Lords
Oral Questions
11 March 2026
9 contributions
UK Space Economy
I thank my noble friend the Minister for that reply. Given that, in the space inquiry we conducted, The Space Economy: Act Now or Lose Out , we identified that the space sector is worth £18.6 billion to the economy, employs 55,000 people and is growing a rate of about 6% a year, can she tell us more…
My Lords, on the Government’s space plan, will they formally adopt a policy of space debris neutrality, requiring all satellites launched from the UK to have what is called a “designed to demise” commitment to prevent further orbital congestion? With an active debris removal procurement worth some £…
+7 more contributions in this session
Lords
Committee Stage
9 March 2026
3 contributions
Employment Rights Act 2025 (Investigatory Powers) (Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2026
My Lords, this instrument makes consequential amendments to the Investigatory Powers Act 2016 following Parliament’s decision in the Employment Rights Act 2025 to create the Fair Work Agency, and brings together the functions of the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority, the Employment Agency Stand…
My Lords, the instrument before us is, on the face of it, a technical one. As the Minister explained, it ensures that enforcement officers of the new Fair Work Agency inherit the same communications data powers, under the Investigatory Powers Act 2016, that officers of the Gangmasters and Labour Abu…
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
9 March 2026
9 contributions
British Business Bank
I thank my noble friend for that. The additional funding that has been given to the British Business Bank is welcome, but will it be encouraged to take higher risk stakes in some of our more innovative companies? Can we be assured that it has the expertise to make those critical judgments?
My lords, as has been alluded to, as well as operating on a commercial basis the British Business Bank is expected to fill structural gaps in the capital market. As the sponsor of the British Business Bank, how does the Minister see its role in scaling up the UK defence supply chain? How will the Br…
+7 more contributions in this session
Lords
Proceedings
6 March 2026
2 contributions
International Women’s Day
My Lords, it is a pleasure to open today’s International Women’s Day debate on behalf of the Government. As noble Lords will know, the theme of this year’s International Women’s Day is “Give to gain”. This day is about celebrating the power of solidarity and camaraderie; it is about adhering to the …
My Lords, it is a great honour to open this debate on International Women’s Day on behalf of His Majesty’s loyal Opposition. It is an opportunity both to celebrate the countless contributions of women and to reflect on the work that still lies ahead, here at home, obviously in Wales, and across the …
Lords
Committee Stage
2 March 2026
3 contributions
Bereaved Partner’s Paternity Leave Regulations 2026
My Lords, in moving these regulations, which were laid on 13 January, I will speak also to the Employment Rights Act 1996 (Application of Section 80B to Adoptions from Overseas) (Amendment) Regulations 2026 and the Employment Rights Act 1996 (Application of Section 80B to Parental Order Cases) (Amen…
My Lords, these Benches offer our wholehearted support for these regulations, and I know our colleague, the noble Lord, Lord Palmer of Childs Hill, if he were not involved in the Chamber on the Crime and Policing Bill, would join me in supporting them.
The sort of circumstances we are speaking of c…
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
29 January 2026
Superintelligent AI
My Lords, I thank my noble friend Lord Hunt for initiating this important debate on an important topic, and all noble Lords from around the House for their contributions today. This Government believe that advanced AI has transformative potential for the UK: from scientific innovation and public ser…
Lords
Oral Questions
28 January 2026
8 contributions
UK Start-up Companies
I thank the Minister for her response, but I think it is fair to say that key data on our start-ups is missing in action. Since the enterprise investment scheme was introduced 30 years ago, I have calculated that £40 billion has been invested in EIS start-ups, triggering £12 billion in tax credits. …
My Lords, I too have been very much involved in start ups, including chairing a fintech. At the moment, the real issue for start-ups is scalability. I wonder what the Government can do to assist companies and the brilliant entrepreneurs that we produce in this country in scaling up their businesses.
+6 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
27 January 2026
10 contributions
TikTok: Bereaved British Parents
My Lords, I thank my noble friend for her reply. Ellen Roome is one of a number of bereaved British parents who are suing TikTok. Ellen had been fighting for four years to get access to her son Jools’s social media account after he died performing a TikTok challenge. Digital data that should be pres…
My Lords, the litigation alleges that TikTok’s algorithm deliberately promoted harmful content to children. That is exactly what we originally thought the Online Safety Act was going to help protect our children from, but that appears to be wrong. Will the Government, given their statement of strate…
+8 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
26 January 2026
7 contributions
Superintelligent AI
My Lords, I am grateful to my noble friend for that considered Answer. Clearly, AI has great potential; the UK is third in the global league of AI investment. I understand the Government’s response, which is essentially a nuanced approach to encourage both proper regulation and investment.
However,…
My Lords—
+5 more contributions in this session
Lords
Proceedings
14 January 2026
12 contributions
Social Media: Non-consensual Sexual Deepfakes
I thank both noble Lords for their contributions to the debate. We all agree that the circulation of these vile, non-consensual deepfakes has been shocking. Sexually manipulating images of women and children is despicable and abhorrent. The law is clear: sharing or threatening to share a deepfake in…
My noble friend is right to raise the extremely important point about victim support and the impact that this has on people. We have seen testimonies and reports of how devastating, degrading and humiliating this experience can be. The Revenge Porn Helpline is doing fantastic work in providing speci…
+10 more contributions in this session
Lords
Debate
16 December 2025
4 contributions
Employment Rights Bill
My Lords, in moving this Motion, I will also speak to Motion A1. Throughout the passage of this Bill, which arrived in your Lordships’ House nine months ago yesterday, we have scrutinised, deliberated and debated all areas. Once again, I thank noble Lords for fulfilling their scrutiny role and, in t…
My Lords, as the Minister has just said, yesterday a letter was sent to Members of the House by six major business organisations, setting out precisely what many of us said in the Chamber last week. That letter makes one thing abundantly clear: the Government did misrepresent when they claimed that …
+2 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
15 December 2025
9 contributions
Technology Adoption Review
My Lords, among its many findings, the review identified that there is a proliferation of different business support schemes designed to improve technology adoption and productivity. Many of these are short lived, their impact is variable and they are hard for SMEs to navigate. What consideration is…
My Lords, it is really encouraging to hear in the report about AI adoption hubs set regionally around the country. I would like to ask the Minister about AI literacy, which is also referred to in the review. Is she happy that we are doing enough to bring about that literacy? That seems to be one of …
+7 more contributions in this session
Lords
Debate
10 December 2025
10 contributions
Employment Rights Bill
My Lords, I shall speak also to Motions A1 to E1. Given the developments that have taken place since the Bill was last debated by the House, I would like to take some time to set out the context of those changes. I therefore must ask for the indulgence of the House with regards to the length of my s…
My Lords, similarly to the Minister, I beg the House’s indulgence because, if this speech is longer than a speech would normally be for round three of ping-pong, it is because, as she pointed out, there have been developments since we last debated the Bill.
My Motion A1 addresses a major issue that…
+8 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
10 December 2025
9 contributions
Children: Social Media
My Lords, our children and young people are living through an experiment imposed on them by platforms that are profiting off their stress, their lack of sleep and their diminished self-worth. I welcome the Australian Government taking action to address the urgency and gravity of this issue. I listen…
My Lords, the Minister thinks that 16 year-olds should not have certain access. The noble Baroness, Lady Berger, if I understand her, thinks that they should be banned from social media. Can I take it as read that both noble Baronesses will oppose 16 year-olds having the vote?
+7 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
9 December 2025
11 contributions
Mobile Phone and Broadband Prices
My Lords, I thank the Minister for her Answer. Phone and broadband companies such as O2 have violated Ofcom’s voluntary code and imposed unjustified mid-contract price hikes on customers. The old and vulnerable are hit hard, as they are less likely to shop around. Inflation and poverty are baked int…
My Lords, given that many telecom contracts include mid-contract price rises linked to inflation plus an additional percentage, what steps are the Government taking to protect low-income customers from these above-inflation increases?
+9 more contributions in this session
Lords
Proceedings
24 November 2025
7 contributions
ExxonMobil: Mossmorran
I thank the noble Lords for their statements today, and I entirely agree that our thoughts are with the workers and the families of those affected by the closure.
While this Government inherited a precarious economic position from the previous Administration, it is imperative that we continue to mo…
We are co-ordinating the scale-up of industries that will shape the future of the North Sea, going as far as wider offshore wind, carbon capture and storage and hydrogen. The Government have committed over £9.4 billion in investment to carbon capture, with a total of £22 billion for hydrogen and car…
+5 more contributions in this session
Lords
Committee Stage
19 November 2025
3 contributions
Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure (Security Requirements for Relevant Connectable Products) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2025
Thank you very much. These draft regulations will be made under powers provided by the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act 2022, also known as PSTI. The world-leading PSTI regulatory regime came into force on 29 April 2024. It better protects consumers, businesses and the wide…
My Lords, I have some sympathy for the Minister, with this being her first time going into something like this. This is not an area that I usually cover. Acronym hell may not be here, but you can see it from the edge of this debate.
Basically, we are talking about something that makes trade easier …
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Debate
17 November 2025
10 contributions
Employment Rights Bill
My Lords, in moving Motion A, I will speak also to Motions C and C1. In this group, we will be debating the amendments relating to zero-hours contracts and seasonal work.
Amendment 1B, tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Fox, would require employers to write to workers at the end of each reference perio…
The Minister’s enthusiasm got the better of her but I had not actually put the Question that the amendments and reasons be now considered. I hope the House will take it that we did so do, even though we did not say it.
Motion A1 (as an amendment to Motion A)
+8 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
17 November 2025
9 contributions
Artificial Intelligence Legislation
My Lords, when it comes to AI legislation, the position of the previous Government was largely “wait and see”; so it is with this Government. But what is really required if you are an innovator, investor, citizen, creative or consumer is clarity, consistency and certainty. Further, the excellent Ada…
My Lords, I declare in interest as chair of the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society and as a consultant to DLA Piper on AI policy. The first meeting of the rather grandly named Lords’ AI and copyright parliamentary engagement group takes place tomorrow. Would it not be extraordinary if the Gov…
+7 more contributions in this session
Lords
Proceedings
30 October 2025
2 contributions
Protection of Children Codes of Practice
On the point about evidence, I am absolutely not an expert in this but the noble Baroness, Lady Cass, definitely is. I think it would be a very good use of the Minister’s time to meet with her. She described a situation where the research that is being done is at a population level, where changes an…
My Lords, I thank the Minister for her response and add my welcome to her to the Front Bench: you cannot have enough south Londoners on the Front Bench. I also thank her very much for the serious and comprehensive way in which she answered many of the points raised—and, indeed, some of the points th…