My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Baroness, Lady Fox of Buckley, for securing this debate. The New Boycott Crisis raises issues that go well beyond disagreements over politics or foreign affairs. It asks whether we are still willing to defend one of the defining characteristics of a free society—…
My Lords, I thank my noble friend Lady Sugg for this debate and join her in expressing my concern about the impact that reductions in the UK’s ODA will have on women and girls around the world. When aid budgets are reduced, the consequences are not felt equally. Women and girls are almost always the…
My Lords, in normal times—does anyone remember those?—I would probably have focused my remarks on the gracious Speech on a number of other issues I care about: women’s health, women’s rights, violence against women and girls, pornography, childhood harms, including social media and smartphones, obes…
My Lords, in normal times—does anyone remember those?—I would probably have focused my remarks on the gracious Speech on a number of other issues I care about: women’s health, women’s rights, violence against women and girls, pornography, childhood harms, including social media and smartphones, obes…
My Lords, I compliment the maiden speeches of my noble friend Lady Teather, the noble Lord, Lord Walker, and the noble Baroness, Lady Antrobus. They were a credit to this House and we look forward to further contributions, which I am sure will come from all three noble Peers. I thank the Minister fo…
My Lords, I congratulate my noble sisters the Ministers on securing this debate and thank my noble friend Lady Gale in particular, among so many others, for years of doughty campaigning, not least for ensuring that this is an annual occurrence. I of course congratulate all today’s fine maidens—what …
My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Goodman, for securing this debate. Like him, I want to refer to the APPG’s report, Time to Act: Addressing the UK’s Accelerating Extremism Threat , a copy of which I have handily placed in front of me on the desk. I will come to that in a minute.
I start by po…
My Lords, I support my noble friend’s amendment but would like to speak to Amendment 502YE in the name of my noble friend Lady Barran. The Conservative Government published draft gender-questioning children guidance in December 2023, followed by a consultation which lasted until March 2024. The Gove…
My Lords, I too support Amendments 458 and 177, and I am delighted to support the amendments from my noble friend Lady Penn, Amendments 183CA and 183CB, which recognise the importance of helping children in their earliest years. Every day, the mounting evidence underscores a distressing reality. The…
My Lords, I will speak to Amendments 175, 190 and 194. The recent Food, Diet and Obesity Committee special inquiry, very ably chaired by the noble Baroness, Lady Walmsley, was a wake-up call for all of us who served on it. We were shocked by the evidence from parents, campaigners, academics and othe…
My Lords, I am involved in the Employment Rights Bill and have been looking to put an amendment to guarantee that all NHS and healthcare employees have the right to access separate-sex changing rooms. Because of the awful experiences of the Darlington nurses and Sandie Peggie in Fife, who were force…