Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Bill

I agree precisely with what the noble and right reverend Lord has just said. As was said earlier ...

That highlights the final point I want to make. Before this Bill proceeds any further, would it n...

My Lords, I rise to make my maiden speech in this House. First, I thank the staff of all departme...

My Lords, it falls to me to congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Horam, on an excellent and thoughtf...

My Lords, I echo the noble Lord, Lord Wigley, in welcoming the noble Lord, Lord Horam, and congra...

My Lords, I, too, congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Horam, on his maiden speech, which was an ext...

My Lords, I begin by congratulating the noble Lord, Lord Horam, on his maiden speech, and by draw...

My Lords, I start with two general observations about the Bill. The first concerns process and th...

My Lords, there will be many echoes and repetitions this afternoon and evening, and I make no exc...

My Lords, I will try to outline my thoughts on the Bill without going into too much detail since ...

My Lords, the note handed out by the Minister on 10 October stated:

“The Bill takes forward...

My Lords, I refer to my entry in the register of interests as president of Capability Scotland. I...

My Lords, I have three reasons for wishing to speak in this debate. First, I am a former member a...

My Lords, I am very pleased to take part in this Bill, even from one row back, and to have had th...

My Lords, I join the chorus of critics of this blunderbuss of a Bill. It is quite a big chorus, w...

My Lords, I need not detain your Lordships for long because so much that needs to be said has alr...

My Lords, despite government attempts to allay fears about this Bill, as we have been hearing tod...

My Lords, as the Minister has said, we would all like to know who is buying power and influence a...

My Lords, like many noble Lords who have spoken, I regard Part 1 of this Bill as being probably w...

My Lords, the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Derby, in his evocative speech, described the ...

My Lords, I declare an interest as a retired member of Unite.

The briefing circulated about...

My Lords, the Bill takes us back to the insulting doctrine that trade unions are the enemy within...

My Lords, I begin with an apology to my noble friend on the Front Bench and to the House for havi...

My Lords, like many other noble Lords I have an interest in the Bill through my involvement with ...

My Lords, it is always a privilege to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Lister of Burtersett, and, ...

My Lords, I shall speak only on Part 2. I must first declare some non-pecuniary interests. I am a...

Does the noble Baroness not realise as a lawyer that this is a goldmine for lawyers?

That is the other possibility, which I had not considered. It will undoubtedly increase the work ...

My Lords, to be honest I was going to home, because I am number 30 on the list and I have listene...

It was not a terrible experience at all; it was all part of the fun of local politics and local c...

Spoken like a true democrat.

The point is that the Bill is confusing. People cannot see the...

My Lords, I declare an interest as a charity lawyer of long standing and founder of the firm Bate...

Very few people know more about charities and their activities than the noble Lord, but is he not...

My Lords, I think that the Charity Commission can do the job. Perhaps I may read a couple of pass...

My Lords, I begin by declaring my interests. I have worked both as an executive and as a voluntee...

My Lords, I follow the noble Lord, Lord Judd, with as much trepidation as I did some 40 years ago...

I apologise for interrupting the noble Lord but does he agree that the Permanent Secretary is pro...

I entirely agree. Indeed, any lobbyist worth his or her salt is going to make quite certain that ...

My Lords, this is the Bill that the Government told us would restore faith in politics, regulate ...

My Lords, I warmly welcome the noble Lord, Lord Horam, and I congratulate him on his maiden speec...

My Lords, this has been a vigorous debate with a wide range of opinions forcefully expressed arou...

Will the Minister accept that if a Minister meets lobbyists of that sort, although there may well...

I take the point that the noble Baroness makes. She has said to me off the Floor of the House tha...

With respect, that is a worry, because that is the kind of thing that the Minister should have be...

It shows my ignorance more than anything. The Bill team has a Keeling schedule, and it will be di...

As the Minister has just said, rightly, that it is important to look at the effect on charities a...

I am conscious of a number of meetings with ACEVO, the NCVO and a number of other organisations o...

I was very confused by the quote that my noble friend read from the Electoral Commission, which r...

My Lords, I was about to come to precisely that distinction because it seems to me to be the nub ...

My Lords—

May I just finish my point? We had been through two elections with that language and charities do...

I thank the noble Lord for giving way. He may not be able to answer my next point tonight. Howeve...

I hesitate to go into a definition of politics as the noble Lord, Lord Norton, will immediately c...

It might be beneficial for all of us if the Minister and his advisers were to say how far the Cha...

I accept—and have also had it said to me in the Corridors—that we need to make sure that the guid...

My Lords, we are talking about unions with a membership of more than 10,000, as I understand it; ...

However, we are not talking about the smallest unions.

I take the point from, I think, the ...

I think it was my noble friend Lord, Lord Monks, who raised that point. The Minister has not yet ...

My Lords, the Government are concerned that there is insufficient public understanding when, for ...

Is the Minister aware that that is not the reason given in the explanatory document?

My Lords, we will return to the explanatory document at a later stage. This has been an extremely...

I wonder whether the Minister will address the concerns of local action groups, as opposed to cha...

I am sorry; I did not hear the noble and learned Lord.

I was asking about local action groups as opposed to charities.

My Lords, local action groups, if they are not campaigning for or against a particular candidate ...

The Minister obviously did not hear my speech. I referred to the situation where a local action g...

In the case of Kidderminster Hospital, which I think was one of the examples quoted, there was in...