"My Lords, I appreciate the panache and brio with which the noble Lord, Lord Hannan, delivers his speeches, but I have to say that I disagree with him on state funding. I will develop that in the time available to me. JS Mill and Thomas Jefferson lived some time ago, …..." Lord Watson of Invergowrie - View Speech
"My Lords, nine months after Second Reading, in which I spoke, it falls to me to speak to the last of the, by my tally, 254 amendments on Report, on top of 725 amendments tabled in Committee, so we certainly had maximum scrutiny of this Bill in your Lordships’ House.
"My Lords, I am introducing this group as Amendments 37 and 38 are in my name and I have added my name to Amendment 59 in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Tyler. I will not steal the thunder of the noble Baroness on Amendment 59 so will merely …..." Lord Watson of Invergowrie - View Speech
"My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow the noble Lord, Lord Russell. As he said, he has played a major role within Coram, the organisation which, as we sit here now, is celebrating the centenary of the Adoption of Children Act 1926. For noble Lords who do not know …..." Lord Watson of Invergowrie - View Speech
"I thank my noble friend the Minister for those remarks. I will just start on the point that she finished on: that the Government are totally committed to ensuring that all young people have the support that they need. I do not question that. It is unfortunate that there seems …..." Lord Watson of Invergowrie - View Speech
"My Lords, my noble friend Lady Debbonaire said that the Bill originated as a Tory proposal when she was a shadow Minister. I do not think she had joined your Lordships’ House a year ago when we were going through this Bill and had the marvellous sight of the noble …..." Lord Watson of Invergowrie - View Speech
"I thank my noble friend for that response, and I note the positive tone. She will be aware the President Trump has already met twice with President al-Sharaa, most recently at the White House last month. She will also know that Germany, Italy and Spain are among 12 European countries …..." Lord Watson of Invergowrie - View Speech
"My Lords, the noble Baroness, Lady Barran, began with an apology and I must do the same, because I did not leave my office soon enough and I missed the first few paragraphs of the speech by the noble Lord, Lord Clement-Jones, to whom I personally apologise, and I apologise …..." Lord Watson of Invergowrie - View Speech