Lords
Proceedings
1 July 2026
Prisoner Early Release
My Lords, I want to draw the House’s attention to a specific case concerning child-grooming gang rapists who are no longer British citizens. I think the Minister will not be surprised to hear me refer to the case of Mr Shabir Ahmed, who we are told cannot be deported because of an immigration law pa…
Lords
Proceedings
25 June 2026
Democratic Institutions: Threats
My Lords, in speaking in this debate, I declare my long-standing association with the National Secular Society. I will be drawing on material from the think tank Policy Exchange, where I am a distinguished fellow.
As time is so limited, I will make only two broad points: first, that the effective e…
Lords
Proceedings
24 June 2026
Edinburgh Anti-Muslim Attacks
My Lords, I am sure the whole House will agree that any violent attack against a specific community is utterly reprehensible. We have stood here too frequently in the last couple of years evaluating the aftermath of antisemitic attacks and attacks against Jewish people—violent terrorist attacks agai…
Lords
Proceedings
22 June 2026
2 contributions
Grooming Gangs: Independent Inquiry
My Lords—
My Lords, this yet another inquiry is long overdue; I think we all accept that, but we understand that the noble Baroness, Lady Longfield, is committed to ensuring that it works as well as it can. Does the Minister agree that it is incredibly important, for social cohesion and for public confidence …
Lords
Proceedings
1 June 2026
For Women Scotland Ltd v Scottish Ministers
My Lords, now that the Minister has agreed that government departments need to conform to the Supreme Court ruling, will she be able to tell the House what amount of public funds has been expended since the Forstater judgment of 2021 on religion and belief by government departments in litigation and…
Lords
Proceedings
18 May 2026
King’s Speech
My Lords, I declare an interest as a former chair of the EHRC and as a fellow of the think tank Policy Exchange. The nation’s confidence and trust in our public institutions is ebbing and, as it does, it damages our constitutional and economic settlement as a country. I am very glad the Minister ide…
Lords
Oral Questions
27 April 2026
For Women Scotland Case
I have huge respect for the noble Baroness, but I do not accept for one moment that there has been a deliberate delay in implementing this code. I have been very clear. These are complex issues and they need proper consideration. The purdah arrangements are clear. We have received advice from the Ca…
Lords
Debate
24 April 2026
2 contributions
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
My Lords, we can all get all Members who are standing in if their speeches are kept short, sharp and to the point. We will hear from my noble friend Lady Hayter, then we will go to the noble Baroness, Lady Berridge.
My Lords, as noble Lords are very aware, the Government remain neutral on the Bill and on the principle of assisted dying. This is a Private Member’s Bill, not government legislation. On issues of societal change, as we have discussed, Private Members’ Bills have long been a vehicle to handle matter…
Lords
Debate
16 April 2026
Crime and Policing Bill
On Motion R1, I agree with the Minister, not with my noble friend Lord Davies. It is important to remember—
Lords
Oral Questions
14 April 2026
Single-sex Spaces: Equality and Human Rights Commission Guidance
Let me repeat what I have said to the noble Baroness on numerous occasions. The Supreme Court decision is absolutely clear, and we will ensure full compliance with it, but that does not mean that existing policies and procedures in place can be simply wiped away. They cover a range of issues, partic…
Lords
Debate
18 March 2026
4 contributions
Crime and Policing Bill
My Lords, I will speak to Amendment 422E and, additionally, do so on behalf of the noble Lord, Lord Verdirame, KC, who has a prior appointment in The Hague this week. He was the author of the probing amendment on this topic in Committee. At that stage, the Minister signalled some reservations about …
I do not think that we take interventions on Report, if I may refer to the Companion —but perhaps the Whip could assist us.
+2 more contributions in this session
Lords
Proceedings
16 March 2026
Arrangement of Business
My Lords, before the Chief Whip sits down, he has been sorely missed in this Chamber today because the conduct of business has been all over the place, including on the Private Notice Question. While the Whip sitting here on the Bench exhorted people to be extremely brief and to ask questions, that …
Lords
Proceedings
16 March 2026
Social Cohesion Action Plan
My Lords, I exhort the Whip, since he started by asking people to be extremely brief in their questions, to give some practical effort to controlling the Chamber in that regard.
I welcome the Government’s overall strategy but want to ask specifically about anti-Muslim hostility. The paper accompany…
Lords
Oral Questions
16 March 2026
3 contributions
UK Public Servants: International Secondments
Civil servants seconded outside the Civil Service, including internationally, do not cease to be civil servants and are expected to carry out their role with dedication and a commitment to the Civil Service and its core values of integrity, honesty, objectivity and impartiality. The provisions in th…
I thank the noble Baroness for her question. Obviously, standards are an important part of the regime—not least because the Prime Minister has now given me responsibility for them. On the specifics that she asked for, whether the individual is on secondment nationally or internationally, as best pra…
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
4 March 2026
Ballot Secrecy Act: Breaches
The entitlement of resident Commonwealth citizens to vote reflects our close historic ties with Commonwealth countries, and the Government will not be removing Commonwealth citizens’ voting rights. I cannot give an answer on numbers right now but I will write to the noble Baroness.
Lords
Debate
27 February 2026
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
In response to the question from the noble Lord, Lord Markham, does the noble Baroness agree that senior and significant public appointments always involve an independent assessment panel making a recommendation, but moreover they also involve Select Committees of this House and/or the House of Comm…
Lords
Oral Questions
26 February 2026
Equality and Human Rights Commission
I do not accept the premise of the noble Baroness’s question at all. We have a statutory duty, as does the EHRC. The EHRC is independent of the Government, but the Secretary of State has an obligation. As one noble Lord said, we will consider the code and either reject it or accept it. We are workin…
Lords
Proceedings
10 February 2026
2 contributions
Standards in Public Life
My Lords, the noble Baroness is right about the importance of the public having confidence in this House—indeed, in both Houses, but we are particularly concerned with this one—and I support her endeavours to achieve that. On the point just raised and on HOLAC—we have discussed vetting procedures as…
I am so sorry, but I have to apologise to the House. I needed to have declared an interest. I spoke last Wednesday on a Question on think tanks but did not declare that, the previous Monday, I had become a fellow of the think tank Policy Exchange. I have apologised to the Minister, who is sitting on…
Lords
Oral Questions
4 February 2026
Think Tanks: Funding
I thank the noble Baroness for her question. I am afraid I am not in a position to update her on the timescale or the development of those talks, but I will make sure that she gets an answer.
Lords
Debate
2 February 2026
2 contributions
Crime and Policing Bill
The noble Baroness has invoked foreign jurisdictions a lot, but is she aware that a lot of them, as the noble Lord, Lord Weir, explained, have lower term limits whereby an abortion might be legal? She mentioned the United States, where she said there was no prosecution for abortion at all. Is she aw…
I will be very brief because I am conscious of the time. The other purposes for which this drug is prescribed do not require any face-to-face examination—am I correct in understanding that is what the noble Baroness is saying?
Lords
Debate
2 February 2026
9 contributions
Crime and Policing Bill
I wonder if what the noble Lord describes, with which I have a great deal of sympathy—I say this as a signatory to Amendment 456—would be ameliorated in terms of the distress of the investigation if the Attorney-General were to adopt guidance, and that guidance set out strict criteria that would at …
Before the Government Whip sits down, could he please remind the Committee that interventions have to be brief and cannot go on into speeches? Can he also remind the Committee that those who have put their names to these amendments should be heard prior to those who have not?
+7 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
2 February 2026
2 contributions
Single-Sex Spaces: EHRC Guidance
My Lords—
I am a Minister with many responsibilities, and I am not sure that I am in the Cabinet Office at the moment. One thing I am absolutely sure about is that I am Deputy Leader of this House, and I would not wish to mislead it. I was trying to convey that the Government are absolutely committed to ensur…
Lords
Debate
30 January 2026
7 contributions
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
My Lords, I want to pick up on two points made in this debate. First, if I heard the noble Baroness, Lady Gerada, correctly, when she advocated online meetings, she said that there is no distinction between whether the person requesting permission is in Torbay or Tenerife. That is a profoundly impor…
My Lords, the noble and right reverend Lord makes a really valid point about codes of practice. Codes of practice sometimes are not statutory, so it would need to be a statutory code. Apart from all that, we also know that codes of practice become outdated. In another area of my expertise, a statuto…
+5 more contributions in this session
Lords
Proceedings
30 January 2026
Arrangement of Business
My Lords, I have a very brief question about the Chief Whip’s exhortation to us this morning that, as usual, we should remain brief. In the noble and learned Lord’s interview on the “Today” programme yesterday, he repeatedly said that a few Members of this House were filibustering and delaying the p…