My Lords, does my noble friend agree that it is part of democracy that there is a universal call for politicians to tell the truth but that, when they do, they attract criticism, like that from the noble Lord opposite? Last year our right honourable friend the Chancellor told the truth about what she described as the black hole, and which I described as: “Nothing bloody worked”. Is it not...
My Lords, I am very pleased to follow the noble Lord, Lord Berkeley, who continues to delight us musically and in every other way. We take the arts for granted. I therefore warmly thank my noble friend Lord Bragg, who has done more than just about anyone else to demystify and popularise the arts in our country. That certainly matters because he is giving us a timely prompt—a spur—to our...
And you haven’t changed a bit.
My Lords, was it the confidence of the Government, of which the Minister just spoke, that induced them yesterday to advertise for: “Resilience Advisers: EU Exit Readiness and Response Support to Local Preparedness”, in the event of a no-deal Brexit? Is that intelligent, prudent anticipation on the Government’s part or is it anticipation of utter chaos?
My Lords, years ago the UK abolished the advertising of tobacco in any form. When it is so evident that problem gambling and gambling among young people, according to recent evidence, are generating so much tragedy and potential disaster for individuals and families, why can we not now, in 2018, do the same with gambling?
I am grateful to the noble Lord. The figure which I used, accurately, was 292, which is slightly over 200. The margin of defeat of that amendment was very small—about nine votes. I was demonstrating the very strong body of opinion, in the elected House, in favour of the principle set down in my noble friend’s amendment. The noble Lord’s familiarity with the Bill should have shown him...
While sharing my noble friend’s admiration for the extraordinary work that has been put in by our Front Bench both here and in the Commons, I remind him of an amendment proposed to the Bill in the House of Commons on 13 December last year, which said explicitly: “No Minister may, under this Act, notify the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the EEA Agreement, whether under Article 127...
My Lords, does the Minister recognise that 44% of our exports now go to the rest of the European Union and a further 17% of them go to the 50-odd countries with which the EU currently has free trade agreements, and that this constitutes in excess of 61% of British sales to other parts of the world? There is no substantial evidence to suggest that our departure from the European Union will in...
To ask His Majesty's Government what losses have been sustained by the Treasury since 2022 as a result of the Bank of England's decision to sell bonds as part of its policy of quantitative tightening.
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the Bank of England about suspending its quantitative tightening policy of selling bonds accumulated through quantitative easing, as opposed to allowing maturing debt to expire.
To ask His Majesty's Government how much quantitative tightening has cost the Treasury since it began in 2022; and what they estimate the cost will be by 2029.
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the relative merits of selling bonds as part of quantitative tightening, verses disposing of them at maturity.
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Bank of England's policy to sell bonds, in the light of the US Federal Reserve and European Central Bank practice of disposing of bonds through maturation.
To ask His Majesty's Government what arrangements they have made to commemorate the 85th anniversary of the 1940 proposal for the establishment of the Franco–British Union in 2025.
To ask His Majesty's Government why the National School of Government was closed, and whether they have any plans to establish an equivalent institution in place of Civil Service Learning and the Government Campus.
To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they have made with implementing the Floating Offshore Wind Manufacturing Investment Scheme to enable the development of port infrastructure for the successful bids from Port Talbot and the Port of Cromarty Firth.
