"My Lords, last Friday we were talking about communication difficulties, whether through hearing, language or something else. In that context, the noble Lord, Lord Rook, has done us a service by proposing his amendments to make it simple and clear. The reason why this is important is that the Bill …..." Lord Empey - View Speech
"My Lords, I speak in the gap. I was a member of the committee when this report was written. I wanted to be here to support it and suggest that it should be read, particularly by those who perhaps have only a peripheral knowledge of Northern Ireland. We were greatly …..." Lord Empey - View Speech
"Before the noble Baroness sits down, I ask for clarification on one point, and if she does not have it right now, perhaps she could write and put it in the Library. There are two parallel processes here. There is the EU reset and there are the specific conditions in …..." Lord Empey - View Speech
"My Lords, we have heard talk in this debate about respecting the devolution settlement. No, we do not. It is not that long ago, for instance, that the Northern Ireland Assembly voted against abortion but got abortion, and everybody on both Front Benches voted for it. So let us not …..." Lord Empey - View Speech
"My Lords, I think everybody must have been affected by the comments from the noble Baroness, Lady Nicholson. She made very sobering revelations about her experience, which is very broad and much to be admired.
This group of amendments brings into sharp focus the sheer scale of the complexity of …..." Lord Empey - View Speech
"I am delighted to hear that, but I am also very aware of the pressures on an NHS hospital—perhaps not in London but in other places—where the staff are run off their feet day and night. We are imposing—..." Lord Empey - View Speech
"I am delighted to hear that, but I can assure the noble Baroness that it is not a universal situation. As I was saying, 1.7 million Londoners do not have English as their first language and 300,000 do not have English at all—that is equivalent to a significantly sized city. …..." Lord Empey - View Speech
"My Lords, I think it is important to look at this not just from an Irish point of view; we have to look at the big picture. It is clear that there are different pieces of legislation that govern this area, and reference has been made to other pieces of …..." Lord Empey - View Speech
"My Lords, I want to deal with probing Amendments 887A and 888A, in my name. Throughout the process there has been a potential clash between what decisions might be made here and what decisions might be made in the devolved nations. In the other place, an amendment was introduced by …..." Lord Empey - View Speech
"In the modern NHS—not the NHS of five, 10 or 20 years ago—a patient can be in the back of an ambulance for hours outside the hospital, and then be put in a corridor before they get to a ward; and they might see a consultant on the ward round …..." Lord Empey - View Speech