Lord Monson: The noble Baroness, Lady Hayter, made her argument extremely well but are she and her supporters aware that, 50-odd years ago, only two groups of people in the world could vote at the age of 18? The first comprised citizens of the Soviet Union, where you could vote at 18 provided you voted for the Communist Party. The second group consisted of white South Africans, who made up about 20 per...
Lord Monson: If one is thinking of opting for weekend voting, it would be preferable to choose a Sunday rather than a Saturday. Of course, it is true that many shops and places of entertainment are open on Sundays nowadays but not nearly as many as are open on a Saturday, when there are a great many choices which the average voter might prefer to queuing up at a polling station. If one wants to optimise...
Lord Monson: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether airline passengers in an economy-class cabin who have paid a supplement for seats with extra leg room or width but who receive the same catering on the same terms as all other passengers in that cabin, and who do not enjoy the privileges of a dedicated check-in desk or access to airport lounges, are treated as economy-class passengers for the purposes...
Lord Monson: My Lords, I join other noble Lords in congratulating the noble Lord, Lord Young, on what I found to be an exceptionally interesting and thought-provoking speech. One hopes that the Government will lose no time in implementing his recommendations. The Motion refers to both health and safety legislation and the compensation culture. Of the two, it is really the latter that is the villain of the...
Lord Monson: To ask the Chairman of Committees what is the cost, when bought in bulk, of a sheet of embossed House of Lords writing paper in A4 and A5 sizes.
Lord Monson: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether foreign nationals suspected of involvement in terrorism who are given indefinite leave to remain in the United Kingdom are automatically entitled, after a period of years, to be granted (a) British citizenship, and (b) the right to vote in general, local and European elections.
Lord Monson: My Lords, I agree with a great deal of the argument proposed by the noble Lord, Lord Tomlinson, although I do not claim overnight allowance. I agree with his argument about fairness-or absence of fairness, as the case may be-and with his contention that the proposed changes will not, as is hoped, satisfy elements of the media or the public. I turn briefly to a point made by the noble Lord,...
Lord Monson: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the hourly operational cost of police helicopters, including fuel, maintenance and repairs, depreciation and police remuneration.
Lord Monson: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether bus drivers can prevent would-be passengers with well-behaved dogs from boarding on the ground that one or more individuals on the bus may object to dogs on cultural or religious grounds.
Lord Monson: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will alter air passenger duty so that passengers flying to the West Indies will not have to pay more than those flying to more distant destinations such as the Pacific coast of Canada and the United States.
Lord Monson: My Lords, the gracious Speech emphasised the Government's commitment to freedom, fairness and responsibility-an admirable set of objectives on which I congratulate the coalition. How do specific legislative proposals in the gracious Speech measure up to these criteria? One of today's themes is agriculture. The space allotted to agriculture in the Conservative manifesto was rather thin and...
Lord Monson: My Lords, I have no objection at all to the purpose of this amendment but I quibble with some of the wording. As anyone with the slightest knowledge of Greek will be aware-Heaven knows, my Greek is sketchy in the extreme-"homophobia" does not mean a dislike of homosexuals. If it means anything at all, it means an aversion to one's own kind. The press love the words "homophobia" and...
Lord Monson: My Lords, following the noble Baroness, Lady Morris, not only are there no doubt a number of candidates who would much rather not reveal their sexual preferences to anyone, even if the answers are anonymous, there are surely a number of candidates who are disabled in some way which is not visible to third parties who also want to keep quiet about it. In view of proposed new subsection (11)...
Lord Monson: Perhaps the noble Lord would quickly answer my question about whether objective aptitude tests would be allowed. That would solve a lot of problems.
Lord Monson: My Lords, I shall pick up the point made by the noble Baroness, Lady Morris, from the Conservative Front Bench. I ask the noble Lord, Lord Lester, whether, if his amendment were to be adopted, it would be entirely illegal for employers to require older employees, over the age of 65, to undergo periodic aptitude tests so as to determine objectively whether they are still fully up to the job....
Lord Monson: Does the noble Baroness agree that while it may be possible for a large employer to move an older employee to a less demanding job, it will not be possible for a small firm which has only one, two or three employees.
Lord Monson: My Lords, as the noble Lord, Lord Carlile, said, some individuals for one reason or another do not possess a credit or debit card and are therefore obliged to pay cash for their airline tickets, and it would be wrong to prevent such individuals from flying altogether. However, does the noble Baroness agree that, if someone pays cash for their tickets, they should be subjected to the most...
Lord Monson: My Lords, in order to help us to make up our minds about the first amendment in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Stoddart, will the noble Baroness the Leader of the House tell us whether there is any other legislature in the developed world whose Members are obliged to sign a solemn declaration that they will behave themselves and will refrain from cheating or engaging in other forms of...
Lord Monson: My Lords, I support the Motion moved by the noble Earl, Lord Howe, for three good reasons. The first is that it would restore the situation to what the Government consistently declared for month after month they wanted, and almost certainly privately still would want but are reluctant to admit for fear of irritating their Back-Benchers in the other place, so many of whom are infuriated by the...
Lord Monson: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether membership of the National Black Police Association is open to all police officers, irrespective of ethnic background.
