House of Lords Podcast: Lord Speaker's Corner

The tables are turned as outgoing Lord Speaker Lord McFall of Alcluith is the guest on his own podcast. As Lord McFall of Alcluith prepares to step down after nearly five years as Lord Speaker, he speaks to fellow Scottish peer and broadcaster Baroness (Ayesha) Hazarika. This episode looks back at Lord McFall’s extraordinary personal journey into politics, and his nearly 40 years at Westminster as an MP, minister and peer, culminating in his election as the fourth Lord Speaker. Lord McFall shares his views on populism in politics, as well as on the crucial role of the House of Lords in enhancing legislation through scrutiny and debate and holding government to account. Lord McFall says it is strange to be on the other side of the microphone as he reflects on a childhood shaped by his working-class upbringing in Dumbarton, leaving school at 15 with no formal qualifications, and a family that valued community over status. “It was pretty negative when I was 15 or 16, not knowing where I was going and as you rightly say, the first job was in the parks department, weeding,” he tells Baroness Hazarika. “I never thought I would become an MP.” He recalls, as chairman of the powerful Commons Treasury Select Committee for nine years, calling financiers to account for the global banking and financial crisis of 2008; as a new Northern Ireland Minister just two days into the role, experiencing at first-hand the impact of the Omagh bomb atrocity which killed 29 people and unborn twins; and his firm belief that the House of Lords serves and assists democracy and is critical to making “good law”. Listen now to find out more. See more from the series https://www.parliament.uk/business/lords/house-of-lords-podcast/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Michael Gove, Lord Gove, is the latest guest on Lord Speaker’s Corner as he discusses the fragmentation of British politics, breaking up the Treasury, Brexit and The Celebrity Traitors. Lord Gove speaks to Lord McFall of Alcluith about why two-party politics no longer works, suggesting “We have to ask ourselves ‘why has this happened?’, and not ‘how can we put Humpty Dumpty back together again?’”. He also suggests breaking up the Treasury, proposing “The argument … has a great deal of merit. You'd have spending control in the Cabinet Office … and an Economics Ministry dedicated to making sure government policy was oriented towards growth, innovation.” In this wide-ranging interview, Lord Gove also discusses fallings out with Conservative Prime Ministers, the benefits of Brexit, why he doesn’t believe in referendums and that fewer people should be going to prison. Finally, on whether he would accept a role in a political version of The Celebrity Traitors, he tells Lord McFall that “I’d like Claudia Winkleman’s role”. Listen now to find out more. See more from the series https://www.parliament.uk/business/lords/house-of-lords-podcast/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Defence, security, Russia and China are on the agenda in the latest Lord Speaker’s Corner. Former Nato Secretary General, Lord Robertson of Port Ellen, and former First Sea Lord, Lord West of Spithead, speak to Lord McFall of Alcluith. In this episode, Lord Robertson, who was also Defence Secretary from 1997 to 1999, warns that the UK is “under-prepared and under attack”. He also discusses Russian-organised sabotage in Europe, explaining “They can’t do it themselves. So they are now contracting out, a good capitalist principle, to organised crime. Our undersea cables, which carry 99% of all the data we use, are vulnerable and they're watching them and, in some cases, attacking them.” Lord West, the UK’s first Security Minister from 2007 to 2010, reflects on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, saying “It’s quite difficult to see how one’s going to get out of this [conflict] because one doesn’t want a full war between Nato and Russia. They [Russia] would lose it. And the danger with them losing it is – would they then make that stupid mistake of going nuclear?” Both also share their thoughts and experience of dealing with China. Lord West discusses his experience commanding a battle group as he dealt with a challenging Chinese navy during the handover of Hong Kong: “out at sea it was very different from the pictures coming from Hong Kong. The Chinese Navy were trying to ram our ships. They were opening missile doors.” Lord Robertson suggests a careful approach, saying “We've got to engage with China, but recognise that it is going to be the future challenge - militarily, commercially and diplomatically - and therefore be very, very cautious about what we do... I think it's probably better to call the Chinese a problem rather than a threat at the present moment.” Lord West also discusses his experience in the nuclear chain of command on 9/11, sharing “I remember getting a phone call from our nuclear firing cell, the guys who finally - when all the codes go - press the buttons, and they said, unbelievably, on my red phone [linking to the UK deterrent]: ‘Sir... the Americans are starting to move to immediate readiness for nuclear weapon release in all three systems.’ That’s strategic air, intercontinental ballistic missiles and subsurface ...’What do you want me to do?’” See more from the series https://www.parliament.uk/business/lords/house-of-lords-podcast/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Former head of MI5 Baroness Manningham-Buller joins Lord Speaker’s Corner to discuss the relationship between MI5 and MI6, reading upside down, meeting Vladimir Putin and whether Russia is at war with the West. Eliza Manningham-Buller, Baroness Manningham-Buller, served in MI5 for 34 years, becoming Director General in 2002 before retiring in 2007. In this episode, she speaks to Lord McFall of Alcluith about her career, including how she joined MI5, her family connection with espionage and leading the Service in the aftermath of the July 7 bombings: “I had learnt something from the military called ‘battle rhythm’, and I expected us to be flat out for some time on this, our role being to help the police in understanding this crime, this atrocity, this horror, and therefore I wanted people to come into work fresh.” She also dispels a common misconception of the relationship between MI5 and MI6: “The ‘Le Carré' view that the two organisations are constantly at each other's throats is entirely fictional. We both help each other, as we do with GCHQ. It's a close-knit community. The other very important partner for MI5 is the police.” Baroness Manningham-Buller later explains she thinks it might be right to agree with foreign policy expert Dr Fiona Hill’s assertion that Russia is already at war with the UK and the West: “Since the invasion of Ukraine, and the various things I read that the Russians have been doing here, sabotage, intelligence collection, attacking people, and so on… Fiona Hill may be right in saying we're already at war with Russia. It's a different sort of war, but the hostility, the cyber-attacks, the physical attacks, intelligence work is extensive.” She also shares her experience of meeting the Russian President 20 years ago following the G8 meeting in Gleneagles: “We all hoped that the past history of Russia wouldn't prevail, and, at the end of the Soviet Union, we would have a potential partner, and that was one of the reasons why Putin was with us for the G8 in 2005… I met him when he came back to London. But actually we were wrong in that, because Russia is extremely hostile to the West and we've seen it in all sorts of ways… I didn't anticipate that within a year, he'd be ordering the murder on London streets of [Russian dissident Alexander] Litvinenko.” Listen to the full episode to find out more. See more from the series https://www.parliament.uk/business/lords/house-of-lords-podcast/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Entrepreneur Martha Lane Fox, Baroness Lane-Fox of Soho, is the latest guest on Lord Speaker’s Corner as she sounds the alarm over the deepening gender divide in tech. Martha Lane Fox is Chancellor of The Open University, and President of the British Chambers of Commerce. In 1998 she co-founded Europe’s largest travel and leisure website, lastminute.com. From 2009-2013, she helped create the Government Digital Service and, in 2013, she joined the House of Lords as a Crossbench member. Baroness Lane-Fox is a long-time advocate for women in technology, telling the Lord Speaker she had “seen no change in the relationship between the sector and women, or in numbers of women” in over 30 years. She also gives a stark warning about entrenched sexism in the global tech sector, recounting how a CEO of a large company told her directly “We’re done with women” at a prominent US business event earlier this year. Baroness Lane-Fox discusses the challenges of investment in the UK, explaining “we have a default in this country … (of) seeing the barriers to things as opposed to the opportunities.” She also shares her opinion that the UK has an issue with scaling businesses, stating “We have the top three universities out of the top 10 in the world. We have amazing scientists, we have incredible inventors. But what we have is a stunning scaling gap, and experience gap … Only 10% of UK businesses even trade internationally. We are not very good at becoming big global businesses. So we need to keep having a push at the risk culture.” Finally, Baroness Lane-Fox shares her take on regulating tech, smartphones for young people and even what her go-to karaoke song is. Find out more by watching or listening now. See more from the series https://www.parliament.uk/business/lords/house-of-lords-podcast/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

‘War and conflict is not something that is not familiar to me. It is not an essay title, it is not a theoretical exercise. It's very real.’ Campaigner Baroness Helic is the latest guest on Lord Speaker’s Corner as she warns that society has become numb to sexual violence in war. Arminka Helic, Baroness Helic, campaigns to raise global awareness of rape as a war crime. Here she shares her extraordinary journey from fleeing the Bosnian war as a refugee to becoming special adviser to the then Foreign Secretary William Hague (now Lord Hague of Richmond) via a researcher job in the House of Commons library. ‘It’s a weapon that is part of ethnic cleansing and genocide… Survivors are stigmatised. Perpetrators are not. That’s what we have to flip. Some of the victims are as young as two months old. And the world does nothing. We have become globally desensitised.’ While working for Lord Hague, she persuaded him to join forces with Angelina Jolie to highlight the proliferation of warzone sexual violence. The Hollywood actor and then UNHCR Special Envoy and actor had written, produced and directed a harrowing 2011 film ‘In the Land of Blood and Honey’, which underscored the pervasive nature of sexual violence in war. Following this, the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSVI) was created, which has continued across multiple governments and is now supported by Labour minister and special envoy Lord Collins of Highbury. ‘I heard reports of some of my friends from school being detained in what became known as rape camps. We need to understand that war is not just about armies - it’s about lives torn apart. Peace agreements don’t end trauma.’ In this episode, Baroness Helic warns that rising global conflict, weakened international institutions, and public desensitisation have dulled reactions to atrocities that once would have mobilised urgent action. She also discusses Israel/Gaza, and raises concerns about Russian influence in the Balkans, describing the region as a potential ‘second front’ of destabilisation through proxy actors. See more from the series https://www.parliament.uk/business/lords/house-of-lords-podcast/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

‘The demand for journalism is unprecedented in the whole of human history. But what's got much harder is to work out what the best media for it is, and where the money lies and where the future lies.’ Former editor of the Daily Telegraph, Lord Moore of Etchingham, is the latest guest on Lord Speaker’s Corner. Charles Moore, now Lord Moore of Etchingham, also previously edited the Spectator and the Sunday Telegraph and is the authorised biographer of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. ‘For the Conservative Party, Thatcher is the ‘big one’, as Churchill was and still is. It’s been very difficult for women leaders - of whom there have now been three in the Conservative Party. Should you be like Mrs Thatcher or not like Mrs Thatcher, as a woman leader?’ In this episode, Lord Moore talks to the Lord Speaker about Britain’s first female Prime Minister, his career and journalism today. He also reflects on changes in the style of government and former Prime Ministers David Cameron and Boris Johnson. See more from the series https://www.parliament.uk/business/lords/house-of-lords-podcast/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

‘The US is just so obsessed about being big, it doesn't understand that by others becoming bigger, the US can become wealthier.’ Jim O’Neill, Lord O’Neill of Gatley, is an ex-Treasury Minister, former Chief Economist at Goldman Sachs and Crossbench member of the House of Lords. In this latest episode of Lord Speaker’s Corner, Lord O’Neill shares his perspectives with Lord McFall of Alcluith on a range of topics, from China and the USA to AI, the risks of rising antimicrobial resistance and why Manchester should be prioritised as Britain’s second city. At Goldman Sachs, Lord O’Neill coined the term BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) to describe the group of emerging economies. In this episode he shares his thoughts on how that has progressed, as well as President Donald Trump’s current tariffs approach by the US. He explains ‘the path which Trump seems to have embarked on, of aggressive confrontation, is not likely to be sustained because it is in America's interests for China to continue to do well economically.’ He also shares his thoughts on the current approach to AI, warning against letting tech sectors self-regulate: ‘this idea that just let the financial sector regulate itself and there'd be no problem…that didn't turn out too well, did it? And there's a lot of these AI guys wanting to do the same.’ Lord O’Neill also calls for greater devolution, with powers for regions to raise local taxes, suggesting ‘people here (in Westminster) need to have excitement about giving responsibility to local people in these places to make a national difference.’ He also calls for devolution on welfare-spending with health-linked budgets for local authorities: ‘There's a serious case for exploring devolving aspects of the welfare support budget as it links to critical health illness’ See more from the series https://www.parliament.uk/business/lords/house-of-lords-podcast/ #HouseOfLords #UKParliament #LordSpeakersCorner #LordsMembers Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jenny Jones, Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb, speaks about why she is campaigning on topics including salmon farming and water company pollution in the latest episode of Lord Speaker’s Corner. ‘We’ve seen water companies polluting our waterways, our beaches, our lovely fishing streams… our chalk streams that are very rare and precious. And yet, we still can’t stop them doing it.’ Baroness Jones is one of two Green members of the House of Lords alongside Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle. In this episode, she speaks to Lord McFall of Alcluith about why she campaigns on a range of topics. ‘People carry on eating salmon, even though the way they’re produced in salmon farms is absolutely horrifying. It is the lice. The fish in the farm suffer, quite often die in their pens because the lice have eaten so far into their flesh. Wild Atlantic salmon going past these fish farms can get poisoned by the toxic stuff, all the antibiotics and so on, coming off the farm fish.’ Baroness Jones describes how members initially questioned the Green link to various issues when she first joined the Lords but how that has now changed. She explains ‘I had to explain to people everything is about the environment. If you build the wrong houses in the wrong place, then it's a disaster for future flooding, and so on.’ Baroness Jones also shares how she came to the Lords after training as an archaeologist and later serving as a London Assembly Member and Deputy Mayor. See more from the series https://www.parliament.uk/business/lords/house-of-lords-podcast/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Former leader of the Labour party Neil Kinnock, Lord Kinnock, is the latest guest on Lord Speaker’s Corner. ‘I guess that's what gave me my politics basically. The idea that many people working together could produce and provide at the level of quality that would've been absolutely impossible for the individual or the family.’ Lord Kinnock speaks about growing up in south Wales and what drew him to politics, his early years as an MP and the Labour party of the late 80s and early 90s. He also speaks about his regrets from his time as leader, plus how politics and public discourse has changed today: ‘I don't want deference. Deference is not part of my makeup and I don't want anybody else to show it. But respect, accommodation, compassion, those instincts are fundamental to human beings, and they're too often being discarded or suppressed.’ Lord Kinnock also explains that he wished he had challenged the President of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), Arthur Scargill, more forcefully about the need to ballot its members: 'I told Scargill at the beginning of April 1984 that without a ballot, the strike would not succeed. And I said it publicly, I just wish that I'd said it more publicly (even), and repeatedly over the subsequent months as a way of simply telling the truth to men and their families who were showing superhuman loyalty to the cause and whose loyalty was being abused by someone who had a very peculiar, very odd interpretation of what he thought of as his socialist mission, which was misplaced and misleading and assisted in tragedy. I've said before that Scargill and Thatcher deserved each other. Nobody else did.' The former Labour leader also gives a rare insight into private discussions between himself and Shadow Chancellor John Smith in preparation for the 1992 general election. Watch or listen to the full episode to find out more. See more from the series https://www.parliament.uk/business/lords/house-of-lords-podcast/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Former top diplomat Simon McDonald, Lord McDonald of Salford, is the latest guest on Lord Speaker’s Corner. Lord McDonald shares his views on a range of current international issues from President Trump and Greenland to the Chagos Islands and British soft power, plus changes to the global approach of the USA, China and Russia: ‘For most of my career, the reasons why the institutions of the late 1940s were fraying were because Russia and then China were not particularly happy with that post Second World War settlement. The surprise in recent years is the United States being a revisionist power, not liking the bill paid by the United States to underpin that settlement.’ Lord McDonald was previously Head of the Diplomatic Service, the most senior civil servant in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and has served as Ambassador to Israel and to Germany. In this episode, he speaks to Lord McFall about what drew him to public service both in the Foreign Office and the House of Lords: ‘I think British public service is part of what defines our country and helps us through crisis. And I think it is a fact that in this House there are a group of people who are here to help, to help other people, not to help themselves. They are here to bring their expertise to bear. They're here to listen to other people. They are here to gather evidence before they make up their minds. And I think those are solid attributes of public service.’ Lord McDonald also talks about the role of the Civil Service and ministers, plus the challenges of planning for successive governments: ‘One reason why our projects across the board are worse than, say, similar projects in Japan or China or even France, is our planning regime, that every single road, bridge, railway has to go through a very protracted planning legal procedure. Every government I've worked for identified our planning laws as an obstacle, and every government so far has failed really to grip it. I note that the new Labour government is gearing up to attempt. I hope they succeed. But I note that every previous effort has failed.’ See more from the series https://www.parliament.uk/business/lords/house-of-lords-podcast/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From politics to comedy to campaigning against anti-social behaviour, broadcaster Ayesha Hazarika is the latest guest on Lord Speaker’s Corner. Baroness Hazarika grew up in Coatbridge, Scotland and is the first person of Indian Assamese heritage to join the House of Lords. She rose to become a senior adviser to Labour figures including Harriet Harman and Ed Miliband, playing a crucial role preparing them for PMQs: ‘I think Prime Minister's Questions gets a very bad rap, because it does often become quite Punch and Judy, but I think it's a really important function of our democracy. There are not many democracies around the world where the principal politician in the land is called to the same spot week in, week out, and faces questions on any topic from any Member of Parliament across the country.’ In this episode, Baroness Hazarika talks about her unlikely career path from politics to stand-up comedy and broadcasting, and back to politics. She also explains to Lord McFall how she will use her new political platform to campaign against anti-social behaviour and crime: ‘I don't like calling this low-level crime, because I don't think it's low-level crime. But I think this stuff is not easy, but the more we talk about it and the more we press government ministers, that puts the pressure on them to keep on keeping this a priority.’ Finally, Baroness Hazarika tells Lord McFall about receiving the phone call to offer her a place in the Lords, explaining ‘I really couldn't believe it, because if you're somebody like me from my background and you've loved politics your whole life, it's a real honour to be asked to join the House of Lords for the party that you have served and the party you love.’ She shares that this wasn’t the first thought that went through her head though, saying ‘The person said, “I'm calling on behalf of Keir Starmer. This is really serious. Are you by yourself? I think you better sit down.” And the first thing I thought was, "Oh my goodness, what have I been saying on my social media? Am I about to get cancelled, or am I about to get suspended from the Labour Party? Have I said something terrible?’ See more from the series https://www.parliament.uk/business/lords/house-of-lords-podcast/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From the Foreign Office to National Security Adviser to Cabinet Secretary, Mark Sedwill – Lord Sedwill – is the latest guest on Lord Speaker’s Corner. ‘It comes down in the end to the quality of the individual and then they'll get the best out of the best civil servants.’ In this episode, Lord Sedwill shares his perspectives on the relationship between ministers and officials, reforming the Civil Service and what his advice would be for the new Cabinet Secretary. ‘There was a period which is now coming towards an end, a decade when the UK became quite introspective’ A former diplomat, including Nato representative and UK Ambassador to Afghanistan, Lord Sedwill also shares his perspectives on the UK’s changing role internationally, plus its need to actively engage the BRIC countries. ‘Diplomacy is not about talking to your friends. Diplomacy is about talking to your adversaries and seeing if you can find a way of dealing with the situation if possible without conflict.’ Lord Sedwill also speaks about working in some of most intense regions for the Foreign Office including Egypt and Iraq, where once he was held at gunpoint by a young man as he was trying to gain access to one of Saddam Hussein’s palaces as a UN Weapons Inspector. ‘This youngster, he was probably only 16 or 17. He wasn't scared of us, he was scared of getting it wrong and what would happen to him or his family. And I remember having to calm the situation down… I intervened and just used my Arabic and tried to calm the situation down. And that's probably the closest I ever came to being shot directly by someone where there was absolutely no protection.’ See more from the series at https://www.parliament.uk/business/lords/house-of-lords-podcast/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From education to government, Northern Ireland to Hong Kong, organising a Papal visit to leading a university, Chris Patten speaks about his life and work. ‘You engage them, first of all, without the sort of mushy feeling that you can't do business with them unless you accept their political narrative… we should talk to the Chinese, but we should do so in a pretty clear-sighted way.’ In a wide-ranging discussion, outgoing Chancellor of the University of Oxford and former Governor of Hong Kong Lord Patten of Barnes speaks to the Lord Speaker about China’s approach to the former British dependent territory. He also discusses his time dealing with China while a European Commissioner and his view on engagement with Beijing today. He reflects on his experience in government and in particular in Northern Ireland, sharing his perspective on the importance of ‘recognising that identity politics can't be allowed to destroy the ordinary civility of life.’ Following the end of his Chancellorship of the University of Oxford, he also shares what he has learnt during his time there, including the importance of a range of educational opportunities. He explains ‘a university which is doing apprenticeship courses alongside degrees… a higher education establishment that is helping people to become plumbers or electricians, is just as important as universities. They are all part of making us more successful and a more congenial society.’ Finally, Lord Patten shares the importance of giving people the chance to make a difference, saying ‘whether we're Labour or Conservative, ultimately we want the government to work.’ Hear more from the series https://www.parliament.uk/business/lords/house-of-lords-podcast/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

‘I'd heard bombs before, so I knew it was a bomb.’ Forty years ago this month, Robin Butler - Principle Private Secretary to Margaret Thatcher - was in the room with the prime minister when the Brighton bomb exploded nearby in their hotel. ‘This is our opportunity to show that terrorism can't defeat democracy’ Now Lord Butler of Brockwell tells the Lord Speaker about his experience, from their initial reaction to the blast, to going back to retrieve the prime minister’s papers, and shares Margaret Thatcher’s response to his suggestion she postpone the start of the Conservative Party Conference the next morning. ‘I devoted my life to assisting politicians with government.’ Lord Butler worked closely with five prime ministers, from Edward Heath to Tony Blair. In this episode he shares his experience of working with each of them either as private secretary or cabinet secretary. He speaks about later work of prime ministers on Northern Ireland, negotiations with Europe, why he joined the civil service and the growing role of special advisers. He also shares his thoughts on reforming the Civil Service, arguing that ‘you’ve got to reform it constantly… But you've got to lead the Civil Service in my view, and not drive them’ Hear more from the series https://www.parliament.uk/business/lords/house-of-lords-podcast/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

‘This morning, even this morning, I was in my prayer saying to God, "What am I doing here?”’ Justin Welby, the 105th Archbishop of Canterbury, senior bishop in the Church of England and leader of the bishops in the House of Lords, speaks to Lord McFall of Alcluith. ‘Growing up was pretty complicated to put it mildly.’ In this expansive interview, he speaks to the Lord Speaker about his early life, what drew him to the church from the oil industry and the path to ultimately become Archbishop. He shares that he had an unlikely route to ordination, let alone becoming Archbishop, having been told ‘there is no place for you in the church.’ He also reflects on his time as bishop in Coventry, Durham and Liverpool, including his work on poverty, reconciliation and the Community of the Cross of Nails, and meeting the Pope. Lord McFall also asks about their joint work on the banking sector following the 2008 financial crisis, whether politics and religion can intersect, and what the Archbishop’s hopes are for the next generation. ‘I think that in the public sense, you put on a role, you wear it… Privately, we're just the same as anyone else. We wonder about the right thing to do.’ The Archbishop also discusses the experience of his sometimes very public role, occasionally acting as ‘vicar to the country’ and offers an insight into his part in both the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II and the coronation of King Charles III. See more from the series https://www.parliament.uk/business/lords/house-of-lords-podcast/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lord Speaker’s Corner returns for a new Parliament and Lord McFall of Alcluith’s first guest is former Director General of MI5 and Chair of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, Jonathan Evans, Lord Evans of Weardale. ‘MI5 in those days was very secretive, had a very low public profile… it was only on day two of my initial training course that I realised I'd actually joined MI5.’ In this episode, hear from Lord Evans about his experience at MI5, including his work in Northern Ireland and later tackling the threat from Al-Qaeda. You can also hear about his role as head of the Service at a time it was increasingly opening up while confronting new challenges. ‘We are faced with an increasing alignment between states that are hostile to our values and, in some cases, are actively war fighting in Europe… it's extremely important that we are as integrated in our response.’ Lord Evans also explains how threats have changed since he joined MI5, the importance of the UK’s international relationships for security and the impact of countries such as China, Iran and Russia. ‘I think the fact that we are operating in so many countries demonstrates that conflict is one of the big drivers of problems in the world, one of the biggest humanitarian challenges in the world.’ Lord Evans is the Chair of the HALO Trust and shares his thoughts on the work the charity does and why it is important, explaining that ‘communities impacted by conflict can't rebuild’ without support. Lord Evans also reflects on his work in ethics as the former Chair of the Committee on Standards in Public Life under previous prime ministers: ‘There may be a short-term advantage in bending the rules, but there's a long-term advantage in being seen to be acting with integrity.’ See more from the series https://www.parliament.uk/business/lords/house-of-lords-podcast/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sovereignty, tackling terrorism and even Macbeth are on the agenda in the latest Lord Speaker’s Corner as David Anderson, Lord Anderson of Ipswich KC, speaks to Lord McFall of Alcluith. ‘You were inventing effectively a new system… that had to be common to all the difference countries of Europe… It seemed to me much better to do it that way than to be fighting each other as we had been for hundreds of years.’ King’s Counsel Lord Anderson is a leader in European and public law. He has been involved in multiple ground-breaking legal judgments and argued more than 180 cases at the European Court of Justice and European Court of Human Rights. In this episode, he talks to Lord McFall about Factortame, the landmark case on parliamentary sovereignty versus European law that saw English courts disapply an Act of Parliament. He also discusses the impact of this and other cases, reflecting ‘I did wonder in retrospect whether it might've been one of the reasons for Brexit.’ Lord Anderson also explains his thinking on sovereignty and where power lies today: ‘I think in having a political constitution where Parliament is in charge, we've done the right thing. Where I think the difficulty lies is in the relationship between the executive and Parliament... I think it was Gladstone who once said that our constitution more than any others presumes the good sense and the good faith of those who work it.’ He also shares his perspective that we don’t need a written constitution but argues ‘if we had a constitutional code or a code of constitutional principles for use in legislation, then that would help actors in the constitutional drama. And I think it would also help inform the public.’ Lord Anderson was previously the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation. His work, including the influential report A Question of Trust, paved the way for greater transparency of the government’s powers and their use: ‘It was dangerous because there was not sufficient trust of the people that are supposed to keep us safe. So what we ended up with was a bill which became an Act of Parliament, which greatly increased the transparency. That doesn't mean telling the bad guys everything you're doing. But it does mean being clear with Parliament and the public what the powers are and how in principle they could be used.’ He also advised the government on the need for change following the Westminster and Manchester terror attacks, and argued for more cooperation including beyond the state. He explains ‘if you are going to be effective, for example in stopping people from buying bomb-making ingredients online, you're going to need collaboration from big private companies as well, online marketplaces or online sellers and so on.’ Lord Anderson also cautions about reacting to events, warning ‘if you are foolish enough to overreact to what they are doing or to what they are threatening to do, then you are giving them exactly what they want. Because you are marginalising whatever suspect community they are trying to draw their support from… it's hard to do it sometimes, but you've got to retain the rule of law.’ See more from the series https://www.parliament.uk/business/lords/house-of-lords-podcast/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lola Young, Baroness Young of Hornsey, is the latest guest on Lord Speaker’s Corner. In this episode, Baroness Young speaks to Lord McFall of Alcluith about her work tackling modern slavery, race and inequality in the creative sector, and why consumers should challenge companies to do better when they source materials. Baroness Young has extensive experience telling truth to power. From challenging the workplace dress code of her employer in 1971, to pushing for representation as an actor, to calling on major fashion brands to improve their practices, Baroness Young has regularly campaigned for change. ‘It was to criminalise forced labour and domestic servitude and like virtually everybody else, including people in this House. I said, "Well, isn't that already a crime?" And no, it wasn't. Forced labour on these shores… in essence, that was the start of this country's towards the Modern Slavery Act, which was six years later.’ In 2009, Baroness Young worked with Anti-Slavery International to put forward amendments to the Coroners and Justice Bill. She talks about the importance of that work and how it has led her to go further, working with the fashion industry to tackle issues in their supply chains and improve transparency. Discussing why consumers should hold companies to account for the products they buy, Baroness Young explains ‘some industries will have a supply chain that's metaphorically miles long… [companies] have to take responsibility for it because otherwise what happens when the people who live by a particular river in China find that they can no longer use the water from that river because it's dyed red… We again, are implicated in that practise. So we have to hold businesses to account.’ ‘If you think about any one of the scandals that have happened recently, you can talk about Post Office, you can talk about Windrush, you can talk about Grenfell, all of those different things. We always say, "We are never going to let this happen again." And then the next time we say, "We've learned our lesson, it's not going to happen again." And then the next time we say, "We've learned our lesson."’ Baroness Young also explains the need to go beyond inquiries to truly understand issues that face society, explaining ‘these trite phrases don't provide any comfort to the people who suffer.’ See more from the series Find out how members engage with charities and campaigners to make change happen Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Should Mars be our plan(et) B? Should we continue with manned spaceflight? Hear from the Astronomer Royal, Lord Rees of Ludlow, in the latest episode of Lord Speaker’s Corner. ‘Now that robots can do the things that humans were needed for 50 years ago, the case for sending people is getting weaker all the time.’ In this episode, Martin Rees - astrophysicist, former President of the Royal Society, and now Lord Rees of Ludlow and Astronomer Royal – explains to Lord McFall of Alcluith that he thinks governments should no longer pay for manned spaceflight. He explains ‘robots can do all the practical things,’ meaning that ‘only people who really have a high appetite for risk should be going into space, and they should be privately funded, not by the rest of us.’ Looking beyond Earth, Lord Rees also advocates for the need to focus effort on tackling climate change rather than looking to move to Mars. He suggests that ‘dealing with climate change on earth is a doddle compared to making Mars habitable.’ ‘There's a risk that we will leave for our descendants a depleted world with mass extinction… I think it's an ethical imperative that we should change our policies so that, just as we benefit from the heritage of centuries past, we leave a positive heritage for the future.’ From AI to bioethics, climate change to the disparities between the global north and south, Lord Rees shares his perspectives on some of the current challenges that we face. He also gives advice to ageing billionaires, saying ‘these billionaires when they were young, they want to be rich, now they're rich, they want to be young again, and that's not quite so easy to arrange.’ See more from the series https://www.parliament.uk/business/lords/house-of-lords-podcast/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.