I join my noble friend in commending those who were responsible for this remarkable operation and the success that it represents. I also commend the Prime Minister, who today announced further sanctions on Russia, tightening further the screws on Vladimir Putin and his regime. Can we be assured that…
My Lords, I congratulate the noble Baroness, Lady Helic, on getting this brief debate. I pay tribute to the noble and gallant Lord, Lord Peach, and Karen Pierce as envoys for the western Balkans. It was an imaginative appointment to make, and both have discharged the job with immense skill and resul…
My Lords, I join other noble Lords in congratulating the troops who are involved in this action, and I commend the Government for what they have done up until now, because criticism has been levelled at them—a lot of it unjustified. But is this crisis not a wake-up call for all of us in this House i…
I completely agree with my noble friend. The premise of the original Question encourages the Government to sanction the United States. Nobody would be more pleased than Vladimir Putin if the United Kingdom and the United States had that kind of fracture in our relationship. Sometimes we need to remi…
My Lords, as we look to the future of what is happening in Ukraine, it is important to bear in mind, as the noble Lord, Lord Robertson, has just done, the extent of the Ukrainian achievement so far. We talk about victory and defeat but, when one thinks of what Putin was setting out to do and what he…
I will make brief points about each of the regulations, not only those relating to newspaper mergers. On that, I very much agree with my noble friend Lady Stowell. We are in the unhappy position of being presented by the Government with regulations that do not adhere to the policy intention. A numbe…
My Lords, I am looking forward to listening later in the debate to my colleague and noble friend Lord McCabe make his maiden speech.
Unusually, I will start my speech today with my conclusion. After a full year examining, consulting, challenging, inspecting and intently looking at every aspect of t…
My Lords, it is a great pleasure to follow the very powerful introduction to this debate from the noble Lord, Lord Robertson. I thank the Government for facilitating this important debate. The strategic defence review is a very significant piece of work, with clear sight-lines as to what our defence…
My Lords, I want to make a contribution and ask a question. I have spent 10 months answering questions, so there is a slight difficulty involved in that. I ask my noble friend the Minister whether in future, to this House and the public outside, he will emphasise the fact that this was not a Labour …