"My Lords, one of the problems that is faced—and it is not confined to maternity services but has been seen to be fairly acute within them—is a form of postcode lottery within the health service; we have good practice and the best practice in some areas, but some other areas …..." Lord Weir of Ballyholme - View Speech
"My Lords, I will speak to three amendments in this group, two of which stand in my name. The third is Amendment 128 in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Foster, which I have co-signed and will touch on briefly now.
"I rise to speak to two amendments in my name in this group, Amendments 496A and 496F. At the outset, I want to give an apology to the sponsor and to the Committee as a whole, in line with the Chief Whip’s procedural recommendations. Given that I suspect that this …..." Lord Weir of Ballyholme - View Speech
"The Minister mentioned the prospect of maybe producing a draft order but seemed to indicate that the Government would not do so until they had certainty on the Scottish Parliament’s final position on those two issues. Is there not a danger that the Government’s position will create a Catch-22 situation? …..." Lord Weir of Ballyholme - View Speech
"I have listened to what has been said. Initially, I was not quite clear whether it was an intervention or not, but I appreciate that it is actually a speech. I think comparisons with America are somewhat facile, because if we were gathering data, it would be on an NHS-wide …..." Lord Weir of Ballyholme - View Speech
"My Lords, I support the amendments in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Jackson. We live in what a lot of us would describe as a post-truth world, in which facts are often passed off as opinions or, worse, that terrible phrase “fake news”. Sometimes opinions are passed off …..." Lord Weir of Ballyholme - View Speech
"I appreciate the point the noble Baroness is making, but would she accept that the telemedicine is illegal in Northern Ireland? Pills by post is not an option, so the only route that any woman in Northern Ireland can use is the clinical route and within the timeframe. It is …..." Lord Weir of Ballyholme - View Speech
"My Lords, for the benefit of the absent noble Lord, Lord Russell, I will attempt to speak in a paperless fashion, which means that if I engage in verbal streams of consciousness I hope that the Committee will forgive me. There is a range of amendments in this group, many …..." Lord Weir of Ballyholme - View Speech
"My Lords, it is always an honour to follow both the noble Baroness, Lady Foster, and the noble Lord, Lord McCrea. Their personal experiences—my family has not been directly affected—are a salutary reminder to this Committee that the choices that we make on this issue are not academic debating society-type …..." Lord Weir of Ballyholme - View Speech