Results 41–60 of 2000 for (in the 'Commons debates' OR in the 'Westminster Hall debates' OR in the 'Lords debates' OR in the 'Northern Ireland Assembly debates') speaker:Lord Wills

Mesothelioma (Amendment) Bill [HL]: Second Reading (20 Nov 2015)

Lord Wills: What the Minister has just said is so profoundly important that I want to ask him to clarify it a little further. I moved an amendment to the then Mesothelioma Bill precisely to that effect: if there was this gap between the 3% that the insurers were prepared to pay and the 2.25% that the government actuaries thought would be needed, that would be devoted not to the insurance industry’s...

Mesothelioma (Amendment) Bill [HL]: Second Reading (20 Nov 2015)

Lord Wills: My Lords, I, too, rise to support this Bill. I congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Alton, on his persistence in pursuing this issue and on the compelling case that he has made this morning for this Bill. It is a privilege to follow the noble Lord who has just spoken and to have heard all the knowledge and experience that he brings to this debate. Indeed, it is a privilege to have heard all the...

Electoral Registration and Administration Act 2013 (Transitional Provisions) Order 2015 - Motion to Annul (27 Oct 2015)

Lord Wills: The Minister keeps referring to this figure of 96%. Can he be absolutely clear that he accepts that 85% of the eligible population has registered to vote? In other words, 15% of those eligible are not registered. Many noble Lords have made the point in this debate that the process now under way, which the Government are hurrying forward in this way, will prejudice attempts to get that other...

Electoral Registration and Administration Act 2013 (Transitional Provisions) Order 2015 - Motion to Annul (27 Oct 2015)

Lord Wills: The noble Lord raises the question of statistics. Is he aware of the relative registration rates in Conservative and Labour constituencies? I should be interested to know what his figures are for those national data.

Electoral Registration and Administration Act 2013 (Transitional Provisions) Order 2015 - Motion to Annul (27 Oct 2015)

Lord Wills: Actually, I know the answer to the question I asked the noble Lord. I was about to tell him. There is roughly a 6% difference between registration levels in Conservative-held seats and Labour-held seats. That might have changed a little in the last general election, but I doubt by very much. There is a significant difference.

Electoral Registration and Administration Act 2013 (Transitional Provisions) Order 2015 - Motion to Annul (27 Oct 2015)

Lord Wills: I am very grateful to the noble Lord who, with all the authority of his experience and wisdom, raises a very important point about the importance of belief in the integrity of the electoral system. I think everyone agrees with him on that. But does he accept that the integrity of the electoral system involves both the accuracy of the system and its comprehensive coverage? The system cannot...

Electoral Registration and Administration Act 2013 (Transitional Provisions) Order 2015 - Motion to Annul (27 Oct 2015)

Lord Wills: No, my Lords. As I have already said, this is a difficult issue because we are trying to balance competing priorities. Of course the accuracy of the register is important, which is why all sides support the introduction of individual registration and why as a Minister I legislated to bring it into play. There is no question about the importance attached to accuracy. However, it has to be...

Electoral Registration and Administration Act 2013 (Transitional Provisions) Order 2015 - Motion to Annul (27 Oct 2015)

Lord Wills: My Lords, I did not support the fatal amendment put forward by the Liberal Democrats last night because I thought that it was constitutionally inappropriate. However, I shall support this one, not least because, arguably, the constitutional issue at stake today is even more important than the ones that your Lordships debated last night. Those constitutional issues concerned the respective...

Electoral Registration and Administration Act 2013 (Transitional Provisions) Order 2015 - Motion to Annul (27 Oct 2015)

Lord Wills: I am grateful to the noble Lord for that characteristically energetic and vivacious intervention, but we have to make policy on the basis of the evidence available to us. Of course the noble Lord is right that we cannot look into the future, and maybe magically, in the next few months, the electoral register will go from 85% up to, say, 95%, which is probably as close to being comprehensive...

Tax Credits (Income Thresholds and Determination of Rates) (Amendment) Regulations 2015 — Motion to Approve (26 Oct 2015)

Lord Wills: I think I understood the noble Baroness correctly when she said a few moments ago that she accepted that there were circumstances in which this House could withhold approval of a statutory instrument. However, she said that that should not be on the grounds simply because this House disagrees with it—I think I am quoting her directly. Can she therefore say in what circumstances she thinks...

Social Care and Support: Funding — Question (19 Oct 2015)

Lord Wills: My Lords, in view of the undoubted stringency of the forthcoming spending review, and all the pressures on social budgets we have just heard about, what words of comfort can the Minister give that care leavers, who are already an extremely disadvantaged group, will not be further disadvantaged as a result of all these financial pressures?

Government Digital Service — Question (13 Oct 2015)

Lord Wills: My Lords, the previous Government had an excellent record in promoting the use of open data in government. Can the Minister give an assurance that this Government will be equally vigorous in its use in this Parliament?

Proposed Changes to the Standing Orders of the House of Commons — Motion (21 Jul 2015)

Lord Wills: If anyone tables an amendment in the House of Commons to the Government’s proposals, would the Minister expect SNP Members of Parliament to vote on that proposed amendment?

Proposed Changes to the Standing Orders of the House of Commons — Motion (21 Jul 2015)

Lord Wills: On any proposed changes to the Standing Orders, or indeed to legislation that anyone brings forward, would the Minister expect Members of the Scottish National Party to abstain voluntarily from voting on such measures, or to take part in them?

Proposed Changes to the Standing Orders of the House of Commons — Motion (21 Jul 2015)

Lord Wills: My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Butler, has done Parliament a great service by bringing forward this Motion. As he and many others have said, the Government’s proposals are of profound constitutional significance and, as such, they deserve the kind of deliberative scrutiny that this Motion envisages and which the Government are so far refusing to allow. The arguments in favour of the Motion...

Constitution: Gracious Speech — Motion to Take Note (25 Jun 2015)

Lord Wills: My Lords, it was daunting enough to open this debate. It is even more daunting to close it after such a distinguished and compelling succession of speeches. I thank everyone on all sides of the House who took part in the debate. Every single contribution illuminated these extremely important issues. I wish to pick up on only one point made by the noble Lord, Lord Butler, before I turn briefly...

Constitution: Gracious Speech — Motion to Take Note (25 Jun 2015)

Lord Wills: My Lords, in 2007, when the last Labour Government launched their programme of constitutional reform, the political editor of the BBC pronounced that this was all very well but nobody would be talking about it down at the Dog and Duck. Last year, in the aftermath of the Scottish referendum, the same Nick Robinson said that such constitutional issues were, “what politics is really...

Health: Palliative Care — Question (23 Jun 2015)

Lord Wills: My Lords, my father-in-law died this February. He died at home, surrounded by those he loved and who loved him. However, he died in profound agitation because he was denied the palliative care that he so desperately needed. The local GP surgery said that that had to be delivered by the local Macmillan nurse. She was rung repeatedly throughout the day but never answered the phone. Finally, at...

NHS: Innovation — Question for Short Debate (11 Jun 2015)

Lord Wills: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to encourage innovation by NHS England.


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