"My Lords, I will repeat some of what the noble Lord, Lord Ricketts, said. He has been a first-class, excellent chairman of the committee. If I repeat his points, it is only to reinforce them.
"My Lords, I congratulate UUK and the authors of the blueprint for change, which aims over a 10-year timescale to strengthen the universities sector. While our universities are one of this country’s great strengths and more than hold their own internationally, we cannot be complacent.
"My Lords, I greatly welcome the Statement and the Government’s decision to tackle penal reform, which is long overdue. It is absolutely right to put far more emphasis on non-custodial sentencing. If I have any reservations, they are about embarking on another prison-building programme. The problem is that supply creates …..." Baroness Blackstone - View Speech
"My Lords, I welcome the decision by the Government to expand early-years provision, both education and childcare, but the Statement does not perhaps go far enough in clarifying some of the issues that are likely to emerge from that policy decision. The first, as the Statement makes clear, is that …..." Baroness Blackstone - View Speech
"My Lords, I declare my interest as set out in the register. Given the complexity of the causes of these unacceptable mortality rates, what is the Minister’s department doing to ensure that there is a cross-government approach to ending the maternal mortality gap?..." Baroness Blackstone - View Speech
"My Lords, I congratulate my noble friends, the new Ministers responsible for foreign affairs and defence, and wish them well.
In a broadcast interview this week, the Foreign Secretary said that an immediate ceasefire in Gaza is one of his highest priorities. After the weakness of the Conservative Government’s response …..." Baroness Blackstone - View Speech
"My Lords, does the Foreign Secretary agree that the other countries that initially blocked funding for UNRWA have now restored it, with the exception of the United States? Why will the UK not restore funding as well, given the urgency to get UNRWA working again and delivering the aid so …..." Baroness Blackstone - View Speech
"My Lords, I strongly support what my noble friend Lady Drake has put forward in her amendment and very much hope that the Government will respond positively to it and accept it.
I listened carefully to what the noble Baronesses, Lady Noakes and Lady Altmann, said. I know that their …..." Baroness Blackstone - View Speech
"My Lords, I am sorry to interrupt the Minister, but I am perplexed by her view that foreign policy is simply a matter for central Governments. Foreign policy affects the population of the UK; it affects thousands of institutions in one way or another. We live, after all, in a …..." Baroness Blackstone - View Speech
"My Lords, the noble Baroness paints a very rosy picture of the West Bank. From all my experience of being there, it is totally unlike what she is describing. There may be some factories employing Palestinians that have been closed down, but thousands of Palestinians have lost their livelihoods as …..." Baroness Blackstone - View Speech