Lords
Proceedings
18 May 2026
King’s Speech
My Lords, I will make just two points. First, I welcome the commitment in the gracious Speech to process the Hillsborough Bill, creating a duty of candour for public servants. As His Majesty said,
“the highest standards of trust in public office are essential for the social contract and the United …
Lords
Proceedings
18 May 2026
King’s Speech
My Lords, I will make just two points. First, I welcome the commitment in the gracious Speech to process the Hillsborough Bill, creating a duty of candour for public servants. As His Majesty said,
“the highest standards of trust in public office are essential for the social contract and the United …
Lords
Debate
24 April 2026
7 contributions
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
Is the noble Baroness’s position that we have completed our scrutiny in Committee of all clauses beyond the seven that she has mentioned? If not, I am not quite sure what point she is making. We certainly mentioned those clauses, but the idea that we completed our scrutiny is nonsense.
I apologise for saying “nonsense”.
+5 more contributions in this session
Lords
Debate
27 March 2026
5 contributions
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
My Lords, I tabled Amendments 668 and 670 and put my name to eight other amendments. I am supportive of other amendments, which I will explain. We are talking about how to protect the conscientious objections of doctors and other healthcare practitioners, as well as others, through an opt-in system,…
I said that there should be a publicly available register and that the Royal College of GPs is in favour of an opt-in.
+3 more contributions in this session
Lords
Debate
25 March 2026
3 contributions
Crime and Policing Bill
Oh!
It reveals a Government unequal to the great task of governing the nation with which the electorate has entrusted it.
I particularly regret it because it brings disgrace to the Mother of Parliaments and, indirectly, to a country which, although it had no hand in the matter, could always hold its he…
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Debate
20 March 2026
2 contributions
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
My Lords, I have put my name to Amendments 171, 171A, 173, 174 and 174A in this group. The group deals with obligations placed on a registered medical practitioner conducting a preliminary discussion to ensure that it will be possible for the patient to communicate well with the doctor, to hear and …
I have put my name to Amendments 300, 538 to 540, 541 to 543 and 544B in this group because of the importance of independent advocates and the definition of who they may—or should—be made available to. As has already been alluded to, the fact that the Bill provides for somebody with a disability is …
Lords
Debate
18 March 2026
4 contributions
Crime and Policing Bill
There is another distinction that the House may wish to consider: under the Suicide Act, it is not a crime to take your own life, but we are talking about taking the life of an unborn baby.
My Lords—
+2 more contributions in this session
Lords
Debate
13 March 2026
9 contributions
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
Does the Minister think it is ethical and right to administer drugs that have not been cleared through a normal process and to expedite their use? Surely we have to wait until the drugs have been properly tested.
I just want to ask the Minister about her response to the noble Baroness, Lady Lawlor. She was, I think, saying to the Committee that limiting the places at which you can get the lethal drugs that will be required for death would inhibit the process. I say to her that there are situations in which t…
+7 more contributions in this session
Lords
Debate
11 March 2026
2 contributions
Crime and Policing Bill
My Lords, Amendment 393A in my name seeks to codify the Supreme Court decision in W(80) which relates to police disciplinary proceedings involving the use of force. The amendment relates to the test used to determine whether an officer misconducted themselves when he or she used force in self-defenc…
As police ombudsman, I was faced with exactly this problem, and I knew that our criminal proceedings had to be dealt with first.
To continue, what we are talking about here is the standard to be applied in misconduct proceedings. These proceedings exist in large part not just to ensure accountabili…
Lords
Debate
27 February 2026
6 contributions
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
I will speak to Amendment 146, tabled in my name and the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Eaton, but before I do so, in the interests of brevity, I say that I support all that has been said in the context of the appointment of the commissioner. This cannot be a personal prime ministerial appointment…
It is all very well talking about access to judicial review when things go wrong, but the reality for the ordinary man in the street is that judicial review is largely out of the realm of possibility: it just costs too much. Therefore, we need to make sure that things are so laid down in the Bill th…
+4 more contributions in this session
Lords
Proceedings
26 February 2026
3 contributions
Transnational Repression in the UK (JCHR Report)
My Lords, I too welcome the noble Lord, Lord Isaac, to your Lordships’ House and congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Alton of Liverpool, on his comprehensive and informative opening speech and the excellent report by the Joint Committee on Human Rights under his chairmanship. It is fair to say that, o…
It is not in the interests of the UK’s security or the security of the individuals we are trying to protect to give a running commentary on the issue of proscription. This House will be informed if any proscription decision is ever taken on any individual, country or organisation. That is the proces…
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Debate
6 February 2026
11 contributions
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
My Lords, I have added my name to Amendments 102 and 106 in this group. Clause 2 is of the utmost importance because the definition of “terminal illness” underpins everything in the Bill. Without a terminal illness, the Bill does not apply and there is no ability to seek assistance in suicide, so th…
With respect, I did not say that you should be denied an assisted death. I said that assisted death should not be available until all compensation matters and so on have been sorted out.
+9 more contributions in this session
Lords
Debate
5 February 2026
4 contributions
Crime and Policing Bill
My Lords, I have long had a responsibility for the investigation of matters involving CHISs and I fully accept that many people who agree to become CHISs do so in the public interest, because, without their activities, the intelligence that they are able to collect would be unavailable. I also accep…
Does the noble Lord accept that statutory blanket immunity from civil or criminal action acts as a barrier for people who are affected by such unlawful activities? It is a significant concern because of the impact that barrier has on those who might need to bring such action, and who might have diff…
+2 more contributions in this session
Lords
Debate
2 February 2026
2 contributions
Crime and Policing Bill
The noble Baroness talks about the number of complications being reduced in telemedical abortions, but the NHS statistics have shown a rise in the number of complications following the use of telemedical abortions, such that 12,000 people presented to hospital last year. Is the noble Baroness also a…
The statistics in Northern Ireland are collected from the health trusts that deliver the abortions; they are not collected from anyone else.
Lords
Debate
2 February 2026
4 contributions
Crime and Policing Bill
I have the greatest respect for the noble Lord. I wonder whether he will give way; I thank him. The situations which he describes are all provided for in the Abortion Act.
My Lords, I will speak to my Amendment 461 and in support of the Clause 191 stand part notice from the noble Baroness, Lady Monckton. I have put my name to that stand part notice, too.
As other noble Lords have observed, Clause 191 was passed in the other place following a very brief and truncated …
+2 more contributions in this session
Lords
Debate
30 January 2026
6 contributions
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
My Lords, I have added my name to Amendment 65 in this group, but will first respond briefly to what the noble Baroness, Lady Gerada, said about remote consultations. This is the core of what we are discussing today. It is not just the doctor who needs to be able to see and understand. The patient n…
My Lords, if I remember it correctly, the Motion that the noble and learned Lord put before the House on 8 January was a Motion that more time was required, not that the House needed to race through the Bill and proceed more quickly. The Motion did not say that we needed to move more quickly; it sai…
+4 more contributions in this session
Lords
Proceedings
30 January 2026
Arrangement of Business
My Lords, first, some of those groups have had nearly 100 amendments in them, which is quite a lot. Secondly, in this week when we remember the Holocaust, your Lordships’ House—which, in making laws for the whole country, is required to respect people’s rights, including their right to freedom of re…
Lords
Debate
23 January 2026
7 contributions
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
My Lords, of the 43 amendments in this group, 35 are in the names of the noble Lords, Lord Pannick and Lord Birt. They propose a framework for a completely new process outside that already created by this defective Bill, requiring a service of both advice and assistance. This includes the provision …
I have been to A&E many times, particularly with my son, and I have never had a navigator. How does one have a navigator in A&E?
+5 more contributions in this session
Lords
Debate
20 January 2026
3 contributions
Crime and Policing Bill
My Lords, Amendment 422 relates to the test used to determine whether an officer acted in breach of discipline when he or she used force in self-defence. We come late to this, but it is a very important issue. Currently, the test used in police disciplinary law is the civil law test. Under the curre…
I did not talk about criminal prosecutions at all.
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Debate
16 January 2026
3 contributions
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
My Lords, I will speak to Amendment 38 in my name. I have put my name to five other amendments in this group, all of which seek to ensure clarity on what in the Bill involves identifying vulnerability and providing protection for those who may be subject to coercion or who may be unaware of their ri…
I am grateful to the noble and learned Lord for giving way. Could he clarify what is meant by Clause 12(2)(c)(iii) when it refers to
“any available palliative, hospice or other care”?
We know that palliative and hospice care is available if you can travel to it or if you live in a particular area,…
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Proceedings
16 January 2026
Arrangement of Business
My Lords, I endorse what the noble Lord, Lord Empey, said. I know that many of our Scottish and north of England colleagues are very much affected by this.
I want to draw the Chief Whip’s attention to one thing. The House normally rises around 7 pm on Thursday evenings. That is reflected by the fac…
Lords
Oral Questions
13 January 2026
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
The noble Baroness will be aware of the Government’s long-standing position that we are opposed to capital punishment. I will make sure that her remarks in relation to the individual, whom I am aware of because of press reports in the last few hours, are drawn to the attention of the Foreign Secreta…
Lords
Debate
9 January 2026
6 contributions
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
My Lords, I have put my name to a number of the 79 amendments in this group. As the noble Lord, Lord Carlile, said, there was initially provision for judicial management of these cases, given the magnitude of the risk. The assisted dying panel was substituted as a consequence of the difficulties tha…
Is the noble Baroness aware that we are discussing the possibility of having either a panel or a court process? The research and reports show that families and individuals have great difficulty negotiating the Family Division of the High Court and the family-designated judges processes. Legal aid ma…
+4 more contributions in this session
Lords
Debate
8 January 2026
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
My Lords, that is a perfectly fair question. I have quite scrupulously, as we have gone through the amendments in Committee, indicated which I accept or in principle accept; for example, in relation to 18 to 25 year-olds. Subsequent to that, we have had meetings, and I have gone through in some deta…
Lords
Proceedings
7 January 2026
Middle East and North Africa
My Lords, I thank Minister for the condemnation of the activities of the current regime in Iran. Despite what she has just said, will His Majesty’s Government condemn attacks by the regime on the hospital in Ilam and, yesterday, on Sina Hospital in Tehran, and the abduction of wounded people seeking…