Results 1-20 of 760 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 Macdonald of Tradeston

Welfare Benefits Up-rating Bill — Second Reading (Continued) (11 February 2013)

Lord Macdonald of Tradeston: My Lords, as previous speakers have emphasised, the impact of the Bill must be seen in the context of the radical reforms taking place across the welfare system-reforms which my noble friend Lady Hollis denounced so comprehensively in her coruscating and, indeed, moving speech following the equally persuasive critique of the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Leicester. At this late stage...

Freedom of Religion and Conscience — Question for Short Debate (22 January 2013)

Lord Macdonald of Tradeston: My Lords, I, too, thank the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Guildford for initiating this important debate and for his inclusive definition of "conscience" to include non-believers. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states: "Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion". A small but significant advance was made with the subsequent United Nations...

Leveson Inquiry — Motion to Take Note (11 January 2013)

Lord Macdonald of Tradeston: My Lords, at this late stage in such a long debate, having heard the main issues so well analysed, I shall base my contribution on my media experience of regulation. Having spent four decades working as a journalist and executive, mostly in television news and current affairs, I am all too aware of the many legal restraints on journalism. Compliance with the law should have been ensured in...

Disability Services: Motion to Take Note (10 January 2013)

Lord Macdonald of Tradeston: My Lords, I, too, am grateful to my noble friend Lord Boateng for giving us this opportunity to discuss the problems of the estimated 1 million disabled people from black and minority ethnic backgrounds. As he has made clear, the Scope report makes a persuasive case in arguing that ethnic communities in particular are underinformed and poorly served. Their difficulties in accessing treatment...

Disabled Persons' Parking Badges Bill: Second Reading (30 November 2012)

Lord Macdonald of Tradeston: My Lords, I, too, thank the noble Baroness, Lady Thomas of Winchester, for giving us this opportunity to support her Bill. As Minister for Transport between 1999 and 2001, I was aware of the widespread concern about the misuse of blue badges and had hoped to act to reduce fraud and abuse. Unfortunately, in those years the Department for Transport was preoccupied with a series of crises,...

Queen's Speech — Debate (4th Day) (15 May 2012)

Lord Macdonald of Tradeston: My Lords, the debate today is taking place against the background of what has been described as the "greatest political media scandal" of our times. I have borrowed that judgment from the recent report by the House of Lords Communications Committee, on which I served during the previous Session, entitled The Future of Investigative Journalism. Our report was published in February, and since...

BBC Governance and Regulation: Communications Committee Report: Motion to Take Note (1 March 2012)

Lord Macdonald of Tradeston: My Lords, I am pleased to have been a member of the Select Committee on Communications, which produced such a timely and, I believe, influential report on the governance and regulation of the BBC. I thank our chairman, the noble Lord, Lord Inglewood, for guiding us towards recommendations that he summarised very cogently. Those recommendations have been uncommonly well received. The report...

Christians in the Middle East — Motion to Take Note (9 December 2011)

Lord Macdonald of Tradeston: My Lords, I thank the most reverend Primate the Archbishop of Canterbury for this timely debate and for his clear and insightful review of the situation of Christians in the Middle East. As we have heard today, the potential for greater violence against Christian communities is feared by millions, and the Arab spring, which raised such high hopes, might now remove some of the protection that...

Health: Neurological Conditions — Motion to Take Note (8 December 2011)

Lord Macdonald of Tradeston: My Lords, I declare an interest as patron of the Dystonia Society. Dystonia is a neurological condition that causes involuntary and sometimes very painful muscle spasms as a result of incorrect signals from the brain. These muscle spasms can force affected parts of the body into abnormal movements or postures. There are thought to be over 70,000 people in the UK who have some form of...

Television Advertising: Communications Committee Report: Motion to Take Note (3 November 2011)

Lord Macdonald of Tradeston: My Lords, I speak as a member of your Lordships' Select Committee on Communications and as a veteran of 30 years in the advertising-funded side of public service broadcasting in ITV, Granada and Scottish Television, alongside six years moonlighting on-screen for Channel 4 in the 1980s. I, therefore, vigorously applaud the sentiments expressed by the noble Lord, Lord Fellowes. I moved on from...

Creative Industries — Debate (3 November 2011)

Lord Macdonald of Tradeston: My Lords, as I recall, the term "creative industries" was first coined by the new Labour Government back in 1997 to define activities that deserved strong support. The subsequent growth over the years until 2010 was, I believe, among the finest achievements of Labour in power. No doubt this debate-I congratulate the noble Baroness, Lady Bonham-Carter, on initiating it-will help make the...

Digital Switchover: Communications Committee Report: Motion to Take Note (12 October 2010)

Lord Macdonald of Tradeston: My Lords, I declare my interest as an adviser to Macquarie Group, whose infrastructure funds have investments in the transmission business Arqiva and in the security communications service Airwave. Like other colleagues on the Select Committee on Communications, I compliment the chairman, the noble Lord, Lord Fowler, on his foresight and his leadership, which produced such a timely and well...

Queen's Speech — Debate (5th Day) (continued) (3 June 2010)

Lord Macdonald of Tradeston: My Lords, as the financial crisis grinds on, noble Lords on all sides of the House now accept that public spending must be reduced, but today many of us plead for our favoured causes. Following on from the noble Lord, Lord Inglewood, I will also argue that public spending in support of Britain's cultural sector is a sound economic investment. Over the past two decades, the rapid growth of our...

British Humanist Association: Reports: Debate (18 March 2010)

Lord Macdonald of Tradeston: My Lords, I, too, thank my noble friend Lord Harrison for the opportunity to discuss these very relevant reports produced by the British Humanist Association. This is indeed a timely debate, with a new Equality Bill now before Parliament. During consideration of that Bill, secularist Members of your Lordships' House have expressed concerns about the employment practices of religious groups...

Equality Bill: Second Reading (Continued) (15 December 2009)

Lord Macdonald of Tradeston: My Lords, although I am generally supportive of the Equality Bill, it is disappointing that it fails to tackle some of the unnecessary discrimination in employment. I speak to two specific issues in that context. First, there is the exception that permits organisations with a religious ethos to discriminate in employment when they are working under contract to provide public services on...

Public Service Broadcasting (Communications Committee Report): Motion to Take Note (4 June 2009)

Lord Macdonald of Tradeston: My Lords, as a member of your Lordships' Select Committee on Communications, I pay tribute to our chairman, the noble Lord, Lord Fowler, for initiating our brief but very timely inquiry, for his skill in editing our deliberations in such a cogent form and for that excellent review of the issues that we have heard today. I declare my interests as an adviser to Macquarie Capital, whose funds...

Creative Industries — Debate (4 June 2009)

Lord Macdonald of Tradeston: My Lords, I thank my noble friend Lord Bragg for his initiative in securing this important debate and for his entertaining and forceful review of our creative life. I grew up in Scotland before television, and a pretty bleak time it was. Our most exciting cultural activities were watching films and listening to music from America. We saw very little that reflected our own lives, and a career...

Government Statistics — Question for Short Debate (1 June 2009)

Lord Macdonald of Tradeston: My Lords, I, too, thank the noble Lord, Lord Hamilton of Epsom, for the opportunity to debate this important subject. As chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Humanist Group, my concern, like that of the noble Lord, Lord Harrison, is with the approach taken by the Office for National Statistics to the question in the census on religious beliefs. I will try to reinforce the points so well...

Scotland: Public Service Broadcasting — Question for Short Debate (25 February 2009)

Lord Macdonald of Tradeston: My Lords, I hope that this debate will highlight some immediate concerns about public service broadcasting in Scotland and outline some of the options to secure its future. I declare my interests as an adviser to Macquarie Capital, whose funds invest in and manage Arqiva and Red Bee, companies supplying transmission and other services to UK broadcasters. In addition, until joining your...

Human Rights: Religious Belief — Question for Short Debate (24 February 2009)

Lord Macdonald of Tradeston: My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Cox, for allowing us this opportunity to debate this important issue, and for her informative if sombre introduction. The continual violence committed in the name of religion is indeed tragic. So too are the conflicts between communities of different faiths, or between different sects of the same faith. Most recently, Shia and Sunni Muslims have...