Lord Black of Brentwood: My Lords, I am extremely grateful to all noble Lords who have taken part in what has been an incredibly important debate. To use a musical analogy, we have heard a stirring theme and variations. We have heard so many powerful illustrations from noble Lords with huge expertise in their areas of the clear and present danger to music education from the perfect storm, as the noble Lord, Lord...
Lord Black of Brentwood: My Lords, it is a privilege to lead a debate on what I believe is such a profoundly important subject. I am very grateful to all noble Lords who are taking part, many of whom have huge expertise in this area. I declare an interest as chairman of the Royal College of Music and a governor of Brentwood School. Indeed, for me, Brentwood School is a good place to start, because it was there that I...
Lord Black of Brentwood: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have made an assessment of the number of pupils who took GCSE Music in the last academic year.
Lord Black of Brentwood: My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper, and I declare an interest in the subject as chairman of the Royal College of Music.
Lord Black of Brentwood: I thank my noble friend for that Answer, but he should be in no doubt that the situation of GCSE music in schools is very grave. The number of pupils completing it fell by 7% last year, which means a fall of 23% since 2010, with one in five schools not offering it at all last year. This is undoubtedly the fault of the EBacc, which punishes arts subjects at the expense of sciences. Does my...
Lord Black of Brentwood: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they plan to undertake any consultation before bringing forward proposals to ban gay conversion therapy; if so, which stakeholders they plan to consult; and what is the timetable.
Lord Black of Brentwood: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 2 May (HL7044), whether any request had been made by the Metropolitan Police Service to extend the funding for Operation Grange beyond the end of September 2018; and if so, by how much, over what further period, and for what purpose; and what has been the total spent on Operation Grange to date.
Lord Black of Brentwood: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether any funding requests other than Operation Grange have been received from the Metropolitan Police Service in the last year relating to the search for missing children; and if so, how much funding has been made available.
Lord Black of Brentwood: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to commemorate the 75th anniversaries of D-day and the Battle of Arnhem in 2019.
Lord Black of Brentwood: I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper and draw attention to the fact that I am a trustee of the Imperial War Museum.
Lord Black of Brentwood: I thank my noble friend for that Answer. Nineteen forty-four was the turning point of the Second World War, and the exceptionally brave troops who landed on D-day and took part in Operation Market Garden, alongside those who fought at Cassino, were absolutely crucial to the liberation of Europe. My noble friend will be aware that the 75th anniversary of these great battles next year is,...
Lord Black of Brentwood: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people have been diagnosed with amyloidosis in each of the last five years for which figures are available.
Lord Black of Brentwood: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to publish the recommendations from A systematic overview of reviews on the effective, safe and appropriate use of anticoagulation medicines: protocol undertaken by the Evidence for Policy and Practice Information and Co-ordinating Centre; and if so, when.
Lord Black of Brentwood: My Lords, we are all indebted to my noble friend Lord Lexden for initiating this debate. I have known him for more than 30 years, yet the enormous historical knowledge and insight which he brings to bear on the work of this House never ceases to amaze me. I declare an interest as a trustee of the Imperial War Museum Foundation. Because of a family connection, I want to speak about the...
Lord Black of Brentwood: My Lords, standing on one leg will at least ensure my brevity. I declare an interest as deputy chairman of Telegraph Media Group. I agree entirely with the comments of my noble friend Lord Cormack and the noble Lord, Lord Pannick, about the advisability of sending this amendment back to the House of Commons. Were we to do so, we should remember a few points on the substance of the noble...
Promoting and improving the welfare of domestic animals – Lord Black of Brentwood.