"My Lords, is the Minister able to explain the status of Commonwealth citizens who are not dual nationals but merely resident in the United Kingdom for the purposes of voting? Do any residency lengths of term apply to them before they qualify and does the Electoral Commission have any idea …..." Baroness Falkner of Margravine - View Speech
"In response to the question from the noble Lord, Lord Markham, does the noble Baroness agree that senior and significant public appointments always involve an independent assessment panel making a recommendation, but moreover they also involve Select Committees of this House and/or the House of Commons taking evidence? In a …..." Baroness Falkner of Margravine - View Speech
"We have had the shabby spectacle of the Government disingenuously arguing against their own regulator’s interpretation of the law in the High Court this past November. On 13 February, those arguments were comprehensively defeated and the EHRC unambiguously won the case on its interpretation in the interim update. Will they …..." Baroness Falkner of Margravine - View Speech
"My Lords, the noble Baroness is right about the importance of the public having confidence in this House—indeed, in both Houses, but we are particularly concerned with this one—and I support her endeavours to achieve that. On the point just raised and on HOLAC—we have discussed vetting procedures as well—is …..." Baroness Falkner of Margravine - View Speech
"I am so sorry, but I have to apologise to the House. I needed to have declared an interest. I spoke last Wednesday on a Question on think tanks but did not declare that, the previous Monday, I had become a fellow of the think tank Policy Exchange. I have …..." Baroness Falkner of Margravine - View Speech
"My Lords, on transparency, is the Minister aware of the Fundraising Regulator’s concerns about the registration of very small community interest companies at Companies House? They prefer that route of registration in order to avoid Charity Commission oversight and evade all accountability in terms of fundraising. I understand that the …..." Baroness Falkner of Margravine - View Speech
"My Lords, I think the noble Baroness was in danger of no longer wishing to be heard. That is where the Committee was moving. When the Whips tell us to conclude, we really should conclude...." Baroness Falkner of Margravine - View Speech
"My Lords, the Minister is a Minister in the Cabinet Office. I know that he would not have wished to have misled the House in his recent response to the noble Lord, Lord Harper. He assured the noble Lord and the House that all government is in conformity with the …..." Baroness Falkner of Margravine - View Speech
"I wonder if what the noble Lord describes, with which I have a great deal of sympathy—I say this as a signatory to Amendment 456—would be ameliorated in terms of the distress of the investigation if the Attorney-General were to adopt guidance, and that guidance set out strict criteria that …..." Baroness Falkner of Margravine - View Speech