Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition, or the Official Opposition, is the party with the second largest number of seats in the House of Commons. The role of the Opposition is to question and challenge the Government - the Government proposes, the Opposition opposes - and constantly to call the Government to account for its actions. The Opposition also seeks to establish itself in the eyes of the electorate as a credible alternative Government. The effectiveness of the Opposition depends on the calibre of its MPs and of the Leader of the Opposition. However, probably the most important of all is the size of the Government's majority in the Commons. An Opposition confronted with a huge Government majority such as that enjoyed by the Thatcher Government in the 1983-87 Parliament can do little to prevent the passage of legislation desired by the Government and can hope only to use parliamentary time to expose deficiencies in the Government's policies and shortcomings in Government Ministers, while waiting for the next General Election.
Baroness Goudie: ...in the early weeks of this Government the Development Minister was able to visit South Sudan to assess the position in Sudan for herself, and for the Government, and to give further funding. On 27 August, we marked 500 days of unrelenting conflict in the grave and ongoing crisis in Sudan, as many noble Lords have said. This is not just any conflict. It is marked by the most egregious...
John Glen: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to his Department's guidance entitled Classification Of Public Bodies: Guidance For Department, published on 27 April 2016, whether it is his policy that setting up new public bodies should be a last resort.
Baroness Barran: ...40% of the sector being in deficit. To put this in context, this is a sector that has grown 50% over the past few years. The OfS report projected a surplus of £2.1 billion for the sector for 2026-27 and a margin of 3.9%. Average borrowing in the sector is 30%. That is not a typical picture of a sector facing impending collapse. The point I am trying to make is that some universities...
Michael Marra: ...does the Scottish Government have to ensure that we will not lament a similar situation happening with options fees from our great renewables potential in 30 years’ time?”—[Official Report, 27 March 2024; c 14.] The Deputy First Minister did not have to wait for 30 years; some 30 weeks later, she was losing the debate in the Cabinet. Does the Deputy First Minister agree...
Lord Hastings of Scarisbrick: ...who served a sentence in Swaleside and then in The Mount. With still four years left to go before the end of his sentence, he moved to HMP Isis to act as a father figure to the young men up to age 27—he is 40. He leads responsible training programmes inside the prison to change mindsets. Another prisoner from Ranby prison will move in three weeks’ time. We need to change the...
Connor Rand: ...a valuable friend to me during the campaign. At this early stage in my contribution, I want to pay tribute to my predecessor, Lord Brady, who represented the people of Altrincham and Sale West for 27 years. I thank him for his service to his constituents and for his kind words to me following my election. I think one of my constituents summed it up best. While I was knocking on doors in...
Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent: ...let us be clear: the Finucane family have waited 35 years for answers, and we will do everything we can to ensure that the process is as speedy as it can be. We wanted to update the House before 27 September, which was the legal deadline agreed, to make sure that your Lordships’ House was aware of the next steps. I will return to the House once we have appointed a chair, and with that...
Emma Reynolds: ...Pension statistics, the latest available data covers the period up to May 2023. At May 2023, there were 1,228,563 people in receipt of the State Pension and Pension Credit in England and Wales and 127,219 people in receipt of the State Pension and Pension Credit in Scotland. This represents around 12% of all people in receipt of the State Pension in England and Wales at May 2023 and around...
Emma Hardy: .... In the short-term, the Environment Agency are working hard to sustain the current standard of service in the Fenland area. £172m in capital investment has been committed between 2021/22 - 2026/27 across the area, with £23.93m of this in the East Cambridgeshire area. In parallel, work is progressing to develop a long-term adaptive plan for flood infrastructure in the Fens. The 'Fens...
Michael Marra: ...Institute and Audit Scotland, all of which say that it is down to SNP incompetence. Surely the minister cannot ignore the views of the Deputy First Minister, who, in the chamber on 27 March, told the finance secretary that she wanted to ensure that the Government would not lament the money raised through ScotWind being poured into the SNP’s black hole. Does he agree that the...
Colin Smyth: ...fares in Scotland because of the Government’s failure to change the illogical, irrational and discriminatory way in which ScotRail fixes its prices. I will give one quick example. From 27 September, commuters travelling between Dumfries and Carlisle will see their day return rail fare rise from £7.60 to £23.50, which is an increase of 211 per cent. How do we explain that a...
Lord Bellamy: My Lords, in relation to the intervention of the noble and learned Lord, Lord Thomas, your Lordships will recall that on 27 March this year, when I was then the Minister in charge of the Bill, I said that I had written to the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, the ICC, the LCIA, the London Maritime Arbitrators Association, GAFTA, the Law Society and the Bar Council to ask them “what...
Alex Burghart: ...statement, and for advance sight of it and his courtesy call this morning. I am particularly grateful to him for bringing it forward before recess. I know the deadline that the Court gave him was 27 September, so it was important that we had the chance to hear the Government’s position and ask questions before we rose for conference recess. The murder of Patrick Finucane, like so many...
Karin Smyth: ...puberty, can continue to access them. If a young person has already been prescribed these medicines, for gender dysphoria or incongruence in the six months prior to 3 June 2024 in Great Britain or 27 August 2024 in Northern Ireland, they can continue to do so, providing their prescription is now issued by a UK registered prescriber. They are strongly advised to meet with their prescribing...
Alberto Costa: ...wholly inappropriate. This development was unpopular from the outset; I issued a survey to constituents living within the vicinity. Of nearly 6,000 surveys sent, I had a very high response rate of 27%, and an overwhelming 94.5% of respondents opposed the proposals. Many of the villages closest to the proposed site are rural in nature and there are widespread and legitimate concerns that...
Patsy McGlone: T1. Mr McGlone asked the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs for an update on the Department's just transition policy development. (AQT 501/22-27)
Áine Murphy: ...just transition fund should be established outside the common agricultural policy, he agrees that that could be a useful precedent for his engagements with the British Government. (AQT 502/22-27)
Danny Donnelly: ...in rurally based occupations such as agriculture, to outline what initiatives have been undertaken to support and improve mental health for people living and working in rural areas. (AQT 503/22-27)
Steve Aiken: ..., Environment and Rural Affairs when he proposes to publish the Strategic Investment Board's report into the TB Strategic Partnership Group, which was commissioned well over a year ago. (AQT 504/22-27)
Jonathan Buckley: ...his Department's assessment of the impact of slurry run-off into our waterways, rivers and Lough Neagh, considering the complex and competing issues and the seriousness of pollution. (AQT 505/22-27)
