Lords
Proceedings
8 July 2026
Safe Refugee Routes for Students
My Lords, I am delighted to hear that there is progress and that the Government are determined that the scheme should be in operation by the next academic year. However, I ask my noble friend for his assurance that those students who might be able to take up the offer being provided by the Governmen…
Lords
Proceedings
23 June 2026
Social Media: Use of X by Government Departments
My Lords, I understand that many of the responses to messages that are put out on X come from bots, and they foment social and civil unrest. What are the Government doing to try to deal with these bots? They really are dangerous to our society.
Lords
Proceedings
22 June 2026
Grooming Gangs: Independent Inquiry
My Lords, the noble Baroness, Lady Doocey, raised a very important question to do with the quashing of convictions, and I am delighted and very proud that the Government are dealing with the quashing of convictions for prostitution. However, there are other offences which, in the view of many people…
Lords
Proceedings
18 June 2026
Jo Cox Civility Commission
My Lords, like many in this House, I had the privilege of knowing Jo. Ten years on from that devastating loss, I pay my respects and send my condolences to her remarkable family, who have shown such strength and courage. We know that this week will be particularly challenging for them.
Jo was petit…
Lords
Proceedings
18 June 2026
Prostate Cancer Screening: AI
My Lords, I warmly welcome the Government’s £42 million investment in the TRANSFORM trials, and I am extremely grateful. AI MRI tools are often trained on populations that underrepresent Black men, and they are at double the risk of prostate cancer. Will the Government require AI diagnostic tools to…
Lords
Proceedings
11 June 2026
Misinformation: Social Market Foundation Report
My Lords, I declare an interest as a trustee of the charity Full Fact, which produced an annual report this week entitled A System Under Strain: Strengthening the UK’s Democratic Information Environment. Would my noble friend the Minister agree that the UK needs to treat the information environment …
Lords
Proceedings
11 June 2026
Rural Economy
My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Fuller, for initiating this debate, but he would not expect me to agree with him on every point he has made. I remind the noble Lord that it was years of austerity that helped to undermine the money going to local councils that he regrets so much—and s…
Lords
Proceedings
2 June 2026
Prostate Cancer Screening
I thank my noble friend the Minister for that Answer; I think that I am pleased with it—I will have to think about it more fully. Given the known risk factor of family history when it comes to the likelihood of being diagnosed with prostate cancer, what are the Government doing to create a more spec…
Lords
Oral Questions
21 April 2026
Sudan
I do. I met Tom Fletcher yesterday to talk about exactly this. I pay tribute to all those who are working in the most dangerous and difficult circumstances in Sudan. It is tragic that we see so many of them losing their own lives as part of that endeavour, so I join my noble friend in her remarks.
Lords
Oral Questions
16 April 2026
Southport Inquiry: Prevent Programme
I think my noble friend will recognise that there are key issues and impacts from individuals living solitary lives, getting information and their contact with the outside world via the internet and, very often, the dark web. One of the issues that Sir Adrian has raised with us is what we do about r…
Lords
Proceedings
14 April 2026
Statement of Changes in Immigration Rules
My Lords, it is a privilege to follow noble Members of this House speaking with wisdom, compassion and conviction. I understand that, in the current polarised climate, the Government want an immigration policy that is not only capable of exercising control over migration into this country but is dem…
Lords
Proceedings
14 April 2026
Middle East
My Lords, does my noble friend the Leader of the House agree that we should be proud that our Prime Minister, acting in the national interest, resolutely refused to engage in this illegal war—in marked contrast to Mr Farage and Ms Badenoch?
Lords
Debate
27 March 2026
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
If my noble and learned friend were to introduce into the Bill the provisions that the noble Lord wishes, would he then be in favour of such a Bill?
Lords
Debate
26 March 2026
English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill
My Lords, I will speak to my Amendments 133 and 134. As we are aware, the UK’s health is fraying and unequal, with increasing numbers of people unable to work owing to poor health. Compared with other high-income countries, the UK now has one the lowest life expectancies and is among those with deep…
Lords
Debate
24 March 2026
English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill
My Lords, I will speak to Amendment 310, which seeks to insert a duty to consider the needs of rural communities into the Bill. The duty would require
“strategic authorities and their mayors, when considering whether or how to exercise any of their functions, to have regard to the needs of rural co…
Lords
Debate
20 March 2026
4 contributions
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
The reason that the Senedd was voting in the dark was that this Bill had not reached its conclusion in the House of Lords. If it had done so, the Senedd would have been legislating in the daylight.
My Lords, I would like to point out that my noble and learned friend Lord Falconer has in fact tabled amendments and they have not yet been debated because we have not reached them in the Marshalled List. With regard to the very interesting and important discussion about Wales, many of the facts whi…
+2 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
19 March 2026
Flood Detection and Prevention: Technological Assistance
I thank my noble friend for raising that important report—an example of engaging with communities. Apart from building flood defences in the first place, the most important thing we can do is make communities aware of early warnings to ensure that they can cope when floods occur. The Environment Age…
Lords
Oral Questions
17 March 2026
2 contributions
BBC World Service: Sustainability
My Lords, the Government highly value the BBC World Service; it is a soft power asset and the world’s most trusted news provider. The significant uplift in our funding to £137 million this financial year, despite the difficult fiscal context, demonstrates our support for it. Grant-in-aid funding for…
I thank my noble friend. Her support for the World Service is long-standing and well known, and quite right too. The longer-term funding proposition for the World Service will need to be considered as part of the charter review. To be absolutely clear, the £137 million funding uplift that I referred…
Lords
Oral Questions
16 March 2026
UK Public Servants: International Secondments
My noble friend raises an interesting point. This is about who we end up seconding staff to and what happens while they are there, and the things they may see. There is a clear process for any concerns that arise during a secondment process. The secondment can be terminated early and we can withdraw…
Lords
Proceedings
6 March 2026
International Women’s Day
My Lords and—why not, on today of all days?—my Ladies, I start by offering my congratulations to the noble Baronesses on their most excellent maiden speeches. I reassure them that we have all breathed that sigh of relief as we sit down when it is all over; I assure them it gets better. I offer them …
Lords
Proceedings
3 March 2026
Gibraltar Treaty
My Lords, I recognise that these negotiations have been taking place over many years and have included the noble Lord. I pay tribute to Minister Doughty and his team for all that they have done, and the Governments of Gibraltar and Spain. Does my noble friend agree that this deal concludes the final…
Lords
Debate
2 March 2026
2 contributions
Crime and Policing Bill
My Lords, before speaking to Amendment 313A, I thank my noble friend for bringing forward amendments in response to my amendment in Committee. These amendments clarify the evidential threshold for obtaining an SPO, bringing this in line with the domestic abuse protection orders, so ensuring swifter …
My Lords, I am very grateful for the response from my noble friend the Minister. I did not really understand the point about age, so I am very grateful to the noble Baroness, Lady Brinton, and I look forward to reading Hansard and to receiving a letter likewise.
It is great to know that there is an…
Lords
Debate
2 March 2026
2 contributions
Crime and Policing Bill
My Lords, as I mentioned at Second Reading, I am very proud that with Clause 87 this Government abolished the time limitations in historical Church child sexual abuse cases. Survivors such as my friend Stephen Bernard, whom my noble friend the Minister referenced, were concerned that the clause, as …
My Lords, before my noble friend sits down, I am sure the whole House agrees with, in essence, what Amendment 273 says, but I also noted from my noble friend that it is much more complex than I had understood. I am sure that she is as frustrated as everyone else that these things take time, and I wo…
Lords
Debate
27 February 2026
2 contributions
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
My Lords, the point that the noble Lord is making is very interesting, but he may have heard my noble friend Lord Winston say previously in the debate on the current Bill that he has changed his mind. He may well have changed his mind about the words that we use in relation to assisted dying.
I shall briefly intervene. I am sure that my noble and learned friend will answer this later, but I want to put on record that nobody who is a supporter of this Bill—an amended Bill, as it goes forward—would ever put costs as the major reason for supporting it. I just want to put that firmly on the …
Lords
Proceedings
27 February 2026
Arrangement of Business
May I suggest we heed the very wise advice of the noble Lord, Lord Lansley, and proceed today, as the noble Baroness said, and get through as many groups as possible, making amendments as we see fit as a Chamber? We should do our job of scrutiny, which is exactly why we are here.