Results 1-20 of 70 for speaker:Lord Tombs

Electricity Generation — Question (7 November 2012)

Lord Tombs: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking in response to the recent projection by Ofgem of a fall in the generating plant margin from 14% at present to 4% in the next four years.

Electricity Generation — Question (7 November 2012)

Lord Tombs: My Lords, as the Minister will expect, I found that Answer wholly unsatisfactory. We are in the early stages of a major crisis. At present, a lot of our supply comes from nuclear and coal stations, which provide about 40% of our national demand, with the rest coming from gas. Much of this plant is 40 years old and quite a lot of it is 50 years old-well beyond the date by which one would have...

Written Answers — House of Lords: Energy: Wind Power (16 November 2011)

Lord Tombs: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the total subsidy to be provided for wind power for the period 2000-2050.

Queen's Speech — Debate (4th Day) (24 November 2009)

Lord Tombs: My Lords, after eight years of annual debates during the past decade on the lack of strategy in the privatised electricity supply industry, common sense has prevailed. Those debates criticised the lack of any commitment to nuclear power, the failure to provide for replacement of ageing power stations, the growing reliance on imported gas from unstable markets, the overreliance on expensive...

Energy: Power Stations — Question (2 April 2009)

Lord Tombs: To ask Her Majesty's Government what capacity of coal, oil and nuclear power stations is expected to be withdrawn from service by 2025; and what plans have been made for their replacement.

Energy: Power Stations — Question (2 April 2009)

Lord Tombs: My Lords, I thank the Minister for that reply but it does not actually address my Question, which is the capacity expected to be withdrawn by 2025. The reason for asking this Question is the age-related nature of the problem. The great bulk of our power stations are more than 40 years old now and will fail over the next few years due to age. Would the Minister agree that it seems inevitable...

Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill [HL] (29 October 2008)

Lord Tombs: My Lords, I begin by reminding noble Lords that this amendment is about the use of human-animal embryos, and the proposal is that they should not be used if reasonable alternatives are available. The debate has rather turned into a conception of the amendment as an attack on all embryonic research, which plainly it is not. It does not seek to make the world rotate in the reverse direction....

Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill [HL] (12 December 2007)

Lord Tombs: I am reluctant to prolong this very informative discussion, but there are one or two points that I want to make in favour of the amendment. I, too, have been greatly impressed by a number of debates on ethical issues in this House during the past 17 years or so. I have found them interesting, informative, enlightening and very responsible. However, they are piecemeal; they are highly...

Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill [HL] (12 December 2007)

Lord Tombs: I shall not go into them, because they would provoke further argument and extend the discussion to no useful end, but I shall select one. The Nuffield Council does wonderful work, but it has strong science links and is supported by the Wellcome Foundation, which is a medical research charity of great power and influence. Those links make the Nuffield Council unsuitable for the task addressed...

Energy: Radioactive Waste Management (S&T Report) (29 October 2007)

Lord Tombs: My Lords, as has been said, the first inquiry by the Select Committee on Science and Technology was published in March 1999—eight and a half years ago. In the subsequent years, Government have shown a mixture of procrastination, indecision and, most importantly, a failure to grasp the nature of the problem which has been the subject of subsequent committee reports and government...

Energy: Electricity Supply (8 February 2007)

Lord Tombs: My Lords, as usual, we have had a stimulating and wide-ranging debate, and I want to pick up one or two points that particularly seem to call for comment. First, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Ford, for her contribution and I congratulate her on her antecedents, which are of course impeccable, just like mine. I also take the opportunity, as she did, to commend Ofgem for its recent...

Energy: Electricity Supply (8 February 2007)

Lord Tombs: rose to call attention to issues facing the electricity supply industry and to the case for a strategic decision mechanism; and to move for Papers. My Lords, this is the fifth annual debate on the subject, and the problems which initiated the series remain unaddressed and are of growing seriousness. Regular attendees will know that the privatisation of the industry effectively removed its...

Education and Inspections Bill (17 October 2006)

Lord Tombs: My Lords, first, I want to associate myself with the remarks made by my noble friend Lord Alton, who stole most of my points and made them much more eloquently than I could have done, so I am grateful to him. Since I am not going to repeat them, I am sure that noble Lords will be grateful too. Why do we want a quota? Many Church schools welcome those of any other faith or none. The point has...

Energy: Renewable (15 May 2006)

Lord Tombs: asked Her Majesty's Government: What is their current estimate of the total cumulative cost to electricity consumers of Her Majesty's Government's renewable energy strategy, assuming that the target for 2010 and the aspiration for 2020 are both met.

Energy: Renewable (15 May 2006)

Lord Tombs: My Lords, I thank the Minister for that helpful reply. The Question has been phrased in identical terms to one I asked two years ago and the Answer has been similarly phrased—with identical figures, which I find surprising and slightly disappointing. Can he confirm, first, that the figures, in particular for the period to 2020, take account of the rapidly escalating costs for offshore...

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

Lord Tombs: My Lords, terminally ill people are vulnerable people—afraid and apprehensive of approaching death and the manner of its arrival. They are very sensitive to suggestion and there is no shortage of potential coercive influences, some apparent, some less so. Most insidious is the atmosphere created by the environment in which the sick patient finds him or herself. Acceptance by the law of...

Electricity Supply (20 April 2006)

Lord Tombs: My Lords, I thank the Minister for that reply. It is not my task to summarise the discussion, but I congratulate noble Lords who have taken part on the standard of discussion. It has been an excellent debate. The absence of old friends has been offset very thoroughly by the acquisition of new faces, who I hope we shall see again. I shall deal with two topics relating to what I tried to...

Electricity Supply (20 April 2006)

Lord Tombs: rose to call attention to the problems in the electricity supply industry created by the absence of a strategic decision mechanism; and to move for Papers. My Lords, I first welcome those loyal followers of what has become an annual debate for their attendance today during Easter week, which is for many a time of holiday with children and grandchildren. Unfortunately, the element of chance in...

Energy Policy: Nuclear Power (16 February 2006)

Lord Tombs: My Lords, the Minister has succeeded in provoking me. My point about procrastination does not in fact relate solely to the question of building new nuclear power stations. It is seven years since the committee of this House reported on disposal of nuclear waste, which is a problem that has been with us for a very long time, and the Government's action has been to appoint one consultative...