Lord Swire: My Lords, Amendment 168AZA stands in my name. When I first tabled this in Committee, it was supported by my noble and learned friend Lord Garnier—who is his place and will, I hope, be saying something about it shortly—and my noble friend Lord Soames of Fletching. However, due to my complete incompetence, they seem to have fallen off this time, although I know that they are here—one...
Lord Swire: To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to (1) revisit, or (2) replace, police regulations to enable the easier dismissal of police officers who have committed misconduct.
Lord Swire: My Lords, an additional pressure on farming and the farming community is the age of farmers. One traditional pathway for getting younger farmers into farming was through our county farms, but many of those have been sold off by councils around the country. What can the Minister say to encourage younger people to get on the first rung of the ladder into farming in order to bring down the...
Lord Swire: My Lords, it is a very great pleasure to follow on from some of the speeches we have had so far in this debate today, not least the noble Lord, Lord St John—I second him in his praise for Tusk, an organisation for which I have raised money in the past and of which I know he continues to be a trustee—and the noble Lord, Lord Selkirk, about his cousin Iain Douglas-Hamilton, who I met in...
Lord Swire: My Lords, a more sensitive soul might be somewhat disheartened, having sat here for a large part of this debate only for the entire Chamber to empty at the very thought of me saying anything at all, but I will do my best. Perhaps I am getting an early reputation in this place already. I will speak to the amendment in my name and those of my noble and learned friend Lord Garnier and my noble...
Lord Swire: I draw attention to my entry in the register of interests. I ask, gently, whether my noble and learned friend the Minister would not agree that it is worth reminding ourselves that some of these countries—indeed, all those we talked about in the last hour—are Commonwealth countries, including Uganda, India and Ghana. It is worth remembering that Rwanda is not only a Commonwealth country...
Lord Swire: To ask His Majesty's Government whether foreign nationals entering the UK from Schengen countries are subject to the same rules on the validity of passports as UK nationals travelling to Schengen countries.
Lord Swire: One of the reasons that wifi use on trains is perhaps a little low, as my noble friend says, is because it is so hit and miss. I have been involved in an energetic correspondence with Mr Mark Hopwood, the managing director of GWR. I say energetic. It is energetic on my part, but less energetic perhaps on his; an acknowledgement would be a start and an answer even better. The truth is that we...
Lord Swire: My Lords, we listen with some amazement—
Lord Swire: My Lords, I apologise for being a bit too quick, which is more than you can say for any of the trains travelling to the south-west. In the south-west, we look and listen in envy to talk of chopping off bits of time on the cross-Pennine railway and others. That is not a luxury we have; we have only one railway beyond Exeter linking the whole south-west peninsula. If Dawlish goes down, we have...
Lord Swire: My Lords, I crave your Lordships’ indulgence as a relatively new Member of the House—in fact, you can still smell the leather on my satchel. I came into the House only towards the tail end of last year, so I was not even here when this Bill came from the other place. As those who know me will be aware, I was a Minister of State for Northern Ireland between 2010 and 2012 and continue to...
Lord Swire: My Lords, one of the advantages of speaking relatively late on in a debate such as this is that it affords one the opportunity to hear so many contributions from noble Lords and the passionate positions that many, quite understandably, have. On the whole, this debate has been conducted in a very even-handed way, and I congratulate my noble friend the Minister on setting the tone right at the...
Lord Swire: To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the case for applying the same rate of VAT to building repairs and maintenance as to the construction of new homes.
Lord Swire: I am most grateful to my noble friend, but she will have to concede that new building emits 48 megatonnes of carbon dioxide in the UK each year—equal to the total emissions for the whole of Scotland, and that is before you get to the emissions coming out of the SNP headquarters as we speak. Conversely, if we are serious about addressing climate change, we should look at refitting and...
Lord Swire: When Putin is eventually dragged in front of the ICC, can we also add to the charge sheet the illegal munitions that he used against the people of Syria?
Lord Swire: My Lords, one of the reasons I voted, rather reluctantly, to remain in the EU at the time of the referendum was that I could not see a way around a border between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the EU. I could not see my way around that for many months; indeed, when I was in the other place I tabled an amendment that I hoped would break through the logjam. It was not selected by the...
Lord Swire: I extend my congratulations to Humza Yousaf. Can my noble friend confirm that the Secretary of State for Scotland in early discussions with the new First Minister will discuss the expansion and refurbishment of the nuclear fleet? Will he confirm that that will entail added jobs and the expansion of Faslane in Scotland?
Lord Swire: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to reduce the amount of foreign national prisoners in England and Wales.
Lord Swire: To ask His Majesty's Government what was the cost to the public purse for providing translators for foreign national prisoners in each of the last five years.