Speech in Grand Committee - Tue 26 Oct 2021
Coronavirus Act 2020
"My Lords, whether we approve of these restrictions or not, and despite the relaxations of last summer, we should be honest with ourselves and admit that, as the noble Lord, Lord Hunt, said, this remains one of the most illiberal pieces of legislation the House has had to consider since …..."Viscount Ridley - View Speech
View all Viscount Ridley (Con - Excepted Hereditary) contributions to the debate on: Coronavirus Act 2020
Speech in Grand Committee - Tue 26 Oct 2021
Coronavirus Act 2020
"A February 2021 review by the European CDC, a July 2021 experimental study published by the American Institute of Physics and an August 2021 study published by the International Research Journal of Public Health all failed to find causation. It might be there; they are not saying it is impossible, …..."Viscount Ridley - View Speech
View all Viscount Ridley (Con - Excepted Hereditary) contributions to the debate on: Coronavirus Act 2020
Speech in Grand Committee - Wed 20 Oct 2021
Ageing: Science, Technology and Healthy Living (Science and Technology Committee Report)
"My Lords, it is an honour to follow that eloquent speech from the noble Baroness, Lady Greenfield, and her strictures are well made. I begin by commending the noble Lord, Lord Patel, not only on securing this debate but on steering the committee through a vital and largely virtual piece …..."Viscount Ridley - View Speech
View all Viscount Ridley (Con - Excepted Hereditary) contributions to the debate on: Ageing: Science, Technology and Healthy Living (Science and Technology Committee Report)
Speech in Lords Chamber - Wed 30 Jun 2021
Covid-19: Wuhan Institute of Virology
"To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the possibility that the COVID-19 virus escaped from a laboratory at the Wuhan Institute of Virology...."Viscount Ridley - View Speech
View all Viscount Ridley (Con - Excepted Hereditary) contributions to the debate on: Covid-19: Wuhan Institute of Virology
Speech in Lords Chamber - Wed 30 Jun 2021
Covid-19: Wuhan Institute of Virology
"I thank my noble friend for that Answer. Viruses like this have not been found near Wuhan in bats or any other animals. The closest relative to this virus was brought to Wuhan by scientists from 1,000 miles away to a laboratory that had been manipulating SARS-like viruses for 15 …..."Viscount Ridley - View Speech
View all Viscount Ridley (Con - Excepted Hereditary) contributions to the debate on: Covid-19: Wuhan Institute of Virology
Written Question
Friday 19th March 2021
Asked by:
Viscount Ridley (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question
to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government which scientific research they used to inform their decision on whether to maintain the ban on snus.
Answered by Lord Bethell
Oral tobacco products such as snus were banned in the United Kingdom under The Tobacco for Oral Use (Safety) Regulations 1992, which implemented European Union Directive 92/41. This ban has been confirmed in subsequent regulations, most recently by the EU Tobacco Products Directive 14/40, which has been transposed into UK law in the Tobacco and Related Products Regulation 2016 (TRPR). The European Commission set out the evidence underpinning the ban in the Tobacco Products Directive’s impact assessment and in previous Directives. A copy of the impact assessment is attached.
The Department is currently undertaking a post-implementation review of the TRPR and this includes a public consultation that closes on the 19 March 2021. The Department will review the evidence submitted to consider if the regulations have met their objectives or if any future regulatory changes should be considered.
Written Question
Friday 19th March 2021
Asked by:
Viscount Ridley (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question
to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to request that the Committee on Toxicity undertakes a toxicological evaluation of (1) snus, (2) non-tobacco oral nicotine pouches, and (3) smokeless tobacco products used primarily by South Asian communities in the UK.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The Department is considering whether the Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment (COT) should undertake an evaluation of non-tobacco oral nicotine pouches in its work programme in the next financial year. Oral tobacco products are banned under Tobacco and Related Product Regulations 2016 and consequently there are no current plans to ask COT to evaluate such products. COT will not consider smokeless tobacco products because their dangers and harms are well documented in the existing evidence base.
Speech in Lords Chamber - Tue 09 Mar 2021
World Health Organization: Pandemics
"My Lords, after last month’s embarrassing Potemkin investigation of Wuhan, will my noble friend the Minister ask the WHO to insist that the Chinese Government release the genome sequences of eight bat viruses of the so-called 7896 clade held in the Wuhan Institute of Virology database that are known to …..."Viscount Ridley - View Speech
View all Viscount Ridley (Con - Excepted Hereditary) contributions to the debate on: World Health Organization: Pandemics
Speech in Lords Chamber - Tue 01 Dec 2020
Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (All Tiers) (England) Regulations 2020
"My Lords, this is not an argument between tackling the virus and ignoring it, as my noble friend the Minister put it in his opening remarks. It is about whether, if one wants to change people’s behaviour, one chooses persuasion or compulsion. In this country, the theme behind our long …..."Viscount Ridley - View Speech
View all Viscount Ridley (Con - Excepted Hereditary) contributions to the debate on: Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (All Tiers) (England) Regulations 2020
Speech in Lords Chamber - Mon 09 Nov 2020
Covid-19: Transparency and Accuracy of Statistics
"My Lords, my noble friend the Minister just said that the data changes quickly. Does he accept that all three datasets published towards the end of last week on reliable information on the number of positive cases, which is to say those of the Office for National Statistics, the government …..."Viscount Ridley - View Speech
View all Viscount Ridley (Con - Excepted Hereditary) contributions to the debate on: Covid-19: Transparency and Accuracy of Statistics