Baroness Taylor of Bolton: My Lords, I first congratulate my noble friend Lord Hunt on initiating this debate. Like him—and other speakers—I acknowledge that the NHS is under significant pressure and that there have been charges for a very long time. However, I say to the noble Baroness, Lady Redfern, that, if there is a problem with cost recovery, these regulations are not the answer. I am prompted to intervene in...
Baroness Taylor of Bolton: My Lords, I understand that the Minister realises the concerns of those families who have been affected. He put the case and described how the inquiry was conducted very clearly but, as has been said, there is still quite significant concern outside this House among Members of Parliament and the families concerned. If we are talking about getting reassurance, perhaps it would be useful to...
Baroness Taylor of Bolton: My Lords, will the Minister make sure that working-class women, who played a very large role in this matter, get proper recognition? As a north-west person, is she aware of the campaign in Oldham for a statue for Annie Kenney?
Baroness Taylor of Bolton: I am grateful to the noble Lord for giving way. Does he think it significant, as the previous speaker said, that Lord Weatherill himself tried to change this situation later?
Baroness Taylor of Bolton: Her Majesty's Government how many ectopic pregnancies have been treated in each of the last 10 years, broken down by NHS regions in England.
Baroness Taylor of Bolton: Her Majesty's Government how many deaths have occurred as a result of ectopic pregnancies in each of the last 10 years, broken down by NHS regions in England.
Baroness Taylor of Bolton: Three.
Baroness Taylor of Bolton: My Lords, I agree with the noble and learned Lord, Lord Mackay, that the pressures on Members of Parliament these days in terms of constituency work, emails and so forth are quite astonishing. That is part of the problem and I do not think that family-friendly hours have helped. I congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Butler, on initiating this debate and go along fully with what he suggests...
Baroness Taylor of Bolton: My Lords, I also welcome the debate. I congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Cormack, and agree with much of what he has said. There is general agreement—and has been for some time—that this House is too large and increasing frustration on the part of many Members that nothing has been done before now to address the problem. We need now to think about how we deal with the problem rather than...
Baroness Taylor of Bolton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what arrangements are in place to ensure that Government ministers are able to meet and hold discussions with ministers from Commonwealth countries, especially those from small island states, when they visit London.
Baroness Taylor of Bolton: My Lords, I congratulate the noble Baroness, Lady Andrews, with whom I worked when I was junior education spokesman in the Commons and she was our prime researcher in the House of Commons Library. Thinking about that reminded me just how obsessive certain people on the Conservative Benches were about grammar schools at that time. It also reminded me that in 1979 Bolton was introducing the...
Baroness Taylor of Bolton: My Lords, the Minister has on several occasions mentioned disadvantaged children and disadvantaged families. Does he accept that the most disadvantaged children are from those families where the parents are not motivated and have no educational drive for their children? Even when entering school at the age of five, those children are well behind the rest of their cohort. Would it not be far...
Baroness Taylor of Bolton: My Lords, will the Minister tell the House what representations his department has received for the return of secondary modern schools?
Baroness Taylor of Bolton: Will the Minister recognise that what has happened has happened? We are not talking just about hypotheticals here; we have seen real, calculated violence from a group of Russian supporters. It is very serious, and is it not rather complacent of the Government to say that we will wait to see what happens?
Baroness Taylor of Bolton: My Lords, I join those who have congratulated my noble friend on introducing this debate. The balance of power between government and Parliament should probably be discussed by both Houses on a regular basis, including the case for Parliament having full details of all legislation that it is asked to consider. The noble Lord, Lord Norton, mentioned that in the Commons there have been some...
Baroness Taylor of Bolton: My Lords, will the Minister now relook at the problem of registration in terms of the boundary review? We have been told that many more people are now registered, yet the figures are the old figures. We know that many are still not registered. Surely, it is wrong to press ahead with the boundary review when registration has caused so many difficulties.
Baroness Taylor of Bolton: My Lords, I am very pleased to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Fookes, because some of the points she just made illustrate the kind of information that we were getting about how the committees are working or have been in the past. I start by thanking the Leader for providing this debate and all the leaders for the way they have sought to respond to the problems our report has highlighted. I...
Baroness Taylor of Bolton: Is the Minister aware that a Conservative MP has moved back in with his parents because he cannot afford to buy a home anywhere near here? What signal does that give that we should have confidence in the measures that she is talking about?
Baroness Taylor of Bolton: My Lords, I support the Bill and will ask the Minister to consider one issue that he has not touched upon today. Before that, I will say how much I look forward to the three maiden speeches that we are to hear, particularly that of my noble friend Lord Murphy of Torfaen, whom I know well from our work in another place. He has a distinguished career. He was chair of the Intelligence and...
Baroness Taylor of Bolton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what changes have taken place in the last two years to improve the measurement of babies in the final stages of pregnancy.