Mark Drakeford: ...back into the austerity policies that we were promised had been left behind. Here is Theresa May telling the Conservative Party conference in October 2018 that 'austerity is over'. Prime Minister Boris Johnson told The Mail on Sunday in July 2020, a pledge that the Tories would not go back to the austerity of 10 years ago. And yet, that is exactly what we heard on Wednesday of last...
Lord Bruce of Bennachie: ...from the creation of DfID, through the achievement of 0.7% development spending to the present. But, in reality, as the Opposition spokesman pointed out, our reputation in this field was trashed by Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak when the ill thought-through merger of DfID and the FCO was pushed through and aid programmes were slashed. The appointment of the noble Lord, Lord Cameron of...
Baroness Hollins: ...benefited their system greatly. Noble Lords will also recall when, in September 2019, as President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, the noble and learned Baroness, Lady Hale, found Boris Johnson’s prorogation of Parliament to be unlawful, thus terminating the suspension of Parliament. I congratulate my noble and learned friend on her remarkable maiden speech, of no less...
The First Minister: I will say, for the fourth time, that Michael Matheson admits to making mistakes in the handling of this issue. It is astonishing that the party of Boris Johnson—a man who Douglas Ross described as “honest”—can lecture anybody about standards in public life. It is telling that, today, just before First Minister’s question time, the Scottish Parliamentary...
Kevin Foster: ...elections and reach out to a whole new group of Conservative supporters, whether in 1979, in the 1980s, or last time in 2019, when we were lucky enough to get a majority under the leadership of Boris Johnson. It is always a privilege to serve in government, and we need to ensure that we continue to deliver for those who put their faith in us. I welcome in particular the business rates...
Lord Liddle: ...loophole that has been allowed to exist for far too long. In fact, when I looked at the Lords briefing note, it told us that a complaint about this was first made by the London Assembly in 2005. Boris Johnson, when he was Mayor of London, pointed out that this was a legal anomaly in 2012, as did the Law Commission in 2014. No wonder we fail as a country when we cannot manage to get things...
Douglas Chapman: ...to a resurgence in numbers of whales and penguins in the area, especially the king penguins that feed off the fish. Maybe we could have renamed them the Great British penguin—I almost feel that Boris Johnson is back with us—but never mind, we will move on. This is a good news story, because the local government took action to protect some of the most fertile seas on Earth by enforcing...
Therese Coffey: ...full time, can still be less than 20% in terms of out-of-job training. Employers really do need to be listened to. I recall a visit that I made to Severn Trent as part of kickstart; I went with Boris Johnson. The chief executive, the excellent Liv Garfield, was pleading to see changes, because she believed that she would be able to produce at least 50% more apprenticeships that would help,...
Lord Holmes of Richmond: ...on International Paralympic Day and with a year to go to the opening ceremony of the Games, he agreed to play in the centre of Trafalgar Square a game of tennis against the then Mayor of London, Boris Johnson. I will not trouble the House with who was the victor of that sporting clash of titans but, due to the sotto voce classical cursing which was taking place, I feared that at any point...
Lord Murphy of Torfaen: ...was a long time ago that that happened. I understand that, because we now need three people, including the Prime Minister, to consider these matters, but if the Prime Minister is incapacitated—as Boris Johnson was when he had Covid at that time—what do you do? Presumably, you go to the Secretary of State to be able to deal with that issue. I think that is sensible, but I take my noble...
Therese Coffey: ...right hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May), when she was Prime Minister, who made the change to a 100% reduction by law. Those legal targets matter. We should also recognise that it was Boris Johnson who really made a difference at COP26. He brought nature and the world together to make sure that we would keep up the momentum. There is no doubt in my mind that covid was a bit...
The First Minister: First of all, to get a lecture on principles and integrity from the party that gave us Boris Johnson is quite something. In a week when Douglas Ross’s party’s flagship policy on Rwanda was torn to pieces by the Supreme Court—[ Interruption .]
Lord Hannan of Kingsclere: ...Churchill. There have been 1,012 such biographies and his was the 1,010th, but I think it is at or close to the top of almost every critic’s list, above even, dare I say, The Churchill Factor by Boris Johnson, in which the great war leader is—oddly enough, who would have thought it?—reimagined as a witty after-dinner speaker and right-wing journalist who is cruelly excluded by the...
Alex Cole-Hamilton: I am grateful for Daniel Johnson’s intervention, which cuts to the heart of the issue. The background chatter behind the decisions that were taken and the culture that they reveal are as important as the decisions themselves. We all agreed that the Government would make mistakes, but if those decisions were backed by science they would stand up to scrutiny by the inquiry that we all knew...
Fleur Anderson: ...bridge will be reopened. It is a grade 2 listed heritage suspension bridge. It was built in 1887 but closed to motor vehicles in April 2019 when fissures were found, making it dangerous. Boris Johnson said at Prime Minister’s questions here in this place on 21 October 2020 that it would be reopened, but it is still closed. I held an Adjournment debate on the issue in June last year,...
Lord Bilimoria: ...help from Innovate UK, developed the world’s first hydrogen-powered train, hydroFLEX. As President of the CBI at the time, I was on board that train with His Majesty the King and Prime Minister Boris Johnson. It was a great example of universities, Governments and business working together. What are the Government doing to promote this phenomenal collaboration even further? AI was...
Simon Clarke: ...for my constituents or for my country, and I believe that a move, as the Growth Commission has suggested this morning, to a zonal planning system along the lines suggested by my right hon. Friend Boris Johnson when he was Prime Minister and by my right hon. Friend the Member for Newark (Robert Jenrick) when he was Secretary of State, would be the right thing to do. Schroders has estimated...
David Lammy: ...International Criminal Court, as does the Labour party, but he failed to answer whether the Government recognise its jurisdiction to address the conduct of all parties in Gaza. As Prime Minister, Boris Johnson rejected that jurisdiction and attacked the court. Labour recognises the ICC’s jurisdiction. Can the Minister clarify his Government’s position today? Gaza is in a humanitarian...
Lord Warner: .... I want to speak this evening about making better use of public expenditure, an issue totally ignored in the King’s Speech. First, I will address an old favourite: adult social care, which Boris Johnson promised to fix within a year back in 2019. After a few financial handouts to local government, the Government have given up on fixing social care’s workforce, funding and...
Steve Tuckwell: .... Thanks to the combined efforts of all involved, including the local NHS trust and Hillingdon Council, work has begun on delivering that new hospital. I pay a specific tribute to my predecessor, Boris Johnson, for his tireless efforts in support of Hillingdon Hospital during his time as MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip. He campaigned continuously for the funding to be secured and for the...