"My Lords, I was explaining to a group of people last night what the virtues were of speaking in your Lordships’ House and of being in the debate. Somewhat controversially, perhaps, for a former Member of the other House, I found myself saying that the advantage of having no constituents …..." Baroness Debbonaire - View Speech
"My Lords, I thank my noble friend the Minister for her Answer and all the subsequent answers. If there is an object of religious significance to its country of origin which is seen as a work of art in a museum here, is there not a case for amending or …..." Baroness Debbonaire - View Speech
"My Lords, I am grateful to follow the noble Lord, Lord Berkeley. It has been a pleasure actually seeing him in real life, as opposed to just hearing him on Radio 3, which is still a great pleasure.
"Can the Secretary of State, or anyone else on the Tory Benches, honestly tell the young people in Bristol and across the UK that they are better off, after 14 years of Conservative failures on youth services, failures on education and failures on skills development, than they would be under …..." Baroness Debbonaire - View Speech
"The Secretary of State talks a good talk, but on her watch the gender activity gap is wider than ever: 22% fewer girls than boys take part in team sport. Does she agree that it is only under Labour, the party of equality, that women and girls in Bristol and …..." Baroness Debbonaire - View Speech
"I congratulate the hon. Member for Stone (Sir William Cash) on giving us this opportunity to discuss the BBC. He brought up the concept of “BBC sympathies”. Virtually everybody in the Chamber—in fact, I think literally everybody, including him—has expressed at least some BBC sympathies in this debate. That is …..." Baroness Debbonaire - View Speech
"I thank the Secretary of State for advance sight of the statement.
From the very start, Labour had questions about the proposed sale of some of our country’s most highly influential and historical news publications. We share legitimate public interest concerns about the accurate presentation of news, free expression of …..." Baroness Debbonaire - View Speech
"The hon. Gentleman explains exactly why it is so important that the owners and directors test will work. That is why I am addressing these remarks to the Government—it is, after all, their Bill. I would like to know substantially more from the Minister in answer to the questions that …..." Baroness Debbonaire - View Speech
"The hon. Gentleman seems to be saying that it is a subjective test. I was asking whether there are any objective tests, because I think that is important in terms of fairness. Where are they objective, where are they subjective? Concepts such as competency can be interpreted both objectively and …..." Baroness Debbonaire - View Speech