My Lords, when I made a short intervention at an earlier stage in the Bill, the noble Baroness the Leader of the House, in reply, questioned—not seriously, I hope—whether or not I still liked her. The answer is that of course I do. I hold the noble Baroness in the...

My Lords, when I made a short intervention at an earlier stage in the Bill, the noble Baroness the Leader of the House, in reply, questioned—not seriously, I hope—whether or not I still liked her. The answer is that of course I do. I hold the noble Baroness in the...

My Lords—

My Lords—

I am most grateful to the noble Baroness the Leader of the House and I hope I will continue to be nice to her. I just wanted to make the point that, although the opportunity may have been available to the House of Lords to pass the Grocott Bill in...

I am most grateful to the noble Baroness the Leader of the House and I hope I will continue to be nice to her. I just wanted to make the point that, although the opportunity may have been available to the House of Lords to pass the Grocott Bill in...

My Lords, the speakers’ list appears to be almost as fictional as the agreement that we are discussing, so your Lordships will forgive me for jumping up earlier.

The international court’s advisory opinion is clearly based on its conclusion that the sovereignty of Mauritius and the Chagos Islands is indivisible; hence...

My Lords, the speakers’ list appears to be almost as fictional as the agreement that we are discussing, so your Lordships will forgive me for jumping up earlier.

The international court’s advisory opinion is clearly based on its conclusion that the sovereignty of Mauritius and the Chagos Islands is indivisible; hence...

I was not referring to the Chagossians.

I was not referring to the Chagossians.

To ask His Majesty's Government what is the basis for the National Lottery and large-scale prize draws operating in Northern Ireland while British society lotteries are unable to do so.

To ask His Majesty's Government what is the basis for the National Lottery and large-scale prize draws operating in Northern Ireland while British society lotteries are unable to do so.

To ask His Majesty's Government what representations they have received regarding the potential increase in charitable funding in Northern Ireland should large British society lotteries extend their operations there.

To ask His Majesty's Government what representations they have received regarding the potential increase in charitable funding in Northern Ireland should large British society lotteries extend their operations there.

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to permit the operation of large Great Britain-based society lotteries in Northern Ireland.

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to permit the operation of large Great Britain-based society lotteries in Northern Ireland.

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the risk posed by the National Lottery to problem gamblers in relation to that posed by society lotteries.

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the risk posed by the National Lottery to problem gamblers in relation to that posed by society lotteries.

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of large prize draws on the ticket sales of the National Lottery.

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of large prize draws on the ticket sales of the National Lottery.

To ask His Majesty's Government what is their assessment of the complementary nature of the National Lottery and society lotteries.

To ask His Majesty's Government what is their assessment of the complementary nature of the National Lottery and society lotteries.

My Lords, my noble friend Lord Lucas has raised an interesting point. There must be a case for decoupling the gift of a peerage or title from the membership of a legislature. Whether one thinks it a good idea or not, that is the route along which this Bill is...

My Lords, my noble friend Lord Lucas has raised an interesting point. There must be a case for decoupling the gift of a peerage or title from the membership of a legislature. Whether one thinks it a good idea or not, that is the route along which this Bill is...

My Lords, before the noble and learned Lord the Attorney-General sits down, there already are large numbers of Peers who are not Members of this House, so there are already two classes of Peer in that sense. So that part of his argument is spurious.

Also, if the noble and learned...

My Lords, before the noble and learned Lord the Attorney-General sits down, there already are large numbers of Peers who are not Members of this House, so there are already two classes of Peer in that sense. So that part of his argument is spurious.

Also, if the noble and learned...

I am grateful to the noble and learned Lord for his response. I am even more grateful to him for promoting me to an Earl, which I

would love to be. Do not apologise; I am delighted to be an Earl and am enjoying the 30 seconds of earldom that...

I am grateful to the noble and learned Lord for his response. I am even more grateful to him for promoting me to an Earl, which I

would love to be. Do not apologise; I am delighted to be an Earl and am enjoying the 30 seconds of earldom that...

My Lords, before this debate concludes, I think this House owes a great debt of gratitude to the noble Lord, Lord Butler, who has confirmed for the Committee now what I feared in the past: that it is HOLAC’s duty to advise the Prime Minister, the Prime Minister’s duty to...

My Lords, before this debate concludes, I think this House owes a great debt of gratitude to the noble Lord, Lord Butler, who has confirmed for the Committee now what I feared in the past: that it is HOLAC’s duty to advise the Prime Minister, the Prime Minister’s duty to...

Before my noble friend sits down, will she join me in congratulating the Government Chief Whip on the brilliant management of business in the House this afternoon, whereby there is virtually nobody sitting on the Government Benches? Apart from the wonderful noble Baroness, Lady Andrews, and the noble Lord, Lord...

Before my noble friend sits down, will she join me in congratulating the Government Chief Whip on the brilliant management of business in the House this afternoon, whereby there is virtually nobody sitting on the Government Benches? Apart from the wonderful noble Baroness, Lady Andrews, and the noble Lord, Lord...

The manifesto commitment, as the noble Lord has just quoted, is to “remove the right” of hereditary Peers to sit and vote in this House. That right was removed in 1999. We are discussing removing not the right but hereditary Peers from this House. The noble Lord quite rightly said...

The manifesto commitment, as the noble Lord has just quoted, is to “remove the right” of hereditary Peers to sit and vote in this House. That right was removed in 1999. We are discussing removing not the right but hereditary Peers from this House. The noble Lord quite rightly said...

My Lords, I must admit that the thought of the noble Lord, Lord Foulkes, representing my noble friend Lord Strathclyde has slightly set me aside for a moment. I was wondering which particular bit he represented. Was it the bit from the neck up, from the waist down or everything...

My Lords, I must admit that the thought of the noble Lord, Lord Foulkes, representing my noble friend Lord Strathclyde has slightly set me aside for a moment. I was wondering which particular bit he represented. Was it the bit from the neck up, from the waist down or everything...

My Lords, what a pleasure it is to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Smith. I can remember when I spoke in this House at the age that she is now, and I think she did a great deal better job than I did then. I suspect there may be a...

My Lords, what a pleasure it is to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Smith. I can remember when I spoke in this House at the age that she is now, and I think she did a great deal better job than I did then. I suspect there may be a...

My Lords, I feel a sense of déjà vu enveloping me as I listen to this debate. I well remember an almost identical debate that I took part in once before. A Labour Government had been elected by a landslide, led by a pale, male, north London lawyer. His party...

My Lords, I feel a sense of déjà vu enveloping me as I listen to this debate. I well remember an almost identical debate that I took part in once before. A Labour Government had been elected by a landslide, led by a pale, male, north London lawyer. His party...