Lords
Proceedings
15 July 2026
Sudan: Operational Restrictions on Humanitarian Actors
I thank my noble friend for her answers and the work she is doing on this appalling situation. It is clear from her answers that the obstruction of humanitarian aid accessing the country and being distributed is happening on a tremendous scale. This is clearly a crime. What steps are the Government …
Lords
Proceedings
13 July 2026
Civil Service Pensions
I thank my noble friend for the Statement. As she knows, I have been asking questions on this issue for most of this year, so I welcome the attention it is now receiving from the ministerial team and the work they are doing. Of course, the issue of outsourcing and the role of Capita will have to be …
Lords
Proceedings
30 June 2026
Pension Access Rules: Impact on Terminally Ill
I very much welcome the response from my noble friend the Minister. It is of particular importance that the variation in the schemes’ practice is part of the review, and obviously a full consultation will be required. When people provided with a pension have been encouraged to think of it as a pot o…
Lords
Proceedings
30 June 2026
Civil Service Pension Scheme
I thank my noble friend the Minister for her reply. The issue is getting a return to normal service standards, which was hoped to be achieved by June—by today—but clearly it simply has not happened. Many new pensioners are still losing their earnings income and not receiving their pension, leaving t…
Lords
Proceedings
24 June 2026
Darfur: Atrocities
I thank the noble Lord, Lord Alton, for his important Question. I know that my noble friend the Minister is well aware of the nature of the appalling tragedy taking place in Sudan. One of the factors fuelling the extent of that ongoing tragedy is the continued supply of modern weaponry, drones and t…
Lords
Proceedings
15 June 2026
Teachers’ Pension Scheme: Automatic Enrolment
My Lords, I thank my noble friend for her important Question and my noble friend the Minister for her reply. However, as the Minister mentioned, we are awaiting the results of the 2024 valuations using the revised discount rate. The results of the valuations are still confidential, but my own back o…
Lords
Proceedings
15 June 2026
Mental Health Conditions: Diagnoses
There is real concern that some mental health conditions are being diagnosed too broadly, and it is worth giving the matter a serious discussion, so we owe our thanks to the noble Baroness, Lady Maclean, for raising the issue this evening. But that concern should never become a barrier for someone w…
Lords
Proceedings
4 June 2026
Declining Birth Rates
I thank my noble friend Lady Nargund for raising this important issue; it was a good illustration of the expertise that is brought before this House. I recognise the important work that she has done in this area, looking at the barriers to parenthood and the need for family-friendly policies. We nee…
Lords
Proceedings
20 May 2026
King’s Speech
It is a pleasure and an honour to take part in this interesting, if wide-ranging, debate. I will focus my remarks on the issue that was raised by my noble friend the Minister in opening: namely, the single patient record proposal, which will be part of the NHS modernisation Bill. I have the NHS app …
Lords
Proceedings
28 April 2026
Pension Schemes
I thank my noble friend for the Statement from the Commons, which I welcome. Does she recognise that the problem here—we can take the comments from the Opposition with a pinch of salt—comes to a large extent from the system of outsourcing, which is why we welcome the bit in the Labour manifesto at t…
Lords
Debate
22 April 2026
Pension Schemes Bill
My Lords, I thank all those who have contributed. As the Minister said, we have been around the arguments many times, so I will be brief. This was sold as a backstop to the accord, so it is not a case for celebration when something that bit off a lot more than the accord is brought a bit more closel…
Lords
Debate
20 April 2026
Pension Schemes Bill
My Lords, in moving Motion E, that this House do not insist on its Amendments 15 to 24, 27, 30 to 34, 36, 38 to 42, 83 and 88 and do agree with the Commons in its Amendments 88A to 88C, I will speak also to Motions F, F1, G, G1 and H.
Motion E deals with Amendment 15 and those connected with it, wh…
Lords
Proceedings
14 April 2026
Statement of Changes in Immigration Rules
My Lords, I do not expect that my first point will gain overwhelming sympathy, but the challenge of following the detail of changes in Immigration Rules—it is not particular to this Statement of Changes—about what is in effect, whether there is a discretion in the hands of the Home Secretary and all…
Lords
Committee Stage
13 April 2026
National Employment Savings Trust (Amendment) Order 2026
My Lords, the Opposition broadly welcome this order. I thank the Minister for her clear outlining of the measures and the detail that she put forward.
This seems a straightforward and genuinely important modernisation of Nest; we are glad to see it being brought forward. Allowing Nest members to ac…
Lords
Debate
26 March 2026
Pension Schemes Bill
My Lords, if only we had dealt with all the amendments during the passage of the Bill as quickly as we have today, we would not have been here quite so late on many occasions.
I thank my noble friends Lady Bowles—whose expertise has been amazing—Lord Sharkey and Lord Thurso, and our hard-working po…
Lords
Oral Questions
26 March 2026
HBOS: Fraud Investigation
My noble friend is far more expert in these matters than me, and I think I agree with what he said. As I said, the Government share the frustration at how long processes related to this issue are taking to conclude. We very much hope that the findings of Dame Linda Dobbs’ review will be available ve…
Lords
Debate
23 March 2026
7 contributions
Pension Schemes Bill
Is the noble Lord, Lord Palmer of Childs Hill, going to contribute to this debate?
Okay. This demonstrates the clear fact that I am still suffering from my cold, which is so bad that it kept me from attending the second day of Report.
There is an important issue that needs to be highlighted, and that is addressed in Amendment 165. I want to say a word on behalf of the members of …
+5 more contributions in this session
Lords
Proceedings
17 March 2026
3 contributions
Spring Forecast Statement
Leigh of Hurley.
As the noble Lord has invited me to intervene, I will. The point is that women live longer than men and it is much more likely that, if a person passes away, it will be the man leaving the woman to be the PR and to pay the tax.
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Debate
16 March 2026
Pension Schemes Bill
I have three points. First, I profoundly disagree with the noble Lord, Lord Lucas. To pin the blame just on politicians lets everyone else off scot-free. It is more like Murder on the Orient Express —everyone had a hand. My particular favourite is the accountants, who had a big hand; the way they de…
Lords
Debate
16 March 2026
2 contributions
Pension Schemes Bill
I do not mean to be unkind to the tablers of this amendment, but it is nonsense, in my view. As the noble Lord, Lord Fuller, explained, I can confirm that I am a fellow of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries. To be honest, this amendment would mean more work for actuaries, on the face of it. Who …
I have worked in the pension sphere for far longer than I care to remember, and so-called surpluses have been a big issue throughout. They have come and gone. Sometimes they have been negative surpluses—deficits—but they are still central to the health or otherwise of a pension scheme. They have bee…
Lords
Debate
12 March 2026
Universal Credit (Removal of Two Child Limit) Bill
My Lords, I support this Bill, though I am disappointed that some oppose lifting people out of poverty while constantly supporting greater spending on the welfare of corporations and the super-rich.
Eradication of child poverty could boost the UK economy by around £40 billion a year. Children in po…
Lords
Oral Questions
11 March 2026
Pension Schemes: Ministerial Powers
My noble friend is quite right; we have had many opportunities. It has been a joy to discuss the Pension Schemes Bill over many weeks, and that joy is set to extend for some weeks to come. My noble friend raises an important point: if the Government want to make sure that people are investing in goo…