Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon — Hansard

Lords Oral Questions 10 February 2026

My understanding is that that is the case. I think the only difference here is around the timing of the vetting and the announcing; the actual vetting process was the same. There is now another process about making sure that the documents we all need to see in order to assure ourselves of this are a…

Lords Oral Questions 10 February 2026

Under-16s Energy Drinks Ban

I agree on that last point, not least because that makes a level playing field, but it is also the right thing if we are to make that ban. The noble Lord describes a battle that I am sure goes on in many households. Schools are crucial. The incentive for schools is that children and young people wil…

Lords Oral Questions 9 February 2026

Jimmy Lai: Prison Sentence

That is an excellent suggestion. We are committed to the coalition, and I will take that back to the department. I thank the noble Lord for his continued constructive engagement with this.

Lords Proceedings 30 January 2026

Arrangement of Business

My Lords, I thank the Chief Whip for the time he gave me yesterday. I would like to make three very brief points. There has been much speculation and discussion outside your Lordships’ Chamber on the procedure, principles and workings of this House. On procedure, this week there has regrettably bee…

Lords Oral Questions 21 January 2026

Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy

I am pleased to be able to tell the noble Lord that the Government will host a round table on FGM in March. It will be focused on prevention, investigation and prosecution, and is part of the whole-society approach to which I have already alluded.

Lords Oral Questions 19 January 2026 2 contributions

Greenland: Proposed US Tariffs

I am grateful to the noble Lord. It is always good to hear him speak on these issues. As the Prime Minister stated this morning, the use of tariffs against our allies is completely wrong. It is not the right way to resolve differences within an alliance. Any decision about the future status of Green…

As noble Lords would imagine, we are speaking constantly—this is happening in real time—with our friends, allies and partners in NATO and beyond. Any meetings that are needed to be convened will, I am sure, happen. The impact of these tariffs would be extremely damaging, not least to our car industr…

Lords Oral Questions 18 December 2025 2 contributions

Lithuania: Balloon Incursions

We have plenty of time. We will hear from the Lib Dem Benches next.

It is an important question, and one that both the previous Government and this Government have sought to deal with. The noble Lord will know that there are 1,000 British troops in Estonia as part of the forward land forces, along with defence attachés and others in support in other JEF nations. The…

Lords Oral Questions 15 December 2025

Sydney Terrorist Attack

I hope that the noble Lord will accept—given that his is the last question on this Private Notice Question—that this House will stand united against antisemitism and to support people from all faiths to celebrate and use their faiths in a positive, constructive way, both to support their own communi…

Lords Oral Questions 11 December 2025

United States: Intelligence Sharing

I am grateful for the support of the noble Lord for my taking on a number of issues today. The US strategy, which I saw earlier this week, is a matter for the US Government, but, self-evidently, the United Kingdom wants to participate and support where there are common objectives. As the noble Lord …

Lords Debate 25 November 2025 3 contributions

Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill

My Lords, I speak briefly in support of my noble friend Lady Foster, based on insight and experience. The Chagossian package that we, the previous Government, negotiated was for £40 million over 10 years. Part of the challenge faced by the previous Government was around administration and governance…

My Lords, I totally support the amendments in the names of my noble friends Lord Callanan and Lady Goldie. The noble Lord, Lord Coaker, and the noble Baroness, Lady Chapman, both know that I, as someone who was involved with direct negotiations, albeit in 2019, remained unconvinced of one specific e…

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Lords Oral Questions 25 November 2025

Bosnia and Herzegovina: Democratic Resilience

We are now 30 years on, almost to the day, from the Dayton peace agreement. Noble Lords should know that we are concerned by developments in the western Balkans and the fragility of the situation there—which, I have to say, is not helped by the now former leader in Srpska or by the activities of Rus…

Lords Proceedings 24 November 2025

Ukraine: Forcible Removal of Children

My Lords, I welcome the role that the Government are playing, particularly the creation of the coalition formed with Canada. I know that Minister cannot comment on leaked reports, but nevertheless we welcome that this is a specific provision within the proposed plan. Can the Minister assure us that …

Lords Oral Questions 20 November 2025

President Trump: Nuclear Weapons Statement

The noble Lord has a lot of experience in these matters, and he knows that numerous conversations go on and numerous efforts are made by numerous countries, in ways we cannot often speak about in this Chamber. Whether it is India and Pakistan, or other countries, numerous debates and discussions tak…

Lords Oral Questions 19 November 2025

Ukraine: UK-USA Discussions

Sadly, the noble Lord is right in what he says about the United Nations. We are where we are. We believe the United Nations remains the single most important multilateral organisation we have, and we would be inventing it if it did not exist. We cannot allow ourselves, because of the situation we f…

Lords Debate 14 November 2025

Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill

My Lords, I will first say, as a Catholic, that I have great respect for the three noble Lords who have spoken: the noble Lords, Lord Shinkwin, Lord Polak and Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon. I like all three noble Lords very much, as they know, and I am sympathetic to the points they raised. It is why I ma…

Lords Oral Questions 13 November 2025

Palestinian Refugees

I totally agree with that question from the noble Lord and I am delighted he asked it. It is important that I make clear what the Government think are now the urgent priorities following the 20-point plan and our welcome for the ceasefire agreement led by President Trump. We want to move towards the…

Lords Oral Questions 4 November 2025

Official Development Assistance

I thank the noble Lord for raising that point and in a constructive way, as he always does on these occasions, and for the experience which he brings. The initiative he describes has a lot of merit and I will look into it. He is absolutely right to point to the pivotal role of women in these situati…

Lords Oral Questions 29 October 2025

Jamaica: Hurricane Melissa

I compliment the work of CDEMA because it is crucial when these things happen to have a locally co-ordinated response. CDEMA understands the routes between islands, it understands the community, it has very strong connections and it knows how to get things done far more quickly than any multilateral…

Lords Oral Questions 27 October 2025

Western Sahara Conflict

I think that is right, and that is what this Government are trying to do. This is a delicate and long-standing situation, and there is a need for absolute pragmatism at all times. That is what we have managed to do so far. As the noble Lord reminds us, there is an important decision to be made at th…

Lords Oral Questions 16 September 2025

Ethiopia and Eritrea

I thank the noble Lord. I too pay tribute to the noble Lord, Lord Collins, for his work and commitment. His commitment was extended to helping me with the answers to these questions, so I have benefited from his enormous experience and loyalty. On the question of protecting women and girls from vio…

Lords Debate 12 September 2025

Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill

My Lords, this is not the first country in which I have lived and worked during such a debate as this. I was a Bishop in New Zealand ahead of the referendum on a similar Bill there five years ago. I witnessed the arguments, heard the reassurances and have since followed its implementation, including…

Lords Proceedings 11 September 2025

Qatar: Israeli Strike

I declare an interest as an adviser to the Council of Arab Ambassadors. The previous UK Government played a bridging role. Indeed, I remember facilitating the first engagement between the hostage families—I spent an extensive amount of time with them—and the Qatari Administration. The intervention o…

Lords Oral Questions 9 September 2025

Ukraine: Negotiations

We continue to raise these issues and make the case with all countries. There are regular meetings with respect to China where all sorts of issues are raised, including international matters. We also raise these issues with India. We continue to make the point on what we believe to be the correct ap…

Lords Proceedings 17 July 2025

Sudan

My Lords, the Minister will know of my interest in the issue of preventing sexual violence in conflict, as I led on that and have visited Sudan. What engagement has taken place with SRSG Patten at the UN? There should be a refocusing of support for survivors at the heart of this. Let us not forget t…

Lords Oral Questions 17 July 2025 3 contributions

Syria: Druze Community

My Lords, I beg leave to ask a Question of which I have given private notice. In doing so, I draw attention to my entry in the register as chair of the International Communities Organisation’s advisory board and adviser to the Arab Ambassadors Council.

My Lords, the Government are deeply concerned by the recent violence in southern Syria and welcome the announcement yesterday of a ceasefire. We want to see civilians protected and the ceasefire upheld, with those responsible for violence held to account. These events risk destabilising Syria and it…

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