Speech in Lords Chamber - Thu 11 Jun 2026 Rural Economy
"My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Fuller, for bringing this debate and to all noble Lords who have contributed to it. I certainly want to add to the chorus of cheers for the noble Lord, Lord Roborough, who is back in his place—asking way too many …..." Lord Katz - View Speech
"We continue to work in close partnership with the devolved Governments and with the English regions through agreed structures. The Prime Minister and the Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister, who is also Minister for Intergovernmental Relations, regularly engage with the heads of devolved Governments and their deputies through the …..." Lord Katz - View Speech
"As I just said in answer to the noble and learned Lord, Lord Thomas, we are absolutely committed to talking to the devolved Governments and we will convene the Council of the Nations and Regions on a case-by-case basis as needed. To be clear, this Government were elected on a …..." Lord Katz - View Speech
"I agree with my noble friend that we have cause to meet requests from the Welsh Government—we need to receive them properly, understand them and have clarity about what they want. We will continue to work constructively with this Welsh Government, as we worked constructively with the previous Welsh Government, …..." Lord Katz - View Speech
"I say to the noble Lord that just because something has been in existence for a long time does not mean that one necessarily has to think about reforming it as a matter of course. I inform the noble Lord, though, that the fiscal framework that has already been agreed …..." Lord Katz - View Speech
"We have created a space on the board of the Crown Estate with special responsibility for Wales; we are clear that a huge amount of investment can be driven UK wide, with the potential to create more than 5,000 jobs and bring £1.4 billion of investment into the UK economy, …..." Lord Katz - View Speech
"My Lords, I wondered how quickly we might divert away from the question relating to Wales. I salute the noble Baroness’s ingenuity in talking about proportional representation. We have other devolved settlements with mayoral authorities to introduce more proportional ways of voting, but I point out that not that long …..." Lord Katz - View Speech
"I repeat what I said to the noble Lord, Lord Wigley: we are investing a huge amount of money—£14 billion—in the future of Welsh rail. Also, creating more capacity on the west coast main line will in the long term provide great benefits to north Wales through the extension of …..." Lord Katz - View Speech
"My Lords, on 18 May the Secretary of State for Wales held her first call with the new First Minister of Wales. The Secretary of State made clear the benefit of the UK and Welsh Governments working together on shared priorities around public services and economic growth. That follows on …..." Lord Katz - View Speech