Fujitsu is still a major government contractor which gives money to the Conservative Party. Fujitsu should be in the dock and prosecutions should already have begun. If you let major corporations run your Government, taxpayers will be ripped off and find that they are paying out millions when things go wrong. Fujitsu should pay the costs back to sub-postmasters and sub-postmistresses, not us taxpayers. Continue reading “Post Office (Horizon System) Offences Bill Second Reading”
The Renters (Reform) Bill is the smallest of steps; it must be tougher in order to be fairer.
Firstly we need rent controls, the Mayor of London has asked for these powers and Greens at all levels of government will fight to give him them. Local mayors and local authorities know their areas and understand the local housing market. This Government should give them the power to make that choice.
Secondly, we Greens would lengthen the notice periods for rent increases and stop landlords using spurious grounds to evict people.
Thirdly, we will support all the amendments that aim to make life easier for student renters. I declare an interest here, as I now have grandchildren who are starting out in the world as students, so they clearly have a vested interest in this. Continue reading “Renters (Reform) Bill Second Reading”
These national policy statements were Labour’s idea – and they are a really good idea. To make them work, we have to make sure that the Treasury listens and that the next Government get the funding to deliver real change. We need to imagine a future that is better than what we have now and spend the money building that future
Continue reading “National Networks National Policy Statement – a message to Labour”
My Question for Short Debate: To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the Practical toolkit for law enforcement officials to promote and protect human rights in the context of peaceful protests, published on 7 March by the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association, and how they intend to ensure that the United Kingdom aligns with United Nations standards on the use of surveillance technology at protests. Continue reading “My debate on Peaceful Protests”
Climate change and nuclear weapons are both man-made threats that put humanity’s very survival at risk. The two threats are also interconnected in ways that mutually exacerbate the risks and impacts to people and the planet, which is why they are also referred to as the ‘twin existential threats’
Continue reading “Young people face twin existential threats of nukes and climate change”
My Question: To ask His Majesty’s Government whether they are taking steps to ban the import and sale of fur Continue reading “My debate on the import and sale of fur”
Rail privatisation has led to far higher fares, at a time when the climate crisis dictates that we need lower fares, more trains and fewer cars. Water privatisation has given us sewage in our rivers, higher bills and a collapsing infrastructure. Water bills are due to go up another £125 on average this year to generate the £56 billion needed to fix our leaky pipes and overloaded sewerage system. Oddly, that is a very similar amount to what the water companies have paid out in dividends. Continue reading “Spring budget”
We cannot say that we have a justice system if we have an innate injustice like this. The sentencing and continued imprisonment of IPP prisoners has just been cruel. The lawyer and campaigner Peter Stefanovic put out an online video about it. Continue reading “Victims and Prisoners Bill – IPP Prisoners”
We are debating today whether this authoritarian Government can declare that the objective truth of facts decided by the courts can be overruled. If we allow it, it is another big step towards a dictatorship—intentional or not. I know that the majority of people in the House of Lords know that the Government are wrong. I also know that many still cling to the belief that the House should not vote to stop the Government passing the most draconian of laws. We are paid more than £300 per day to come here and talk and vote, but what is the point of all our hard work if the Government ignore us? Continue reading “Government push on with Rwanda Bill”
This is a mess of a Bill; it is illegal and nonsensical.
Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb 