"My Lords, first, I make an appeal to my noble friend the Minister who will respond to this discussion. He has acquired a reputation for good sense and, perhaps I may dare say, for humanity, and I hope that he will listen to my short remarks with that reputation in …..." Lord Hurd of Westwell - View Speech
"Since my noble friend referred to the second Minsk agreement, which we all hope will be effective, can he tell us what his latest information is about that? The first reports were that implementation was only partial, and there were bits of Ukraine which we thought were covered by the …..." Lord Hurd of Westwell - View Speech
"Can my noble friend give the House an assurance that when the report is finally published it will contain an adequate section explaining precisely what have been the difficulties and obstacles in the way of producing the report earlier?..." Lord Hurd of Westwell - View Speech
"Does the Minister agree that my noble friend’s point is at the heart of this whole matter? This has dragged on beyond the questions of mere negligence and forgivable delay; it is becoming a scandal. This is not a matter of trivial importance; it is something to which a large …..." Lord Hurd of Westwell - View Speech
"My Lords, I was brought up on a fundamental principle about legislation, which I sometimes feel your Lordships would do well to memorise. It is the following: if it is not necessary to legislate, it is necessary not to legislate. Of course, it is a sweeping statement, and everyone in …..." Lord Hurd of Westwell - View Speech
"My Lords, this House is quite accustomed to criminal justice legislation and in debates of this kind looks inevitably to those who have genuine experience of the legal profession to take the lead. Every now and then, however, an issue comes up that requires some contribution from people like the …..." Lord Hurd of Westwell - View Speech
"My Lords, just over a year ago, our House, alongside the other House, was asked to take a decision about military action in Syria. At that time, on the arguments before us, I was critical of that idea because there was too much fuzziness about the account given of our …..." Lord Hurd of Westwell - View Speech
"My Lords, Ukraine is a huge and important European country. Can my noble friend tell me—not necessarily today but perhaps she will let me know—how many UK-based staff are at present employed in Her Majesty’s embassy in Kiev? Does she think that the number reflects an adequate representation, and if …..." Lord Hurd of Westwell - View Speech
"My Lords, has my noble friend seen some rather disturbing press reports today about rows and ructions within the group of Syrians who are opposed to the Assad regime? This has happened before and it may happen again, but how does my noble friend assess the cohesion of the anti-Assad …..." Lord Hurd of Westwell - View Speech
"I have been following this debate with some care and would like to join, from my own experience as Secretary of State, in welcoming the spirit with which the Northern Ireland Civil Service conducted its affairs at a time when the pressures on civil servants as individuals must have been …..." Lord Hurd of Westwell - View Speech