"I appreciate all the constraints, and any expertise that I had is extremely out of date, but does the Minister agree that it is conceivable that those responsible for keeping an eye on the Chinese embassy might prefer it to be concentrated on one site, rather than spread over eight, …..." Lord Kerr of Kinlochard - View Speech
"My Lords, the Minister wants to discourage young people from Iran who are fleeing for their lives from coming to this country on a small boat. I entirely agree, but the noble Lord, Lord Purvis, asked, and I did not hear the Minister answer: what are we going to do …..." Lord Kerr of Kinlochard - View Speech
"If a family member makes what one thinks is a serious mistake, it is often the case that one tries to avoid saying so in public. The Prime Minister is quite right not to attack President Trump in public. What matters now is that the Venezuelans get to decide who …..." Lord Kerr of Kinlochard - View Speech
"Before the noble Lord sits down, could he help me interpret Amendments 19 and 33? Amendment 33 would not delay ratification of the treaty. Its wording is a little odd in places. When we talk about self-determination, we are dealing with concepts, not chaps, so subsection (5) of the proposed …..." Lord Kerr of Kinlochard - View Speech
"I am very impressed by the noble Lord’s speech. Can he tell us what proportion of the resources of the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy are currently deployed in the Indian Ocean protecting the area?..." Lord Kerr of Kinlochard - View Speech
"My Lords, one criterion which the House may like to have in mind as we consider the amendments before us is whether they would prevent the Government ratifying the treaty. We have to pass the Bill before the treaty can be ratified, and some of these amendments would ensure that …..." Lord Kerr of Kinlochard - View Speech
"My Lords, the £570 million is a gross number; the net number would take account of grants to our own people benefiting from the scheme. I hope that the Minister will not be too distracted by the ghosts of Christmas past rattling their chains and coming up with absurd estimates …..." Lord Kerr of Kinlochard - View Speech
"UNHCR maintains that there are 16 million Syrians in Syria in need of humanitarian assistance. UK charities are seeking to help. Does the Minister agree that it would help them if we reopened the embassy in Damascus?..." Lord Kerr of Kinlochard - View Speech
"It is probably best to let the Americans be the judge of their own best interests. They seem to be rather keen on this treaty and its ratification. The Secretary of State in Washington, who is also currently head of the National Security Council, called its conclusion a “monumental achievement”. …..." Lord Kerr of Kinlochard - View Speech
"I am not sure what remarks the noble Lord is referring to. I am talking about the position taken by the current Administration of the United States...." Lord Kerr of Kinlochard - View Speech