Lords
Proceedings
9 July 2026
European Entry and Exit System
My Lords, the root cause of the EES misery that British people are suffering is Brexit. There is no running away from that. But my enthusiasm for the EU does not blind me to its flaws, and this is one of them. Will the Government convene an emergency UK-EU meeting with the European Commission before…
Lords
Proceedings
6 July 2026
Imprisonment for Public Protection Prisoners
My Lords, can the Minister, whose personal commitment is not in doubt on this issue, tell us why the Government continue to reject a significant proportion of recommendations by the Parole Board for the transfer of IPP prisoners to open conditions? In answering that question, perhaps he will help me…
Lords
Proceedings
2 July 2026
Imprisonment for Public Protection
My Lords, Ministers are facing three Oral Questions about IPP prisoners within a fortnight, the third being mine. That is because we are determined, co-ordinated and—speaking for myself—an angry bunch. Why are the Government granting early release to a group of prisoners guilty of very serious crime…
Lords
Debate
1 July 2026
Draft Conversion Practices Bill
My Lords, the Minister says the Bill is intended to criminalise only seriously abusive conduct and not, for example, to impinge on parents’ rights to bring up their children. So why does Clause 1 say that any conduct can be a conversion practice? Is a parent who fails to take a child to private serv…
Lords
Proceedings
22 June 2026
Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office
My Lords, the Minister talks about things that are unacceptable and will not be tolerated, but the Chinese Communist Party is using the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office as a tool for its repressive activities. The noble Lord, Lord Alton, referred to it as a relic of a time when it was a valid tra…
Lords
Committee Stage
15 June 2026
Immigration (Leave to Enter and Remain) (Amendment) Order 2026
I am not entirely clear how Border Force would address the safeguarding risk. I am not an expert on Border Force methods, but the Explanatory Memorandum says that
“the continued deployment of Border Force officers in the arrivals hall”
would be done
“to identify safeguarding risks.”
I was not cl…
Lords
Proceedings
2 June 2026
Bosnia and Herzegovina
My Lords, Russia is undoubtedly stirring tensions to undermine western security and Bosnia’s progress to EU membership. As has been said, the UK has always played a strong role in supporting the Dayton agreement and the Office of the High Representative, which my former leader Paddy Ashdown filled 2…
Lords
Proceedings
28 April 2026
UK Biobank Data
My Lords, my question to the Minister follows on from the previous question. How will we know that the necessary cultural revolution among stewards of medical data has taken place? What has happened—that UK Biobank allowed the download of the data—is frankly astonishing. I must admit, I have been wo…
Lords
Proceedings
27 April 2026
Antisemitic Attacks
My noble friend Lord Palmer quoted his local rabbi as saying that this is unacceptable for us as a nation. That is what I would like to emphasise. The Minister has given us an account of a lot of the good work that the Government have done, but I cannot help thinking that we are not really getting d…
Lords
Oral Questions
27 April 2026
Student Visas
The brake on the four countries is a temporary brake while we assess the reasons for the rise in numbers that took place. The Government are trying to speed up the asylum processes along the lines that the noble Baroness, Lady Hamwee, mentioned. We have put additional staff in to approve the process…
Lords
Proceedings
21 April 2026
House of Lords: Legislative Procedures
I did not quite catch that, but I think that the noble Baroness referred to services of the House. My impression is that the current Lord Speaker and the past Lord Speaker and the Administration of the House have been talking and engaging more with Members, and that should continue. I will certainly…
Lords
Proceedings
14 April 2026
Statement of Changes in Immigration Rules
My Lords, I speak briefly in support of the case made by my noble friend Lady Royall. I regret that we are having this debate in this way this evening but it has been extremely powerful.
I thank the Minister for his personal response to my letter. When I raised the issue of the Chevening scholars s…
Lords
Debate
14 April 2026
Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill
My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Coaker, for his presentation. I have considerable sympathy for the situation that the Government find themselves in, subject to the capricious decisions of the US President. I would love to be a fly on the wall in the State Department, to be honest.
However, t…
Lords
Proceedings
14 April 2026
Middle East
The noble Baroness the Leader of the House rightly condemned attacks that the Iranian regime is perpetrating against its own people and those in surrounding states—in Israel, the Gulf and others. She was being urged by both Front Benches, with whom I fully agree, to proscribe the IRGC, and we keep w…
Lords
Oral Questions
14 April 2026
2 contributions
Single-sex Spaces: Equality and Human Rights Commission Guidance
Hang on, I am still standing. I had not quite finished, but I might as well give way to the noble Baroness.
I strongly dispute what the noble Baroness says—I do not suppose we will ever come to an agreement on it—but this is a very important issue. The Supreme Court judgment was absolutely clear; it brought clarity. If anyone is in any doubt about its implementation, they should seek legal advice. The imp…
Lords
Committee Stage
25 March 2026
2 contributions
Northern Ireland After Brexit (Northern Ireland Scrutiny Committee Report)
My Lords, it is a great pleasure, on behalf of the Official Opposition, to congratulate the Northern Ireland Scrutiny Committee, so ably chaired by the noble Lord, Lord Carlile of Berriew, on producing such a comprehensive and stimulating report. In addition, I put on record our thanks to the distin…
The Government have made a decision that we will focus on helping people work with it, rather than keeping a list, so that we can make sure that people have the support they need as they try to navigate the impact on their businesses and on their trade.
Lords
Proceedings
2 March 2026
Middle East
My Lords, some of those who wanted a more robust legal position by the Government point to Tony Blair’s speech and doctrine of a quarter of a century ago about the responsibility to intervene against oppressive regimes—that was applied in Kosovo and elsewhere in the Balkans. Given Iran’s record of t…
Lords
Proceedings
26 February 2026
Transnational Repression in the UK (JCHR Report)
My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Ludford. In the short time we have, I will take up and apply what she has been saying in relation to one country and one subject. The country is China and the subject is our universities.
I know Chloe Cheung, for example, and these indiv…
Lords
Proceedings
26 February 2026
2 contributions
Resetting the UK-EU Relationship (European Affairs Committee Report)
My Lords, I welcome this opportunity to debate the European Affairs Committee’s report on resetting the United Kingdom’s relationship with the European Union. I thank the noble Lord, Lord Ricketts, for setting out the current position with his customary clarity. I pay tribute to the committee member…
The scheme will have a cap and quota both ways. On fisheries, I will write to the noble Baroness about her specific point because I am aware that I am out of time.
There are a couple of important final points, if your Lordships’ House will indulge me. The noble Lord, Lord Tugendhat, may enjoy the c…
Lords
Proceedings
26 February 2026
Electronic Travel Authorisation: Dual Nationals
My Lords, I am not sorry but pleased to disrupt this cosy consensus because, honestly, the Government’s temporary mitigation measure is no good at all. It leaves discretion to carriers on what evidence to accept for entry, resulting in, as was said by my friend in the other place, Manuela Perteghell…
Lords
Proceedings
24 February 2026
Lord Mandelson: Government Response to Humble Address
My Lords, my noble friend Lord Wallace of Saltaire raised the suggestion we have seen in the press that Jeffrey Epstein’s trafficking victims could possibly have been brought into the UK through private airports. I remember 20 years ago this issue being raised in relation to the victims of extraordi…
Lords
Oral Questions
9 February 2026
Jimmy Lai: Prison Sentence
He should be released and we should not have to take the steps that the noble Baroness suggests. On those sorts of issues we need to take a judgment based on our best understanding at the time of what would be in Jimmy Lai’s best interest. I do not think stopping all engagement would be conducive to…
Lords
Debate
5 February 2026
Crime and Policing Bill
My Lords, all the speakers have made a powerful case in support of these two amendments, not least of course the noble Lord, Lord Alton, who moved the lead amendment. I apologise to him for missing the first few minutes. I was caught out because I had not remembered that Amendment 471 had already be…
Lords
Proceedings
4 February 2026
China and Japan
My Lords, can the noble Baroness the Leader of the House assure us that the candid robustness of the Prime Minister on Hong Kong included giving the very firm message to Beijing that no return visit by President Xi could be considered while Jimmy Lai is still imprisoned in Hong Kong and—heaven forfe…