"I thank the noble Baroness. Under Tony Blair, the Minister’s predecessor in Sedgefield in another place, the state was taking 34% of GDP, spending about £1 in every £3. Now, since the pandemic, it is closer to £1 in every £2. That has coincided with an extraordinary flattening of our …..." Lord Hannan of Kingsclere - View Speech
"My Lords, it is a great pleasure to see the Minister in his place. He has always represented the best of the Scottish Labour tradition, that of building people up rather than trying to tear things down.
"My Lords, the Windsor Framework was not an inevitable product of Brexit, as the noble Baroness, Lady Ritchie, claimed—and as has been endlessly claimed. If anything, it was a product of the Benn Act. Or, I should say—to spare the familial honour of that good and worthy man, the noble …..." Lord Hannan of Kingsclere - View Speech
"My Lords, I am grateful to the Minister for his answers. He is always informative, courteous and diligent at that Dispatch Box. If it is true that we have, as reported, widened the quota for India, we have presumably done so on two very sensible grounds. The first is good …..." Lord Hannan of Kingsclere - View Speech
"My Lords, I sense this is going against the masochistic mood of the House, but how is a failure of the EU our fault? The noble Baroness, Lady Ludford, in asking her question, said her fondness for the EU does not blind her to the fact that this is a …..." Lord Hannan of Kingsclere - View Speech
"My Lords, I will take the Minister back to his answer to the noble Lord, Lord Haywood, who asked about the Minister’s fellow Old Alleynian, the coming by-election and the legal processes, and said that maybe we should hold off on the legislation until we have seen that process play …..." Lord Hannan of Kingsclere - View Speech
"My Lords, it is a great pleasure to follow the noble Lord, Lord Moraes, whom I have considered a friend for some 30 years. He was a great champion for those in the European Parliament who had no voice but his—often overlooked and marginalised groups—and was always in the best …..." Lord Hannan of Kingsclere - View Speech
"My Lords, I was a little alarmed by the Minister’s response to the noble Lord, Lord Wallace of Saltaire. He does not like some things that are being said on X. He was not talking about incitement, harassment or the promotion of illegal activities. He specifically cited campaigning for a …..." Lord Hannan of Kingsclere - View Speech
"My Lords, I was very encouraged by the Minister’s excellent Answer to the excellent Question from the noble Lord, Lord Barber. We do indeed need to remember where we are from, and history is a manual of what works and what does not. Can the Minister think of a single …..." Lord Hannan of Kingsclere - View Speech