Lords
Proceedings
3 June 2026
Murder of Henry Nowak
My Lords, the point has been made a number of times that the knife was not a kirpan, but is it not entirely possible that police officers who do not necessarily have expert training in what exactly a kirpan looks like may have been less likely to challenge the killer, who was carrying an illegal off…
Lords
Proceedings
1 June 2026
Sovereign AI Fund
Is the Minister open-minded about the huge potential that the UK embracing an open-source AI model alongside allies may accrue to the country to put us back in the premier league rather than needing to be reliant on America and overseas?
Lords
Proceedings
18 May 2026
King’s Speech
My Lords, let me begin where the noble Lord, Lord McColl of Dulwich, ended. It has been a huge privilege to share these Benches and this debate with my noble friend Lord Hennessy. I briefly add my own tribute. Understandably, much of the discussion has been about his role as a Member of this House, …
Lords
Proceedings
18 May 2026
King’s Speech
My Lords, let me begin where the noble Lord, Lord McColl of Dulwich, ended. It has been a huge privilege to share these Benches and this debate with my noble friend Lord Hennessy. I briefly add my own tribute. Understandably, much of the discussion has been about his role as a Member of this House, …
Lords
Debate
16 April 2026
4 contributions
Crime and Policing Bill
My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Doocey, for returning with her amendment. I understand the Government are offering to include alternative interventions in youth diversion order guidance, but I agree with the noble Baroness that these considerations should be consistently applied to ensure…
I am grateful for the discussion we have had to date on these matters. As I made clear in my opening remarks—for those who heard them, at least—the Government cannot accept Amendment 311 as drafted. I fully appreciate the work of the noble Lord, Lord Walney, on these issues, but as I have set out to…
+2 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
26 March 2026
2 contributions
Antisemitism in International Human Rights Bodies
My Lords—
As my friend the noble Lord will know, we are opposed to item 7 in the Human Rights Council, and we will use our leadership to try to persuade others that that is not an appropriate item to have. That is probably what he is getting at, and I suspect we probably agree.
Lords
Debate
9 March 2026
2 contributions
Crime and Policing Bill
My Lords, it is a pleasure to lead off this grouping on counterextremism. My Amendment 371A, tabled with co-sponsors the noble Lords. Lord Pannick and Lord Hogan-Howe, and the noble and learned Lord, Lord Goldsmith, would create a limited mechanism to give the Government the option to seek parliamen…
My Lords, this has been an excellent and thoughtful debate, and I have been touched by the kind words and expressions of support from nearly all sides of the House. I have listened carefully to what the Minister has said, and I hope he knows how much I respect the work that he and the Government do,…
Lords
Proceedings
4 March 2026
Security Update
My Lords, I add my congratulations to the newly promoted Minister. My noble friend richly deserves this.
If it is genuinely true that the Government make no trade-off between national security and economic access, what other reasons can there be not to place China on the enhanced tier of the foreig…
Lords
Proceedings
2 March 2026
Middle East
My Lords, in the other place this afternoon the Prime Minister referenced “the mistakes of Iraq”. Do the Government accept that while it can be credibly argued that deposing Saddam Hussein’s regime ushered in the environment for Islamist terror to be exported across the region and to the West, in th…
Lords
Oral Questions
12 February 2026
Security of Candidates, MPs and Elections
I entirely agree with the noble Lord. The right to peaceful protest is a vital part of our democracy. It is a long-standing tradition in the UK, of which we are justifiably proud, that people should be free to gather and express their views, provided that they do so within the law. Peaceful protest …
Lords
Oral Questions
12 February 2026
Counter-Extremism Strategy
My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Goodman, for tabling this Question for Short Debate, which, given the current political environment, is incredibly timely. Ever since the horrific attack on Israel by Hamas on 7 October, which was referenced by the noble Lord, Lord Cryer, we have witnessed week…
Lords
Proceedings
3 February 2026
Police Reform White Paper
The reforms to public order policing in the White Paper are welcome, in particular the commitment to greater data sharing between forces to enable this. Can the Minister confirm that that will include a greater level of intelligence sharing, which was one of the gaps that I found in my review of thi…
Lords
Oral Questions
2 February 2026
China: Human Rights and UK National Security
I would encourage the noble Lord to consider the comments that I am sure my right honourable friend the Prime Minister is making at the other end of this building as to the contents of the discussions that he had in China. It is obviously for him to speak first on them, but we are very alive to the …
Lords
Oral Questions
2 February 2026
2 contributions
Prisoners for Palestine: Hunger Strikes
My Lords—
Our prison and probation staff do an incredible job in dealing with some of the most complicated people in this country. When they turn up to work, they turn up to help people turn their lives around, not to get assaulted or be, as has happened recently, hospitalised as a result. It is our job to ma…
Lords
Oral Questions
22 January 2026
Artificial Intelligence: UK Preparedness
The noble Lord highlights a couple of issues. I mentioned earlier that we are investing to develop our own sovereign AI capability. We are setting up investment zones across the country, working with UK-based companies to scale up. As the noble Lord will know, AI has different stacks—the infrastruct…
Lords
Oral Questions
15 January 2026
Royal Navy: Nuclear Submarines
From his previous incarnation as the MP for Barrow and Furness, the noble Lord knows a significant amount about the nuclear programme. He is right to highlight the important work around not only the major companies and big primes but the smaller companies and the supply chain right across the UK. As…
Lords
Debate
13 January 2026
Crime and Policing Bill
My Lords, it has indeed been a mammoth grouping. I am grateful to all noble Lords for the eloquence, passion and knowledge that they have brought to the many amendments that have been discussed. I will be happy to withdraw my amendment, pending Report, but I urge the Government to keep an open mind …
Lords
Debate
13 January 2026
7 contributions
Crime and Policing Bill
My Lords, I will speak briefly to commend the noble Lords who have brought this amendment. I add my praise and gratitude for Policy Exchange in having led the charge on this. I benefited greatly from Richard Ekins’s report in producing my own review, which was published in May last year. One of the …
I will briefly comment on the issue of notice periods for protests, because I have sympathy for the desire to create an ordered system where there is more notice for protests, although I struggle to see how it could be practical in some ways. But the main issue that I would like the Government to re…
+5 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
12 January 2026
Defending Democracy Taskforce
I welcome the all-party parliamentary group and the fact that the noble Lord is one of the officers, along with Nick Timothy, Member of Parliament for West Suffolk, and John Slinger, who is a Labour Back-Bench Member of Parliament. It is extremely important that the all-party group contributes to th…
Lords
Debate
7 January 2026
2 contributions
Crime and Policing Bill
My Lords, the hour is late, so I will resist the temptation to go further into the rights and wrongs and logical inconsistencies of some noble Lords’ views on the proscription of Palestine Action.
I hope that I offer the noble Lords, Lord Marks and Lords Strasburger, and the noble Baroness, Lady Fo…
Many of us in this Committee would be absolutely amazed if the noble Lord, Lord Macdonald, stuck to his timetable of being able to publish something next month. He does not need to take four years, as I did, but it is a ferociously tight timetable.
If you follow the logic of those arguing that peop…
Lords
Oral Questions
5 January 2026
Muslim Brotherhood
Again, I say to the noble Lord that a wide range of offences and powers can be used to counter the threat from extremism, including any attempts by the Muslim Brotherhood to take action that is against the interests of the United Kingdom. That includes powers to regulate charities and to look at bro…
Lords
Oral Questions
10 November 2025
Trials: Timeliness
The noble Lord raises an interesting point. I can understand why it could be seen that the responses to the riots had been prioritised, but there are many reasons why those prosecutions took place very quickly. The first is that many of the cases were straightforward and could be dealt with in a mag…
Lords
Debate
16 October 2025
Crime and Policing Bill
My Lords, I will use my time to focus on the protection of women and girls. The first issue I wish to raise is honour-based abuse—a crime motivated by the perpetrator’s perception that an individual has somehow shamed or may shame a family or community. These crimes, which include devastating honour…
Lords
Proceedings
16 October 2025
2 contributions
Middle East
My Lords—
My Lords, there will be a different assessment of the role of the United Nations through this conflict. Some will point to the way in which the organisations strive to get aid in; others will point to the many mistakes and failings. But do the Government recognise that the UN has fundamentally lost …
Lords
Oral Questions
17 September 2025
2 contributions
Israel: Royal College of Defence Studies
My Lords, the Ministry of Defence has decided to pause future Israeli participation in UK training courses, given our concerns regarding the Israel Defense Forces’ conduct in Gaza, particularly the decision to further escalate their offensive in Gaza City.
I am not speaking for the MoD; I am speaking for the Government. But I respect the noble Lord’s position on this. He clearly disagrees with the decision that the Government have taken, and that is absolutely his right. We understand, and this is not a decision that we have taken lightly.
The noble …