Lords
Debate
21 November 2025
3 contributions
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
My Lords, in a group such as this, which has so many conceptual, linguistic and semantic alternatives on offer, it is very difficult to see how a Committee stage such as this is going to help very much in determining a final solution to the matters under consideration. Therefore, it could become ver…
My Lords—
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
10 November 2025
National Insurance: Partnerships
I am sorry to disappoint the noble Lord, but I am afraid I am not going to comment now on individual tax measures.
Lords
Debate
3 November 2025
Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill
My Lords, I rise in support of the amendment proposed by the noble Lord, Lord Bach, of which I too am a signatory. The principle is not controversial; the principle is established, and this really seems to be a matter of organisation, but one that has been as neglected as the somewhat remote but int…
Lords
Debate
27 October 2025
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
My Lords, in the early 1970s when I was a very young barrister practising from chambers in Chester, I had the good fortune to do a lot of planning cases around north Wales and Cheshire. I have not done anything like the number of planning cases done by the very distinguished noble Lord, Lord Banner,…
Lords
Debate
22 October 2025
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
My Lords, my noble friend Lord Best has given an empirical and quantitative justification for this amendment, which I support, and I will not repeat what he said. What I will say, however, is what social rent housing does and why it is a necessity.
It is a living instrument that improves our societ…
Lords
Proceedings
22 October 2025
Maccabi Tel Aviv FC: Away Fans Ban
My Lords, does the Minister agree that inflammatory and racist comments by a local Member of Parliament in this matter are an absolute disgrace and contrary to all decent concepts of British values, shared by almost every Muslim as well as every Jew in our population?
Lords
Proceedings
20 October 2025
Official Secret Act Case: Witness Statements
Does the Minister agree that the DPP simply got the law wrong in deciding to drop the case? In particular, does she agree that he failed to appreciate that whether China represents a current threat to our national security is a question of fact for the jury, and that he failed to charge as an altern…
Lords
Debate
14 October 2025
Deprivation of Citizenship Orders (Effect during Appeal) Bill
My Lords, I enter view with some hesitation after speeches by such a phalanx of Cross-Bench lawyers. I understand the reasoning behind the Bill, as set out by the Minister in introducing it. I understand, too, that it will put us on more or less the same footing as like-minded countries. Finally, I …
Lords
Debate
16 September 2025
2 contributions
Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill
My Lords, I rise to speak to Amendment 502E in my name. I entirely agree with what the noble Lord, Lord Addington, just said. To judge by the numerous safeguarding and similar cases in which I have been involved as a lawyer, it is the failure to share information that causes huge damage and often le…
My Lords, I will speak to Amendments 502Q, 502R, 502S, 502T and 502W in my name. Amendment 502R is supported strongly by my noble friend Lady Bull, who has expressed sincere regrets at not being able to be with us tonight because of a long-standing engagement.
These amendments seek to achieve co-or…
Lords
Debate
12 September 2025
5 contributions
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
My Lords, as the noble Lord, Lord Kamall, has already pointed out, we in this Chamber share the same goal: for people to die with dignity and compassion. They are critical concerns for those who, like me, believe that the Bill is deeply flawed. Noble Lords will know that I am a former government Chi…
My Lords, while I respect the views of the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of London, I speak in support of the Bill, in support of the principle of assisting people to die with dignity and in firm support of the legislation before us.
In my view, we are presented with a straightforward choice. A…
+3 more contributions in this session
Lords
Proceedings
11 September 2025
Qatar: Israeli Strike
I declare the interest of being involved in a consultancy which provides advice to the Government of Qatar. Is the Minister aware that, as is my certain knowledge, for many years now Qatar has provided a safe space for Hamas and Israel to negotiate safely within Doha, and that money paid to Gaza has…
Lords
Debate
9 September 2025
4 contributions
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
My Lords, I am not sure that this amendment hits the target of potential corruption in relation to planning. In my view, the central problem is not with central government but with local government. We are all becoming accustomed to the noble Lord, Lord Fuller, who is very eloquent, describing the c…
My Lords, I share the aspiration that we should build sufficient affordable housing in order to house those who need it. I do not propose to repeat what has been said in the three excellent speeches we have heard so far in this debate. I want to turn to a particular issue, with which I hope that the…
+2 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
9 September 2025
Ukraine: Negotiations
New to the Foreign Office brief as I am, let me try to say that we are very pleased that President Trump is coming and look forward to making his visit a success. Our intention is to continue to say to the United States that it remains an important partner—our most important partner—and that we will…
Lords
Oral Questions
9 September 2025
Child Houses for Child Victims of Sexual Abuse
I am grateful to the noble Lord for that point. As I said in my initial Answer to the Question, we have recognised the great importance and success rate of the Lighthouse model. As part of the response to the recommendations from IICSA, we are looking at how we can roll that out. That is a cross-gov…
Lords
Debate
8 September 2025
2 contributions
Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill
My Lords, I too have put my name to this amendment, and I am very grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Bach, for how he opened the debate and explained the amendment.
About 42 years ago, my first task in the other place was to be a member of the Standing Committee on the Police and Criminal Evidence Bi…
I am listening very carefully to what the Minister says, but does he not agree that the very high percentage of these cases that reach an appellate level in which the litigants are not represented by lawyers is alarming evidence that if legal aid is available at an early stage, it is not having much…
Lords
Oral Questions
8 September 2025
Gaza City
I have not read the piece that the noble Lord is referring to, but I would be very happy to. It is absolutely the case that, in order for a two-state solution to succeed and to last, Israel must be safe, secure and prosperous, and so must Palestine. That is the outcome that the person he is referrin…
Lords
Debate
4 September 2025
3 contributions
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
I am grateful to the noble Lord for giving way. Does he feel a sense of humility given that, by 2023, a peak of 400 asylum hotels had been reached under the previous Government?
Since the noble Baroness provokes me to return to the question, I ask the noble Lord whether he agrees that 400 hotels were in use for asylum seekers in 2023 and that the reduction that took place was met with no change in asylum law that enabled the new Government to address the situation in a cons…
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Statutory Instrument
3 July 2025
3 contributions
Terrorism Act 2000 (Proscribed Organisations) (Amendment) Order 2025
My Lords, I welcome my noble friend’s statement but start with a sense of disappointment that the Home Office did not see fit to give the intelligence assessment behind this, which he rightly says cannot be made public, to the ISC. He is a former member of the ISC, so he knows our remits. I understa…
My Lords, I am a little concerned about how the sides are being laid out in this discussion. I have some serious worries about proscribing Palestine Action and have a lot of sympathy with the regret amendment, but not because I consider Palestine Action to be some idealised, cuddly, heroic campaign …
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
3 July 2025
Music Festivals: Hate Speech
That is a helpful suggestion. The noble Lord will know that this is a fluid discussion both with the BBC and internally within DCMS and the Home Office. I am repeating myself, but I reiterate that it is for the police to determine criminal action, but it is certainly for the Government, be it DCMS, …
Lords
Oral Questions
30 June 2025
Arts Sector
I am not the person who makes the Arts Council’s decisions, but I assure the noble Lord that one of the key things that my noble friend Lady Hodge—who is undertaking the Arts Council England review—is examining is whether the regions have access to high-quality arts and culture and whether everyone …
Lords
Debate
25 June 2025
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
My Lords, it is always a pleasure to follow the noble Lord, Lord Carlile of Berriew, and I agreed with every word he said.
Planning is part of the social contract. For the Government to deliver that social contract, the people for whom the planning is developed need to be part of it. If the Bill is…
Lords
Debate
11 June 2025
6 contributions
Holocaust Memorial Bill
My Lords, my amendments in this group relate to security, and I appreciate the support of noble Lords who have signed these amendments. I start by emphasising to your Lordships that I want to see the erection of a Holocaust memorial in Victoria Tower Gardens as soon as possible.
I have something pe…
My Lords—
+4 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
11 June 2025
Police Service
The noble Lord tempts me to examine issues that are potentially being addressed as part of our discussions on the police reform White Paper, which will be produced shortly. The White Paper is looking at governance and efficiency and how best we can promote resources, so that the ambition of the nobl…