I am glad that the British Government are taking the lead in combating international financial fraud and money laundering, particularly now that cryptocurrency and its problems are so much in our minds. I note that one of the Government’s priorities as president is improving information sharing. The British Government are responsible for a large number of Crown dependencies and overseas territories, many of which are offshore financial centres. They do not share information fully, and I note that the British Virgin Islands, for example, are on the FATF’s grey list, which deals with countries with strategic deficiencies in efforts to prevent fraud

and money laundering. What do the Government intend to do to make sure that our leadership against financial fraud includes making sure that our overseas territories and Crown dependencies are up to the mark?

I am glad that the British Government are taking the lead in combating international financial fraud and money laundering, particularly now that cryptocurrency and its problems are so much in our minds. I note that one of the Government’s priorities as president is improving information sharing. The British Government are responsible for a large number of Crown dependencies and overseas territories, many of which are offshore financial centres. They do not share information fully, and I note that the British Virgin Islands, for example, are on the FATF’s grey list, which deals with countries with strategic deficiencies in efforts to prevent fraud

and money laundering. What do the Government intend to do to make sure that our leadership against financial fraud includes making sure that our overseas territories and Crown dependencies are up to the mark?

To ask His Majesty’s Government what progress in combatting international financial fraud they hope to make during their two-year presidency of the Financial Action Task Force.

To ask His Majesty’s Government what progress in combatting international financial fraud they hope to make during their two-year presidency of the Financial Action Task Force.

Lords motion to take note of the threats to democratic institutions in the United Kingdom, including disinformation, foreign interference, and levels of public trust in politics. Agreed to on question.

Lords motion to take note of the threats to democratic institutions in the United Kingdom, including disinformation, foreign interference, and levels of public trust in politics. Agreed to on question.

My Lords, on Thursday, this House will be discussing threats to democracy. We are close to the point now where one has to see X— and Elon Musk—as something of a threat to British democracy, deliberately putting out misinformation, using algorithms to promote the most anti-democratic candidate in the Makerfield by-election, and so on. Do the Government not need to look at much tighter regulation on X and other social media which are actively attempting to bias the way in which people in Britain understand our democratic life?

My Lords, on Thursday, this House will be discussing threats to democracy. We are close to the point now where one has to see X— and Elon Musk—as something of a threat to British democracy, deliberately putting out misinformation, using algorithms to promote the most anti-democratic candidate in the Makerfield by-election, and so on. Do the Government not need to look at much tighter regulation on X and other social media which are actively attempting to bias the way in which people in Britain understand our democratic life?

My Lords, as someone who has spent most of my life living in the north of England, I strongly agree with the Minister that we need very considerably to improve the capacity of railway lines to the whole of the north of England, north-west Yorkshire and the north-east. That clearly justifies completing the line, to Yorkshire as well as Manchester. The Minister has explained that the circumstance in which these consultants were brought in was entirely exceptional. May I tempt him, however, to talk about the Government’s use of consultants, which has expanded over the last 15 years? Does there

not come a point, in dealing with outsourcing contractors and public procurement, when the Government should be insourcing some its capacity to examine what outside contractors provide, and not so often outsource it to consultants, who charge a good deal more than civil servants do?

My Lords, as someone who has spent most of my life living in the north of England, I strongly agree with the Minister that we need very considerably to improve the capacity of railway lines to the whole of the north of England, north-west Yorkshire and the north-east. That clearly justifies completing the line, to Yorkshire as well as Manchester. The Minister has explained that the circumstance in which these consultants were brought in was entirely exceptional. May I tempt him, however, to talk about the Government’s use of consultants, which has expanded over the last 15 years? Does there

not come a point, in dealing with outsourcing contractors and public procurement, when the Government should be insourcing some its capacity to examine what outside contractors provide, and not so often outsource it to consultants, who charge a good deal more than civil servants do?

My Lords, the report that the noble Lord, Lord Pack, referred to was by a French government agency about the apparent operations of an Israeli company in exerting influence over campaigns in France, Britain and a number of African countries. The report mentions co-operation between the French government agency and the Swedish, British and Dutch Governments, as well as others. But would it not have been appropriate to alert our own population to what was going on? Now that we know that we have this sort of foreign influence through social media, coming from a number of different countries—not just from state actors but from private actors, such as the Israeli company and private actors in the United States, which exert considerable influence—should the British Government not have reported to their own public to tell us what was going on?

My Lords, the report that the noble Lord, Lord Pack, referred to was by a French government agency about the apparent operations of an Israeli company in exerting influence over campaigns in France, Britain and a number of African countries. The report mentions co-operation between the French government agency and the Swedish, British and Dutch Governments, as well as others. But would it not have been appropriate to alert our own population to what was going on? Now that we know that we have this sort of foreign influence through social media, coming from a number of different countries—not just from state actors but from private actors, such as the Israeli company and private actors in the United States, which exert considerable influence—should the British Government not have reported to their own public to tell us what was going on?

Will the Minister confirm that it has always been very strongly in the interests of the British police and other authorities to promote closer co-operation with our neighbours? I remember when I was a very junior Minister being told in Yorkshire that there was no organised crime in Britain which was not international. I also remember much earlier, in 1989, when I was director of research at Chatham House, being approached by the Metropolitan Police to ask whether we could run a seminar on how to build police co-operation with our European neighbours—after which the British police played an active role in the establishment of Europol. This is all very strongly in our national interest, and we ought to be pursuing it as closely as we can.

Will the Minister confirm that it has always been very strongly in the interests of the British police and other authorities to promote closer co-operation with our neighbours? I remember when I was a very junior Minister being told in Yorkshire that there was no organised crime in Britain which was not international. I also remember much earlier, in 1989, when I was director of research at Chatham House, being approached by the Metropolitan Police to ask whether we could run a seminar on how to build police co-operation with our European neighbours—after which the British police played an active role in the establishment of Europol. This is all very strongly in our national interest, and we ought to be pursuing it as closely as we can.

To ask His Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to including in the Cabinet Manual guidelines for government formation in the event of the next election not providing a Commons majority for a single party.

To ask His Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to including in the Cabinet Manual guidelines for government formation in the event of the next election not providing a Commons majority for a single party.

My Lords, I welcome this announcement and thank the Minister for alerting me to the Statement yesterday. The coalition Government produced the Cabinet Manual as a guide for future Governments to the conventions of our unwritten constitution. It was intended that successive Governments should update it after each election, but the chaos of single-party government and rapid turnover of Prime Ministers means that this is the first one. As it is now highly likely that the outcome of the next election might be one in which no single party has a majority, can the Government pay particular attention to the area of government formation to allow sufficient time to negotiate and establish another stable coalition Government?

My Lords, I welcome this announcement and thank the Minister for alerting me to the Statement yesterday. The coalition Government produced the Cabinet Manual as a guide for future Governments to the conventions of our unwritten constitution. It was intended that successive Governments should update it after each election, but the chaos of single-party government and rapid turnover of Prime Ministers means that this is the first one. As it is now highly likely that the outcome of the next election might be one in which no single party has a majority, can the Government pay particular attention to the area of government formation to allow sufficient time to negotiate and establish another stable coalition Government?

My Lords, does the Minister remember the argument, at the time of the Brexit referendum, that the divide in Britain was between the intellectual elite, who were people from anywhere, and the real people of Britain, who were people from somewhere? Are we not hearing an argument that it is the rich who are the people from anywhere, who

do not have any particular loyalty to Britain and who might move, and that the rest of us are much more patriotic? Could we not hope to hear an argument from the Conservative Party and Reform that the rich should also be patriotic and committed to this country?

My Lords, does the Minister remember the argument, at the time of the Brexit referendum, that the divide in Britain was between the intellectual elite, who were people from anywhere, and the real people of Britain, who were people from somewhere? Are we not hearing an argument that it is the rich who are the people from anywhere, who

do not have any particular loyalty to Britain and who might move, and that the rest of us are much more patriotic? Could we not hope to hear an argument from the Conservative Party and Reform that the rich should also be patriotic and committed to this country?

The Minister mentioned music hubs. The key thing in getting an opportunity for disadvantaged students from schools that do not have good musical education is to put them in touch with music hubs. I declare an interest as I used to be chair of the VOCES8 Foundation. What shocked us when we started taking singing into schools was how many primary schools did not have a teacher with any music education, and some secondary schools had almost no expertise in music. Enthusiastic and expert music teachers are the way to get disadvantaged children into music hubs and give them the opportunities they need. What are the Government going to do to make sure that every school has a teacher with at least some training and skills in music?

The Minister mentioned music hubs. The key thing in getting an opportunity for disadvantaged students from schools that do not have good musical education is to put them in touch with music hubs. I declare an interest as I used to be chair of the VOCES8 Foundation. What shocked us when we started taking singing into schools was how many primary schools did not have a teacher with any music education, and some secondary schools had almost no expertise in music. Enthusiastic and expert music teachers are the way to get disadvantaged children into music hubs and give them the opportunities they need. What are the Government going to do to make sure that every school has a teacher with at least some training and skills in music?

My Lords, this is about local government pension funds and we are discussing guidance; the Minister has just talked about an instruction. Does she recognise that the autonomy of local government ought to be an important principle that we all hold to and that we need to be very careful about how much we limit it? In this respect, including in foreign policy, we are limiting local government autonomy more than happens in most comparable democracies, including the United States.

My Lords, this is about local government pension funds and we are discussing guidance; the Minister has just talked about an instruction. Does she recognise that the autonomy of local government ought to be an important principle that we all hold to and that we need to be very careful about how much we limit it? In this respect, including in foreign policy, we are limiting local government autonomy more than happens in most comparable democracies, including the United States.

My Lords, I declare an interest as a recipient of very considerable welfare payments in the form of my old-age pension and my wife’s old-age pension. The whole discussion about cutting welfare seems to leave out the very substantial chunk of welfare that goes to those of us who are retired. Does the Minister think that all the effort in cutting welfare has to be on the young, or does he think that any discussion about cutting welfare has to include the old as well?

My Lords, I declare an interest as a recipient of very considerable welfare payments in the form of my old-age pension and my wife’s old-age pension. The whole discussion about cutting welfare seems to leave out the very substantial chunk of welfare that goes to those of us who are retired. Does the Minister think that all the effort in cutting welfare has to be on the young, or does he think that any discussion about cutting welfare has to include the old as well?

My Lords, a quick look at international comparisons for introducing digital voting suggests that experiments in other advanced democratic countries have shown that it is okay at the local level, where the likelihood of cyber attack is low, but at the national level it is open to too many risks to try it out. Is that also the Government’s view?

My Lords, a quick look at international comparisons for introducing digital voting suggests that experiments in other advanced democratic countries have shown that it is okay at the local level, where the likelihood of cyber attack is low, but at the national level it is open to too many risks to try it out. Is that also the Government’s view?

My Lords, if we are going to have a whole-society response, we had better make sure that the whole society is informed about the nature of the threat. Nearly a year ago, the strategic defence review talked about the need for

“a national conversation led by the Government”—

political leadership by the Government—to inform and educate the wider public about the nature of these new cyber and other hybrid threats from a number of different countries: Iran, Russia, China and others. When are the Government going to provide that political leadership through the national conversation which was proposed?

My Lords, if we are going to have a whole-society response, we had better make sure that the whole society is informed about the nature of the threat. Nearly a year ago, the strategic defence review talked about the need for

“a national conversation led by the Government”—

political leadership by the Government—to inform and educate the wider public about the nature of these new cyber and other hybrid threats from a number of different countries: Iran, Russia, China and others. When are the Government going to provide that political leadership through the national conversation which was proposed?

My Lords, family voting, as it is now called, is not an entirely new phenomenon. When I first started out as a candidate, a very long time ago, it was most common in working-class communities; it is now rather more common in communities of south Asian origin. There should have been sufficient staff and police to observe whether the report by Democracy Volunteers—that there was an unusually high incidence of family voting in this by-election—was correct. Was there a problem with staffing? Are the Government ensuring that adequate staffing and policing of polling stations is being maintained?

My Lords, family voting, as it is now called, is not an entirely new phenomenon. When I first started out as a candidate, a very long time ago, it was most common in working-class communities; it is now rather more common in communities of south Asian origin. There should have been sufficient staff and police to observe whether the report by Democracy Volunteers—that there was an unusually high incidence of family voting in this by-election—was correct. Was there a problem with staffing? Are the Government ensuring that adequate staffing and policing of polling stations is being maintained?

My Lords, can we be assured that the police are now fully supportive of preventing intimidation? I do my politics in Bradford where there has been quite active intimidation of candidates. I recall a conversation with the noble Lord, Lord Kennedy, in a previous election campaign precisely about the reluctance of the Bradford police to intervene. Have we now had absolute assurance that the police will regard this as one of their important functions during election campaigns?

My Lords, can we be assured that the police are now fully supportive of preventing intimidation? I do my politics in Bradford where there has been quite active intimidation of candidates. I recall a conversation with the noble Lord, Lord Kennedy, in a previous election campaign precisely about the reluctance of the Bradford police to intervene. Have we now had absolute assurance that the police will regard this as one of their important functions during election campaigns?

Can I press the Minister on what she said about being in favour of public appointments having parliamentary scrutiny? We on these Benches strongly support that. It sounds a very welcome thing, not necessarily for all our

ambassadors but certainly for all senior public appointments. After all, we are supposed to be a parliamentary sovereignty and the idea that these are entirely in the hands of the Prime Minister clashes with the myth, at least, of parliamentary sovereignty. Can she explain a little more about whether this is now government policy?

Can I press the Minister on what she said about being in favour of public appointments having parliamentary scrutiny? We on these Benches strongly support that. It sounds a very welcome thing, not necessarily for all our

ambassadors but certainly for all senior public appointments. After all, we are supposed to be a parliamentary sovereignty and the idea that these are entirely in the hands of the Prime Minister clashes with the myth, at least, of parliamentary sovereignty. Can she explain a little more about whether this is now government policy?

My Lords, I declare an interest: I used to work for the all-party think tank Chatham House, which always declares its donors, as all partisan or non-partisan think tanks should. The Minister may have noticed that, some days ago, the Free Speech Union took out an emergency injunction to prevent the publication of its donors. We are talking about a range of bodies which are partisan think tanks, lobbies trying to influence the political debate, and third parties, in effect, and we need to tighten the rules on those bodies. It is money coming in from the United States and the UAE, as well as from hostile states such as Russia and China in much smaller numbers. Some of the money coming in from the Gulf states to the Blair Foundation, I think, is very considerable. Should there not be tougher rules to make sure that transparency is insisted on in all cases?

My Lords, I declare an interest: I used to work for the all-party think tank Chatham House, which always declares its donors, as all partisan or non-partisan think tanks should. The Minister may have noticed that, some days ago, the Free Speech Union took out an emergency injunction to prevent the publication of its donors. We are talking about a range of bodies which are partisan think tanks, lobbies trying to influence the political debate, and third parties, in effect, and we need to tighten the rules on those bodies. It is money coming in from the United States and the UAE, as well as from hostile states such as Russia and China in much smaller numbers. Some of the money coming in from the Gulf states to the Blair Foundation, I think, is very considerable. Should there not be tougher rules to make sure that transparency is insisted on in all cases?

To ask His Majesty’s Government what proposals they are considering to reverse the decline in public trust of national politics in the UK.

To ask His Majesty’s Government what proposals they are considering to reverse the decline in public trust of national politics in the UK.