"My Lords, as a great maritime nation, if we are going to do anything as Bodmin as splitting us from the Commons, I hope No. 10 might consider using one of the great Cunarders as somewhere for the Lords to be based. It could then be used to go and …..." Lord West of Spithead - View Speech
"My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Campbell, has a good point: I have said previously in this Chamber that we are no doubt deluding ourselves. We have a sense of complacency. Experts, lay men, the Back-Benchers of both Houses and the HCDC itself have all said that we are spending …..." Lord West of Spithead - View Speech
"My Lords, when we gave our commitment to 400 extra people for Afghanistan, did any other NATO nations say they would join in that commitment, bearing in mind that we will have people there for 23 years and possibly even longer into the future?..." Lord West of Spithead - View Speech
"My Lords, the Statement shows breath-taking complacency about our military capability. The last Secretary of State and this one both made it very clear that there is insufficient money to meet the demands of Force 2030. The £179 billion that the Minister referred to is being achieved through efficiency savings—but …..." Lord West of Spithead - View Speech
"My Lords, the Minister will be aware that I have concerns about the intelligence that absolutely, certainly shows that Assad’s people did this. However, assuming that they did, I believe that the action was proportionate and well conducted. It was the right thing to do and right not to go …..." Lord West of Spithead - View Speech
"My Lords, the United States and the United Kingdom have ensured the safety and security of Europe for decades now. Indeed, 25% of European spending on defence within NATO comes from the UK. Our agencies are the best in Europe and are crucial to the internal security of Europeans. Will …..." Lord West of Spithead - View Speech
"My Lords, the noble Baroness the Leader of the House rightly said how important it is that we trade around the world, and she will know that 95% of that trade is carried by merchant shipping. Sadly, and for surprising reasons, the Conservative Party has never been very supportive of …..." Lord West of Spithead - View Speech
"My Lords, 45 years ago today the first British nuclear submarine reached the North Pole. It did that only courtesy of the engineers and their skills. In the interests of helping out on this, any Muslims who wish to join the Navy as engineers will get their courses paid for...." Lord West of Spithead - View Speech
"My Lords, the noble Baroness the Leader of the House will be well aware that there is no doubt whatever that the people of our nation are safer in terms of terrorism and serious organised crime because we are part of the EU. We lead Europol and have the European …..." Lord West of Spithead - View Speech