"The Minister has made his career—and to an extent his reputation—on statistics. Can he clarify something for me? According to the Higher Education Statistics Agency, of all academic staff whose ethnicity is known, 22% were from ethnic-minority backgrounds in 2022-23. Is that a reflection of society at large, or is …..." Lord Swire - View Speech
"At the risk of repeating myself—the only thing that I am testing is my memory—can the Minister give us any reassurance that the international community is taking seriously the increase in the production of nuclear weapons, and in weapons capability, by the DPRK? What action is being taken with some …..." Lord Swire - View Speech
"Last week, some of us were privileged to hear the testimony of two former Ukrainian prisoners of the Russians here in this House—we listened to their harrowing testimony. Can the Minister reassure us that in any peace deal articulated by the Americans or with the EU, the egregious infringement and …..." Lord Swire - View Speech
"I am most grateful to the Minister. We will shortly be debating the English devolution Bill, where it will be interesting to raise these matters again, because, of course, some local authorities are moving to unitary and others to mayors. This will all fit into that new template.
"My Lords, I too join in the congratulations to my noble friend Lord Elliott of Mickle Fell on obtaining this debate just 13 days before the Budget. Incidentally, I expect, as we all can, this to be a highly political Budget. I rather fear that common sense will be sacrificed …..." Lord Swire - View Speech
"The Minister is saying we are doing everything, and indeed we are the penholder at the UN, but there are some concerning reports that we are not doing as much as we should be due to financial constraints, particularly with our responsibilities towards women as victims of rape and crime …..." Lord Swire - View Speech
"Increasing the capacity of the grid —particularly bringing more offshore power onshore—will see a dramatic escalation in the number of overhead power lines to distribute the power, as well as more onshore substations. Given the huge profits made by some of the energy companies, what are the Government doing to …..." Lord Swire - View Speech