Speeches by Lamb.

“You specify that they are very strict, and I suppose to a large extent they are, but there have been concerns expressed that the enforcement mechanisms are not currently sufficient. We can think of one particular example who seems to regularly violate the rules without particular consequence. Do you feel that changes a…”

“I am also asking whether there are parts of our existing framework that require greater embedding than is currently the case.”

“I can certainly see the benefit of marrying the two together. Is it another area where we are reliant on people being good chaps, in order to agree to follow the rules, where there may be one or two people who, by virtue of the money they might make doing something else, will not see the penalty as being particularly s…”

“That is a fair comment.”

“You have now taken on the role of administering the business appointment rules for Ministers. What is your view of the rules?”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Turner. I am here replacing another Member. When they told me the subject, I said, “Great! It is the first time I have ever actually known something about the subject.” They said, “For goodness’ sake, don’t let the Whips hear you say that”—such is the time in which …”

“I would be delighted to have a different system in place. In fact, I spent many years as a local authority leader, lobbying the last Government to try to do anything on that front to resolve a system that, frankly, is still Elizabethan in design and in no way reflects the changing nature of local economies. It requires…”

“T10. What action are the UK Government taking to support Tamils in seeking justice for past and current injustices?”

“Given the chaos around the world that is being experienced by politicians playing fast and loose with international law, it is deeply concerning that Conservative and Reform MPs are speaking so flippantly of the risks of violating the Good Friday agreement by leaving the European convention on human rights. Will the Se…”

“5. What assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the UK’s membership of the European convention on human rights on the Belfast agreement.”

“Despite its rural setting, Crawley’s travel-to-work area has a larger economy than many of the UK’s core cities. Despite that, it has been held back over recent years due to a lack of grid capacity at its major connection point with the national grid, resulting in the loss of several major investments under the previou…”

“8. What steps his Department is taking to help increase the capacity of major national grid supply points.”

“I hope we can find a simpler way of doing it, because Government is slow at the best of times, and no doubt we will end up with an arm’s length body in charge of reviewing all this stuff. What is your thinking as to why that has not happened so far? Is there a reluctance from Government to do this because, in some ways…”

“To continue the thread about dealing with overreach and the departure from independence, we recently had an issue where we had to pass new legislation to empower the Justice Secretary to override decisions taken by the Sentencing Council. Whatever your view on that particular decision, it does seem ridiculous that we h…”

“I recall your organisation making that argument 15 years ago.”

“Two Governments later we are still in the same place.”

“Chair, I believe we have covered my question already.”

“In the course of that process no one was interviewed until the end of August. Is that because you were trying to get everything into place before you started interviewing people?”

“That potentially leaves a difficulty for anyone who is a Minister who may well have the opportunity to speak with the appointing Minister in knowing whether or not they should declare such an interest, if you cannot give an assessment as to whether or not this would have been a breach.”

“What changes do you think should be made to ensure investigations such as this one can be carried out in a speedier process, if that is possible with cases of this complexity?”