To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much her Department has spent on legal fees opposing legal actions brought by Misley Mandarin and other Chagossians living in the British Indian Ocean Territory.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much her Department has spent on legal fees opposing legal actions brought by Misley Mandarin and other Chagossians living in the British Indian Ocean Territory.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to support the indigenous rights of the Chagossian people.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to support the indigenous rights of the Chagossian people.

My Lords, it is always a challenge to follow a bishop, and the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Manchester is no exception. The Prime Minister says that a central aim of the new legislative programme is to strengthen security, the economy, energy and defence. The country is to be...

My Lords, it is always a challenge to follow a bishop, and the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Manchester is no exception. The Prime Minister says that a central aim of the new legislative programme is to strengthen security, the economy, energy and defence. The country is to be...

My Lords, I thought long and hard about which debate on the humble Address I should participate in. My background in local government, regeneration and housing initially pushed me towards the debate yesterday; but since joining your Lordships’ House in January, the questions raised here, conversations with colleagues and the...

My Lords, I thought long and hard about which debate on the humble Address I should participate in. My background in local government, regeneration and housing initially pushed me towards the debate yesterday; but since joining your Lordships’ House in January, the questions raised here, conversations with colleagues and the...

My Lords, as the Chief of the General Staff has recently made starkly clear, Great Britain and NATO are very much in Putin’s crosshairs. We are on an inescapable collision course with a Russia that is on a determined war footing. Many aspects of this conflict have already been under...

My Lords, as the Chief of the General Staff has recently made starkly clear, Great Britain and NATO are very much in Putin’s crosshairs. We are on an inescapable collision course with a Russia that is on a determined war footing. Many aspects of this conflict have already been under...

My Lords, I speak from a Sikh perspective on common concerns for peace and justice in our strife-torn world of today. The poet reminds us that rivers and mountains interpose to make one people implacable foes. It is not only geography that divides our one human family but human greed,...

My Lords, I speak from a Sikh perspective on common concerns for peace and justice in our strife-torn world of today. The poet reminds us that rivers and mountains interpose to make one people implacable foes. It is not only geography that divides our one human family but human greed,...

My Lords, I pay tribute to the hereditary Peers, who gave time and expertise to this House with a true sense of public service and duty passed down over generations. They will be missed.

I begin by declaring my interests. I co-chair and run the APPG on Women, Peace and Security....

My Lords, I pay tribute to the hereditary Peers, who gave time and expertise to this House with a true sense of public service and duty passed down over generations. They will be missed.

I begin by declaring my interests. I co-chair and run the APPG on Women, Peace and Security....

My Lords, I declare an interest as sometime chair and vice-chair of the APPG for the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. I have raised the division of Cyprus many times in your Lordships’ House, and I put on record my gratitude for the immense effort made by the FCDO in...

My Lords, I declare an interest as sometime chair and vice-chair of the APPG for the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. I have raised the division of Cyprus many times in your Lordships’ House, and I put on record my gratitude for the immense effort made by the FCDO in...

My Lords, it is a pleasure to take part in this adjourned debate on the gracious Speech. I would like to cover the area of dual-use technologies and, in doing so, I declare my technology interests as set out in the register as adviser variously to the Crown Estate, to...

My Lords, it is a pleasure to take part in this adjourned debate on the gracious Speech. I would like to cover the area of dual-use technologies and, in doing so, I declare my technology interests as set out in the register as adviser variously to the Crown Estate, to...

My Lords, the gracious Speech was notable for many things, not just the welcome list of Bills. I rather suspect that your Lordships’ House is going to be even busier in the next Session than it was in the last. There are many Bills that we can look forward to...

My Lords, the gracious Speech was notable for many things, not just the welcome list of Bills. I rather suspect that your Lordships’ House is going to be even busier in the next Session than it was in the last. There are many Bills that we can look forward to...

My Lords, His Majesty’s gracious Speech addressed Britain’s security, prosperity and position within an increasingly fractured international order. Yet it made no mention of artificial intelligence, the technological force now profoundly reshaping it.

AI is not just a sectoral or domestic policy issue. It has become foundational to how nations project...

My Lords, His Majesty’s gracious Speech addressed Britain’s security, prosperity and position within an increasingly fractured international order. Yet it made no mention of artificial intelligence, the technological force now profoundly reshaping it.

AI is not just a sectoral or domestic policy issue. It has become foundational to how nations project...

My Lords, yesterday, I had the privilege to visit an exercise being conducted this week deep underground, less than half a mile from your Lordships’ House. It was being conducted by the headquarters of the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps, a British-led NATO strategic reserve corps. This is the United Kingdom’s...

My Lords, yesterday, I had the privilege to visit an exercise being conducted this week deep underground, less than half a mile from your Lordships’ House. It was being conducted by the headquarters of the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps, a British-led NATO strategic reserve corps. This is the United Kingdom’s...

My Lords, I welcome the opportunity to contribute to the debate today. Before I start, I congratulate the Government on the announcements today on the Gulf free trade agreement. This agreement has been a long time coming and it has been an extremely difficult negotiation. It is absolutely fantastic that...

My Lords, I welcome the opportunity to contribute to the debate today. Before I start, I congratulate the Government on the announcements today on the Gulf free trade agreement. This agreement has been a long time coming and it has been an extremely difficult negotiation. It is absolutely fantastic that...

Oh!

Oh!

Does the Minister agree that there is a key opportunity to reposition increased defence spending as an engine for domestic renewal and regional growth? If we anchor our sovereign defence supply chains in the towns and cities that have been too often left behind, I put it to the Government...

Does the Minister agree that there is a key opportunity to reposition increased defence spending as an engine for domestic renewal and regional growth? If we anchor our sovereign defence supply chains in the towns and cities that have been too often left behind, I put it to the Government...

My Lords, it is often suggested that a week is a long time in politics, and I suspect that for the Prime Minister, it has been a very long week. It is now eight days since His Majesty the King came and gave the gracious Speech last Wednesday. We heard...

My Lords, it is often suggested that a week is a long time in politics, and I suspect that for the Prime Minister, it has been a very long week. It is now eight days since His Majesty the King came and gave the gracious Speech last Wednesday. We heard...

My Lords, this has been a predictably good debate, with some excellent points punching through strongly. As my noble friend Lord Callanan indicated, I will focus on defence, but, before I do, I will stray very briefly into foreign affairs.

I listened with humility—I looked around the Chamber and I was...

My Lords, this has been a predictably good debate, with some excellent points punching through strongly. As my noble friend Lord Callanan indicated, I will focus on defence, but, before I do, I will stray very briefly into foreign affairs.

I listened with humility—I looked around the Chamber and I was...

My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Goldie, for those last remarks that she made.

I thank everyone who has contributed to the debate today. I thank particularly the noble Lord, Lord Callanan, and the noble Baronesses, Lady Goldie and Lady Smith, for their Front-Bench contributions, and my noble friend...

My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Goldie, for those last remarks that she made.

I thank everyone who has contributed to the debate today. I thank particularly the noble Lord, Lord Callanan, and the noble Baronesses, Lady Goldie and Lady Smith, for their Front-Bench contributions, and my noble friend...

Could the Minister tell us whether the defence investment plan is likely to be published during the premiership of the present Prime Minister?

Could the Minister tell us whether the defence investment plan is likely to be published during the premiership of the present Prime Minister?

No. I just cannot add anything further to what I have said. The defence investment plan will come forward and lay out some things, and that will be related to the spending we decide on.

On the UK-EU relationship, the Government’s position is quite clear. We have laid it out. There...

No. I just cannot add anything further to what I have said. The defence investment plan will come forward and lay out some things, and that will be related to the spending we decide on.

On the UK-EU relationship, the Government’s position is quite clear. We have laid it out. There...