🗣️ Speeches and Debates
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My Lords, with permission, I will express a few thoughts, and I speak as chancellor of the University of Cambridge. I welcome the establishment of the Greater Cambridge Development Corporation. It will, quite simply, speed things up and cut through bureaucratic delays. We need to acknowledge the growth potential of our best universities, and Cambridge is, I am proud to say, one of them. The...
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My Lords, Jo Cox was a dear friend, and it is so hard to realise that 10 years have passed since her tragic murder. I thank my noble friend Lady Royall for tabling the Motion for this important debate and for her continuing brilliant work chairing the Jo Cox Foundation. We commemorate Jo’s memory best by holding fast to what she said in her maiden speech in the House of Commons, which every...
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My Lords, it is an honour to speak in the debate which saw such wonderful maiden speeches from the noble Lords, Lord Hobby and Lord Blackwater. There is much in the gracious Speech that I welcome. I particularly welcome the proposal for an overnight visitor levy Bill, and I hope that the proceeds of such a levy can be directed half to local cultural activities and organisations and half to...
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My Lords, it pains me to intervene to say that I think Ministers have got these changes wrong. It pains me even more to say that this is an all too common feature of Home Office decisions at the moment. I want to focus, as my noble friend Lady Royall did, on the provisions in these changes for students, and I do so, of course, as chancellor of the University of Cambridge. The total ban...
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My Lords, Alastair Morgan, the indefatigable brother of Daniel Morgan, was my constituent for 22 years when I was a Member of Parliament. I fought for many years, through a succession of Commissioners of the Metropolitan Police, to try to secure justice for Daniel Morgan’s family. Sadly, that has not been achieved, even now. The independent report last year and this report from the...
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My Lords, it is a privilege to follow the noble Lord, Lord Dubs. I warmly commend the noble Lord, Lord Blunkett, on both initiating this debate and introducing it so superbly. Many years ago, in the early 2000s, I was a member of the Committee on Standards in Public Life for two and a half years. I must say, it is a great enhancement to our debate today that the current distinguished chairman...
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My Lords, I remind the House first of my interests as declared in the register. The Bill is broadly welcome. It says it has ambition, it aims to set its sights high, and it betokens a wish on the part of the Government to have strong environmental standards in what is, alas, a post-Brexit world—so far, so good. But it does not get everything right, and there are three things I would like to...
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My Lords, the report from the Select Committee on Communications and Digital is even more timely now than when it was published. It is wise and welcome. The noble Lord, Lord Gilbert, and members of the committee have done a brilliant job. We live in a world where there has been an explosion of competing, often inaccurate and untrusted news and information. Our public service broadcasters...
More of Lord Smith of Finsbury's speeches and debates
✍️ Written Questions and Answers
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To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 16 June (HL761), what assessment they have made of the reasons why some HIV-positive patients have been told that they are ineligible for participation in cancer clinical trials.
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To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to allow patients with HIV, where the virus is undetectable, to have access to medical trials for new cancer drugs and treatments.
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To ask His Majesty's Government what guidance they have given to parts of the NHS regarding allowing individual members of staff to attend LGBT+ Pride marches in uniform.
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To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to introduce secondary legislation to clarify how different public bodies should carry out their duty to further the purposes of Protected Landscapes.
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To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 11 March (HL15210), what insurance arrangements they envisage for NHS-accredited hospitals providing services commissioned by public health authorities which were previously part of the NHS but are now part of local government.
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To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the UK's cultural sector as a whole, and its national museums and galleries in particular, on levels of overseas tourism to the UK.
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To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the possibility of implementing the proposals for tax incentives in the Independent Review of Arts Council England, published on 16 December 2025.
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To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to ensuring that NHS collective insurance cover can be extended to provide cover for when clinical services are commissioned by local authorities.
More of Lord Smith of Finsbury's written questions
