Results 1-20 of 6,017 for in the 'Commons debates' OR in the 'Westminster Hall debates' OR in the 'Lords debates' OR in the 'Northern Ireland Assembly debates' speaker:Lord Fowler

Leveson Inquiry: Report — Question (13 May 2013)

Lord Fowler: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the proposals put forward by a number of newspapers in response to the Leveson inquiry report.

Leveson Inquiry: Report — Question (13 May 2013)

Lord Fowler: My Lords, so that we can be absolutely clear about the position, is it that the delay has been purely to allow the Privy Council to consider the newspapers' alternative proposal for a royal charter but that the Government remain absolutely committed to their own charter, which was approved unanimously by MPs in the other place? Surely the point is that in a democracy it is the will of...

Queen’s Speech — Debate (2nd Day) (9 May 2013)

Lord Fowler: Can my noble friend give some indication about Leveson and the Government’s reaction to the alternative royal charter put forward by the press? I simply want to know the Government’s position on that.

Queen’s Speech — Debate (2nd Day) (9 May 2013)

Lord Fowler: Forgive me, but in summary does the royal charter which all three party leaders supported remain government policy?

Queen’s Speech — Debate (2nd Day) (9 May 2013)

Lord Fowler: My Lords, it is a great pleasure to follow the right reverend Prelate. Lichfield is next to my old constituency of Sutton Coldfield, so I listened to him with an even greater care than I might otherwise have done, and I strongly share many of the views that he has just expressed. I also agree entirely with what the noble Baroness, Lady Smith of Basildon, said at the end of her speech about...

Queen’s Speech — Debate (2nd Day) (9 May 2013)

Lord Fowler: If my noble friend does not mind my saying so, I think that is a trivial argument. We all know—and he knows, because he has been in Parliament for exactly the same length of time as I have—that a whole range of things have been produced and passed that were not in party manifestos. I abolished the dock labour scheme, which I imagine my noble friend enthusiastically voted for and...

Death of a Member: Baroness Thatcher — Tributes (10 April 2013)

Lord Fowler: My Lords, listening to the radio and watching television in the Isle of Wight, I was struck by the number of Conservatives at Westminster who said that Margaret Thatcher had brought them into politics. Some even suggested that they had been Thatcherites long before she even came to power. Although I served with her in opposition and in government for 15 years in succession, I make neither...

Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill: Report (5th Day) (18 March 2013)

Lord Fowler: My Lords, I think there is something rather odd about the procedures of this House. It is no criticism of my noble friend at Question Time, but we all remember his rather cautious replies to questions. The first point to make is that all the detail was actually in the Evening Standard, which could be found in the Library. The second point is that it has now been confirmed that the Defamation...

Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill: Motion to Approve (18 March 2013)

Lord Fowler: My Lords, I in no way disagree with the procedure, but is it a fact that a government amendment to the Bill will be placed before the House?

Leveson Inquiry — Question (18 March 2013)

Lord Fowler: My Lords, perhaps I may ask a question on Leveson that is not dependent on this afternoon's events. My noble friend will remember that there was a majority of more than 130 on the Leveson-related amendment proposed by the noble Lord, Lord Puttnam, to the Defamation Bill. He will also remember that a number of people totally overreacted to that and alleged that the Government would withdraw...

DfID: Tied Aid — Statement (11 March 2013)

Lord Fowler: I agree with what my noble friend set out as her department's general policy. I have a specific question about the statement by the former Secretary of State that new money, extra money, would be going to the global fund for HIV and other diseases. Will that pledge be kept?

Defamation Bill — Third Reading (25 February 2013)

Lord Fowler: My Lords, I will be brief in moving this amendment. It has the support of the noble Lord, Lord Puttnam, who apologises for not being in his place today. He is in the Far East on a long-arranged trip as one of the Prime Minister's trade envoys there. He entirely supports my proposals. I also have the support of the noble and learned Baroness, Lady Scotland, a former Attorney-General; my noble...

Media: Press Regulation — Question (14 February 2013)

Lord Fowler: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to establish by royal charter a body to assure effective regulation of the press.

Media: Press Regulation — Question (14 February 2013)

Lord Fowler: My Lords, is my noble friend aware that there are manifold defects in the royal charter process, in that it hands over power to Ministers and will require 10 pages of legislation to implement? Could I ask him an even more fundamental question? According to the published guidance of the Privy Council, "the grant of new Charters is comparatively rare. New grants of Royal Charters are these days...

Press Regulation — Statement (13 February 2013)

Lord Fowler: My Lords, perhaps my noble friend's words about the victims would have more force had not the victims rejected the particular course being proposed. The original objection of government Ministers-or perhaps I should say, some government Ministers-to the Leveson proposals was that it required legislation. Now the impression is given that under the royal charter no legislation is required....

Defamation Bill: Report (5 February 2013)

Lord Fowler: My Lords-

Defamation Bill: Report (5 February 2013)

Lord Fowler: My Lords, I was going to say "Mr Speaker", but I will not. I do not intend to follow entirely all the points made by my noble friend Lord Lester, but I agree with him that this does not entirely give effect to the Leveson report, and nor could it, given the confines of the Defamation Bill. The amendments do not deal with the complaints process or, more to the point, the way in which any...

Air Passenger Duty — Question for Short Debate (28 January 2013)

Lord Fowler: My Lords, I congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Palmer, on promoting this debate and on his excellent speech. I make one point, on the impact that air passenger duty has on jobs. All parties are agreed that it is a national priority to bring more people into employment, but we seem to be set on a policy with APD that destroys jobs, not creates them. I declare an interest as a non-executive...

Leveson Inquiry — Motion to Take Note (11 January 2013)

Lord Fowler: My Lords, may I first congratulate the noble Lord on his maiden speech, which was quite excellent? No one has had to wait longer to make it, given that he was sitting patiently in his place just before Christmas and, if I may say so, it was very much worth the wait. I agree with what he said about statutory underpinning safeguarding the public. I think we will all want to study the words that...

Arrangement of Business — Announcement (19 December 2012)

Lord Fowler: My Lords, I think I have done as many all-night sittings in the other place as the noble Lord. I congratulate the noble Baroness on her decision. The Leveson report is immensely important to the press and public. It would have been completely absurd, and would not have done justice to the report, to start a debate with more than 40 speakers at 8 pm. Surely, as far as the noble Lord, Lord...