It is a privilege to have served on the committee that produced the report that we are debating today. I thank my noble friend Lady Taylor of Bolton for her exemplary introduction and even more for her remarkable skill in drawing out a unanimous conclusion from the committee and the...

It is a privilege to have served on the committee that produced the report that we are debating today. I thank my noble friend Lady Taylor of Bolton for her exemplary introduction and even more for her remarkable skill in drawing out a unanimous conclusion from the committee and the...

My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow the noble Viscount, and it gives me an opportunity to thank him and the other members of the committee for the work which they put in under the obviously skilful chairmanship—if I can use that word—of the noble Baroness, Lady Taylor of...

My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow the noble Viscount, and it gives me an opportunity to thank him and the other members of the committee for the work which they put in under the obviously skilful chairmanship—if I can use that word—of the noble Baroness, Lady Taylor of...

My Lords, I strongly welcome the report. I congratulate my noble friend and her colleagues on producing a unanimous,

thoughtful and forward-looking report, which I hope we can, in effect, endorse today and, in due course, adopt its recommendations.

Taking on the implementation of a manifesto commitment ourselves is surely the...

My Lords, I strongly welcome the report. I congratulate my noble friend and her colleagues on producing a unanimous,

thoughtful and forward-looking report, which I hope we can, in effect, endorse today and, in due course, adopt its recommendations.

Taking on the implementation of a manifesto commitment ourselves is surely the...

My Lords, I thank the committee for its work and its report, and I note the limits of its remit. I support the principle of a retirement age. As an unelected House, there is good reason for us to put in place boundaries where the electorate may decide our fate...

My Lords, I thank the committee for its work and its report, and I note the limits of its remit. I support the principle of a retirement age. As an unelected House, there is good reason for us to put in place boundaries where the electorate may decide our fate...

My Lords, I agree that the committee has done a very good job in answering the questions that it was given. The report is thorough and persuasive, and I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Taylor, and her committee for their work. She and I worked together on the Lord Speaker’s...

My Lords, I agree that the committee has done a very good job in answering the questions that it was given. The report is thorough and persuasive, and I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Taylor, and her committee for their work. She and I worked together on the Lord Speaker’s...

My Lords, I have come to listen as much as to contribute. I particularly look forward to the contributions from the next three speakers on my side of the House who, like me, will all be leaving on 8 July 2029, in my case after nine years of service in...

My Lords, I have come to listen as much as to contribute. I particularly look forward to the contributions from the next three speakers on my side of the House who, like me, will all be leaving on 8 July 2029, in my case after nine years of service in...

My Lords, like the noble Lord, Lord Davies, if I am still around, I will leave your Lordships’ House in July 2029. I shall do so with regret and equanimity. I assure your Lordships that the few observations that I am about to make do not spring from self-interest.

I pay...

My Lords, like the noble Lord, Lord Davies, if I am still around, I will leave your Lordships’ House in July 2029. I shall do so with regret and equanimity. I assure your Lordships that the few observations that I am about to make do not spring from self-interest.

I pay...

Hear, hear!

Hear, hear!

I had the privilege of sitting in Cabinet with James, where he was listened to with the same respect and attention as he was later as a Back-Bench Member of your Lordships’ House. Why should we impair the quality of our proceedings by this act of self-harm?

The committee’s report contains...

I had the privilege of sitting in Cabinet with James, where he was listened to with the same respect and attention as he was later as a Back-Bench Member of your Lordships’ House. Why should we impair the quality of our proceedings by this act of self-harm?

The committee’s report contains...

My Lords, I very much associate myself with those who have congratulated my noble friend Lady Taylor of Bolton, who has performed the trick of delivering unanimous support from people who did not agree with one another on more than one occasion over the 40-odd years that she and I...

My Lords, I very much associate myself with those who have congratulated my noble friend Lady Taylor of Bolton, who has performed the trick of delivering unanimous support from people who did not agree with one another on more than one occasion over the 40-odd years that she and I...

My Lords, at first sight, the “Retirement” section of this report has much to commend it. I welcome the fact that the committee

was looking for a solution that would avoid the need for legislation on this issue, very much for the reason that the noble Lord, Lord Grocott, has...

My Lords, at first sight, the “Retirement” section of this report has much to commend it. I welcome the fact that the committee

was looking for a solution that would avoid the need for legislation on this issue, very much for the reason that the noble Lord, Lord Grocott, has...

My Lords, I was privileged to be a member of the committee, but before I come to the report itself I want to focus on a curiosity: why was the Select Committee set up in the first place? The commitment in the Labour manifesto was very clear: to have a...

My Lords, I was privileged to be a member of the committee, but before I come to the report itself I want to focus on a curiosity: why was the Select Committee set up in the first place? The commitment in the Labour manifesto was very clear: to have a...

My Lords, I too thank my noble friend Lady Taylor of Bolton for introducing this debate, and her and her committee for this impressive report, a model of clarity and brevity. As I have often said, it is an honour and privilege to listen to the depth of expertise in...

My Lords, I too thank my noble friend Lady Taylor of Bolton for introducing this debate, and her and her committee for this impressive report, a model of clarity and brevity. As I have often said, it is an honour and privilege to listen to the depth of expertise in...

My Lords, I am very grateful to even be allowed to speak in this debate. I am one of the recent life peerages, but mine was granted when I was already 80, and I thought it surprising that the current Government would agree to my nomination. I am very pleased...

My Lords, I am very grateful to even be allowed to speak in this debate. I am one of the recent life peerages, but mine was granted when I was already 80, and I thought it surprising that the current Government would agree to my nomination. I am very pleased...

My Lords, my only caveat on what is an excellently written and structured report is that perhaps it would have benefited from asking the people for their view. I have done. Over many years, when I was an elected representative, I asked people for their views on many issues. There...

My Lords, my only caveat on what is an excellently written and structured report is that perhaps it would have benefited from asking the people for their view. I have done. Over many years, when I was an elected representative, I asked people for their views on many issues. There...

My Lords, I have always believed in the supremacy of the House of Commons, and I have therefore always favoured an unelected upper House. I have always thought it right that this House should concentrate on two things: amending and improving legislation which has been initiated by the Government and,...

My Lords, I have always believed in the supremacy of the House of Commons, and I have therefore always favoured an unelected upper House. I have always thought it right that this House should concentrate on two things: amending and improving legislation which has been initiated by the Government and,...

My Lords, the precision, clarity and delivery of this report show what a class act my noble friend Lady Taylor of Bolton is. When I do Learn with the Lords programmes, I explain to students that for every decision in Parliament, the elected House has the last word. There might...

My Lords, the precision, clarity and delivery of this report show what a class act my noble friend Lady Taylor of Bolton is. When I do Learn with the Lords programmes, I explain to students that for every decision in Parliament, the elected House has the last word. There might...

My Lords, it feels strange to be addressing your Lordships’ House on the question of reform of the membership of the House of Lords while not being directly in the crosshairs of the process, as has occurred on every previous occasion. When I re-entered this House as Lord Hawkhurst after...

My Lords, it feels strange to be addressing your Lordships’ House on the question of reform of the membership of the House of Lords while not being directly in the crosshairs of the process, as has occurred on every previous occasion. When I re-entered this House as Lord Hawkhurst after...

My Lords, of those who have already spoken, more than half welcome this report, as do I. I had hoped that all that would remain would be to vote on whether we are in favour of it. I had hoped that the report would have been fully accepted by the...

My Lords, of those who have already spoken, more than half welcome this report, as do I. I had hoped that all that would remain would be to vote on whether we are in favour of it. I had hoped that the report would have been fully accepted by the...

My Lords, it is customary to congratulate the chair of the committee—in this case, the noble Baroness, Lady Taylor—on the report being debated, but I am afraid I cannot do that because it is completely incoherent. Let me explain why. I am going to be 85 at the end of...

My Lords, it is customary to congratulate the chair of the committee—in this case, the noble Baroness, Lady Taylor—on the report being debated, but I am afraid I cannot do that because it is completely incoherent. Let me explain why. I am going to be 85 at the end of...