Lord Grabiner: I respectfully agree with the noble and learned Lord, Lord Brown, and perhaps refer to the point made by the noble Lord, Lord Forsyth. “Might” is less likely than “would”, but it is a realistic possibility, and it is not, with respect, speculative at all; it just means that it could happen in a realistic sense. In those circumstances, if a member of the public might take that view,...
Lord Grabiner: There probably was because no was solicitor engaged. So privilege was not attracted at all.
Lord Grabiner: The language is pretty clear. Subsection (1) of Clause 42 suggests that consent of both is required, while subsection (2) refers to the consent of the recipient alone.
Lord Grabiner: My Lords, I should disclose an interest as having been appointed some years ago now as chairman of the management and standards committee established by News Corp, following the revelation of the phone hacking scandal. I want to say a few words about Amendment 17 in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Strasburger. I respectfully suggest caution as regards whether such an amendment should be...
Lord Grabiner: My Lords, I declare the interests shown under my name in the register. I should also declare that I am an authorised person under the regimes operated by the FCA and the PRA. This part of the Bill is designed to extend the senior managers and certification regime, which replaces the much reduced—or, I should say, criticised—approved persons regime. It introduces a new statutory duty of...
Lord Grabiner: I have two points for the Minister. First, is he telling the House that a decision has been taken not to appeal against that judgment? I could not tell that from the Statement. Secondly, some play is made in the Statement of the fact that no compensation order was made by the learned judge. My understanding is that that issue was not even before him, so it is entirely unsurprising that no...
Lord Grabiner: Does the Minister think that the quality of scrutiny of legislation would improve if we had an elected upper House?
Lord Grabiner: My Lords-
Lord Grabiner: My Lords, at this stage of the debate, as I think the noble Lord, Lord Selsdon, was implying, all the points that could be made have been made, so I can be quite brief. Hamas is a terrorist organisation. By its 1987 charter, it is committed to the destruction of the state of Israel and, for good measure, to the killing of Jews. It has never repudiated its charter, nor has it even considered...
Lord Grabiner: My Lords, before my noble friend sits down for the third time, for which I apologise, she will not be pleased to hear that the definition of "court" in Clause 12(1)(a) includes magistrates' courts.
Lord Grabiner: My Lords, with great respect, I do not think it right to say that it has been a matter purely for police discretion. In order to secure some form of anonymity order under the common law approach, until the Davis case, it was still necessary to secure agreement from the judge.
Lord Grabiner: My Lords, it is always a great pleasure to follow the noble Lord, Lord Lester. It is a particularly pleasurable experience today because I find myself in complete agreement with everything that he has said, not least about the rather silly piece in the Guardian last week. Two key points come out of the Law Lords' decision in the Davis case. First, they decided that the common law should not...
Lord Grabiner: My Lords, I am also grateful for the opportunity to speak in the gap, as rapidly as I can. I declare an interest as chairman of the governors at the London School of Economics. The director of the LSE, Sir Howard Davies, promptly rejected the UCU resolution, and that appears clearly and firmly on the front of the website. The Russell Group did the same thing. On these occasions I believe that...
Lord Grabiner: My Lords, this point has been fully debated at all stages in your Lordships' House, so I shall not retrace the whole argument. I will, however, make just three points. First, the concern of the noble Baroness, Lady Noakes, is to protect the integrity of the people at the coalface—the men and women who sit on audit committees. The noble Lord, Lord Lee of Trafford, made a similar point. That...
Lord Grabiner: My Lords, I agree with what the noble Lord, Lord Razzall, had to say on this subject. We ought to focus on the substance or merits of the amendment rather than complaints made about the behaviour of the Minister in another place or elsewhere over cups of tea. If I may say so, I took the opening remarks of the noble Lord, Lord Hodgson, on this matter as an uncharacteristic expression of...
Lord Grabiner: My Lords, I, too, congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Patten of Barnes, on having secured this fascinating debate. I also congratulate him on his speech, which gave us an excellent big-picture overview. I want to concentrate on the approach to research assessment in the social sciences. I confess this is not a big-picture issue, and a number of other noble Lords have dealt with this issue in...
Lord Grabiner: My Lords, I will be extremely brief because I suspect that all the points that could have been made have already been made. Is it not plain that the examples given by the noble Lord, Lord Tebbit, are obviously capable of amounting to glorification? More to the point, is it not obvious that a jury would be entitled so to conclude? The word "glorify", or "glorification", is a simple English...
Lord Grabiner: My Lords, unfortunately, I cannot be here on Monday, so I hope that I shall be forgiven for putting in my pennyworth on this occasion, even if the amendment is not put to a vote. Like many lawyers, I am quite conservative when it comes to root and branch reform of our constitution. On the whole, I favour the view that if it works, let it be. As a result, I agree with the retention of the...
Lord Grabiner: asked Her Majesty's Government: What is their policy on the approach outlined, in Belgrade and Pristina, by the United States' Under-Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Marc Grossman, for the further implementation of UNSCR 1244.
Lord Grabiner: My Lords, I should begin by declaring a non-interest. I have never hunted in my life. Indeed, I have racked my brains and I have no recollection of ever having sat on a horse. Like other noble Lords, I find it surprising that we spend so much time in this House and in another place debating this subject. One may perhaps be forgiven for thinking that there are other, more pressing issues that...
