Results 1-20 of 21 for speaker:Lord Griffiths of Burry Port

Children and Families — Debate (14 May 2009)

Lord Griffiths of Burry Port: My Lords, we are in the debt of my erstwhile mentor, my noble friend Lady Massey of Darwen, for giving us this opportunity to share such a wide expression of views on this general subject. I am delighted to offer mine in the midst of expertise of a rare order, and I stand as a general practitioner in the midst of consultants. As a church minister, my daily work is to visit families in their...

Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill [HL]: Second Reading (11 Feb 2009)

Lord Griffiths of Burry Port: My Lords, does the Minister recognise the commitment to taking a look at how this Bill will impact on those undocumented people who are already here, especially in terms of earning citizenship, probationary citizenship and all the rest of it?

Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill [HL]: Second Reading (11 Feb 2009)

Lord Griffiths of Burry Port: My Lords, I stand in the fifth year of my membership of your Lordships' House and I am astonished that five Bills have been debated here on this or related subjects in that time. Ought I therefore to take comfort that, as I look forward to my sixth year, I shall have another Bill on the same subject in which to take part? I have begun to think that this has fed an addiction in me and will...

Queen's Speech — Debate (6th Day) (11 Dec 2008)

Lord Griffiths of Burry Port: My Lords, I guess that it is an unintended irony that that wonderful eulogy in favour of the British pub should precede an intervention by a Methodist minister. I say amen to the sentiments just expressed. It is no intended discourtesy to the House that I was absent for much of the middle part of the day. The various strands in my life are demanding a lot of me at the moment. I crave the...

Welfare: Churches and Faith Communities (9 Oct 2008)

Lord Griffiths of Burry Port: My Lords, I am more than grateful for the opportunity given to us by the right reverend Prelate to discuss, albeit briefly, this very important matter and to give a little more publicity to the important Von Hügel report, which raises questions that need more ample discussion than I suspect we have time for now. As a Methodist minister, whose only virtue has been that he has served for...

Families: Economic Inequality (25 Apr 2008)

Lord Griffiths of Burry Port: My Lords, I want to add my voice to others who have expressed gratitude to the most reverend Primate the Archbishop of Canterbury for bringing this subject before us with some urgency, as he does with so many others that we need to face. It gives us a chance to air our views and do some thinking. It is a tricky business following my noble friend Lord Desai at any time, but in a debate in...

Alcohol Labelling Bill [HL] (18 Jan 2008)

Lord Griffiths of Burry Port: My Lords, on behalf of my noble friend Lord Mitchell, and with the permission of the House, I rise to speak at this point in the debate and to move that the Bill be now read a second time. Some have greatness thrust upon them. I am glad that the Bill is of such a length that I could read it properly and prepare myself in a way that allows me to speak first on this issue. I was drawn to it as...

Education: Adult Learners (3 Dec 2007)

Lord Griffiths of Burry Port: My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Sharp, for giving us the opportunity to give vent to our feelings on this matter. I offer sympathy to my noble friends on the Front Bench at the unassuaged assault that they are getting—to which I am anxious to add. We have heard much about the perhaps unintended consequences for the Government's lifelong learning programme; we talk about...

Children and Young Persons Bill [HL] (26 Nov 2007)

Lord Griffiths of Burry Port: My Lords, I shall not detain your Lordships for long. Coming into bat at number nine, some good innings already have been played and, certainly, many of the best shots that I had in my armoury have been executed. I do not think that it serves anyone's purposes for me simply to repeat what has been said. I must express delight at feeling part of a debate on an issue where in broad terms we are...

Multi-cultural Britain (7 Jun 2007)

Lord Griffiths of Burry Port: My Lords, I, too, add my thanks to the noble Lord, Lord Hastings of Scarisbrick, for bringing this matter before us. In the 360 seconds available to me, I shall make two very simple points. My noble friend Lord Parekh reminded us that a watered-down version of the legislation came before this Parliament in 1806. There had been several heroic attempts to get it on the statute book in the...

West Papua (8 Jan 2007)

Lord Griffiths of Burry Port: My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Harries of Pentregarth, is to be congratulated on bringing this matter to our attention. He has long championed the human rights of the people of West Papua, keeping their plight before the House and the British public for a number of years. He is to be thanked for doing so again this evening, and the least that we can do for him in this short debate is to press...

Conservation: Historic Places of Worship (7 Dec 2006)

Lord Griffiths of Burry Port: My Lords, I add one non-conformist's support to what I now understand is another non-conformist in the efforts to consentise this Chamber to the needs of this important aspect of our national heritage. I stand here as one who by the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of London was helped to become a canon of St Paul's Cathedral and also a member of the cathedral council, which has given a rare...

Churches and Cities (19 May 2006)

Lord Griffiths of Burry Port: My Lords, I am grateful to the most reverend Primate the Archbishop of Canterbury for bringing this debate to the Floor of this Chamber and for giving us an opportunity to share experience and to offer some thoughts about the most important aspect of our daily lives. This has been a truly ecumenical debate. It has brought together not only noble Lords from different Christian traditions to...

Assisted Dying for the Terminally Ill Bill [HL] (12 May 2006)

Lord Griffiths of Burry Port: My Lords, I am the third Methodist minister to speak in a short period, and the one who has chosen to stand a little above the Bishops. I will limit myself to one or two more forensic, rather than ideological or theological, points. I was impressed among the welter of material that came my way to read a submission from the Motor Neurone Disease Association, which declares that it is neutral...

Christianity and Islam (23 Mar 2006)

Lord Griffiths of Burry Port: My Lords, I am aware that I am following those who have had military, diplomatic, political, philosophical and prelatical experience, and my contribution will be perhaps more from the street level. I thank the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Rochester for initiating this debate, although I have had difficulty in defining the terms within which it is set. Christianity and Islam can easily...

Terrorism Bill (21 Nov 2005)

Lord Griffiths of Burry Port: My Lords, I live and work across the street from the Honourable Artillery Company, near the City of London. In 1992, it was subjected to an attack by the IRA. The damage was considerable; our windows, across the street, were blown in. I remember how, in response to the urgent advice of our political leaders of that time, we all kept our eyes and ears open for anything suspicious and that we...

Assisted Dying for the Terminally Ill Bill: Select Committee Report (10 Oct 2005)

Lord Griffiths of Burry Port: My Lords, the hour is late, and I am number 64 in the batting order. We have heard legal, moral, medical, philosophical and theological views put forward. At this stage perhaps it may be of some consolation that another angle may be opened up, for the line of argument that I want to put to noble Lords is pastoral. I am a Methodist minister; that is my day job. I come to this place to hear the...

Decentralisation (30 Jun 2005)

Lord Griffiths of Burry Port: My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Phillips, for bringing this debate to the Floor of the House and for allowing us to contribute to an area of life that touches all of us at whatever level. Some noble Lords have spoken in this debate from heights that I cannot hope to command. We have heard three wonderful maiden speeches from three people whose self-assurance, compared with the...

Education: Tomlinson Report (16 Mar 2005)

Lord Griffiths of Burry Port: My Lords, we are deeply in debt to the noble Baroness, Lady Sharp of Guildford, for keeping these important matters before us and for giving us this opportunity to discuss in such a free way the proposals of the Tomlinson report and the White Paper that responds to it. I live in the London Borough of Islington. I do not confess that in too many places as I might get a groan in response, but...

Poverty in Developing Countries (26 Jan 2005)

Lord Griffiths of Burry Port: My Lords, I add my tribute to the noble Baroness, Lady Whitaker, for instigating this debate. We started late because there was a Statement about combating terrorism, in the course of which it was mentioned that the prime duty of a Home Secretary or of any government is the security of the democracy and the state in which we live. That gives me a cue to begin any contribution that I can make...