My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Walmsley. I agree with her and my noble friend Lord Foulkes that we need some kind of constitutional commission to look at the devolution of the whole UK. One of the problems with devolution is that we have taken it piece by piece, area by area and country by country, but we have never looked at the whole. This has caused...
On that point about England not dealing with its own home affairs separately, when we had devolution the home affairs of everyone else were devolved to their institutions. England’s home affairs are still decided within a United Kingdom Cabinet. The argument should always have been that it is up to England how it settles its own home affairs.
My Lords, I shall not go over all the things that we have already gone through. I have grave concerns about this issue—I had concerns about a single police force in Scotland—but I do not think that this is how the Government in Scotland look at it. We have seen this approach from this Government from the beginning. They suck powers up from local government and they suck powers down from...
We should remember that Scotland does not have a border only with England, but also with Northern Ireland. All that separates us is the Irish Sea. What will happen to the ferries? Will the British Transport Police and the Scottish police change mid-Irish Sea? Will we set up a hard border between Scotland and Northern Ireland? Are we taking Scotland out of that equation? This is more about...
On the point about the Scottish Parliament: if there were to be a senate, does my noble friend envisage that we would still have to retain the same numbers in the Scottish Parliament?
My Lords, it is always a pleasure to follow the noble Lord, Lord Purvis. I congratulate those who have made their maiden speeches today, every one of them far better than most of us have ever heard in this House. We are in a constitutional mess and there is no mistake about that. It reminds me of the story of the man asking for a destination and being told, “Well, I wouldn’t start from...
My Lords, I also welcome the Statement that the noble and learned Lord has made today. I am glad to hear him say once more that all five parties signed up to this. But he will forgive me a little wobble because, on the day after the Smith commission reported, four SNP councillors in Renfrewshire burned that report outside the council offices. I have to wonder just what the commitment of the...
On that point, given that if Scotland voted yes it would no longer be part of the European Union, how then would Scottish students be treated?
To ask His Majesty's Government what was the average waiting period for an individual entering the National Referral Mechanism awaiting a reasonable grounds decision (1) before, and (2) after, the introduction of the updated guidance that came into effect this year.
To ask His Majesty's Government what was the attrition rate for caseworkers at the Passport Office in 2022.
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Windsor Framework will allow the establishment of freeports in Northern Ireland.
To ask His Majesty's Government where the nuclear reactors for the SSN–AUKUS submarines will be built.
To ask His Majesty's Government how many suppliers to government departments have been excluded from subsequent procurement processes on the grounds of either fraud or corruption.
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of disabled people affected by changes to the eligibility criteria for the Warm Home Discount Scheme between 2022—23.
To ask His Majesty's Government how many asylum caseworkers were employed (1) 2021, (2) 2022, and (3) 2023; and what was the attrition rate of asylum caseworkers in each of those years.
To ask His Majesty's Government what evidence they have regarding unaccompanied children seeking asylum that have gone missing while in temporary hotel accommodation; and what assessment they have made of any evidence of organised crime involvement in those disappearances.
