"My Lords, I hope the Minister can answer this simple question: is she not embarrassed that the only way we have been able to discuss this important matter is through a Private Notice Question? Should these issues not be brought in front of Parliament to be discussed? It is a …..." Lord Deben - View Speech
"My Lords, will the Minister please accept that it is very important to ensure that the whistleblowing arrangements work effectively? Otherwise, people will use this opportunity to attack the Government’s excellent policy on moving as rapidly as we can to renewable energy, which is much cheaper and crucial for our …..." Lord Deben - View Speech
"My Lords, my family owns the local pub, and therefore I can speak from trying to employ people. We have very high employment standards in our business, and we have had to reduce staff because of what the Government have done on employment taxes of all kinds. That is true …..." Lord Deben - View Speech
"Would not the Minister agree that this is an interesting example of how, when we thought we would take back control, actually we have given over control in areas where we could have been part of the solution?..." Lord Deben - View Speech
"My Lords, I remind the House of my declared interests and the fact that I was for 11 years chairman of the Climate Change Committee, appointed, reappointed and extended by Conservative-led Governments.
What is being proposed today was presented by the Conservative Government. My noble friend who spoke here supported …..." Lord Deben - View Speech
"My Lords, I declare an interest as having been chairman of the Climate Change Committee for 11 years. I also chair a company advising on sustainability, business continuity and risk, and I am a partner in a small organic arable and livestock farm—so it may be said that one knows …..." Lord Deben - View Speech
"Can I bring the noble Baroness back to the last part of my noble friend’s question? It looks as though the VAT department in HMRC is behaving most peculiarly. First, it lost the case about VAT on entry to the Great Yorkshire Show, yet it is fighting every single show …..." Lord Deben - View Speech
"Does the Minister accept that there are some areas where the law has already told the HMRC that it ought not to be demanding VAT—for example, agricultural shows—and that it refuses to accept the law and keeps on standing in the way of spreading what it has had to do …..." Lord Deben - View Speech
"My Lords, does the Minister accept that it has to be faced that in the east of England we spend a lot of money pumping fresh water out to sea during the winter and then do not have enough of it for agriculture, industry and homes? Nobody at this moment …..." Lord Deben - View Speech
"My Lords, working as the chairman of a small water company means that one does know a bit about it. I just want to ask the Minister: when are we going to stop pouring fresh water into the sea during the winter in the east of England and then being …..." Lord Deben - View Speech