"My Lords, I will start with a different amendment in this group, Amendment 123 on the issue of poll cards, because they are a topic that is well suited to the sort of scrutiny that we rightly pride ourselves on in this House. It is a niche issue and a …..." Lord Pack - View Speech
"Does the Minister agree that an excellent way of reinforcing the relevance and reputation of this House in contemporary and modern Britain would be to finally deliver on the promise made in the Parliament Act 1911 and make this a democratic Chamber?..." Lord Pack - View Speech
"My Lords, as several noble Lords have illustrated in their speeches and in their amendments in this group, it is important that we get the information and educational framework right. That would be the case even if this Bill did not contain a change in the voting age, but it …..." Lord Pack - View Speech
"It is worth starting by paying tribute to the many Commonwealth citizens who, in both peace and wartime, have made very many significant contributions to our country. But it is also right, as several noble Peers have mentioned, that the Commonwealth is the creation of an unusual set of historical …..." Lord Pack - View Speech
"My Lords, I was about to say that I would pick up where the noble Lord, Lord Hayward, finished, but I shall skip over Christchurch and come to the points that my noble friend Lady Pinnock made about her amendment. There is one important knock-on factor that has not yet …..." Lord Pack - View Speech
"My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Fuller, touched on perhaps the most interesting element of this group, which does not directly affect the Bill at all. It is the potential wider knock-on effect on the Online Safety Act. If we get to a place where we have 16 and 17 …..." Lord Pack - View Speech
I think it fair to say that the impact assessment, weighing in at 130 pages, is very on brand for election law, especially given our comments earlier about how voluminous election law is. I was struck, though, on looking through it, by how little …..." Lord Pack - View Speech
"My Lords, this may be the group on which we have the most widespread agreement from all corners of the Committee. I very much agree with the broad thrust of the comments from the three noble Lords who have spoken so far.
"Indeed, but variation is present. There are many other examples of variation. The argument was made that there are some administrative burdens in allowing variation. I would simply observe that with devolution we have the ability to vary things such as speed limits and tax rates. If one is going …..." Lord Pack - View Speech
"It is an interesting point but, as the noble Lord said, there are several assumptions leading up to its inclusion, all of which I would share.
We have also heard the argument that the ability of Scotland and Wales to make their own choices might result in pressure on us …..." Lord Pack - View Speech