Results 1-20 of 3,075 for speaker:Lord Anderson of Swansea

Queen's Speech — Debate (2nd Day) (19 Nov 2009)

Lord Anderson of Swansea: My Lords, I shall avoid the temptation in these unfocused debates of embarking on a Cook's tour around the world in eight minutes. I shall try instead to focus on certain events of the past few weeks and draw perhaps some general conclusions from them. My starting point is 8 and 9 November 1989 and the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. I recall-this is a corrective to those...

Road Tax — Question (9 Nov 2009)

Lord Anderson of Swansea: My Lords, my noble friend will know that I am always ready to defend my home city and my former constituents at the DVLA. Is it not true that the case which received publicity recently did not involve the DVLA in any way? The police in good faith, but wrongly, clamped a motor vehicle, and they put it right as soon as they could, without payment. Will he also confirm that, largely as a result...

European Council — Statement (2 Nov 2009)

Lord Anderson of Swansea: My Lords, we are perhaps six months from an election in which the Official Opposition hope to become the Government. It is therefore rather sad that the spokesman for the Opposition, the noble Lord, Lord Strathclyde, could not bring himself to say anything positive—not a scintilla—about the European Union, an attitude that will not go unnoticed by centre-right Governments in...

Zimbabwe — Question (2 Nov 2009)

Lord Anderson of Swansea: My Lords—

Gaza — Question (2 Nov 2009)

Lord Anderson of Swansea: My Lords, the United Nations Human Rights Commission devalued itself by putting Libya into the chair and finding itself able to criticise only Israel. Is there not a danger now that this new council, created by the United Nations in 2006, will go the same way by its manner of selecting from the Goldstone report only those sections dealing with the allegations against Israel and ignoring those...

Commonwealth: Privy Council — Question (26 Oct 2009)

Lord Anderson of Swansea: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to modify the system of appeals from certain Commonwealth countries to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.

Commonwealth: Privy Council — Question (26 Oct 2009)

Lord Anderson of Swansea: My noble friend will be well aware of the concern that a disproportionate amount of time and resources in the new Supreme Court is spent on these Privy Council cases. There can of course be some ad hoc appointment of judges to the Supreme Court, but the Caribbean court of appeal was designed specifically to replace the Privy Council and its credibility is enhanced by the fact that a British...

Libya — Statement (12 Oct 2009)

Lord Anderson of Swansea: My Lords, one can surely act only on the basis, after the appeals, that this was a proper conviction. Are there any general lessons to be learnt from this matter? The dilemma is clear, as was pointed out by my noble and learned friend Lord Morris of Aberavon. There are separate jurisdictions in law and the Scottish jurisdiction is sovereign in this matter. However, there are key UK interests....

Libya: Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi — Question (12 Oct 2009)

Lord Anderson of Swansea: My Lords—

Libya: Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi — Question (12 Oct 2009)

Lord Anderson of Swansea: My Lords, is it not a reality that any representations as suggested would almost certainly have been resented by the Scottish Executive and therefore totally counterproductive? If we believe in devolution, and there is now a consensus in favour of the devolution settlement, we must allow for the consequences of devolution—which is the decision by the Scottish Executive.

Cyprus — Question (14 Jul 2009)

Lord Anderson of Swansea: My Lords, my noble friend will recall that, in the last round of negotiations, to facilitate territorial adjustments between the parties we agreed to transfer part of the Sovereign Base Area to the Republic of Cyprus. Does that offer still stand?

Coroners and Justice Bill: Committee (6th Day) (9 Jul 2009)

Lord Anderson of Swansea: The noble Lord has made some rather interesting—

Coroners and Justice Bill: Committee (6th Day) (9 Jul 2009)

Lord Anderson of Swansea: As always, the noble Lord has made some interesting distinctions, but in my judgment he has not dealt with the powerful point made by the noble Baroness, Lady D'Souza, about the chilling effect of the removal of the section on the protection of freedom of speech, nor the right reverend Prelate's point about the symbolic effect of removing the section. I, too, am rather puzzled by the response...

UN: Peacekeeping — Question (6 Jul 2009)

Lord Anderson of Swansea: My Lords, my noble friend will be aware of the simulation exercise carried out by the Carnegie foundation after the genocide in Rwanda in 1994, which concluded that a timely intervention could have prevented that enormous loss of life. Do these sorts of consideration enter into the Government's thoughts when they look at the costs; namely, that a timely intervention might save finance and...

EU: Lisbon Treaty — Question (1 Jul 2009)

Lord Anderson of Swansea: My Lords, I give a warm croeso to my noble friend, who seems totally at home in your Lordships' House already. Will she confirm that there was in no way some sinister manoeuvre on the part of the European Union, but that this was a specific request by a sovereign Government—the Government of the Republic of Ireland—to which the Council of Ministers responded positively?

War Crimes — Question (30 Jun 2009)

Lord Anderson of Swansea: My Lords, my noble friend mentioned the problem of those who are known to be war criminals, but what about those who come in clandestinely or when we do not know their background of potential war crimes? How does he respond to the dilemma that most of those accused of war crimes by definition come from countries where we have doubts about their legal system? Is there not a danger that this...

Iraq — Debate (18 Jun 2009)

Lord Anderson of Swansea: My Lords, I strike a note of scepticism and discord. I recognise that the Government are honouring an obligation and have to proceed, but I am profoundly unconvinced that the exercise will be worthwhile. It is something of a pipe dream to believe that the inquiry as planned, or any inquiry, will lead to closure. I cite in evidence the letter page of the Guardian yesterday, where so many...

Political Parties and Elections Bill: Report (1st Day) (Continued) (15 Jun 2009)

Lord Anderson of Swansea: My Lords, I have a simple question. Was that advice based on any authority?

Political Parties and Elections Bill: Report (1st Day) (Continued) (15 Jun 2009)

Lord Anderson of Swansea: My Lords, my noble friend recognises that there is a problem and argues that the amendment does not wholly meet it. Of course that is true, but I agree with the noble Lord, Lord Tyler, who made the point that, even though this House should probably be reluctant to intervene in elections since we are a unelected House, this amendment gives the opportunity for the elected House to make its own...

Political Parties and Elections Bill: Report (1st Day) (Continued) (15 Jun 2009)

Lord Anderson of Swansea: My Lords, there may or may not be anomalies in respect of legacies, but I fail to follow the noble Lord's reasoning. He seeks to make a general case out of a particular problem that affects his party. As I understood it, he suggested that the individual in question had let his house. If that be the case, he would not in any event be resident and presumably not eligible to be on the register....