Lords
Oral Questions
12 March 2026
Children in Care: Illegal Accommodation
The noble Earl is preaching to the converted. My experience, going back over 16 years now, has all been about enabling the kinship care model to grow, thrive and be recognised. It has not been recognised before, and I am delighted that in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, for the first time…
Lords
Debate
11 March 2026
Crime and Policing Bill
My Lords, I wish to speak incredibly briefly, purely because the noble Baroness, Lady Chakrabarti, and the noble Lord, Lord Strasburger, mentioned the noble Baroness, Lady Cash. She personally spoke to the noble Lords, Lord Hanson and Lord Katz, and she apologises. She was otherwise detained and sen…
Lords
Committee Stage
9 March 2026
Human Medicines (Amendment) Regulations 2026
My Lords, I am most grateful to noble Lords for participating in this debate. I appreciate the welcome for these measures and the acknowledgement of their importance from the Opposition Front Bench and the noble Baroness, Lady Bennett. I will turn to some of the questions. I will, of course, be very…
Lords
Oral Questions
9 March 2026
Stamp Duty: Periodic Tenancies
I am currently working across the sector on a wide range of support to provide the framework that first-time buyers will need in order to take the practical steps to access the market and to build up confidence. That work is going very well. First-time buyers benefit from paying no stamp duty up to …
Lords
Oral Questions
5 March 2026
Small Businesses: VAT Threshold
Well, that was a most enjoyable question from the noble Earl. I am grateful for the opportunity to talk about the last Government’s 14 years in power. We had austerity, followed by Brexit, followed by Liz Truss. The growth record of the previous Government was an absolute catastrophe. He will know f…
Lords
Oral Questions
2 March 2026
UK Streaming and Cinema Sector
It would be a bit pre-emptive of me to rule out any exception before the reports I have mentioned are published. I would be very happy to return to your Lordships’ House to discuss this matter further once that has taken place.
Lords
Debate
27 February 2026
Rare Cancers Bill
My Lords, I am delighted to reaffirm government support for this important Bill. It will make a real difference for rare cancer patients and, as my noble friend Lady Elliott said, it stands as a real tribute and an amount of change to the memory of those we have lost, including our noble friends Bar…
Lords
Proceedings
26 February 2026
Transnational Repression in the UK (JCHR Report)
I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Alton of Liverpool, for securing this important debate and for the work of his committee on understanding the issues of transnational repression. I note that he has been sanctioned by a number of regimes; I have been sanctioned by Russia, and I take that as a ba…
Lords
Oral Questions
24 February 2026
Student Loans: Review
I wonder whether the noble Earl has had the opportunity to discuss with some of his colleagues whether they believe that the system that they introduced is a scam. This is a system that was introduced by the previous Government. Plan 2 is no longer in operation for students starting today. Finally, …
Lords
Oral Questions
24 February 2026
Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper
Although the noble Earl did not revert to the language that some of his colleagues have used about university degrees, I share the view that, if we are expecting both young people and the state to invest in higher education, it needs to be of high quality. That is why I support the Office for Studen…
Lords
Oral Questions
23 February 2026
LGBT Veterans Independent Review
My Lords, there is a reverse burden of proof, so anybody applying to the scheme is believed; it is up to the MoD to show that their service records do not match what they put forward. Everybody asked for that, and everybody accepted that it was really important. It is not in anybody’s interest to de…
Lords
Oral Questions
12 February 2026
Environment Agency: Waste Crime
My Lords, I am grateful for the opportunity to address this important question on what assessment His Majesty’s Government have made of the performance of the Environment Agency in addressing waste crime. In doing so, I am pleased to thank the noble Baroness, Lady Sheehan, and all members of her com…
Lords
Oral Questions
12 February 2026
Flour Milling Sector
My Lords, I am very grateful for the opportunity to respond to this debate. I thank my noble friend Lord Rooker for securing it, as well as the noble Lord, Lord Vaizey, and the noble Earl, Lord Effingham, for their contributions. I pay tribute to my noble friend Lord Rooker for all his invaluable wo…
Lords
Oral Questions
12 February 2026
Counter-Extremism Strategy
I am grateful for the contributions from noble Lords today. I particularly thank the noble Lord, Lord Goodman of Wycombe, who is persistent in raising this issue—rightly so, dare I say? He framed the debate, if I may say so, in terms of government action on examining non-violent extremism, but in th…
Lords
Debate
4 February 2026
Medical Training (Prioritisation) Bill
My Lords, I am most grateful to all noble Lords who contributed to this debate for the support given, including just now by the noble Earl, Lord Effingham, to working with us, because I think there is general recognition that we have a problem that needs to be dealt with. I am very glad, as I said a…
Lords
Oral Questions
4 February 2026
Baby Milk Powder: Cereulide
The noble Earl has moved from food safety to what is in food. Food standards applicable to school meals are both monitored and in place. As he knows, the general advice from the NHS on processed foods is that we would all benefit from eating less of the foods that are high-fat, high-salt and high-su…
Lords
Oral Questions
4 February 2026
NHS: Corridor Care
No. I hope that the noble Lord would welcome a greater level of activity in this area. The waiting lists are going down. We have delivered, for example, 5.2 million extra appointments since we came into government, when we had promised just 2 million. Waiting lists are going down, and I am very happ…
Lords
Debate
3 February 2026
4 contributions
Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill
My Lords, His Majesty’s loyal Opposition understand how crucial allergy safety is in schools, and access to adrenaline auto-injectors is pivotal. Centralising and co-ordinating policy across education establishments is a much-needed step that would standardise current voluntary safety measures such …
My Lords, we admire the noble Baroness, Lady Lister, for her relentless focus on this issue, which is obviously well intended. But as we made clear in Committee, we are not in a position to support this amendment. Our reservations stem from the belief that its remit would extend to every ministerial…
+2 more contributions in this session
Lords
Debate
3 February 2026
Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill
My Lords, I thank the Minister for tabling the government amendment, which His Majesty’s loyal Opposition support. We also thank the noble Lord, Lord Norton, for his amendment. He has been described in the media as the United Kingdom’s greatest living expert on Parliament and a world authority on co…
Lords
Oral Questions
3 February 2026
Child Poverty: Faith-based and Voluntary Sector Organisations
The noble Earl makes a really good point. That is what my department is for. One of the reasons why we are reinventing the whole way that jobcentres work is to be able to make sure that we can help these individuals get ready and take those jobs. We have real opportunity out there, but if we are to …
Lords
Debate
30 January 2026
Secure 16 to 19 Academies Bill
My Lords, I am very pleased to speak at the Third Reading of this Private Member’s Bill. I, too, start with thanks—to my noble friend Lord Bach for steering this small but important Bill through the House and to Emma Foody MP for guiding it through the other place. The secure school model has been d…
Lords
Oral Questions
29 January 2026
Erasmus+ Eligibility: Asylum Seekers
I am sorry, but I do not recognise those figures. What we have agreed is the joining of the last year of this round of Erasmus+ in 2027, at a 30% discount—something not achieved by the party opposite—saving UK taxpayers around £240 million and ensuring benefit to tens of thousands of UK students, sc…
Lords
Debate
28 January 2026
3 contributions
Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill
My Lords, I thank all noble Lords for their valuable contributions to this debate, particularly the noble Lord, Lord Bird, for his relentless focus on tackling poverty through the Big Issue and Big Issue Invest, investing in social enterprises, social purpose businesses and charities trying to end p…
My Lords, we have listened with interest to the valuable contributions during this debate, and we thank all noble Lords who have both spoken to and tabled amendments in this group.
Amendment 114, in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Mohammed, seeks to fulfil the Government’s commitment to lowering t…
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Debate
23 January 2026
Licensing Hours Extensions Bill
My Lords, if your Lordships pass this Bill today, it will not go back to the Commons but go straight to His Majesty the King for Royal Assent. I thank my noble friend Lord Watson for bringing the Bill forward and congratulate him, as well as my honourable friends Andrew Ranger and Emma Lewell in the…
Lords
Oral Questions
22 January 2026
Creative Industries: Freelance Champion
There are a number of tax incentives within the system currently. We are very clear that there is significant investment in creative industries in this country. I outlined some of those in relation to the rollout of the sector plan. We are very confident that we are working across government on the …