Lords
Proceedings
22 January 2026
Arrangement of Business
Before we start the next debate, I would like to alert two of the noble Lords whose maiden speeches we are looking forward to that the speaker that they thought was in front of them, either the noble Baroness, Lady Meyer, or the noble Baroness, Lady Foster, is no longer speaking in the debate. Just …
Lords
Debate
21 January 2026
Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill
My Lords, I remind the House that we are on Report, and I think some of the contributions are in danger of erring on the wrong side of self-regulation. We should stick to the point; I will be very brief and simply try to explain for the benefit of the Government Front Bench, because in various Bills…
Lords
Debate
19 January 2026
3 contributions
Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill
My Lords, I rise briefly to speak in support of Amendment 62 in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Tyler.
The case for this is, really, fairly straightforward. Children in care often have quite strong mental health needs and are not in the best of mental health. Care leavers comprise about 1% to …
My Lords, in speaking to these amendments, I declare that I am a co-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Adoption and Permanence, alongside Rachael Maskell, the MP for York. In 2019, the APPG carried out an inquiry into the fund. I will simply read its recommendation 6, which is headed “Con…
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Debate
12 January 2026
Sentencing Bill
I thank all noble and learned and noble Lords for their very kind feedback. I have never had an appraisal in my career; this is the first one I have had, and I will take the feedback. All noble Lords are welcome to knock on my door at any time, because I learn so much from what they bring, which mak…
Lords
Debate
8 January 2026
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
My Lords, the way to avoid introducing for the first time a guillotine Motion on a Bill in this House is for my noble and learned friend to specifically come within the next 10 days to answer each and every question asked by the noble Lord, Lord Stevens of Birmingham. That would solve the problem.
Lords
Proceedings
8 January 2026
Broadcasting: Recent Developments
My Lords, I regret to say that under the rules for time limited debates, the time allotted for this debate has now elapsed, and I am afraid I must put the Question on the Motion, if the noble Lord would sit down.
Lords
Oral Questions
7 January 2026
Computer-generated Child Sexual Abuse Material
The noble Lord makes a very valid point and obviously I will discuss these matters with my noble friend Lady Smith. That goes to the heart of education and confidence-building, particularly for young boys, to ensure that they do not stray into the type of activity that leads to adult misbehaviour as…
Lords
Debate
6 January 2026
Sentencing Bill
My Lords, I will speak to Amendments 82, 83 and 86 in my name. This is a continuation of a discussion that we had in Committee, which is particularly focused on concern about the unintended consequences of domestic abuse perpetrators being released when they still present a potential grave danger to…
Lords
Debate
17 December 2025
Crime and Policing Bill
My Lords, I rise, mercifully briefly, to come at this from a slightly different direction. Four years ago, when I was a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, we had a debate in the assembly specifically about honour-based abuse in the part-session in September 2021. The poin…
Lords
Debate
17 December 2025
4 contributions
Crime and Policing Bill
My Lords, I was happy once again to add my name to these two amendments from the noble Baroness, because we had a very similar debate on 21 May during the passage of the Employment Rights Bill. On 11 July, the noble Baroness followed up with a letter to the then Minister—the noble Baroness, Lady Jon…
What I said was that a person fortunate enough to be employed spends on average 52% of one year in and around the workplace.
+2 more contributions in this session
Lords
Debate
15 December 2025
4 contributions
Crime and Policing Bill
My Lords, I rise with a degree of trepidation after the noble Baroness, Lady Neville-Rolfe. I declare an interest in that I am a regular cyclist on both a normal road bike and an e-bike.
What we have going on in the world of cycling and e-scooters has some parallels with your Lordships’ House, in t…
I thought the noble Viscount was going to say “red light”.
+2 more contributions in this session
Lords
Debate
9 December 2025
Crime and Policing Bill
I will give the Minister a little bit of context, because she has not been in this House very long, for which she is probably very grateful. Many of us speaking today were very involved in the genesis and ultimate passage of the Online Safety Act. That took six years to happen. When we passed that A…
Lords
Debate
26 November 2025
Sentencing Bill
As the noble and learned Lord, Lord Keen, indicated, the motivation behind Amendment 34 is broadly similar to what he has just described in his own amendments. Indeed, later in the Bill, at some point next week, there is a series of amendments that I have laid, working with Nicole Jacobs, the Domest…
Lords
Debate
19 November 2025
2 contributions
Crime and Policing Bill
My Lords, I was happy to put my name to Amendments 218, 219 and 222. The Minister mentioned that the noble Baroness, Lady Finlay, has Amendment 222A. She apologises for not being here this evening, but said that she thought that the amendments tabled by the noble Baroness, Lady Armstrong, were so mu…
Cross-Bench.
Lords
Debate
10 November 2025
2 contributions
Crime and Policing Bill
My Lords, I thank my noble friend Lord Hampton for putting his name to these five amendments, which seek to ensure that victims of persistent anti-social behaviour are swiftly identified, protected from further harm and, above all, given the opportunity to have their voices heard. These amendments h…
My Lords, I am grateful to the Minister for the tenor and content of what he just said. The devil is quite often in the detail, so I, with others, would be happy to sit down with him and try to make sure that we all understand it in the same way and are talking the same language.
I have concerns ab…
Lords
Proceedings
30 October 2025
Protection of Children Codes of Practice
My Lords, I apologise: I came to listen to this debate from the steps of the throne, but the more I listened, the more I thought I would make a very short contribution. I join others in thanking the noble Lord, Lord Clement-Jones, for his Motion. The noble Lords, Lord Storey and Lord Watson, and oth…
Lords
Debate
16 October 2025
Crime and Policing Bill
My Lords, much that is valuable and important has been said by many in this Chamber this afternoon, particularly about the risks of criminal law creeping too far into the conduct of everyday life—the law should not be a code of conduct—and the problems of unenforceability when law becomes overcomple…
Lords
Debate
18 September 2025
3 contributions
Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill
My Lords, at Second Reading, I said that a great sorrow for me and many others is that the noble Baroness, Lady Massey of Darwen, is not with us, because she would have been intimately involved in the Bill. In particular, she would have put her full weight behind these two amendments. She was a clar…
I will just swiftly respond to the noble Baroness. During the 14 years that her party was in office—I witnessed this first hand, because I am a retread, as I got re-elected back in in 2014—there was a series of Bills, some of which I mentioned I have been involved with, where children are directly i…
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Debate
11 September 2025
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
Before I call the next amendment, just to help the Committee, I point out that Amendments 185K and 220 in this group in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Pinnock, appear to be identical. I am sure that she will explain that to the Committee when she makes her contribution.
Lords
Debate
9 September 2025
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
Before we proceed, the Government Whip will make a brief statement about the progress of business.
Lords
Oral Questions
9 September 2025
Child Houses for Child Victims of Sexual Abuse
I am grateful to the noble Lord. The Government are trying, as I know the noble Lord knows, to respond to the long-term recommendations of the Alexis Jay report, which lay relatively idle until July of last year. We have tried to re-energise the approach to those very severe areas where grooming-gan…
Lords
Debate
2 September 2025
Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill
My Lords, I rise briefly to add to the support given to Amendment 257A in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Young, from all sides of the Committee, and just to emphasise almost the moral case for it.
Earlier on in Committee, when we were talking about the important role of kinship carers, I think we…
Lords
Debate
24 June 2025
Employment Rights Bill
As a loyal member of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Cycling & Walking—with an emphasis on the cycling rather than the walking—I support the noble Lord, Lord Berkeley, on this, and I will explain why. As he indicated, what is behind this amendment is partly what is leading certain noble Lo…