Lords
Debate
12 January 2026
Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill
My Lords, when I first started to ask questions about the treaty in this place, I asked about the trust fund. I am sure the Minister will remember that question because, in her answer, she accused me of not respecting national security, which was quite a thing for me, having spent all my political l…
Lords
Oral Questions
8 January 2026
Greenland
I share the noble Lord’s admiration for Professor Nye. I never had the privilege of meeting him, but I think he was somebody whose words we should always bear in mind. You need to do both, and that is what we do. We have a much better co-ordinated approach to our use of what Joe would call soft powe…
Lords
Oral Questions
7 January 2026
Public Sector Productivity
The noble Lord is absolutely right. Partnerships with the private sector have an important part to play in the public sector. Obviously, the public sector can learn a great deal from the private sector, and, I hope, vice versa. That is why we announced in the spending review that we will be carrying…
Lords
Proceedings
18 December 2025
UK-EU Common Understanding Negotiations
My Lords, I will focus on the comments in the Statement on electricity co-operation trading with the European Union. Obviously, there are millions of families in this country who are wondering still how on earth to pay to keep their house warm and feed their children during the Christmas period, and…
Lords
Oral Questions
10 December 2025
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference 2026
I strongly agree with the noble Lord’s analysis. The NPT is an essential cornerstone of global security. I suggest that in many ways it has been particularly successful. I was looking at the figures earlier on. In 1986, there were an estimated 70,300 nuclear warheads, according to the Stockholm Inte…
Lords
Oral Questions
19 November 2025
Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Industry
I thank the noble Lord for his question, which raises a very important issue. It is fair to say that hydrogen cannot provide all the answers to issues around energy provision, but it can reach those hard-to-reach businesses such as steel and chemicals, for example. We need to set up a system in whic…
Lords
Oral Questions
11 November 2025
British Council
I am not going to make any comments about our newspapers today—I could, but I will not. We do a great deal of work with the British Council, which is an important part of soft power. We are, as I said, giving it £160 million each year and are working to help it restructure its loan. It needs to carr…
Lords
Oral Questions
30 October 2025
Public and Private Sector Productivity Trends
I am grateful to the noble Lord for his insight from that period. He is absolutely right. It was a time of high productivity; it is a shame that the second Conservative Government after that did not maintain it. We now have to deal with the inheritance from that Government. He is right to say that p…
Lords
Oral Questions
27 October 2025
Western Sahara Conflict
I absolutely do not. I will resist the temptation to speculate from the Dispatch Box, but I am sure that I can get the noble Lord the information that he needs.
Lords
Oral Questions
15 October 2025
Modular Nuclear Programme
The Sizewell C position is that it will create many jobs in construction and apprenticeships, and for the next 60 years will supply energy to around 6 million homes. It is absolutely right that the idea of the SMR programme is to create a modular reactor which is easy to assemble and duplicate and w…
Lords
Oral Questions
10 September 2025
Nuclear Regulatory System
I agree up to a point with what the noble Lord has said. Our big power stations such as Sizewell and Hinkley Point C are part of the answer. He is quite right to say that alongside that the small modular reactors are necessary. He will know that Rolls-Royce has three which have gone through the gene…
Lords
Oral Questions
2 September 2025
Gilt Yields
I disagree with the noble Lord’s interpretation of this Government’s strategy. We have a very clear strategy to grow the economy and maintain fiscal stability. It is incredibly welcome that my right honourable friend is now working inside No. 10 and will help to drive forward the Government’s agenda…
Lords
Oral Questions
1 September 2025
2 contributions
Civil Service: Artificial Intelligence Productivity Gains
Question!
It is an area where AI is important, because AI does just that. There are certain things AI does to improve the efficiency of what is already done, and certain areas in which it does things that cannot currently be done. Both of those areas will lead to disruption of current workflows. This goes bac…
Lords
Oral Questions
23 July 2025
2 contributions
Pensions: Low-income and Self-employed Workers
My Lords, we will hear from the Lib Dem Bench then we will come to the noble Lord.
My very good friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer will, as always, be considering these matters on an ongoing basis. Her Mansion House speech made clear our direction of travel. She will come forward with more activities in the future.
Lords
Proceedings
18 July 2025
2 contributions
Strategic Defence Review 2025
My Lords, the House has been very encouraging of the noble Lord, but he is two minutes over the advisory time, so perhaps he could wind up now.
My Lords, I declare my interest as a serving Army Reserve officer with the 1st Battalion London Guards and as a member of the APPG for Climate, Nature and Security. I congratulate the noble Lord, Lord McCabe, on an outstanding maiden speech.
We are right to recognise the scale of the threat we now …
Lords
Oral Questions
15 July 2025
United Kingdom: Soft Power
I am tempted to say I agree with the noble Lord, but then I am in danger of suggesting that I am not in agreement with the Foreign Secretary. Let me be very clear: we are at one, because the Commonwealth is very important. We have a new secretary-general, who is working through it, and we are giving…
Lords
Committee Stage
9 July 2025
Overarching National Policy Statement for Energy
My Lords, I am grateful to the Minister for his introduction, as there are many things within these documents to praise. They set out a positive direction for future energy infrastructure, which broadly aligns with clean power by 2030 and net zero by 2050. Although I—and, I am sure, many others—welc…
Lords
Oral Questions
3 July 2025
UK–EU Defence and Security Co-operation
I agree with that. The Commonwealth and the other things that the noble Lord mentioned are of course important. In this Parliament and in this country, we should be immensely proud that our carrier strike group sailed through Suez, through the Red Sea, through the BAM and into the Indian Ocean. It d…
Lords
Proceedings
30 June 2025
2 contributions
UK-Mauritius Agreement on the Chagos Archipelago
Oh!
My Lords, I echo the words of those who have said, and will no doubt go on to say, what a pleasure it was to be in the Chamber to bear witness to a most delightful maiden speech and an equally thoughtful valedictory one.
The treaty relating to the Chagos Islands and the potential transfer of the so…
Lords
Proceedings
26 June 2025
2 contributions
National Security Strategy
My Lords—
Does the noble Baroness agree that the growing Commonwealth network, with its people involvement at all levels, its unifying soft power—and indeed, increasingly, its hard power, as we have recently seen—and its maritime data integration powers, is a key part of our national security, our influence a…
Lords
Proceedings
19 June 2025
HS2 Reset
My Lords, I declare my interests as a former Secretary of State for Transport, I think one of rather many in this House, and as an adviser for many years to the Central Japan Railway Company, which is now busy building the fastest railway in the world, the Yamanashi Maglev. It may be of some comfort…
Lords
Proceedings
12 June 2025
Parliamentary Commercial Department
It is quite difficult to answer that one. Yes, repairs are undertaken from time to time, but there has to be a systematic look at how the door can be made operable ongoing, without repairs being needed. If that cannot be done, alternative arrangements have to be made. That is the very issue I have b…