Nick Thomas-Symonds MP: speeches 2024

156 published records · newest first.

Speeches

23 Oct 2024 · Infected Blood Compensation Scheme · Hansard source
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rose—
15 Oct 2024 · House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill · Hansard source
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In my generosity, as the right hon. Member has asked so many times, I will, for the last time, give way to him.
15 Oct 2024 · House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill · Hansard source
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Together, the right hon. Gentleman and I could form the new radicals. When we move on to the next stage of reform, I look forward to a similar amount of independent, enthusiastic support—support that he will no doubt demonstrate when we get a new Leader of the Opposition.
15 Oct 2024 · House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill · Hansard source
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I cannot comment on the coherence of the Opposition in the course of that process. What we have seen so far is a pretty incoherent effort, but perhaps it will improve when we hear from the shadow Minister. This Bill is about making immediate, long-overdue progress. The House of Lords existed for centuries as a nearly entirely hereditary House. There was an attempt to introduce life peers as long ago as 1869, with a further attempt to introduce life peers and remove the hereditary element in 1888. Despite those efforts, it was only with the passage of the Life Peerages Act 1958 that non-judicial life peers began to join the other place. Some 40 years later, a Labour Government introduced a Bill to end the right of hereditary peers to sit and vote in the House of Lords. The events that smoothed the Bill’s passage led that Government to accept an amendment on the principle of the removal of hereditary peers. The amendment retained 92 hereditary peers on a temporary basis, until further reforms to the other place were brought forward. Despite attempts at further reform, that temporary measure is still in place.
15 Oct 2024 · House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill · Hansard source
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After the past 14 years, they now show a new-found enthusiasm for reform and change.
15 Oct 2024 · House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill · Hansard source
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In a moment. It is not right that what was seen, even in 1999, as a temporary arrangement should persist any longer. This Government were elected on a manifesto that was explicit in its promises that we would bring about immediate reform by removing the right of hereditary peers to sit and vote in the House of Lords. The Bill has a tightly defined objective, and a clear focus and aim that delivers on that mandate.
15 Oct 2024 · House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill · Hansard source
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As this is his third attempt, I will show sympathy.
15 Oct 2024 · House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill · Hansard source
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My hon. Friend is entirely right. The second Chamber plays a vital role in our constitution, but people should not have a role in voting on and scrutinising our laws in Parliament by an accident of birth. This Government have been elected with a promise to put public service at the heart of politics, and this legislation, introduced in the first 100 days, shows that we are intent on driving that commitment forward. On 21 February 1911, when the then Prime Minister, Herbert Asquith, moved the Second Reading of what became the landmark Parliament Act of 1911, he said that “we present it to the House as the first and the most urgent step towards a more perfect attainment.” —[ Official Report , 21 February 1911; Vol. 21, c. 1911.] I present this Bill, over a century later, in the same spirit —as the first and most urgent step that we can now take in the 2020s. I hope that I can count on Members in all parts of the House to support this Bill. In that spirit, I commend it to the House.
15 Oct 2024 · House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill · Hansard source
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I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time. As set out in our manifesto, this Government are committed to reforming the House of Lords. As a result, I am proud to be taking forward our first commitment: the immediate first step to remove the right of hereditary peers to sit and vote in the House of Lords. The Bill before the House today, which was introduced in the first 100 days of this Government, delivers on that commitment. Change begins. It is a change that is long overdue. In the 21st century, there should not be places in our Parliament, making our laws, reserved for those who were born into certain families. In fact, we are one of only two countries that still retain a hereditary element in our legislature, which is a clear sign that the time has come to see through this long-overdue change. It is a matter of principle for this Government, who are committed to fairness and equality. It is not personal or a comment on the contribution or service of any individual hereditary peer, past or present. We are grateful to all peers who commit their time to valuable public service. However, what we do not accept is that, in this era, as a matter of principle, anyone should have a position in either House on the basis of their ancestry.
15 Oct 2024 · House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill · Hansard source
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I keep being persuaded to give way.
15 Oct 2024 · House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill · Hansard source
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Even with the removal of hereditary peers, the Conservative party will remain the largest party in the House of Lords. As for reform of the House of Lords Appointments Commission or any other aspect of reform, that discussion is clearly why the Government have chosen to take this more considered, measured approach. I was grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for his constructive contribution when the Minister without Portfolio and I held our drop-in. I am more than happy for that dialogue to continue, both during the passage of this Bill and when we move to the second stage of reform.
15 Oct 2024 · House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill · Hansard source
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My hon. Friend makes an excellent point. As we look to the other reforms, from the retirement age to participation, the Government will look to build wide support on the way forward—support that, frankly, has not been found in previous attempts at reform. At its heart is the principle that people are placed in the House of Lords to serve the public, and I look forward to debating those wider reforms with Conservative Members, but not in this Bill.
15 Oct 2024 · House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill · Hansard source
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I will give way once more, and then I need to make some progress.
15 Oct 2024 · House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill · Hansard source
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No, because the monarchy is a completely different part of our constitution. First, no monarch since Queen Anne has refused Royal Assent to a law. Secondly, our constitutional monarchy enjoys popular support. I return the right hon. Gentleman’s respect, and the one thing he is is honest. He is actually setting out a defence of the hereditary principle, rather than hiding behind a smokescreen, which seems to be the position of Conservative Front Benchers, from whom we will hear in due course. I want young people growing up in Blaenavon, Pontypool and Cwmbran in my constituency, and indeed in every part of the country, to feel that they have the same chance as anyone else to play a part in making the laws of the land. The continued presence of hereditary peers in our legislature is indefensible in a modern democracy.
15 Oct 2024 · House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill · Hansard source
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I have already given way to the right hon. Gentleman once.
15 Oct 2024 · House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill · Hansard source
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One moment. I will come back to the right hon. Gentleman. Our manifesto sets out that there should be an alternative second Chamber that is more representative of the nations and regions of the United Kingdom. We have been elected on a manifesto to get there on a step-by-step basis.
15 Oct 2024 · House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill · Hansard source
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To be clear, the Lord Great Chamberlain and the Earl Marshal will not continue to sit and vote in the House of Lords under this Bill, but they will continue with their important ceremonial functions.
15 Oct 2024 · House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill · Hansard source
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The Church has recognised the need for reform, particularly in terms of size, and today’s debate is further evidence of why it is sensible to reform in stages.
15 Oct 2024 · House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill · Hansard source
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My hon. Friend is right to highlight the situation for young people in her constituency. The Bill has a clear mandate, and I hope that hon. Members will back it in big numbers today.
15 Oct 2024 · House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill · Hansard source
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There is no bar on that happening. When the new Leader of the Opposition eventually emerges from their parallel universe leadership contest, I am sure that they will have a quota, as all Leaders of the Opposition do. It is for them to consider that issue.
15 Oct 2024 · House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill · Hansard source
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I am delighted to hear the right hon. Gentleman’s support for the other steps in our manifesto, which he should have communicated to Conservative Front Benchers when they were drafting their reasoned amendment— [ Interruption. ] It looks like it too. If the right hon. Gentleman reads our manifesto with his usual diligence, he will see that it states that this Bill is the immediate first step. That is the mandate we bring before the House today.
15 Oct 2024 · House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill · Hansard source
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I will take one more intervention.
15 Oct 2024 · House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill · Hansard source
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How can Members of the Conservative party talk about stuffing the upper House with people after the events of the last 14 years? I thought irony had died. As for the right hon. Gentleman’s point about life peers, I have just said that having been a hereditary peer is no bar to becoming a Member of the Lords. That will be a matter for the new Leader of the Opposition, having looked at the contributions individuals have made. I have not denigrated the contributions of hereditary peers—far from it. I have thanked people for their public service in the upper House, but it is for the new Leader of the Opposition to decide whether to put forward former hereditary peers as life peers. There will be no objection from Labour Members. I have covered why the removal of the hereditary peers from the other place is overdue. Let me turn to why it is essential. It is indefensible in this day and age for people to sit in our legislature as a result of an accident of birth. Prime Minister Harold Wilson, putting forward a programme for change in this House in October 1968, said: “the Government believe that reform should achieve the following objectives: first, the hereditary basis for membership should be eliminated”. —[ Official Report , 30 October 1968; Vol. 772, c. 34.] All these years later, that first objective still needs to be fully achieved. It is time for the hereditary nature of the House of Lords to come to an end. The former Lord Speaker Lord Fowler put it eloquently: “It is not a question of personalities; it is a question of whether appointment of the House based on heredity is the right solution for the 21st century, and I do not believe that it is.” —[ Official Report, House of Lords, 23 July 2024; Vol. 839, c. 388.] As I said in response to the right hon. Member for Herne Bay and Sandwich (Sir Roger Gale), the Bill is not an attack on individuals in the other place. As I have said twice already, we recognise individual contributions. We are saying that we should reflect on the millions of people who were unable to make the same contribution as a result of the family they were born into. The time has come for change. If we are to maintain trust in our democratic institutions, it is important that our second Chamber reflects modern Britain. I hope Members will vote for the Bill this evening, and agree with me that it is indefensible, in this day and age, that over a 10th of our second Chamber is essentially reserved for certain individuals due to an accident of birth.
15 Oct 2024 · House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill · Hansard source
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Who exactly speaks for the Opposition? Who knows. Rather than put that point to me, the right hon. Gentleman should take it up with the right hon. Member for Hertsmere (Sir Oliver Dowden), who proposed the amendment. Do the Opposition have any coherent position left?
15 Oct 2024 · House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill · Hansard source
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The right hon. Gentleman would not want to break convention, would he?

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