Results 1-20 of 71 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 Luce

Succession to the Crown Bill — Third Reading (22 April 2013)

Lord Luce: My Lords, I am sure that the Minister will have concluded that raising the legislation with the other realms would create considerable complications. If I understood the noble Lord, Lord Cormack, aright, he was making it plain that the purpose of this amendment was to try to remove any misunderstandings that may still exist about the position of the Roman Catholic Church in connection with...

Commonwealth and Commonwealth Charter — Motion to Take Note (7 March 2013)

Lord Luce: My Lords, I am glad to follow the noble and learned Lord, Lord Howe, under whom I served on numerous occasions, one of which of course was in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The noble and learned Lord has inspired the commitment of the coalition Government to policies on the Commonwealth. I am glad that he is keeping his hand in on the Commonwealth by, for example, leading the...

Succession to the Crown Bill: Committee (Continued) (28 February 2013)

Lord Luce: My Lords, I support the objective of the amendment moved by the noble Lord, Lord Cormack, although I have reservations about its wording. I should say hastily that I am speaking for myself and not as a former member of the Royal Household. The House may have noticed that earlier there was a small cluster of former members of the Royal Household, but we have now widened the gaps between each...

Succession to the Crown Bill — Second Reading (14 February 2013)

Lord Luce: My Lords, I declare an interest as a former Lord Chamberlain of Her Majesty's Household and I welcome this Bill. I find it difficult to be quite as gloomy as some of the remarks we have heard so far from noble Lords because essentially, as the Minister said, the heart of this Bill is to remove discrimination against females and against Roman Catholics. This issue has been debated, as we know,...

Bahrain — Question (21 November 2012)

Lord Luce: While acknowledging the importance of the Question asked by the noble Lord, Lord Avebury, would the Minister give some credit to the Government of Bahrain for setting up last year a very distinguished international commission on human rights, which at the end of the year made over 170 recommendations, of which the Government have so far decided to implement 140? Should we not give some credit...

House of Lords: Working Practices — Motion to Take Note (1 November 2012)

Lord Luce: My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Filkin, is to be congratulated on this timely debate, since it is very much the right time to talk about pragmatic improvement to the quality and work of this House. I want to focus on just one proposal, produced by the Leader's Group, which the noble Lord, Lord Filkin, mentioned-the proposal for a Back-Bench committee, which I think could be appropriately...

Piracy — Question for Short Debate (24 October 2012)

Lord Luce: To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they are taking to reduce piracy in the Indian Ocean and to help stabilise the neighbouring states in the Horn of Africa and South Arabia.

Piracy — Question for Short Debate (24 October 2012)

Lord Luce: My Lords, I hope that the House will agree that this is a relatively good time to focus our short debate on the progress that is being made on reducing piracy in the Indian Ocean and on helping to stabilise neighbouring states in the Horn of Africa and the Arabian peninsula. It would be valuable to hear from the Minister what our assessment is of the present position and the action that HMG...

Gibraltar — Question (16 July 2012)

Lord Luce: My Lords, is the Minister aware that some 12 years ago, when I was governor of Gibraltar, we faced similar problems, and that there are lessons to be learnt from all this? In welcoming the setting up of the working party by the Government of Gibraltar to work with Spanish fisherman and environmental experts to try to find a way forward, will the Minister nevertheless assure the House that the...

Queen's Speech — Debate (2nd Day) (10 May 2012)

Lord Luce: My Lords, having listened to the debate so far, and thinking back over the discussions about this Chamber over the past 14 or 15 years, I cannot help feeling-I am sure noble friends will feel the same-slightly giddy. I have fortified myself with some water to keep me going. I start by saying that I agree with the noble Lords, Lord Tyler and Lord Maclennan, and my noble friend Lord Laming that...

Queen's Speech — Debate (2nd Day) (10 May 2012)

Lord Luce: My suggestion is that we approach this in two ways. The big issues on constitutional aspects should be embraced in the constitutional convention, which should be a permanent framework. Secondly, having said that there is no room for complacency, I think that we should now get on with the pragmatic incremental changes that command a large degree of support-or many of them do, at least, and...

Middle East — Motion to Take Note (16 March 2012)

Lord Luce: My Lords, I am delighted to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Symons, and her formidable tour d'horizon based on her tremendous knowledge and experience of the Middle East. I will start by making a few general reflections before coming to one or two specific points. I agree with the Minister that the Arab world has started down a road that will be long and hard. It is exciting, but it is also...

Employment: Sickness Absence — Question (25 January 2012)

Lord Luce: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will implement the recommendations of the report Health at Work-An Independent Review of Sickness Absence.

Employment: Sickness Absence — Question (25 January 2012)

Lord Luce: My Lords, I welcome the Minister's response. Does he agree that the report is full of recommendations that are designed to help those who suffer from long-term diseases such as chronic pain to get back to work or indeed to stay in their jobs? Since sickness absence costs the economy something like £15 billion in output and £13 billion in health-related benefits, does he agree that...

Iran — Statement (24 January 2012)

Lord Luce: My Lords, I fully support these robust sanctions. Will the Minister not agree that there seems to be an ineluctable slide towards conflict, which could erupt from an incident of any kind? Iran is a very important country with a remarkable history. Is there not a very strong case for telling the Iranians that we should resume negotiations not only on nuclear issues but on much broader matters...

Iran — Question (15 November 2011)

Lord Luce: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their response to the report of the International Atomic Energy Agency on Iran's development of nuclear devices.

Iran — Question (15 November 2011)

Lord Luce: My Lords, since, as the Minister indicated, there is growingly credible evidence that Iran is developing a capability to introduce and develop nuclear devices, and against the background of a dangerously volatile region in the Middle East, would the Minister agree that we should work extremely hard to persuade China, Russia, Israel, the Arab nations-all of us, in all our interest-to work in a...

Sovereign Grant Bill: Second Reading (and remaining stages) (3 October 2011)

Lord Luce: My Lords, I, too, declare an interest as an honorary member of the Royal Household. In case noble Lords are beginning to think that there is some conspiracy on this Back Bench, they will already have noticed that there are variations in views about the Bill. In broad terms, I, too, welcome the Bill and congratulate the Chancellor and the Keeper of the Privy Purse, Sir Alan Reid, on the...

Commonwealth Parliamentary Association — Debate (8 September 2011)

Lord Luce: This occasion shows that there is a growing feeling on the need to renew the strength of the Commonwealth and gives new impetus to that. The attendance at this debate is higher than at any former Commonwealth debate I have ever attended and the interest in the subject is stronger than I have ever seen. I congratulate the noble Baroness, Lady Hooper, on the way in which she introduced the...

Sudan: Framework Agreement — Question (5 July 2011)

Lord Luce: My Lords, since Southern Sudan is proceeding this week towards independence-in what we all agree is a very dangerous and very precarious situation which could lead to further disasters-may I reinforce the point made by my noble friend Lord Alton that, as a sponsor of the comprehensive peace agreement and with all our responsibilities over 60 years with the Sudan, we should pull out all the...