Lords
Committee Stage
9 July 2026
Women and Girls: Impact of ODA Cuts
My Lords, I declare that I am the co-chair of the APPG on Global Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights. I, too, thank my friend, the noble Baroness, Lady Sugg, for securing this important and timely debate. It has truly been a sobering debate with so much expertise around this table.
Wars waged…
Lords
Proceedings
7 July 2026
Drugging and Sexual Assault of Women
My Lords, as has just been outlined by the noble Baroness, drug-facilitated sexual assault appears to be a global phenomenon which is flourishing in the dark parts of the internet. One website with this content, with millions of visitors, had more than 20,000 videos, with hundreds of thousands of vi…
Lords
Proceedings
6 July 2026
West Bank: Purchase of Settlement Land and Property
My Lords, Israel’s “doomsday” settlement project in E1, which would split the West Bank in two and destroy any possibility of a future Palestinian state, is about to pass the point of no return, with tenders for construction in E1 having been issued last month. The Israeli Government have repeatedly…
Lords
Proceedings
24 June 2026
Darfur: Atrocities
My Lords, I take the Minister back to the International Development Committee meeting that she attended yesterday, which has already been referred to. Nathaniel Raymond, executive director of the Humanitarian Research Lab at the Yale School of Public Health, testified that the UK had failed to act o…
Lords
Proceedings
24 June 2026
Edinburgh Anti-Muslim Attacks
My Lords, the shocking attack on Muslims in Edinburgh is the latest among the many and increasing attacks we have seen. This is not happening in a vacuum, as noble Lords have set out; the increasing anti-Muslim rhetoric and Islamophobia are becoming more and more normalised. It was very disappointin…
Lords
Proceedings
18 June 2026
Transnational Marriage Abandonment
My Lords, women and children who are repatriated often rely mainly on charities. What support do British embassies give, and will they help with repatriation to lift the burden on charities?
Lords
Proceedings
8 June 2026
Lebanon: Israel Defense Forces Operations
My Lords, can the Minister outline the Government’s position on what appears to be the occupation of southern Lebanon, which seems to be a systematic plan to impose long-term military control and a new geographic reality? Is this not a clear breach of international law, and how on earth will it make…
Lords
Proceedings
21 May 2026
Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda: Ebola Outbreak
My Lords, will the Government play a central role as they did in 2014-15 in Sierra Leone, which helped to ensure that a disease already spreading internationally was checked in its tracks, saving many lives in west Africa and worldwide?
Lords
Proceedings
20 May 2026
2 contributions
Unite the Kingdom March
My Lords—
My Lords, at the rally last Saturday led by the convicted criminal Tommy Robinson, some of the hate speech we heard was specifically about Muslims, such as “It’s time for Muslims to leave the country”. Sadly, they are completely focused on attacking the Muslim community. History teaches us where suc…
Lords
Oral Questions
22 April 2026
Burial Provision in England and Wales
I am very sorry to hear of the experience of the noble Baroness. That story draws attention to exactly why the Law Commission looked at this area in the first place. Our laws concerning how burial is governed are a patchwork; they are often inconsistent with each other, they are very difficult to un…
Lords
Oral Questions
25 March 2026
Equality: Break Down Barriers to Opportunity Mission
This lends itself to one of the key vulnerabilities: families ending up in difficulties and children having to come into care. The Government are investing £39 billion in affordable housing and £13.2 billion in the warm homes plan, working with the existing housing estate. Housing is critical to wel…
Lords
Proceedings
16 March 2026
Social Cohesion Action Plan
My Lords, I welcome the Government’s action plan for social cohesion, and I pay tribute to the working group for all the work that has been put into this over the past few years.
I am proud that I grew up in a multicultural, multiracial society. I was born in this country, but my parents were not. …
Lords
Oral Questions
12 March 2026
Anti-Muslim Hostility: Non-statutory Definition
I want to be absolutely crystal-clear on the point about blasphemy. There are no blasphemy laws in England, and the Government have no plans to introduce any. The UK has a very proud tradition of religious tolerance within the law, and the Government are committed to building a strong and integrated…
Lords
Oral Questions
12 March 2026
Children in Care: Illegal Accommodation
That, again, is an important point. The collection of data is critical, and local authorities need to submit that data annually. However, data is only as good as its interpretation and use. I am afraid that, although we have much data, we do not focus on what it is telling us and what we can do to b…
Lords
Oral Questions
9 March 2026
Iran and the Middle East
My Lords, it is the turn of the Labour Benches, and then we will come to other noble Lords.
Lords
Oral Questions
3 February 2026
Shamima Begum
All requests for consular assistance and, indeed, repatriation will be taken into account by the Government. The British Government will particularly look at the issue of unaccompanied minors and orphans when brought to our attention, and we will facilitate their return, where feasible, on a case-by…
Lords
Oral Questions
3 February 2026
Two-child Benefit Cap: Foreign-born Children
My Lords, I am sure the House is every bit as proud of the noble Baroness as they are of Tracey Emin or any other eminent member of her family, whether they are a lawyer or a doctor, or whatever they may have done. But she makes a good point. We are investing in our children in this country because …
Lords
Proceedings
29 January 2026
UK Development Partnership Assistance
My Lords, I would like to thank the noble Baroness, Lady Featherstone, for introducing this important debate, and all the preceding speakers, many of whose speeches were absolutely brilliant. I particularly congratulate my noble friend on her wonderful maiden speech. She is a very hard act to follow…
Lords
Oral Questions
12 January 2026
2 contributions
Sexual Harassment in Educational Settings
My Lords, sexual abuse in any form is abhorrent, and tackling it is a top priority for this Government. The Department for Education and the Office for Students assess levels of sexual harassment, violence and inappropriate behaviour through surveys of pupils, students and staff. Results, combined w…
The noble Baroness identifies the shocking level of sexual abuse in higher education, which is why it is important that the Office for Students introduced new conditions last August and put in place guidance to support higher education providers precisely to implement robust measures to prevent and …
Lords
Oral Questions
7 January 2026
Shamima Begum
The noble Baroness will know that there are British nationals, including minors, in north-east Syria, as she referred to in her question. We are very content to consider requests for consular assistance from Syria on a case-by-case basis and to take into account all relevant circumstances, including…
Lords
Oral Questions
26 November 2025
Domestic Abuse: Emergency Accommodation
The short answer is that the £30 million uplift is bringing funding to £160 million per year. In 2024-25, 76,850 individuals, including children, were supported in safe accommodation, but we recognise that that left just under 30,000 who were in effect turned away because the provision was not there…
Lords
Proceedings
16 October 2025
3 contributions
Middle East
My Lords—
My Lords, I am president of Liberal Democrat Friends of Palestine. I absolutely accept what the Leader of the House just said about Hamas. It is coming up a lot that Hamas has no place in any future governance of a free and independent Palestine. I think everyone agrees on that. The tributes to the …
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
1 September 2025
Palestinian Territories: Development Support
One of the reasons that the Prime Minister made the statement on recognition at the beginning of the Recess was specifically to keep the prospect of a two-state solution alive. Some of the actions that the Government of Israel have taken recently have made that less likely and harder to envisage, so…
Lords
Oral Questions
21 July 2025
NHS England: Staff Costs
My experience of the Covid virus taught me about the impact of health inequalities and where people suffered the most. It is absolutely imperative for this Government to look at health inequalities, and everything in the 10-year plan is based on that premise. We know how unequal services are and how…