Results 1-20 of 394 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 Richard

Procedure of the House — Motion to Take Note (24 April 2013)

Lord Richard: Perhaps I may detain your Lordships for just two minutes. I am in the very unusual position of agreeing with the noble Lord, Lord Cormack. It is not something that happens daily in this House, and it certainly did not happen over reform of your Lordships' House. However, I am bound to say that I came to this debate in a wholly neutral frame of mind. I was not sure whether I liked the idea or...

Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (Amendment of Schedule 1) Order 2013: Motion to Approve (27 March 2013)

Lord Richard: I am flattered that the noble Lord should find me menacing. Does he not see that there is a clear distinction between access to justice and access to legal aid? Does he not see that in certain circumstances certain people who are denied legal aid are denied access to justice? That follows as night follows day. If someone cannot afford to go to the courts in order to get justice, that is...

Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (Amendment of Schedule 1) Order 2013: Motion to Approve (27 March 2013)

Lord Richard: When a tribunal is involved, it is not a question of advice but of having to go to a tribunal to get a decision. That is where the justice comes from—the decision of the tribunal, not the advice that one is given before one gets there. Surely the noble Lord sees that distinction.

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

Lord Richard: My Lords, I would like to ask a practical question which the noble Baroness may be able to answer. It is quite often the practice, in this House at any rate, that when Statements are made copies are made available in the Printed Paper Office at the same time. A very important Statement is to be made in the House of Commons. Could it not be arranged that it is in the Printed Paper Office...

Taxation: Corporation Tax — Question (18 March 2013)

Lord Richard: My Lords, as I understand it, the noble Lord, Lord Wigley, was asking the noble Lord to confirm that if this happens in Northern Ireland, the Government accept that it would happen in Wales, too. Can he confirm that?

Payday Loans — Question (12 March 2013)

Lord Richard: My Lords, many years ago, when I was a young law student, I learnt about the moneylenders Acts, which, as far as I can remember, meant that if you charged an excessive amount of interest you could not recover your money. Does that still apply and, if so, is the way to deal with these payday loans and the excessive interest charged on them to have one or two good civil cases in which the...

House of Lords: Membership — Motion to Agree (28 February 2013)

Lord Richard: My Lords-

Media: Press Regulation — Question (14 February 2013)

Lord Richard: My Lords, I wonder whether the noble Lord can help me. What role does Parliament have in considering the details of the royal charter? Does it have to be approved by both Houses of Parliament? Are we entitled to try to amend the terms of the charter? What is the next stage?

Taxation: Avoidance — Question (6 February 2013)

Lord Richard: My Lords, does the Minister agree that it is a principle of English law that that which is not forbidden is permitted? Do not the Government recognise that merely to go on bleating from the sidelines and telling people that they should not avoid tax will have absolutely no effect whatever? Clever lawyers will be able to devise ways of continuing to avoid tax. If the Government want to deal...

Procedure of the House — Motion to Agree (9 January 2013)

Lord Richard: My Lords, I take the opposite view to the one just expressed by the noble and learned Baroness. The evil that the Procedure Committee is trying to redress in its proposal is that there are now too many people in this House, Question Time is more interesting than it used to be, more people want to ask Questions and there is therefore a blockage in the way in which the Questions get on to the...

Parliamentary Privilege — Membership Motion (11 December 2012)

Lord Richard: My Lords, the Chairman of Committees said that the first thing we should do is go back to the usual channels. With respect, that is not so. The first thing we have to do is not pass this Motion. If this Motion is passed, the committee is established; if it is not passed then certainly we can go back to the usual channels.

Business of the House — Timing of Debates (29 November 2012)

Lord Richard: Before the noble Lord replies, I wonder if I could ask him one simple question. There are two parties in the coalition: the Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrats. The Conservative view will be put by the noble Lord, Lord Strathclyde, and the Liberal Democrat view will be put by the noble Lord, Lord McNally. Which of them represents the policy of the Government?

Crime: Violence Against Women and Girls — Question (8 November 2012)

Lord Richard: Does the noble Baroness agree, as a matter of principle, that the lower the poll the weaker the mandate? In those circumstances, if the poll in these elections turns out to be derisorily low, how does she think that police commissioners will be able to combat violence against women or, indeed, any other form of criminal activity?

Arrangement of Business — Announcement (5 November 2012)

Lord Richard: My Lords, with respect, I think that it is this side's turn. I listened to what the noble Lord, Lord Crickhowell, has just said, but I am bound to say that I totally disagreed with it. I disagreed with it almost absolutely. It is an extraordinary proposition that, if the Government bring in a Bill that allows the Opposition to table an amendment to it, somehow or other, it is unconstitutional...

Arrangement of Business — Announcement (31 October 2012)

Lord Richard: My Lords, following on from the point that has just been made, as I understand the position in the House of Commons, if this were to happen there, the clerks would advise the Speaker. The Speaker would then consider the advice and would decide whether or not he wanted to accept it. If he decided that he wanted to accept it, he would rule the amendment inadmissible and therefore it would not...

Disabled People: Blue Badge Scheme — Question (25 October 2012)

Lord Richard: My Lords, will the independent assessors be medically qualified?

House of Lords: Appointments — Question (9 October 2012)

Lord Richard: My Lords, the noble Lord said that I tried very hard to get this House and everybody to agree that it should be an elected second chamber. Of course I did. But if the Government have decided that they are not going to go for an elected second chamber, they really must look at the size of this House. You cannot just leave it on the basis that it is going to creep up to nearly 1,000 and then...

House of Lords Reform Bill — Statement (27 June 2012)

Lord Richard: My Lords, it was indeed a privilege and a pleasure, although perhaps not a treasure beyond measure, to have been asked to chair the Joint Committee. It was a fascinating experience, and I greatly enjoyed it. We exposed a very large number of issues in the course of it, some of which I am happy to say the Government have taken on board. It is now proposed that the size of the House should be...

House of Lords: Behaviour in the Chamber — Question (21 June 2012)

Lord Richard: My Lords, it is certainly true that the House is now a bit more assertive than it was. I am bound to say I think this is a good thing rather than a bad thing. It is also true that people get intervened on in the course of their speeches. It seems to me that that is part of normal debate. I hope the Leader of the House agrees that this is meant to be a House of debate, not one in which people...

Wales: Barnett Formula — Question (20 June 2012)

Lord Richard: My Lords-