To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, further to the Interministerial Standing Committee Meeting Communiqué - 17 February 2026, updated 9 March 2026, what the Memorandum of Understanding on the Sewel Convention will contain.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, further to the Interministerial Standing Committee Meeting Communiqué - 17 February 2026, updated 9 March 2026, what the Memorandum of Understanding on the Sewel Convention will contain.

Further to that point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. The issues raised in the Cabinet note that has, I understand, been leaked to journalists are important and the Government take them seriously. The Sewel convention is an important framework for the role in which the UK Government respect the devolved...

Further to that point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. The issues raised in the Cabinet note that has, I understand, been leaked to journalists are important and the Government take them seriously. The Sewel convention is an important framework for the role in which the UK Government respect the devolved...

On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. Has the Speaker received any notice of a statement from the Government following the question from my hon. Friend the Member for Arbroath and Broughty Ferry (Stephen Gethins) to the Prime Minister this morning regarding the contents of a memo from the...

On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. Has the Speaker received any notice of a statement from the Government following the question from my hon. Friend the Member for Arbroath and Broughty Ferry (Stephen Gethins) to the Prime Minister this morning regarding the contents of a memo from the...

A research briefing on the Sewel Convention and legislative consent, examining the development of the convention and consent procedures in the UK Parliament, Scottish Parliament, Senedd and Northern Ireland Assembly

A research briefing on the Sewel Convention and legislative consent, examining the development of the convention and consent procedures in the UK Parliament, Scottish Parliament, Senedd and Northern Ireland Assembly

Lords motion to take note of the first report of the Constitution Committee on The Governance of the Union: Consultation, Co-operation and Legislative Consent (HL 13). Agreed to on question.

Lords motion to take note of the first report of the Constitution Committee on The Governance of the Union: Consultation, Co-operation and Legislative Consent (HL 13). Agreed to on question.

My Lords, the Constitution Committee has published a number of insightful reports on the governance of the union. Among the most significant was the 2022 publication Respect and Co-operation: Building a Stronger Union for the 21st Century. This report meticulously highlighted the worrying deterioration in relations between the UK Government...

My Lords, the Constitution Committee has published a number of insightful reports on the governance of the union. Among the most significant was the 2022 publication Respect and Co-operation: Building a Stronger Union for the 21st Century. This report meticulously highlighted the worrying deterioration in relations between the UK Government...

My name is on the list, but I have withdrawn from the debate because I am moving an amendment in the Chamber—but I am very interested in the issue. That is why I am here.

3.58 pm

My name is on the list, but I have withdrawn from the debate because I am moving an amendment in the Chamber—but I am very interested in the issue. That is why I am here.

3.58 pm

My Lords, it seems to be my turn. I was a member of the Constitution Committee under our excellent chair, the noble Baroness,

Lady Drake. I thank her for the way in which she chaired this report, which I fully supported.

I was particularly concerned at the increasing disregard of the...

My Lords, it seems to be my turn. I was a member of the Constitution Committee under our excellent chair, the noble Baroness,

Lady Drake. I thank her for the way in which she chaired this report, which I fully supported.

I was particularly concerned at the increasing disregard of the...

I have never been a member of the Constitution Committee; I have asked regularly to become a member and have regularly been rejected. It is my youth and exuberance, I think, that are not there; I am working on both.

I can speak only of Scotland, but I think this is...

I have never been a member of the Constitution Committee; I have asked regularly to become a member and have regularly been rejected. It is my youth and exuberance, I think, that are not there; I am working on both.

I can speak only of Scotland, but I think this is...

My Lords, it is a real pleasure to follow the noble Lord, Lord Kerr of Kinlochard. I cannot understand why he has not been appointed to the Constitution Committee. I make my formal declaration: he will be nominated collectively by us as soon as possible. We need his forensic examination.

It...

My Lords, it is a real pleasure to follow the noble Lord, Lord Kerr of Kinlochard. I cannot understand why he has not been appointed to the Constitution Committee. I make my formal declaration: he will be nominated collectively by us as soon as possible. We need his forensic examination.

It...

My Lords, I, too, welcome this report from the Constitution Committee and the fact that it is one of several produced by the committee on the working of our devolved system of government. It has done a commendable job in analysing the process of inter-institutional relations within the UK and...

My Lords, I, too, welcome this report from the Constitution Committee and the fact that it is one of several produced by the committee on the working of our devolved system of government. It has done a commendable job in analysing the process of inter-institutional relations within the UK and...

My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Drake, the members of the Constitution Committee and the committee clerks for an excellent, comprehensive report, which I know will make essential reading for Ministers in this place and in the devolved legislatures. It will also be of particular interest to all...

My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Drake, the members of the Constitution Committee and the committee clerks for an excellent, comprehensive report, which I know will make essential reading for Ministers in this place and in the devolved legislatures. It will also be of particular interest to all...

Who knows what will happen in the future? They used to sell tickets for the Devolution Committee, which my noble and learned friend Lord Irvine chaired in 1998. They were wonderful affairs, setting up devolution right across the country—including, later, in Northern Ireland. The committee did a great job, but...

Who knows what will happen in the future? They used to sell tickets for the Devolution Committee, which my noble and learned friend Lord Irvine chaired in 1998. They were wonderful affairs, setting up devolution right across the country—including, later, in Northern Ireland. The committee did a great job, but...

My Lords, I was amused to hear from the noble Lord, Lord Kerr, about the lack of activity of the noble Lord, Lord Cameron, during the referendum. Unlike the noble Lord, I was involved in that campaign; my job was to be sent along, by my Labour and Liberal Democrat...

My Lords, I was amused to hear from the noble Lord, Lord Kerr, about the lack of activity of the noble Lord, Lord Cameron, during the referendum. Unlike the noble Lord, I was involved in that campaign; my job was to be sent along, by my Labour and Liberal Democrat...

My Lords, I pay tribute to the noble Baroness, Lady Drake, for her very clear presentation of the report and all the work that she did on this report and many others as chairman of the committee. She did an excellent job.

Devolution is about difference. It involves recognising that the...

My Lords, I pay tribute to the noble Baroness, Lady Drake, for her very clear presentation of the report and all the work that she did on this report and many others as chairman of the committee. She did an excellent job.

Devolution is about difference. It involves recognising that the...

My Lords, there are moments in political life when structures matter and there are moments when tone matters. There are moments—rarer, but no less important—when what matters most is constitutional clarity: the discipline of understanding where authority lies, who is responsible and how the pieces of a great union fit...

My Lords, there are moments in political life when structures matter and there are moments when tone matters. There are moments—rarer, but no less important—when what matters most is constitutional clarity: the discipline of understanding where authority lies, who is responsible and how the pieces of a great union fit...

My Lords, I thank my noble friend Lady Drake for securing this excellent debate and the Constitution Committee for its report and the interest it continues to show in this area. As the spokesperson for the Cabinet Office as well as the Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland Offices, I recognise...

My Lords, I thank my noble friend Lady Drake for securing this excellent debate and the Constitution Committee for its report and the interest it continues to show in this area. As the spokesperson for the Cabinet Office as well as the Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland Offices, I recognise...