Results 1-20 of 94 for speaker:Lord Rodgers of Quarry Bank

NHS — Debate (25 Jun 2009)

Lord Rodgers of Quarry Bank: My Lords, I greatly welcome this debate and listened to the speech of the noble Lord, Lord Walton, with pleasure and close attention. I am wholly a layman and I speak as a patient about one niche of concern. Eight years ago, I had a stroke. I was very lucky; there was no apparent physical damage, but my reading, writing, speaking and comprehension were severely affected, and I had two and a...

Privy Counsellors — Question for Short Debate (12 May 2009)

Lord Rodgers of Quarry Bank: My Lords, I am particularly grateful to the Lord President for replying to this modest debate when she has so many heavy responsibilities. Let me explain the occasion that prompted me to initiate this debate. It was the news last summer that Ministers would table a number of late amendments to the Counter-Terrorism Bill 2008. The object was to make 42 days of detention more palatable to the...

Freedom of Information Act 2000 — Statement (24 Feb 2009)

Lord Rodgers of Quarry Bank: My Lords, on page 3 of the Statement there are references to the role of the Cabinet Office. It says: "The Cabinet Office refused the request", then, "the Cabinet Office had considered", and: "The Cabinet Office appealed". The Cabinet Office is an institution. Who made the decision? The Cabinet Office has no collective voice. It is responsible, if anything, to the Prime Minister of the day....

Freedom of Information Act 2000 — Statement (24 Feb 2009)

Lord Rodgers of Quarry Bank: My Lords, my question was which individual made the decision. The Cabinet Office is not an institution. Some person or group of people must have made those decisions. I was not arguing about the outcome; I was asking how it happened.

European Union (Amendment) Bill (1 Apr 2008)

Lord Rodgers of Quarry Bank: My Lords, while we all welcome the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Chichester to this debate, many of us have been here before. We have been the same pieces on the same chessboard since the decision in principle to join the European Community nearly 40 years ago. In today's speakers list there are 14 noble Lords who voted in the House of Commons, 10 of whom also spoke, on 28 October...

Architecture (27 Mar 2008)

Lord Rodgers of Quarry Bank: My Lords, it is rare to have a debate in the House primarily about architecture, although we have had occasional debates on design. So I am delighted that the noble Lord, Lord Howarth of Newport, has sought this opportunity and spoken in the way that he did. My own preference today is to look at a larger canvas because there is every reason to celebrate the profession and current British...

Government Archives (5 Feb 2008)

Lord Rodgers of Quarry Bank: asked Her Majesty's Government what is their latest assessment of the arrangements for preserving Government archives and preparing official histories. My Lords, I am raising two separate but related matters: how government papers, including ministerial papers, are kept after leaving their working departmental offices and the record of major events described in Crown copyright official...

Liverpool: European Capital of Culture 2008 (10 Dec 2007)

Lord Rodgers of Quarry Bank: My Lords, I am delighted to join the noble Lord, Lord Harrison, as a prologue to a celebration, or a series of celebrations, throughout 2008. I have been living in London for well over 50 years but I am proud to be a Liverpudlian. I was born in Liverpool, like my father, grandfather, great-grandfather and beyond. I went to school in Liverpool and when I came to this place I chose my title in...

House of Lords Bill [HL] (20 Jul 2007)

Lord Rodgers of Quarry Bank: My Lords, until the appearance of this admirable Bill, I had reached the reluctant conclusion that my first preference among the current options for reform of the Lords was for no more White Papers, no more parliamentary Statements and no more working groups. I thought that it was time for a moratorium for at least five years. The latest phase of reform started 10 years ago. We have had many...

Health: Stroke Victims (14 May 2007)

Lord Rodgers of Quarry Bank: asked Her Majesty's Government how and when they will implement the proposals contained in the Department of Health report, Mending Hearts and Brains, in respect of stroke victims. My Lords, at short notice and on a rather quiet day, I am very pleased that several noble colleagues are able to be present on this occasion. A year ago, on 23 May 2006, I raised in the House the treatment of...

House of Lords: Reform (12 Mar 2007)

Lord Rodgers of Quarry Bank: My Lords, our text for the debate today and tomorrow is a hotchpotch of a White Paper, the product of too many people working too hard at trying to resolve irreconcilable views. By that I mean not only the Cabinet, which is in a mess about Lords reform, but also all the groups and committees which have been striving to find answers to very different questions. However, I have no wish to...

House of Lords: Reform (12 Mar 2007)

Lord Rodgers of Quarry Bank: My Lords, that is a fascinating and rather perverse argument. I did not notice at the time that all the hereditary Peers wanted to go; on the contrary, there was a negotiation, as a result of which we had the Weatherill amendment, which I think was a mistake. However, despite that, the January 1999 White Paper set the political shape of the House today, broadly reflecting its opinions. In...

Written Answers — House of Lords: Health: Stroke Patients (29 Jan 2007)

Lord Rodgers of Quarry Bank: asked Her Majesty's Government: For each National Health Service acute hospital in the last convenient period, how many stroke patients out of the total were scanned (a) within three hours of admission, and (b) within 24 hours of admission; and whether each acute hospital is able routinely to scan patients 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Armed Forces: Nuclear Deterrent (24 Jan 2007)

Lord Rodgers of Quarry Bank: My Lords, in the context of today's debate many of us have been here before and carry some luggage, and, yes, scars. It is nearly 50 years since I attended the meeting at Central Hall, Westminster, on 17 February 1958, that effectively launched the campaign for nuclear disarmament. The distinguished platform included Bertrand Russell, JB Priestly, AJP Taylor and Alan Taylor, my former...

NHS (7 Dec 2006)

Lord Rodgers of Quarry Bank: My Lords, I welcome the initiative of the noble Lord, Lord Colwyn, in raising today's debate. Shortly before the last general election, I recall another debate in the House to which I listened but in which I did not participate. Almost all noble Lords who spoke had been professionally involved in the health service and were well disposed to the NHS, saying that so many things were getting...

Procedure of the House: Select Committee Report (24 Jul 2006)

Lord Rodgers of Quarry Bank: My Lords, I should like to refer to the general debates and, in particular, to paragraphs 4 to 8 of the report. As the Chairman of Committees has said, since 1999 there has been a question about whether the general debate day should be switched from Wednesday to Thursday. On the first vote, there was no wish to see a change. In January 2001, a change was proposed, but, following a Division,...

Stroke Victims: Treatment (23 May 2006)

Lord Rodgers of Quarry Bank: rose to ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they intend to take to ensure the efficiency and effectiveness of the treatment of stroke victims, in light of the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General, Reducing Brain Damage: Faster access to better stroke care (HC 452). My Lords, in the early hours of Tuesday 8 May 2001—just five years ago—I was carried by ambulance from...

Law Officers (15 Dec 2005)

Lord Rodgers of Quarry Bank: My Lords, I would much prefer to precede it by thanking those who have spoken in the debate. There is no time to say anything else. I beg leave to withdraw the Motion for Papers.

Law Officers (15 Dec 2005)

Lord Rodgers of Quarry Bank: rose to call attention to the role of the Law Officers; and to move for Papers. My Lords, when the noble and learned Lord, Lord Falconer, moved the Second Reading of the Law Officers Bill on 16 June 1997, it was one of the first Bills of the new Government. It was also his maiden speech and I believe that the noble and learned Lord was also the first Solicitor-General ever to be sitting in...

Law Officers (15 Dec 2005)

Lord Rodgers of Quarry Bank: My Lords, forgive me. I should say that in 1992 the Attorney-General—now the noble and learned Lord, Lord Lyell of Markyate—needed to say of the Maastricht Treaty that he was "independently and dispassionately" giving legal advice to the Government, a statement which did not end the argument. The legality of the use of force against Iraq has been and remains a major issue causing...