My Lords, I declare my farm management interests as set out in the register. I would be interested to hear more from the Minister about more direct and clear support, helping farmers to access markets that are close to them; that is, public buildings and organisations. How can we prioritise local Br…
My Lords, my Amendment 91 seeks to insert a duty to clear up waste after a sporting event. This is a probing amendment that puts a clear, time-bound duty on the relevant local authority to keep event areas clear of litter and refuse during the event and to clean them at its conclusion. It extends ex…
My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow my noble friend. I declare my interest as the owner of a Welsh upland portfolio with agricultural tenancies, livestock, woodland and heritage assets serviced by renewables. I am therefore someone who lives with both the duty of stewardship and the economics of th…
My Lords, I declare an interest as a serving Army Reserve officer. I thank the Minister for giving up his valuable time yesterday to meet senior Army leaders from the directorate of personnel. Reservists are the first echelon. The Regular Forces are now so small that reservists are no longer second …
My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper and declare my farming and land management interests in Wales.
My Lords, this Government are backing British farmers to create a productive, profitable and sustainable future for farming. We will always consider whether overseas produce has an unfair advantage and any impact that it may have. Where necessary, we will be prepared to use the full range of powers …
My Lords, it is the greatest pleasure to rise in this debate and to give my maiden speech—the last in a quartet from the Labour local government family. I did wonder whether we look like a 1990s pop group announcing our reunion tour.
I first thank Black Rod, the Clerk of the Parliaments, the doorke…
First, it would be wrong not to acknowledge the service that the noble Lord undertakes on behalf of our nation; perhaps he can pass that on to the other reservists he will be training with at the weekend.
What the noble Lord asks will, again, be subject to the defence investment plan. Reserves are …
My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow the noble Lord, Lord Harlech. I do not have any farming interests to declare, but I have two allotments that take a lot of time and energy.
It might not seem like it, but I want this Government to succeed, particularly in their environmental aims. The problem I …
My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Grayling, for securing this Opposition day debate and for the opportunity it presents to take stock of how government policies are shaping biodiversity and the health of our countryside. It has been an absolute privilege to hear the speeches that we ha…
Briefly, my noble friend Lord Lindsay spoke to his group of amendments far more eloquently than I can, and other noble Lords spoke about the evidential and ethical case behind them. But I want to make one point and give one example, at this time of remembrance and with society’s understanding of men…
My Lords, I congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Coaker, on how he introduced the debate, which was brilliant. I congratulate the Front Benches on their unanimity of support for Ukraine.
I warmly welcome the noble Lord, Lord Barrow, who speaks with great authority. His experience of Moscow is much mor…
My Lords, I want briefly to offer a slightly different perspective.
I understand the intent behind the Bill and my noble friend Lord Bethell’s Amendment 4 in this group. However, I believe that this amendment and the Bill as a whole lack some nuance in separating cigarettes from cigars and other to…
My Lords, in our debate on 9 October 2024 on the very welcome strategic defence review being undertaken by the noble Lord, Lord Robertson of Port Ellen, I appealed to the noble Lord—as I had done previously in your Lordships’ House—to see this review of defence as defence in its widest sense. He and…
My Lords, I support Amendments 100, 101 and 102 in the name of my noble friend Lady Penn and I declare my interest as the father of a six-month old son. This package of amendments has the potential to transform the lives of families, children and fathers. Polling this year by the charities Dad Shift…
I hear what the noble Lord says. I have friends in mountain rescue. I bumped into one of them at the weekend; they had been particularly busy. The important thing is that the people who call out mountain rescue are often completely and utterly ill equipped for what they are doing. That seems the big…
My Lords, it is the turn of the Conservative Benches. We have four Conservatives up. Can they quickly decide which one of them wants to ask the question?
My Lords, in opening this group of amendments in my name, I declare my farming and land management interests in Wales.
I pay tribute to the noble Lord, Lord Wigley, for his long-standing service to Wales and his clear and consistent advocacy for greater Welsh autonomy. There is much that we agree o…
My Lords, what guarantee can the noble Baroness give that, were this Bill to pass, the revenue from it would be distributed equally throughout Wales and not just be concentrated in Cardiff and the surrounding area, as revenues currently are?
My Lords, I declare an interest as a serving Army Reserve officer. Page 70 recommends only a modest increase in the active reserve of 20%, as the noble Baroness, Lady Smith of Newnham, pointed out. Finland’s reserve—albeit it uses a different intake model—consists of over 800,000 trained soldiers, a…
My Lords, I support Amendments 127, 128 and 139 in the name of my noble friend Lady Penn. In so doing, I declare my interests as an employer and as the father of a four month-old son.
The amendments in this group seek to deliver a fairer, more modern and more economically rational approach to pater…
The noble Lord makes a very interesting point—I wonder whether he made it to his Conservative colleagues on Great Yarmouth Borough Council, who were the first to introduce a tourism tax. The tourism tax brings in £33 million a year. There are ongoing conversations, but this is devolution in action, …