"My Lords, I congratulate my noble friend Lord Evans on his excellent introduction to this debate, full of relevant facts and analysis. Indeed, we at the Resolution Foundation—I declare an interest as its president—have tried to contribute to such an analysis. It is absolutely clear that this is a British …..." Lord Willetts - View Speech
"My Lords, I congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Hobby, and my noble friend Lord Blackwater on their excellent maiden speeches. My noble friend has a deep knowledge of English culture and English history, and we had that on display as he rooted his Euroscepticism in a battle in Essex in …..." Lord Willetts - View Speech
"The noble Baroness, Lady Bennett, referred in her powerful speech to what she called the “revulsion” against the use of animals in medical experiments. That is why there has been a long-term strategy, reinforced by this Government but also pursued by previous Governments, of the so-called “three Rs”: the reduction, …..." Lord Willetts - View Speech
"In the light of what the Minister has said, I am even more struck by the significance of Amendment 170. Given that there is going to be this change in the regulatory regime in terms of the FCA, I do think that Amendment 170 is the crucial one. It absolutely …..." Lord Willetts - View Speech
"My Lords, I want briefly to enter this discussion to identify another group not captured in the neat divide of employers and scheme members. When there is £160 billion knocking around, people tend to work out elegant arguments for why some group or another has a claim on that money. …..." Lord Willetts - View Speech
"I am not against such payments. As I say, I think this is highly discretionary—there would be a negotiation. I absolutely understand that argument, and we have all received letters from the people suffering financial distress in some circumstances because of not having pre-1997 inflation protection. But I just want …..." Lord Willetts - View Speech
"I have one question following the Minister’s very helpful explanation. I was involved in the internal government discussion leading up to the 2013 legislation, and at the back of our minds was the whole issue of merging local government pension schemes for economic and investment reasons. The model that emerged …..." Lord Willetts - View Speech
"My Lords, I am very impressed by these attempts to maintain order in the classroom, and I will try to stay under five minutes.
I congratulate the noble Baroness, Lady Coussins, on bringing this debate to the House, and like the noble Lord, Lord Hannay, am delighted that the Government …..." Lord Willetts - View Speech
"My Lords, I welcome many features and proposals in this substantial and significant Bill. It does, of course, draw on the work of the previous Government, and indeed continues progress on pensions that has long been conducted on a cross-party basis. I think back to my time as shadow Work …..." Lord Willetts - View Speech
"My Lords, I welcome the maiden speech made by the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Portsmouth. My former constituency, Havant, was within the diocese of Portsmouth, and I recognise the valuable work that the diocese does.