"My Lords, my first duty today is to say that my noble friend Lady Liddell, who is heartbroken not to be here today, has asked me to confirm her opposition to the Bill.
Many have spoken this afternoon about really heartbreaking situations for their families, parents, grandparents and mortally ill …..." Lord McAvoy - View Speech
"My Lords, I associate the Labour Benches with the tributes to the three maiden speakers today. They provided terrific entertainment. Great skill, expertise and commitment were shown by all three, and they were very much appreciated by the whole House.
"It will be entirely a matter for the Scottish Parliament to raise the money. You ask a question, you get the answer. If Scotland lost that pooling, there would be an additional £7.6 billion gap in Scotland’s funding.
During the general election in Scotland, the SNP First Minister indicated that …..." Lord McAvoy - View Speech
"We have taken a defeat. The noble Lord, Lord Forsyth, indicated that we were defeated because of our economic policy. There were many reasons for our defeat, which we will deal with and hopefully fix in the future. The combination of the Barnett formula and the tax-raising powers of the …..." Lord McAvoy - View Speech
"That is absolutely right, and that is the point I made: that both my noble friends were genuinely and honestly considering whether this is a problem. There is nothing wrong with that at all, and I go along with that.
"My Lords, the Minister mentioned the discussion that took place within the coalition Government that brought these particular organisations forward. He also mentioned that there was an intention further to widen the scope of the Freedom of Information Act. Under one of those headings, could he tell us why there …..." Lord McAvoy - View Speech
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the involvement of the Electoral Reform Society or of Electoral Reform Services in the procedure used to send out postal ballot papers in the alternative vote referendum in the Glasgow division...." Lord McAvoy - View Speech
"I thank the Minister for his useful Answer. Glasgow City Council sent out the AV ballot paper to postal voters separately from the other ballot papers. The council did that on the advice of a company called Electoral Services Limited, which the council uses to run its elections. That company …..." Lord McAvoy - View Speech