords
Proceedings
8 June 2026
Royal Mail
My Lords, Royal Mail is another disastrous privatisation. Since privatisation, the price of a first-class letter has increased by 200% and second-class by 89%. As the Minister just said, Royal Mail has not met its delivery targets for years, and Ofcom continues to lower the targets; second-class mai…
Lords
Proceedings
3 June 2026
World Cup Ticket Prices
My Lords, will the Government set up fast courts to prosecute price-gouging and profiteering from the sale of football World Cup tickets?
Lords
Proceedings
1 June 2026
Donations to Political Parties
My Lords, the term political donations is misleading. This is really about political corruption. The donors are buying power and influence, subverting public choices, getting government contracts, et cetera. Simply capping it does not end political corruption. The only way forward is to criminalise …
Lords
Proceedings
1 June 2026
Business Hiring
My Lords, I am surprised that the Minister did not remind the Opposition that youth unemployment was 1.25 million in 1984. They are keeping quiet about that. What assessment have the Government made of the possibility that a freeze or a reversal of the state pension age could release jobs for younge…
Lords
Proceedings
20 May 2026
2026 FIFA World Cup: Replica Kit Pricing
My Lords, the production cost of a typical replica football kit is less than 10% of the selling price. Companies such as Nike and Adidas use an opaque network of offshore entities to inflate costs by adding royalty, licensing, marketing and other payments through intragroup transactions—in short, th…
Lords
Oral Questions
28 April 2026
National Emergency Plan for Fuel
Yes, the noble Lord asks me whether there is a crisis and there is one in place at the moment. However, we have considerable difficulty in determining exactly its direction and depth, precisely because we do not know what the position is and will be, particularly concerning the Strait of Hormuz, for…
Lords
Proceedings
22 April 2026
British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme
My Lords, all businesses and households deserve lower energy bills. This can be done by cutting the profit margins of energy companies. Since 2020, they have made £125.7 billion in profit, which is roughly £4,400 per household, and inflicted enormous pain on businesses and households. I am sure the …
Lords
Oral Questions
22 April 2026
Plastic Pollution Reduction
I have to admit that I have absolutely no idea what proportion is used, but I think it is really exciting. There is a huge opportunity here. I know it is something that the Department for Transport has been looking at; I know it is something that certain local authorities have been looking at, and I…
Lords
Oral Questions
20 April 2026
Civil Preparedness for War
My Lords, I too congratulate my friend, the noble Baroness, Lady Harris, on securing this extremely timely debate.
As we know, we are living in dangerous times. What makes matters worse is the stark reality that they are times for which we, the United Kingdom, are woefully unprepared. This was made…
Lords
Debate
14 April 2026
Ministerial Salaries (Amendment) Bill
My Lords, first, I express my gratitude to the Whips for allowing me to speak in the gap and apologise for not registering in time.
I have a few quick points to make after hearing what I already know, which is how hard-working and truly valuable Lords Ministers are. By the way, I exclude myself fro…
Lords
Debate
14 April 2026
Grenfell Tower Memorial (Expenditure) Bill
My Lords, I speak in this debate only in my capacity as co-chair of the Grenfell Tower Memorial Commission. The commission welcomes this Bill. On behalf of the commission, I thank the Minister and the representative of the Opposition for their support for the Bill, and I thank the whole House for it…
Lords
Oral Questions
26 March 2026
Former Prime Minister Imran Khan
My Lords, I, too, thank the noble Baroness, Lady Alexander, for securing this debate.
As many noble Lords are aware, I was born in Pakistan. I have lived most of my life here in the UK, but I still have strong family connections in Pakistan. I like Pakistan, and I go back and forth very frequently …
Lords
Oral Questions
26 March 2026
2 contributions
HBOS: Fraud Investigation
My Lords, in 2017, Lloyds Banking Group independently launched the Dobbs review to assess the handling of the fraud, which took place in the early 2000s, and to determine what it knew or should have known and whether it reported it appropriately to the regulatory authorities. The Government understa…
The Government share the frustration at how long processes relating to this issue are taking to conclude. In 2017, Lloyds Banking Group independently launched the Dobbs review to assess the handling of the fraud, what it knew or should have known, and whether it reported it appropriately to the regu…
Lords
Oral Questions
23 March 2026
Companies: Online AGMs
If my noble friend is referring to Section 172 of the Companies Act, which already requires directors to have regard in their decision-making to employee interests and
“the impact of the company’s operations on the community and the environment”,
that is a very important principle.
Lords
Statutory Instrument
17 March 2026
National Minimum Wage (Amendment) Regulations 2026
My Lords, following on from my noble friend Lord Sharpe, I ask the Minister, the noble Lord, Lord Leong, who has vast, successful business experience, why he thinks that Sir Tony Blair said, via his institute, just two weeks ago that Labour’s policies—such as this SI—are
“harming growth and undermi…
Lords
Proceedings
17 March 2026
Spring Forecast Statement
My Lords, I think the Minister ought to get my noble friend Lord Sikka a job in HMRC. I have some connections there too. However, I start by paying great tribute to my good friend and associate, the noble Lord, Lord St John, with whom I have spent many hours together over the years. I wish his club …