"I shall make a very brief speech. I stood up when the noble Lord, Lord Clement-Jones, stood up, but unfortunately, as so often in my life, he completely ignored me, so I will just slip in after him and just before our Front Bench. I declare my interest in the …..." Lord Vaizey of Didcot - View Speech
"My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow the noble Baroness and to hear her bring her considerable expertise to bear on this Bill.
I am a smoker. At least, I think I am. I certainly smoked in the womb; my mother smoked when she was pregnant with me. I …..." Lord Vaizey of Didcot - View Speech
"My Lords, I will speak in support of my noble friend Lady Laing’s amendment.
I begin by pointing out two problems with her proposal before I give her my unwavering support. I call the first the “Wolfson problem”, or perhaps the “Timpson problem”, whereby we appoint extremely experienced and able …..." Lord Vaizey of Didcot - View Speech
"As somebody who left the Whip because of the capriciousness of the then Prime Minister, and then managed to get the Whip restored and to be put into this House, I know that there are ways around the problem, particularly with extremely clever arguments put forward on one’s own behalf. …..." Lord Vaizey of Didcot - View Speech
"The noble Baroness was effectively my first employer, when I was 21 years old, and we have this telepathic understanding: she has seamlessly introduced the main point I wish to make.
"My Lords, it gives me great joy to follow the noble Lord, Lord Pitkeathley, on the occasion of his maiden speech and to have the privilege of formally welcoming him into the Chamber. He and I have known each other for some 30 years, and our paths crossed because of …..." Lord Vaizey of Didcot - View Speech
"My Lords, it is a great pleasure to follow my noble friend Lord Bilimoria and his focus on India, reflecting the huge amount of work that he does promoting UK-Indian relations. I also congratulate my noble friend Lady Anelay on securing this debate—she obviously has a distinguished record, having served …..." Lord Vaizey of Didcot - View Speech
"My Lords, this saga goes back so far that I was the telecoms Minister when this was first being discussed, in 2015. I am glad that progress has been made, but with the greatest respect to the noble Lord, setting a new course of action at this late stage would …..." Lord Vaizey of Didcot - View Speech
"My Lords, I hear what the Minister says about working closely with the British Council, but the Government give the British Council only about 15% of its total revenue. Regardless of where fault lies, it is unconscionable that the British Council is having to pay £14 million a year in …..." Lord Vaizey of Didcot - View Speech