Lord Garnier — Hansard — Westminster Brief

Lords Debate 17 December 2025 4 contributions

Crime and Policing Bill

My Lords, we have heard some jolly clever speeches. It seems to me that the general point of this group of amendments, and indeed the previous one, is to bring this matter of great public concern to the attention of the Government during this debate. We are not now, this afternoon, looking for statu…

My Lords, the wording and effect of Amendment 347, which I co-signed, are self-explanatory, but, if the amendment needed any further elaboration, the noble Lord, Lord Marks of Henley-on-Thames, has just provided it. I cannot improve on what he said, but now is the moment when Parliament must, after …

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Lords Debate 16 December 2025 4 contributions

Victims and Courts Bill

So do we.

My Lords, I thank the Minister for her persuasive introduction to the Bill and hope that the noble Baroness, Lady Griffin, is soon dancing around the Chamber again. I start before the beginning of the Bill. The Long Title tells us that, among other things, it is to make provision “about procedure …

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Lords Proceedings 16 December 2025

US National Security Strategy

My Lords, what work are the Government doing with the United States to secure the freedom of Jimmy Lai?

Lords Debate 15 December 2025 2 contributions

Crime and Policing Bill

My Lords, just to demonstrate the point made by the noble Lord, Lord Hampton, this is a cross-party matter and he has my support. I would be interested—he may or may not know—in the number of children affected by the failure of the regime to make sure that these tutors and so forth are properly regi…

My Lords, I know that the Minister is doing his best and this is not meant to be a controversial debate, but surely the paramount concern must be the welfare of the children. Sharing information is not just a mechanical exercise. It requires trust by the parent who is employing the music teacher in …

Lords Debate 9 December 2025

Crime and Policing Bill

My Lords, I agree with the noble Lord, Lord Faulks. While I entirely understand the motivation behind the amendment from the noble Baroness, Lady Brinton, I am not entirely sure that it is necessary. As the noble Lord said, there is no limitation for the bringing of this particular Section 9 offence…

Lords Debate 19 November 2025 2 contributions

Crime and Policing Bill

My Lords, there have been two things which were splendid. First of all were the intentions behind the proposals of my noble friend Lord Blencathra, and secondly, the content and tone of the speech of my noble friend Lord Hailsham. It seems to me that my noble friend Lord Blencathra is essentially sa…

There we are. Perhaps in the spirit of compromise, I suggest that the answer to this is a sentencing question. My noble friend Lord Blencathra pointed out that, in some of the particularly nasty cases he referred to, very lengthy sentences were awarded for the people who committed these crimes with …

Lords Oral Questions 10 November 2025

Accidental Prison Releases

The noble and learned Lord and I know each other very well. I hope he knows that I have my own view on this, because, like him, I visit lots of prisons all the time. It is clear that our prisons need investment and that we need to build new prisons. Only last week I went to a new prison which will b…

Lords Oral Questions 10 November 2025

National Insurance: Partnerships

No. As I think I have made clear, I am not going to comment on individual tax measures.

Lords Oral Questions 10 November 2025

Trials: Timeliness

I could not agree more with the basic premise of the noble and learned Lord’s question. It is simply unacceptable, and behind every one of those statistics are human beings waiting for justice. Our immediate reactions are that we intend to fund a record high of 111,250 sitting days in the Crown Cour…

Lords Oral Questions 29 October 2025

Corruption: Low and Middle-income Countries

I understand that the noble Lord has a great deal of experience in these issues. I am very happy to take that suggestion back to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to discuss it with friends and colleagues at the Home Office, because this is an ever-changing situation and we need to us…

Lords Oral Questions 23 October 2025

Chinese Embassy

I think there are quite a lot of weaselly words going around in here today anyway. Whether the Attorney-General has been advising the Planning Minister or not is a matter for internal consideration. We do not normally release information relating to internal advice that has been provided to Minister…

Lords Proceedings 21 October 2025

Alleged Spying Case: Home Office Involvement

My Lords, the problem for the Government is not the collapse of the spy trial, embarrassing though that may be, but the fact that this story keeps dribbling on from day to day and the Government do not seem to be able to get off the hook.

Lords Proceedings 20 October 2025

Official Secret Act Case: Witness Statements

Does the Minister accept that China is a malign actor? It does not have our interests at heart and that the sooner we bring the Chinese embassy plans to a swift end, the better.

Lords Debate 16 October 2025

Crime and Policing Bill

My Lords, as the Minister has so clearly set out, there is much to welcome in this Bill to improve the law where needed and to make us safer. I look forward to following it closely. To the noble and learned Lord, Lord Garnier, I say that I also look forward to following the implementation when it is…

Lords Debate 13 October 2025

Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill

My Lords, I will continue where other noble Lords left off. In particular, I commend the words of the noble Lord, Lord Faulks, who gave a very perceptive analysis of the problems that the noble Baroness’s amendment revealed. As he said, the amendment is legally coherent, and I also note that it is w…

Lords Oral Questions 15 September 2025

IPP Sentences

I thank the noble and learned Lord for his question, and for the work that he and the noble and learned Lord Thomas have done on this area. It is really important, and the focus has been very helpful. Already, the documents are clearer and more focused. Senior managers now oversee all recall decisio…

Lords Debate 23 July 2025 7 contributions

Employment Rights Bill

My Lords, there are several styles of advocacy and we have had a good experience of some of them this evening, but in every way those who have spoken before me have been devastating in their unpicking of the ludicrous nature of the clause that the noble Lord, Lord Carter of Haslemere, is seeking to …

I am sorry for interrupting the noble Lord’s developing argument. He talks about anonymity; that is presumably so that the individual can have his case subsumed by the Government without his name being known. Is the noble Lord then going on to suggest that he will have to give evidence behind a scre…

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Lords Debate 21 July 2025

House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill

My Lords, in endorsing what the noble and learned Lord has just said, I think it would be remiss to allow my noble friend Lord Ashton to hide behind his natural diffidence. Without him, this would not have happened; we owe him a great debt, as do the families of those Peers who may wish to make use …

Lords Debate 9 July 2025 3 contributions

House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill

My Lords, I will be brief because I cosigned and spoke to this amendment in Committee. The amendment seems to me to be bathed in common sense and one that this House should accept without question. It is a timely amendment that is also based in humanity. As I explained last time, there are two types…

Will the Minister give way?

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Lords Proceedings 8 July 2025 2 contributions

Government Performance against Fiscal Rules

My Lords, I think the public are getting a bit bored of the mantra of blaming the previous Government—that is a long time ago now.

What are the current Government going to do about the current problem?

Lords Debate 4 July 2025

Imprisonment for Public Protection (Re-sentencing) Bill [HL]

My Lords, I commend the noble Lord, Lord Woodley, for his continued campaign in this area. I also thank the noble and learned Lord, Lord Thomas, and my noble friend Lord Moylan for their remarks in support of the campaign and the general thrust of what the noble Lord, Lord Woodley, discussed. It is…

Lords Proceedings 4 July 2025 2 contributions

UK Constitution: Oversight and Responsibility (Report from the Constitution Committee)

My Lords, it is a pleasure to contribute to today’s debate on the constitution. I have been in government more recently than some of the people speaking today, although perhaps I am not the most recent. It is fair to say that our constitution continues to evolve. That is why it should not be codifi…

I absolutely did, but I think on this occasion we can suggest that this Government are very clear in their commitment to the rule of law and the people who are in post. There was a great deal of discussion about good chaps—I like to think chaps and chapesses—at the heart of which, as touched on by …

Lords Debate 4 June 2025

Sentencing Guidelines (Pre-sentence Reports) Bill

My Lords, like my noble friend Lord Hailsham, I begin my remarks by apologising for not having been able to attend the earlier stages of the Bill. However, I am happy to say that, like my noble friend, I have read the report and I am reasonably up to date with the way in which the debates have gone.…

Lords Oral Questions 22 May 2025

Jimmy Lai

Do not underestimate the fact of raising these issues. The noble and learned Lord knows full well that the Chinese Communist Party does not like being criticised for these actions. It is important that we continue to raise this at every possible level, particularly in international fora, which we wi…

Lords Oral Questions 20 May 2025

Criminal Cases Review Commission

The noble and learned Lord raised those points a couple of weeks ago and, since then, we have had the letters in the Sunday Times about the appearance of the chief executive in front of the Justice Select Committee. I shall not comment on that, because the CCRC is an independent body, but it has alr…