"I will do, given a chance. The noble Lord, Lord True, when he was Leader of the Opposition, told me that his party opposed it, that it was not his party’s policy. I even offered and got support from the shadow Cabinet for the legislation and the noble Lord will …..." Baroness Smith of Basildon - View Speech
"My Lords, if this was a proxy for capacity, we would not be bringing it forward, and we would not do both at the same time. I think the noble Lord misunderstands the reasons why the retirement age has been proposed. I was perfectly willing to accept that our manifesto …..." Baroness Smith of Basildon - View Speech
"I think the noble Lord was only talking about the DUP, because we have Members on our Benches from Northern Ireland as well. One of the things we need to look at, and we are bringing forward further proposals on this, is that the House as a whole has to …..." Baroness Smith of Basildon - View Speech
"That Standing Order 44 (No two stages of a Bill to be taken on one day) be dispensed with on Wednesday 14 October to enable the Sovereign Grant Bill to be taken through its remaining stages that day and that, in accordance with Standing Order 47 (Amendments on Third Reading) …..." Baroness Smith of Basildon - View Speech
"I am sorry to interrupt, but it might be helpful to the House to say that there is a retirement booklet that I arranged to be published which clearly states that, when Members leave this House, they will regain their vote...." Baroness Smith of Basildon - View Speech
"My Lords, I start by thanking my noble friend Lady Taylor of Bolton and all members of the committee who took part in the deliberations and carefully considered the issues. Many doubted that, in the time that was allocated, they could come back to this House with a proposal and …..." Baroness Smith of Basildon - View Speech
"The noble Baroness is implying that there is no notice. To give notice is the very reason for these proposals. It sounds like they are going to happen tomorrow, but these proposals do not come into force, or start to come into force, until 2029, when there will be a …..." Baroness Smith of Basildon - View Speech
"I cannot remember the exact percentage. These proposals would affect 100% of this House, because every current and future Member would be affected by them; they are completely non-discriminatory in that way. The other argument often used is that we should not make this reform until we have made lots …..." Baroness Smith of Basildon - View Speech