Lord Faulkner of Worcester: My Lords, I welcome that Answer. The Railway Industry Association report is indeed excellent and the case it makes for a rolling programme of electrification is unanswerable. Can the Minister confirm that the Government are committed to decarbonising the railway by no later than 2050? If so, do they accept that the most effective and beneficial way to deliver that is a steady, stable stream...
Lord Faulkner of Worcester: The noble Lord, Lord Pendry, has withdrawn from the debate, so I call the noble Baroness, Lady Boycott.
Lord Faulkner of Worcester: My Lords, I am unable to call the noble Baroness, Lady Mobarik, so I call the noble Lord, Lord, Browne of Belmont.
Lord Faulkner of Worcester: My Lords, there are three Deputy Speakers in the Chamber at the moment—or four if we include the Lord Speaker, who of course has been promoted from Senior Deputy Speaker. We welcome him. It has been a pleasure to work with the noble Lord, Lord Fowler, as Lord Speaker. We had marvellous meetings on Thursdays, where we would talk through the business due to come up the following week and pick...
Lord Faulkner of Worcester: Does any other noble Lord in the Chamber wish to speak? If not, I will ask the noble and learned Lord, Lord Mance, to reply.
Lord Faulkner of Worcester: My Lords, the following Members in the Chamber have indicated that they wish to speak: the noble Lords, Lord Campbell of Pittenweem, Lord Anderson of Ipswich and Lord Lansley. I call the noble Lord, Lord Campbell of Pittenweem.
Lord Faulkner of Worcester: We now come to the consideration of Commons reasons and amendments on the Overseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill. I will call Members to speak in the order listed. When there are no counterpropositions, as for Motions C and D, the only speakers are those listed, who may be in the Chamber or remote. When there are counterpropositions, any Member in the Chamber may speak...
Lord Faulkner of Worcester: My Lords, the Hybrid Sitting of the House will resume. I ask Members to respect social distancing.
Lord Faulkner of Worcester: My Lords, the time allowed for this business has now elapsed. I apologise to the five noble Lords whom I have not been able to call. Sitting suspended.
Lord Faulkner of Worcester: We now come to the 20 minutes allocated for Back-Bench questions. I ask that questions and answers be brief so that I can call the maximum number of speakers.
Lord Faulkner of Worcester: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the decision by the World Snooker Championship to refuse entry to fans that are considered clinically vulnerable to the event at the Crucible Theatre in May, and (2) the consistency of the decision with (a) government guidelines, and (b) equality legislation.
Lord Faulkner of Worcester: To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they had with the World Snooker Championship, prior to its decision to exclude clinically vulnerable people from attending the event at the Crucible Theatre in May
Lord Faulkner of Worcester: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure that disabled people will be allowed to attend sporting competitions, including events that are part of the pilot programme enabling the safe return of mass gatherings, as COVID-19 regulations ease in England.
Lord Faulkner of Worcester: My Lords, the six English clubs that have signed up to this grotesque project have, in the words of Stephen Fry on social media yesterday, “brought together the whole divided nation, indeed all of Europe—everyone united in disgust & revulsion at such greed and stupidity.” I look forward to hearing more in due course about how the Government plan to stop it. Meanwhile, I welcome the...
Lord Faulkner of Worcester: My Lords, is the Minister aware that there is a group of Green Party members who call themselves Greens for HS2? They say on social media: “we should support HS2 because it has a big role in a low-CO2 sustainable transport network for the UK in the 2030s and beyond. HS2 supports our sustainable transport goals, nationally and locally.” Does the Minister agree that our HS2 project will...
Lord Faulkner of Worcester: We now come to the group consisting of Amendment 53. Anyone wishing to press this amendment to a Division must make that clear in the debate.
Lord Faulkner of Worcester: My Lords, I have received a request to speak after the noble Baroness, Lady Lister, from the noble Lord, Lord Watson of Invergowrie.
Lord Faulkner of Worcester: My Lords, the Hybrid Sitting of the House will now continue. I ask Members to respect social distancing.
