Lord Low of Dalston: My Lords, the economy is not in a good state. The Budget and the so-called growth plan are not about to make things any better. The Prime Minister and the Chancellor would like us to believe that all our economic woes are the result of Putin’s war and the resultant energy price increases. They want us to focus on the energy-capping element of their economic strategy, but the truth is that,...
Lord Low of Dalston: I am on my last sentence. In any case, if the tax cuts are to be sustained, substantial cuts in government spending are on the way. The paradox is that this is the opposite of what is required for a credible growth plan.
Lord Low of Dalston: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether the announcement on marriage reform by the Northern Ireland Department of Finance on 1 July affects legal recognition for humanist marriages in England and Wales.
Lord Low of Dalston: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Law Commission review Celebrating Marriage: A New Weddings Law, published on 19 July, which has called for legal recognition for humanist marriages.
Lord Low of Dalston: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to raise awareness of common eye conditions that affect elderly people, such as geographic atrophy, among clinicians and patients.
Lord Low of Dalston: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to increase NHS capacity to deliver intravitreal injections to accommodate the prospective, novel treatment of geographic atrophy.
Lord Low of Dalston: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they consider religious chaplains qualified to offer pastoral support to non-religious armed forces personnel; and if so, why.
Lord Low of Dalston: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of non-religious pastoral care in the armed forces of the Kingdoms of Norway, Belgium, and the Netherlands; and whether they will consider introducing a similar model in the UK.
Lord Low of Dalston: My Lords, the Queen’s Speech provides little guidance as to how the Government intend to tackle the three big economic challenges that they face: in the short term, managing the immediate crisis of inflation and alleviating its cost of living impact on the most vulnerable in our community; in the medium term, promoting economic growth and ensuring that its benefits are shared across all...
Lord Low of Dalston: In that case I will bring my remarks to a close now.
Lord Low of Dalston: My Lords, I have here a speech in support of the case which has been deployed already with great eloquence by a number of speakers— I think that we are up to three or four already—so I think that the best service I can perform for the Committee is not to read it out. The argument for amending the Bill to underwrite the case for inclusion and accessibility in the voting process,...
Lord Low of Dalston: My Lords, I thank the Minister very much for his response and all other noble Lords who have participated in the debate. I moved a rather modest little amendment but I am encouraged that it has stimulated such a rich discussion with so many knowledgeable contributions. If nothing else, my amendment has stimulated a discussion that has emphasised the importance of primary care. If we can take...
Lord Low of Dalston: Right on cue, my Lords, I am rising to move Amendment 56A, which seeks to improve eye care for people with learning difficulties, as they are much more likely to have a sight problem but much less likely to access primary ophthalmic services, including access to NHS sight tests. The Bill offers an opportunity to seek improvements to an often-overlooked area of primary care: namely, primary...
Lord Low of Dalston: I am happy.
Lord Low of Dalston: My Lords, in the six years since assisted dying was last debated in Parliament, lawmakers around the world, including in five Australian states and New Zealand, have recognised that banning assisted dying is both dangerous and cruel. In jurisdictions such as Victoria in Australia, parliamentarians have worked with disability rights campaigners to craft laws that work for all citizens,...
Lord Low of Dalston: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to (1) work with NHS Digital, commissioners and providers to encourage an appropriate reimbursement for the treatment of bilateral cataracts, and (2) ensure that the payment reflects the number of eyes treated, rather than the number of procedures performed.
Lord Low of Dalston: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the efficacy of immediate sequential bilateral cataract surgery in treating patients at risk of sight loss.
Lord Low of Dalston: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support consistency in the uptake of the immediate sequential bilateral cataract surgery to tackle the backlog in cataract surgery.
Lord Low of Dalston: My Lords, I declare my interest as a lessee of a top-floor flat in a four-storey block. In February, the Prime Minister said that “no leaseholder should have to pay for the unaffordable costs of fixing safety defects that they did not cause and are no fault of their own”.—[ Official Report, Commons, 3/2/21; col. 945.] The Government have undertaken to indemnify those who live in blocks...
Lord Low of Dalston: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they plan to take further to the High Court’s judgment in Harrison v Secretary of State for Justice & others, published on 31 July 2020; and what consideration they have given to introducing legislation to recognise humanist marriages in England and Wales.
