House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) (Abolition of By-Elections) Bill [HL]

I thank my noble friend for his advice, but the amendment has been moved and I wish to speak to i...

This really is a classic case of wasting the Committee’s time. The noble Lord, Lord Grocott, has ...

The noble Lord, Lord Grocott, has indeed accepted the amendment—

When it comes to the question of wasting time, surely voting on a Motion that has been withdrawn ...

That was indeed the point I wished to make, and which my noble friend has made more eloquently th...

If it may assist the Committee, the House cannot vote on a Motion that has been withdrawn; it can...

I hear what the noble Baroness says. I noted that the noble Lord, Lord Grocott, accepted the amen...

Moved by

Lord Trefgarne

2: Clause 1, page 1, line 2, leave out subsection (1) and ins...

My Lords, this amendment is in my name and that of my noble friend Lord Caithness. I do not inten...

My Lords, this is the first opportunity I have to comment on what has recently taken place. If it...

My Lords, perhaps I may follow my noble and learned friend. The noble Lord, Lord Blunkett, said t...

My Lords, this group of amendments includes a number which would kill the Bill. Amendment 5 would...

My Lords, this is the only opportunity I have to say that it is not often I would do anything whi...

My Lords, I am terribly sorry to intervene but the reason I did not vote on it was exactly the op...

My Lords, I shall try again. I support these amendments because, unlike the opinion expressed by ...

If I heard the noble Viscount correctly, he said that this would remove the largest independent s...

The noble Lord is correct in saying that the Cross-Benchers are independent of the political part...

That is absolutely not correct. I will tell the noble Viscount how I was appointed to this House:...

I well understand that the noble Lord is very deserving of his place. I have the highest regard a...

I am very grateful to my noble friend. Will he tell me whether he takes the Whip? Will he tell me...

As my noble friend is well aware, I take the Whip. I have also voted against the Government on a ...

Does my noble friend not realise that he is insulting some of his colleagues, such as me, by sugg...

I do not for one minute dispute that. I do not mean to insult my noble friend in any way. I do no...

Perhaps I can help my noble friend. I voted against the Government for the first time as a rather...

If I may continue with the quotation:

“Mr Blair’s justification is his dislike of the hered...

I urge the noble Viscount not to take any more interventions because by doing so he rather underl...

I am not sure that the noble Lord’s remarks were not out of order. I am not sure that anything th...

My Lords, I interrupt because I am in an interesting position which many noble Lords are not in. ...

The noble Lord is quite correct that the original creations were due to prime ministerial patrona...

The noble Viscount is speaking to Amendment 2. Will he remind the House of the wording of Amendme...

The wording of Amendment 2 is as printed on the Marshalled List:

“Page 1, line 2, leave out...

I would like—

My noble friend has already interrupted me once. I would like to continue.

I am very grateful. If I could be generous in my advice, I would invite my noble colleague to rem...

As the noble Lord, Lord Grocott, pointed out, the amendments have the effect of damaging the Bill...

My Lords, if the only woman hereditary, the noble Countess, Lady Mar, had been here now, she woul...

I thank the noble Lord for his advice. However, of the 17 minutes for which I have been on my fee...

I apologise for interrupting the noble Viscount, because we are enjoying his speech so much, but ...

I am aware of that principle. Nevertheless, at the time, the noble and learned Lord, Lord Irvine ...

My Lords, I just make a procedural observation. There will be tens or hundreds of thousands of pe...

My Lords, I should like to speak as a Peer appointed to this House and pick up the remarks of my ...

My Lords, before the noble Lord sits down, is he satisfied that 51% of the population is excluded...

I think the rest of the country might take the view that everybody should be elected to this Hous...

My Lords, I want to speak as a Peer appointed through the Appointments Commission. I am, as you k...

My Lords, we have lost sight of one important principle. The Bill of the noble Lord, Lord Grocott...

For somebody who has just been involved in an extensive filibuster on the European withdrawal Bil...

What is offensive is the remark just made by my noble friend. If he had been here, he would have ...

I want to just say, in support of what the noble Lord, Lord Grocott, has said, that my understand...

Before the noble Lord sits down, can I just say in reply that, if he reads the newspapers tomorro...

My Lords, I want to say one thing on Amendment 59, which is the last one in this group and is a n...

My Lords—

The habit has started in the last few years of interrupting people in the middle, which slows eve...

Will the noble Earl declare an interest?

I am a hereditary Peer. It makes no difference, actually, because I am not about trying to preser...

I would also like to speak to Amendment 59, which is in my name and grouped with this, because wh...

Will the noble Earl declare an interest?

In deference to the noble Lord, Lord Campbell-Savours, I am not giving way to him but I declare m...

My Lords, perhaps I could briefly intervene and declare an interest as not being a hereditary Pee...

The noble Lord, Lord Steel, included that provision in order to avoid the kind of exercise we are...

I do not know about that but, having heard what other hereditary Members of the House have said t...

I have listened very carefully to the noble Lord, Lord True. His speech was probably the most sub...

My Lords, I do not see any distinction at all, though I am always grateful for a compliment from ...

Does the noble Lord accept that his point about the disproportionate effect on these Benches is e...

I never like to challenge or take issue with my noble friend, but his argument is—to put it polit...

My Lords—

I will not take further interventions. There are serious points to be made against the Bill and s...

My Lords, very briefly, I am wholly opposed to this whole group of amendments for the very import...

My Lords, I intervene very briefly on this group in the hope that I can speed things up, because ...

Perhaps I may remind the noble Lord that, in the previous Parliament, when he was Chief Whip, on ...

May I just remind the House of whether the Bill became law?

The noble Lord’s party blocked the Bill; that is my point.

I am afraid the noble Lord needs to attend rather more frequently before he makes interventions o...

My Lords, before the noble Lord sits down, he has spoken of abuse—we are in Committee, so I may c...

My Lords, the noble Lord, of all people, should know that we will debate Amendment 33A when we re...

My Lords, when I moved Amendment 2 a little while ago, I should have said that I was speaking at ...

Moved by

Lord Trefgarne

6: Clause 1, page 1, line 4, leave out subsections (2) and (3...

I beg to move.

My Lords, I shall speak to this group of amendments. I also resent the accusation that I have bee...

The noble Earl really must acknowledge what he is doing. It is not a question of amending the by-...

My Lords, if that is the noble Lord’s sole argument he should not have said what he did at Second...

I did that as the party’s Front-Bench constitutional affairs spokesman in another place, welcomin...

My Lords, I have reflected and I have stated exactly what I did. My noble friend also went on to ...

I think I am right in saying that the noble Earl is the 20th Earl of Caithness and his title goes...

Well, some survived that too and doubtless some of us will survive this onslaught against us. My ...

In this short intervention I support the proposition to which I referred earlier that the by-elec...

For the benefit of the public, will the noble Lord declare an interest?

My Lords, there are arrangements for declaring interests set out in Standing Orders. I do not thi...

My Lords, this is all about the by-election process. If the noble Lord, Lord Campbell-Savours, wo...

I want to speak on behalf of my noble friend. He served as a Member of Parliament with great dist...

Thank you for that but in the same way that we have to declare interests, the noble Lord should a...

My Lords, unfortunately, the contributions that have been made have to be dealt with even though ...

I will speak to this group, with particular reference to Amendment 25.

I am conscious that ...

We all value enormously the contribution which my noble friend makes to this House, and I very mu...

I do not accept that point, because if one looks at the appointments to this House, one can argue...

My Lords, I am grateful for all the contributions we have just heard, and I beg leave to withdraw...

Moved by

The Earl of Caithness

10: Clause 1, page 1, line 4, leave out subsections (2...

My Lords, I would like to move Amendment 10, and I am emboldened to do so by what my noble friend...

My Lords, I remember distinctly, because it was only 20 minutes or so ago, that when we began dis...

I do not think the noble Lord is right. Although the amendments are grouped for the convenience o...

My Lords, I have to tell your Lordships that in the first Division the number voting Not Content ...

Moved by

Lord Young of Cookham

My Lords, the business list for today indicates that after we have received the reply to the Urge...

My Lords, I understand the appetite to make progress on the Bill that we have been discussing. Th...

My Lords, can the noble Lord say whether further time will be available for the Committee stage o...

The Government will not be making time for the Bill. Its progress on a Friday is something that w...

My Lords, that is why I proposed that we should keep going on this Bill. We have made good progre...

I am grateful to the noble Lord for giving way. Although I personally have every sympathy for the...

My Lords, although I am no longer a proper member of the usual channels, I can tell the Committee...

I support that. I had hoped that we would have finished the Committee stage of the Bill of the no...

Without committing my noble friend, who is sitting on my left, the Government are open to further...

My Lords—

I accede to what has been said: the noble Lord, Lord Grocott, has reached an agreement through th...

I apologise to the noble Lord, Lord Low, for being so eager to resume the House.