"I welcome the assurances given by the Minister and will not seek to test the opinion of the House. I beg leave to withdraw the amendment...." Lord Roberts of Belgravia - View Speech
"My Lords, the adjective “historic” is bandied about far too often in politics, covering all sorts of things that are unlikely to detain historians of the future. Football matches, TV shows and any number of announcements in the other place are routinely described as historic when they simply are not. …..." Lord Roberts of Belgravia - View Speech
"My Lords, the United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization, which has been a major driving force behind these legal attacks on the British Indian Ocean Territories, was founded in November 1961 and was dedicated to erasing the phenomenon of non-self-governing territories. It had important work to do in the 1960s …..." Lord Roberts of Belgravia - View Speech
"My Lords, may I also trespass on your patience? I, like my noble friend Lord Dobbs, live on my royalties. The AI companies have—very irritatingly—bought only one of my 20 books; they paid about £3,000, and so, as you can imagine, I am very keen that they should buy the …..." Lord Roberts of Belgravia - View Speech
"My Lords, I, too, welcome this excellent report, which struck me as a model of its kind. Of course, after the disgraceful scene in the Oval Office on Friday, the situation has changed since the publication of the report and significantly for the worse. We must not underestimate the gravity …..." Lord Roberts of Belgravia - View Speech
"My Lords, for over 200 years the Royal Society of Literature has been promoting excellence in literature but over the last couple of years, it has exercised censorship; it failed to denounce the attempted murder of Salman Rushdie; and it has tried to silence its own members. Will the Minister …..." Lord Roberts of Belgravia - View Speech
"My Lords, speaking as a historian, it seems to me that severing the link between Parliament and the noble families of Britain, after so many centuries of their service, will damage the prestige of this House. The grandeur of this place is bound up not just with its art, books …..." Lord Roberts of Belgravia - View Speech
"My Lords, unlike my noble friend Lord Taylor, I had a terrible time at my public school and was expelled—or, more accurately, I was asked to leave and not come back—so I cannot be accused of being parti pris in this in saying that I support public schools.
"My Lords, it would be churlish not to congratulate the Labour Party on its stunning victory on 4 July and unpatriotic not to wish the Government luck and a fair wind. Since the abolition of the hereditary element in this House was in their manifesto, and of course they have …..." Lord Roberts of Belgravia - View Speech