Results 1-20 of 958 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 Alton of Liverpool

Rwanda — Question (23 Nov 2009)

Lord Alton of Liverpool: My Lords, notwithstanding some of the shortcomings in Rwanda, 1 million people died there during the course of the genocide. Should we not do all that we possibly can to help Rwanda make progress for the future? Is not one practical thing that we could do now to bring to justice those genocidaires living in this country who are now eligible for prosecution as a result of the amendment to the...

North Korea — Question (23 Nov 2009)

Lord Alton of Liverpool: Lord Alton of Liverpool to ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the situation in North Korea, especially in relation to food shortages and the protection of human rights.

North Korea — Question (23 Nov 2009)

Lord Alton of Liverpool: My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper. In so doing, I remind the House of my non-financial interest as chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on North Korea.

North Korea — Question (23 Nov 2009)

Lord Alton of Liverpool: My Lords, should the House not be wary of disinformation from North Korea about the levels of famine, given that 2 million people died there during the 1990s? Last week, the World Food Programme estimated that North Korea is 1.8 million tonnes short of the food that is necessary to feed the population and the UN rapporteur on human rights, Professor Vitit Muntarbhorn, has estimated that some...

Africa: Water Shortages — Question (29 Oct 2009)

Lord Alton of Liverpool: My Lords, does the Minister agree that one of the greatest drivers for conflict in Africa at the moment is the scarcity and shortage of water in many parts, particularly in eastern Africa? Will he reconsider the answer he gave a moment ago about the countries where help is being given? I notice the omission of Kenya, particularly the situation in Turkana, where many tribesmen are coming in...

Coroners and Justice Bill: Report (3rd Day) (28 Oct 2009)

Lord Alton of Liverpool: I was pleased that I was able to speak at Second Reading and in Committee on these issues and was able to accompany my noble friend when she went to see the noble Lord, Lord Bach, to raise these important questions about servitude and forced labour. She has done Parliament a great service in the persistent way in which she has gone about this. But I should also like to pay tribute to the...

Darfur: Lord's Resistance Army — Question (28 Oct 2009)

Lord Alton of Liverpool: My Lords, given that Joseph Kony and three of his lieutenants are wanted for war crimes and, when apprehended, are to appear before the International Criminal Court, how do the Government respond to MONUC's complaint that western Governments have not shared information with it about the whereabouts of Joseph Kony in order to bring about his apprehension? What does the Minister know about the...

Newspapers: Surveillance Methods — Statement (9 Jul 2009)

Lord Alton of Liverpool: My Lords, the point that the noble Lord, Lord Campbell-Savours, has just made is surely the most significant of all. There are victims here—people whose identity must be known to the police. If, as the noble Baroness said, the police say that hundreds, rather than thousands, have been affected, the police must know their identity. It must be right and proper for those people to be told...

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

Lord Alton of Liverpool: I wonder if could press the Minister about the consultation that he says he will have over the summer. He gave the example of the actions of the chief constable of Yorkshire in promoting a project there to look at the problems of people who might be caught up in servitude. Will he extend that consultation to speak to some of the other chief constables as well to find out what their feelings...

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

Lord Alton of Liverpool: I very much support the amendment standing in the name of my noble friend Lady Young of Hornsey. I have signed the amendment and was able to accompany her to our extremely helpful meeting with the noble Lord, Lord Bach, who went out of his way—as did his officials—to try to meet the very reasonable points that my noble friend has made today, which have been endorsed by the noble...

Coroners and Justice Bill — Committee (5th Day) (Continued) (7 Jul 2009)

Lord Alton of Liverpool: As the fourth signatory to this amendment, I join the noble and learned Lord, Lord Falconer, and the noble Lord, Lord Carlile, in supporting my noble friend Lady D'Souza, who tabled the amendment and who spoke on the subject very eloquently at Second Reading. At Second Reading, I described what I had seen when I visited Murambi in Rwanda, where 56,000 people had been killed during the...

Human Fertilisation and Embryology (Special Exemption) Regulations 2009: Motion to Approve (7 Jul 2009)

Lord Alton of Liverpool: My Lords, the noble Baroness, Lady Barker, has just reminded the House that she thoroughly approved of the legislation when it was before us last year. The House will recall that I was fundamentally opposed to it, and I have not changed my view. However, I am, as always, grateful to the Minister for the way in which he, with such clarity, introduced and explained the regulations that are...

Coroners and Justice Bill: Committee (5th Day) (7 Jul 2009)

Lord Alton of Liverpool: I will be brief because I suspect that the feeling of the Committee is that we should now move quickly to a decision. The noble Lord, Lord Joffe, was right to remind us that we had a full Select Committee inquiry looking at assisted dying. In fact, there were 246 Hansard columns and two volumes of 744 pages and 116 pages respectively, 15 oral sessions, 48 groups or individuals giving...

Coroners and Justice Bill — Committee (4th Day) (Continued) (30 Jun 2009)

Lord Alton of Liverpool: I would like briefly to follow the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Winchester in expressing a little unease. I support the amendment and I was taken by the arguments of my noble and learned friend. I often find myself in agreement with what he has to say and I do so again this evening. I am concerned about some of the other arguments that have been adduced during the course of the debate...

Coroners and Justice Bill: Committee (4th Day) (30 Jun 2009)

Lord Alton of Liverpool: I support this amendment because the points which my noble friend and the noble Lord, Lord Alderdice, have just raised need to be answered by the Government. I think that all of us have met with situations where people have died without loved ones and with no one else to represent them. One thinks of the parallel of the amicus curiae who can intervene and represent people in court when...

Coroners and Justice Bill — Committee (3rd Day) (Continued) (23 Jun 2009)

Lord Alton of Liverpool: This has been a very helpful and thorough debate about these provisions in the Bill. I know that my noble friend Lady Finlay and the noble Lord, Lord Kingsland, will also want to reflect on some of the helpful points that the Minister has made. It certainly would not be my wish to push some of these questions much further. I was pleased when the Minister said that even though he was not...

Coroners and Justice Bill — Committee (3rd Day) (Continued) (23 Jun 2009)

Lord Alton of Liverpool: Clause 20 looks at the issue of medical certificates detailing the cause of death. Amendments 64 and 66 in this group stand in my name and that of my noble friend Lady Finlay of Llandaff. These two amendments need to be read together. The effect of Amendment 64 would be to make an alteration in line 4, page 12, leaving out the word "may" and instead inserting the words, "will, having...

Coroners and Justice Bill — Committee (3rd Day) (Continued) (23 Jun 2009)

Lord Alton of Liverpool: My noble friend Lady Finlay and the noble Lord, Lord Alderdice, have argued persuasively in favour of their Amendments 47 and 48 concerning the role of the chief medical adviser, and I am very happy to support the arguments that they have just adduced. We will come to Amendments 52 and 53 tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Kingsland, to which I have added my name, and, again, I strongly support...

Coroners and Justice Bill: Committee (3rd Day) (23 Jun 2009)

Lord Alton of Liverpool: I strongly support the sentiments that underlie the interventions of my noble friends Lady Finlay of Llandaff and Lord Walton of Detchant. However, I should like to enter a cautionary note, partly from the very experiences that my noble friend has just referred to at Alder Hey Children's Hospital. For 18 years I served as a Member of Parliament for a Liverpool division and I was involved with...

European Parliament: Expatriate Candidates — Question (22 Jun 2009)

Lord Alton of Liverpool: My Lords, would the Minister comment on the decline in turnout right across Europe? Should we not be worried by the alienation of voters and the growth of fringe parties such as the British National Party, which gained the seat in my own North West region? In that context, will he look again at the closed party list system, which does not involve people at all in elections? When it was first...