Lord Reid of Cardowan Portrait

Lord Reid of Cardowan

Labour - Life peer

Became Member: 16th July 2010


Lord Reid of Cardowan is not a member of any APPGs
National Security Strategy (Joint Committee)
28th Jan 2021 - 31st Jan 2024
International Relations and Defence Committee
25th May 2016 - 28th Jan 2021
Home Secretary
5th May 2006 - 28th Jun 2007
Secretary of State for Defence
6th May 2005 - 5th May 2006
Secretary of State for Health
12th Jun 2003 - 6th May 2005
Member, Labour Party National Executive Committee
1st Jul 2002 - 1st Jul 2003
Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons (Privy Council Office)
4th Apr 2003 - 12th Jun 2003
Party Chair, Labour Party
24th Oct 2002 - 13th May 2003
Minister without Portfolio and Labour Party Chair
24th Oct 2002 - 4th Apr 2003
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
25th Jan 2001 - 24th Oct 2002
Secretary of State for Scotland
17th May 1999 - 25th Jan 2001
Minister of State (Department for Environment, Transport and the Regions)
27th Jul 1998 - 17th May 1999
Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
6th May 1997 - 27th Jul 1998
Public Accounts Committee
13th Jan 1989 - 15th Dec 1989


Division Voting information

During the current Parliament, Lord Reid of Cardowan has voted in 348 divisions, and 1 time against the majority of their Party.

5 Jul 2022 - Sitting Times - View Vote Context
Lord Reid of Cardowan voted Aye - against a party majority and in line with the House
One of 22 Labour Aye votes vs 44 Labour No votes
Tally: Ayes - 158 Noes - 124
View All Lord Reid of Cardowan Division Votes

Debates during the 2019 Parliament

Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.

Sparring Partners
Baroness Goldie (Conservative)
(17 debate interactions)
Lord Bethell (Conservative)
(12 debate interactions)
Lord True (Conservative)
Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
(9 debate interactions)
View All Sparring Partners
Department Debates
Department of Health and Social Care
(16 debate contributions)
Cabinet Office
(13 debate contributions)
Ministry of Defence
(13 debate contributions)
Home Office
(11 debate contributions)
View All Department Debates
View all Lord Reid of Cardowan's debates

Lords initiatives

These initiatives were driven by Lord Reid of Cardowan, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.


Lord Reid of Cardowan has not introduced any legislation before Parliament

Lord Reid of Cardowan has not co-sponsored any Bills in the current parliamentary sitting


Latest 6 Written Questions

(View all written questions)
Written Questions can be tabled by MPs and Lords to request specific information information on the work, policy and activities of a Government Department
26th Feb 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have undertaken an impact assessment on the effects of any scheme to provide 99 per cent mortgages on the housing market.

The Government does not comment on theoretical schemes but continues to keep policy under review. The Government remains committed to supporting people of all incomes and at all stages of life in order to make the aspiration of home ownership a reality for as many households as possible.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton
Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
26th Feb 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to introduce a scheme providing for 99 per cent mortgages.

The Government does not comment on theoretical schemes but continues to keep policy under review. The Government remains committed to supporting people of all incomes and at all stages of life in order to make the aspiration of home ownership a reality for as many households as possible.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton
Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
4th Mar 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they intend to take to ensure effective border control and management of illegal immigration, in particular addressing any gaps in enforcement or security protocols.

Due to the steps we have taken, small boat arrivals fell by 36% in 2023 compared to the previous year; Albanian arrivals were down by over 90%. This reflects our continuing work with the French Government to prevent these dangerous, illegal and unnecessary crossings from taking place.

Immigration Enforcement is taking robust action to tackle illegal migration through:

  • returning more than 25,000 people in 2023 who have no right to be in the UK, including more than 5,700 Albanians;
  • increasing the number of illegal working visits by over 68% as of September 2023, compared to the same period in 2022; and
  • disrupting organised crime groups, resulting in 246 arrests of people smugglers in 2023.

In terms of security protocols, the government does not routinely comment on individual cases or operational matters.

Our highest priority is protecting the safety and security of this country, which is why the UK has world-class police, security and intelligence agencies and a robust counter-terrorism framework in place.

As you would expect, security checks are already undertaken for all those identified arriving through illegal migration routes and law enforcement have the powers to deal with them appropriately.

Lord Sharpe of Epsom
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
4th Mar 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of immigration on (1) public services, (2) housing, and (3) infrastructure.

The Government has been clear that net migration is too high and is determined to bring it down to sustainable levels to help protect public services and housing against unsustainable pressure.

In May 2023, the Government announced measures to restrict the number of overseas students able to bring dependants. On 4 December 2023, the Home Secretary announced a new package of measures to reduce net migration further. These include limitations on family dependants being brought in by care workers and senior care workers; increasing the salary threshold for the Skilled Worker route; commissioning the Migration Advisory Committee to review the Shortage Occupation List; and raising the minimum income requirement for Family visas progressively over the next few years. These measures are now being implemented and were the subject of a WMS by the Minister for Legal Migration and the Border on January 30th.

Taken together with the measures the Government announced in May 2023, this means that around 300,000 people who were eligible to come to the UK last year would not be able to do so in future.

We keep all our immigration policies under review and work closely with key government departments to ensure that the immigration system best serves the UK, reflects the public’s priorities and protects public services against undue pressure.

A full analysis of the impact of the package will be published in a regulatory impact assessment in due course.

Lord Sharpe of Epsom
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
4th Mar 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government what was the level of immigration to the UK for the past year; and how many individuals were granted visas for (1) work, (2) study, (3) family reunification, and (4) asylum.

The Home Office publishes data on entry clearance visas in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’ [https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release]. Data on work and study visas granted are published in table Vis_D02, of the ‘Entry clearance detailed dataset’ [https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release]. Data on family reunification visas granted are published in table Fam_D01 and data on the number of people applying for and being granted asylum are published in table Asy_D01 and Asy_D02 of the ‘asylum and resettlement detailed datasets’ [https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/immigration-system-statistics-data-tables#asylum-and-resettlement]. Information on how to use these datasets can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbooks. The latest data relates to 2023 Q4.

Not everyone granted a visa will become an ‘immigrant’ as per the United Nations definition of a long-term migrant. Information regarding immigration and emigration is a matter for the independent Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’ [https://www.gov.uk/search/research-and-statistics?keywords=immigration&content_store_document_type=upcoming_statistics&organisations%5B%5D=home-office&order=relevance].

Lord Sharpe of Epsom
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
26th Feb 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the closure of the Help to Buy scheme on the property market.

In line with the recommendation of the National Audit Office and Public Accounts Committee, the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has committed to undertaking an evaluation of the Help to Buy scheme, with a target date for publication of Autumn 2024. This will seek to investigate, amongst other matters, the effect of the Help to Buy scheme on the housing market within its lifetime and, where possible, after its closure.

Baroness Swinburne
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)