"My Lords, delivery of strategic water infrastructure is crucial to tackling wider systemic issues. What assessment have the Government made of the benefits of smaller farm reservoir networks alongside large-scale water storage? That is the shortest question of the day, I dare to suggest...." Lord Blencathra - View Speech
"My Lords, I welcome the rhetoric of the Chişinău Declaration and the wonderfully sensible words in the No. 10 briefing on the immigration Bill that bogus illegals will not be able to use every excuse under the sun to prevent them being sent back. Will it happen? I doubt it …..." Lord Blencathra - View Speech
"My Lords, the freedom to break out of the ridiculous EU ban on gene editing was one of the greatest successes of Brexit. We passed the law fully supported by the Labour Party, and the Food Standards Agency has developed all the necessary guidelines. Our industry is geared up and …..." Lord Blencathra - View Speech
"My Lords, I rise to support the amendments in this group but first, if the Committee will permit me, I turn to face my noble friend Lady Nicholson of Winterbourne. She is absolutely right to criticise the lack of facilities for deaf people in this Chamber. Older parliamentarians may remember …..." Lord Blencathra - View Speech
"My Lords, I had an amendment in this group but I withdrew it when I saw that other noble Lords had tabled an amendment that was superior to mine. So I rise to support some of their amendments and to express my concern about the new clauses proposed by the …..." Lord Blencathra - View Speech
"My Lords, the United Kingdom has developed some excellent technological flood detection and prevention solutions, including FloodAdapt, Nautilus barriers, Floodstop, flood defence and others. The UK Government’s funding strategy of November 2025 promised to use public money to unlock additional contributions from public, private and charitable sources and to encourage …..." Lord Blencathra - View Speech
"I have no objection to the court pronouncing on a point of law. However, on this occasion, it was not pronouncing on a point of law but making a judgment on the facts of the case and disagreeing with the Home Secretary on the facts...." Lord Blencathra - View Speech
"My Lords, I shall speak to the two amendments in my name. Like many noble Lords, I was surprised by the decision of the High Court that the Home Secretary’s decision to proscribe Palestine Action was unlawful, in view of her detailed description of its terrorist activities in her House …..." Lord Blencathra - View Speech
"My Lords, the United Kingdom peatlands hold over 3 billion tonnes of carbon. I welcome the Government’s commitment to continue funding the Conservative Government’s innovative £50 million England Peat Action Plan, since the benefits of peatland restoration are significant and multiple. While the Peatland Code is a valuable source of …..." Lord Blencathra - View Speech
"My Lords, I shall speak to my Amendment 344 on tackling the growing danger posed by food delivery couriers. There are moments in public policy when the evidence becomes so overwhelming, and so consistent across press reporting, academic research and lived experience, that Parliament has a duty to act. The …..." Lord Blencathra - View Speech