Results 1-20 of 2,551 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 Smith of Finsbury

Coroners and Justice Bill: Commons Reasons and Amendments (11 Nov 2009)

Lord Smith of Finsbury: My Lords, I rise to plead with your Lordships' House to reject the amendment and agree with the House of Commons. I do so because it is important for us to recognise the signal that legislation sometimes sends to the world outside. The problem is that we are faced with a clash of competing profound values. No one could possibly argue against the principle of free speech and the need of this...

Coroners and Justice Bill: Commons Reasons and Amendments (11 Nov 2009)

Lord Smith of Finsbury: I am afraid that it does. The point that I was about to make is that legislation, in the signals that it sends to the world outside, can have an impact on behaviour way beyond the actual meaning of the words in the legislation. There is already a huge amount of anxiety and fear among the gay community about the increasing level of attacks. If the signal that the House sends is that it is all...

Water Management — Question for Short Debate (3 Nov 2009)

Lord Smith of Finsbury: My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Dear, for selecting this subject for debate and for so admirably setting out the issues that confront us. I have a particular interest in engaging actively with this discussion given my role as chairman of the Environment Agency. As the noble Lord clearly spelt out, the challenges we now face with the implementation of the water framework...

Climate Change — Debate (29 Jan 2009)

Lord Smith of Finsbury: My Lords, I, too, congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Browne, on putting this hugely important issue in front of us. As chairman of the Environment Agency, I have a passionate commitment to protecting and enhancing the environment on which we all depend. We all have to understand and recognise that the prospect of climate change is by far the greatest challenge that any of us faces...

Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill (7 May 2008)

Lord Smith of Finsbury: My Lords, when I came into the House today, I did not originally intend to speak, but I have been listening very carefully to the discussion and I want to make two brief points. First, I can absolutely understand the wish on the part of the noble Lord, Lord Waddington, and his supporters to prevent a situation where people are unnecessarily interrogated, arrested, or questioned by the police...

Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (23 Apr 2008)

Lord Smith of Finsbury: My Lords, I hate to interrupt the noble Baroness, but some of us get younger after the event.

Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (23 Apr 2008)

Lord Smith of Finsbury: My Lords, first, I join the noble Baroness, Lady Wilcox, in welcoming my noble friend to his new responsibilities on the Front Bench and I congratulate him on his elevation. I join this debate primarily as the chairman of the Advertising Standards Authority and, in that role, I give a warm welcome to these two instruments. The Government have succeeded in implementing the European directive...

Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill (21 Apr 2008)

Lord Smith of Finsbury: My Lords—

Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill (21 Apr 2008)

Lord Smith of Finsbury: My Lords, I am trying to be helpful. My noble friend might perhaps wish to observe to the noble Lord that the provision that he is concerned about is not yet on the statute book.

Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill (21 Apr 2008)

Lord Smith of Finsbury: My Lords, I am loath to disagree with my noble friend Lord Clarke who has been a good and valued colleague for many years but I am afraid that I cannot agree with the conclusions of his very moving contribution to this debate. I hold no brief for anyone who causes unnecessary distress to anyone because they have made a joke or an inappropriate remark. However, let us not forget that the...

Iraq (24 Jan 2008)

Lord Smith of Finsbury: My Lords, it was with a heavy heart nearly five years ago that I told my own Government and my own Prime Minister that I thought they were making a huge mistake in joining the American invasion of Iraq. I proposed the Motion in another place that brought 130 of my Labour colleagues into the Division Lobby against our own Government. I took no pleasure in doing that, and there are no prizes in...

Economy: Creative Industries (6 Jun 2007)

Lord Smith of Finsbury: My Lords, I remind the House of my interests, among them my role as chairman-designate of the Advertising Standards Authority and as a non-executive director of Phonographic Performance Limited. I am particularly proud of having begun the work, when I was Secretary of State, that the Government have built on in establishing the importance of the creative industries and the creative sector of...

Olympic Games 2012: Heritage and Arts Funding (17 May 2007)

Lord Smith of Finsbury: My Lords, I congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Baker of Dorking, on securing this important debate. I have some sympathy with a number of the points that he made, although I could not agree entirely with the detail. I declare a number of interests in the arts. I am director of the Clore Leadership Programme, chairman of the London Cultural Consortium, the Donmar Warehouse and the Wordsworth...

Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2007 (21 Mar 2007)

Lord Smith of Finsbury: My Lords, I support the regulations and oppose the noble Baroness's amendment. This debate and the debate outside this House have, I fear, been subject to considerable misconception. In a very telling point in her speech, the noble Baroness said that the regulations would force religious believers to change their beliefs. That point is echoed in the briefing that we all received from the...

Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006 (9 Jan 2007)

Lord Smith of Finsbury: My Lords, before the noble Earl leaves the point about content, does he agree with the existing law of this country which says that harassment against an individual on grounds of race is wrong? Does he also, therefore, agree that harassment against an individual on grounds of his sexual orientation should be wrong?

Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006 (9 Jan 2007)

Lord Smith of Finsbury: My Lords, I support these regulations. I have to confess that I am somewhat puzzled by the arguments that have been advanced by the noble Lord and by many of the campaigners outside this House. It seems to me in my simplistic way that what they are arguing for is quite simply the right to discriminate and the right to harass. And those arguments are being made in name of Christianity? I find...

Arts (11 May 2006)

Lord Smith of Finsbury: My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow the noble Baroness, with whose argument I entirely agree, and a privilege to take part in this debate so beautifully begun by my noble friend Lord Bragg. I should begin by declaring a number of interests, as director of Clore Leadership Programme, chairman of the Wordsworth Trust, chairman of the Donmar Warehouse theatre, member of the board of the...

National Lottery Bill (13 Mar 2006)

Lord Smith of Finsbury: I endorse the words of my noble friend Lady Pitkeathley, who performed a magnificent role in her task as the leader of one of the lottery boards. She clearly identified the central difficulty of this discussion, because the principle of additionality is sensible and vital. It rests on the concept that what lottery boards spend should not replace government spending, but should add to it. That...

Equality Bill [HL] (9 Nov 2005)

Lord Smith of Finsbury: My Lords, first, I support my noble friend Lord Alli in proposing his amendments. In the 21st century it cannot be right for people to be discriminated against in going about their lives, in buying or making use of goods and services, simply on the ground of their sexual orientation. Worse than facing that discrimination is the existence of discrimination in the law which gives a green light...

Equality Bill [HL] (19 Oct 2005)

Lord Smith of Finsbury: My Lords, I rise briefly to support the amendment tabled by my noble friend, Lord Alli. I promise the House that I will try not to speak quite so frequently on the same evening during the normal course of events. However, this group of amendments is important and raises an important point of principle. I know that the Government are sympathetic to the spirit behind the amendments, but the...