Gambling: Loot Boxes

Debate between Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay and Baroness Fookes

Thursday 19th May 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con)]

As part of our review, we are of course looking at examples from around the world to see what other jurisdictions have done and will set out our responses in due course.

[Baroness Fookes (Con)]

My Lords, as I do not gamble, can somebody please tell me what a loot box is and how it works?

[Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con)]

My noble friend asks a good question and one which I had to ask in preparing for this. In brief, a loot box is a prize which can be won in an online game. It could be a superpower for your character, or it could be a new player for your virtual football team. They take many forms, but they are prizes which have no monetary value; their worth is to be played in the game.

Overseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill

Debate between Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay and Baroness Fookes

Committee stage & Lords Hansard
Tuesday 9th March 2021 Lords Chamber

[The Deputy Chairman of Committees (Baroness Fookes) (Con)]

I believe that we are trying to reconnect with the noble Lord, Lord Boyce.

[Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con)]

The noble Lord should now continue and we will see how well we can hear him.

Support for University Students: Covid-19

Debate between Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay and Baroness Fookes

Monday 8th February 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con)]

The noble Lord is right to point to the impact the pandemic has had on institutions as well as the students studying at them; I commend the work that they do. The Government have already provided significant support for the higher education sector, bringing forward £2 billion of tuition fee payments, providing £280 million of grant funding for research and establishing a loan scheme to cover up to 80% of a university’s income losses from international students. That, of course, is on top of the generous package of support that my right honourable friend the Chancellor provided for businesses, so we certainly are providing the assistance that institutions need.

[Baroness Fookes (Con) [V]]

Have the Government given any consideration to the plight of overseas students, who are paying higher fees than home students and have the added problem of living in a land not their own?

[Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con)]

I am pleased to reassure my noble friend that the hardship funding, including the additional £50 million announced last week, can be distributed to a wide population of students, including international students studying here in the UK. We want to make sure we support people in hardship, wherever they come from.

Covert Human Intelligence Sources (Criminal Conduct) Bill

Debate between Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay and Baroness Fookes

Committee stage & Committee: 2nd sitting (Hansard) & Committee: 2nd sitting (Hansard): House of Lords
Tuesday 1st December 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con)]

My Lords, we need to halt our proceedings before too long so that we can move on to the coronavirus regulations, but the next group of amendments is very small with only a small number of speakers. If noble Lords are willing to keep their contributions as brief as possible, that would assist us in finishing this group before we break for the coronavirus regulations.

[The Deputy Chairman of Committees (Baroness Fookes) (Con)]

We now come to the group beginning with Amendment 19A. I remind noble Lords that anyone wishing to speak after the Minister should email the clerk during the debate. Anyone wishing to press this or anything else in this group to a Division should make that clear in debate. I should inform the House that if Amendment 19A is agreed to, I cannot call Amendments 20 and 21 by reason of pre-emption.

Amendment 19A