My Lords, until recently, I chaired a charity aimed at inspiring young people with a love of classical music. We developed teaching resources for schools based on Berlioz’s “Symphonie Fantastique”, branded as Fantastique! for Schools. Schools that used them were delighted with them, but scaling up p…
My Lords, the Government’s 10-year infrastructure strategy, and the industrial strategy published yesterday, are essential for future growth. If I had to single out one item in the 10-year strategy, it would be to develop our sovereign compute capacity for the future. I am a member of the Science an…
If there is a Division in the Chamber, we will adjourn for 10 minutes, but noble Lords have only to look at the screen to see that no Divisions are scheduled for today, thank heavens.
Because of the weather, we will have the doors open. I urge everyone to please drink plenty of water. I can tell th…
My Lords, I am most grateful to the Minister for the comprehensive way in which she introduced this instrument, including how it corresponds with all the documentation that we have. I am glad to see that it applies to Wales; we have many small pharmacies with cross-border flow and many roads going a…
My noble friend the Minister is absolutely right when he says that this is an incredibly dangerous moment. I declare an interest, as I have very close family members who live in north Tel Aviv and who have spent the last two nights in a bomb shelter. Can my noble friend say more to the House about t…
My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow the noble Viscount, Lord Stansgate, not only because of his enthusiasm but because of his concision. To pack all that into four minutes is quite a quite an achievement.
I declare my interests as an adviser to DLA Piper on AI policy and regulation, and as founder…
I do not think that this is just down to me. The point has been made about having the joint department here, and other noble Lords have said how joint departments are, in many ways, a way forward. We have to ensure that we are a working Parliament, from one end of the building to the other, and the …
Good afternoon, my Lords, and welcome to an afternoon of four Questions for Short Debate. If there is a Division in the Chamber, we will adjourn the Committee for 10 minutes, but, as can been seen from the screens, there will not be a Division. Indeed, if noble Lords do not mind my saying so, I rath…
My Lords, I support the noble Baroness, Lady Goldie, and her amendment. I am not going to repeat the strong and powerful case that she made, but I want to pick up on a couple of issues. Whistleblowing and a complaints process are two different things—it is a point that I tried to make on Report. A c…
My Lords, I am very grateful to the Minister for bringing these SIs to the Grand Committee. Like my noble friend, I shall speak briefly about one or two points, in my case, specifically about Iran and the provisions that apply to Iran and, more specifically, about the effectiveness of the Islamic Re…
If my noble friend allows me a moment’s reflection on that detail, I will respond to him with a fuller, meaningful reply. I believe that we are going to be transparent in all of this. The whole purpose of these regulations is to provide transparency and ensure that we tackle national security and gi…
The UK has a world-leading science base, supported by some of the top universities and research institutions, and offers prestigious fellowships and professorships through UKRI and the national learned academies. As the immigration White Paper sets out, we will now go further in ensuring that the ve…
I thank my noble friend. We have always been the beneficiaries of brain gain; we have been attractive to top-class overseas researchers for many years. Indeed, about one-third of our Nobel prize winners are first or second-generation immigrants. For 2025-26, UKRI has roughly £770 million for talent …
My Lords, before I start my speech, I will reflect the comments that we have just heard. I did not manage to get into the noble Viscount’s Oral Question today, but I am deeply concerned about what the Americans are doing to the fundamental scientific basis for our understanding of climate, so I echo…
My Lords, first, I thank the Minister for his very kind remarks, and I shall ensure that they are conveyed to my noble friend Lord Minto. I also thank him for the constructive manner in which he has approached the passage of the Bill. His Majesty’s Official Opposition have welcomed the Bill from the…
My noble friend the Minister has already referred to the fact that the system operator is introducing innovative new approaches. Might that involve the application of AI to managing the grid? Looking further ahead, and in the light of the report from your Lordships’ Science and Technology Committee …
My Lords, this is a timed debate and people have quite rightly put their names down for it. As the Deputy Chairman of Committees said, the gap has already been passed and I suggest that we move on to hear from the Government Front Bench.
My Lords, welcome to an afternoon of Questions for Short Debate. If there is a Division in the Chamber, we will adjourn the Committee for 10 minutes, but the fact is the Chamber will be full for many hours with the Bill, so I do not expect any votes whatever.
My Lords, rather like the noble Lord, Lord Clement-Jones, I am afraid I am also going to disappoint the noble Lord, Lord Holmes, because I do not think these amendments are necessary. But I agree with many of the things he said, especially about the evidence that we received. I had never been a Memb…
My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow the noble Lord, Lord Holmes, and agree with his amendment. My only regret is that I did not sign it, because you can have four names on an amendment and, if I had another life, I would have immediately put my name to it. I echo his comments about the noble Lord, …
My Lords, I support the Bill and my noble friend the Minister’s amendments. We had an interesting discussion about the phrase “relevant family members” in Committee. I declared an interest at that stage. I retain an interest, certainly until 20 September.
In view of the comment made by the Minister…
My Lords, I will be brief, not least because the points made by my noble friends Lord Beamish and Lady Carberry of Muswell Hill are ones with which agree.
When my noble friend the Minister replies to this debate—which is worth having, without a doubt, and raises serious issues—can he reassure the H…