Lords
Debate
8 July 2026
Steel Industry (Nationalisation) Bill
My Lords, I am delighted to support the amendment put forward by the noble Lord, Lord Fox, and I agree with his earlier analysis. As it happens, I agree with a lot of what the noble Lord, Lord Redwood, said on this as well. Whereas there may be certain safeguards in Scunthorpe, there is considerable…
Lords
Proceedings
30 June 2026
Civil Service Pension Scheme
My Lords, does the Minister accept that a figure of 23,000 has been identified as the number of those who have been caught by this problem? Those who are newly retired may still have payments to make on mortgages on their houses and may be in danger of losing them. Is there no mechanism that can be …
Lords
Proceedings
16 June 2026
Children: Physical Punishment
My Lords, does the Minister agree that there has been overwhelming acceptance in Wales of the policy that was introduced by the former Labour Government? In the recent election, there was hardly an issue on this matter arising. Will she take the opportunity to discuss with her two colleagues who are…
Lords
Proceedings
10 June 2026
Farming and Food Production
My Lords, does the Minister accept that the backbone of food production in rural Wales and in many other areas is small family farms but that one of the banes of their lives is the red tape levels they have to face in undertaking their work? Will the Government please review the red tape pressure th…
Lords
Proceedings
10 June 2026
New Autism Strategy (Autism Act 2009 Committee Report)
My Lords, I am very grateful for this opportunity to speak in this short debate, as I was to serve on the Select Committee, although I did experience certain frustrations. I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Rock, for her huge commitment to autism and the balanced way in which she chaired the committee…
Lords
Proceedings
1 June 2026
Devolved Public Services: Funding
My Lords, is the Minister aware of the huge controversy in Wales arising from the UK Government’s refusal to provide Barnett consequentials for capital rail projects such as HS2 and the Oxford to Cambridge rail link, on the spurious pretext that such south-east of England schemes are of direct benef…
Lords
Oral Questions
23 April 2026
Office for National Statistics Labour Market Data
The Government have always worked closely with the current Government of Wales and we will continue to work with any future Government in Wales. It will help if they continue to be led by the Labour Party, but we will see what the electorate decide. We are constantly aware that we must do more to su…
Lords
Oral Questions
21 April 2026
Midwives: Graduate Guarantee
I certainly agree with the noble Lord. I know he will understand that I can refer only to England in this context, but I take his point about Wales. I mentioned earlier that this situation very much needs sorting out and that is what we are doing. We are working closely with employers and universiti…
Lords
Oral Questions
16 April 2026
Data Centres: Energy Demand
I agree with the noble Lord that pumped hydro schemes are one method of ensuring that electricity is used as efficiently as it can be in terms of taking it in at some stages of the cycle and releasing it at others. A number of other arrangements can do that, such as batteries and other forms of long…
Lords
Proceedings
23 March 2026
UK Steel Strategy
My Lords, with the indulgence of the House, I welcome the strategy and the Statement, as far as it goes. The Government previously announced that £500 million would come to Port Talbot. Will any of the newly announced £2.5 billion come to Wales? Did the Welsh Government ask for part of that and were…
Lords
Debate
23 March 2026
Pension Schemes Bill
My Lords, I strongly support the objectives of Amendments 124, 128 and 154, as well as the similar provision made for Northern Ireland in Amendments 132 and 136. I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Altmann, for all the work she has done, and continues to do, on this matter. I hope she will continue unt…
Lords
Oral Questions
17 March 2026
Fujitsu: Post Office Horizon Case
As I mentioned earlier, we are in constant conversation with Fujitsu. It has already committed to pay compensation, but how and when that happens is currently being consulted on.
Lords
Debate
11 March 2026
Crime and Policing Bill
I am following what the Minister is saying with great interest because it responds to the numerous points that have been made about the reorganisation that is needed to make sure there is no vacuum. The point I would press is that we have an election for the Senedd coming up in May. Trying to get a …
Lords
Oral Questions
10 March 2026
Foreign Direct Investment
What has been rewarding since I took this job on seven months ago is the ability to work with all the devolved nations, realising that every part of our country needs to benefit from the economic development that is coming through. We have members of our Office for Investment teams throughout the Un…
Lords
Oral Questions
9 March 2026
Crown Estate: Wales
Offshore will create up to 5,000 jobs—on top of the 3,000 jobs that will be created by the building of small modular reactors on Anglesey. It will provide energy for 1.5 million households. We are aiming in the right direction. As far as the supply chain is concerned, we will be investing £50 millio…
Lords
Oral Questions
24 February 2026
Prisons: Education
We will hear from the Conservative Benches next, then we will go to the Labour Benches.
Lords
Oral Questions
23 February 2026
US Tariffs
I will have to come back to the noble Lord on that question. The pharmaceuticals deal was for medical exports to the US for at least three years.
Lords
Debate
5 February 2026
Crime and Policing Bill
My Lords, I support Amendments 472 and 473. We have already heard how these amendments could help victims and survivors to seek justice for some of the worst atrocities. We heard from the noble Lord, Lord Alton, and a moment ago from the noble Baroness, Lady Kennedy, of cases of genocide and crimes …
Lords
Committee Stage
5 February 2026
2 contributions
Pension Schemes Bill
My Lords, I support Amendment 203ZB, in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Davies of Brixton. I shall also address the government amendments in this group. I have signed the noble Lord’s Amendment 203, which we will come to later, recognising that he has professional expertise far greater than mine in…
I am very grateful and I hope that the benefit will be substantial.
Lords
Oral Questions
2 February 2026
China: Human Rights and UK National Security
I am in no doubt at all of the level of concern and interest that this House has in the issues that we are discussing. Sometimes, that means that sessions run out of time; sometimes people do not want to ask questions. I do not read anything at all into that. I understand how important these issues …
Lords
Oral Questions
28 January 2026
National Police Service
As a resident in Wales, an MP in Wales for 28 years and a person who still has lots of friends in the police force in Wales, I say to the noble Lord that devolution is not on the agenda as part of this reorganisation. This is about efficiency and local management, and we will discuss with the Welsh …
Lords
Oral Questions
21 January 2026
2 contributions
Great Western Railway: Infrastructure
My Lords—
I have spoken to the Welsh regional manager of Network Rail in the past 24 hours to ask him what the incidence of flooding was in south Wales, in preparation for this question. As I said earlier, there are several sites which have never flooded before—Neath and west of Swansea—and Network Rail it is…
Lords
Debate
20 January 2026
3 contributions
Crown Estate (Wales) Bill [HL]
My Lords, I thank Members on both sides of the Chamber who participated in our earlier debates, and I particularly thank all 22 county councils in Wales, which have each formally resolved to support the objectives of the Bill. Indeed, the Welsh Government have also called for the Crown Estate to be …
My Lords, I congratulate the noble Lord on the Bill getting this far. When the Minister replies, can he say whether this sets a useful precedent in relation to the Crown Estate’s assets in England, including the Duchy of Cornwall assets in England? Do the Government have any plans to bring a similar…
+1 more contribution in this session