My Lords, I note the Minister’s reference to the action by the Security Council and the joint statement by Foreign Ministers of like-minded countries calling for a halt on the attack on El Obeid. But does she agree that the absence of any reference to consequences in those statements renders them in…
My Lords, I am grateful to the Minister for her Answer. In her reply to questions on the Statement yesterday, she stated that
“there is no intention to abolish the Youth Justice Board ”.—[Official Report, 20/5/26; col. 427.]
We are grateful for that. However, she will be aware that the powers of t…
Does the Minister recognise that the Youth Justice Board was a jewel in the crown of the 1997 Labour Government, dramatically reducing the number of young people in the juvenile secure estate while reducing youth offending and recidivism? Does she also recognise that the powers and responsibilities …
My Lords, it is a particular pleasure to immediately follow my noble friend and to agree with his compelling arguments for UK-Africa relations. I also agree with his remarks regarding optimism. I am a Scottish liberal, and therefore when you have exhausted pessimism, there is only optimism left.
I …
My Lords, the UK Government have chosen to withdraw a vital safety net from the world’s most vulnerable people at a time of unprecedented global instability. There are currently around 59 active conflicts worldwide, the highest since the Second World War, yet the response has been to cut aid.
The G…
My Lords, I tabled this debate to tell the story of the people of Kabwe, a city in Zambia which has been described as the world’s most polluted town, and to highlight the dangers of their experiences being replicated in the scramble for African resources currently under way. In doing so, I pay tribu…
My Lords, I congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Oates, on a very good speech, on securing this debate and on his solidarity work for the charity Action for Southern Africa, of which I am an honorary vice-president. It organised an excellent event in a room in your Lordships’ House, which I hosted, at …
My Lords, I associate the Liberal Democrats with the Government’s strong condemnation of Jimmy Lai’s political conviction and of the Chinese Government for engineering it. I join the noble Earl in saluting the courage of Jimmy Lai, who, instead of choosing the easy life available to him, decided at …
My Lords, I will not repeat the comprehensive arguments my noble friend has so eloquently set out in support of this amendment. I want to focus briefly on the point she highlighted that, by allowing settled status to expire rather than revoking or cancelling it, the Home Office is sidestepping a pro…
Can we have clarity on this? My understanding is that there is no right of appeal against the Home Office decision that an error was made. Instead, there is the right to make another application, and then appeal if that is refused. As I set out, that is a very different thing.
My Lords, the Government remain committed to reducing the harms of illicit finance on developing countries and to holding those responsible to account. The National Crime Agency’s international corruption unit and international anti-corruption co-ordination centre provide critical assistance to help…
As he knows, we do not comment on future designations, but I thank him for reminding us of the role of illicit gold mining, in particular, in this. This is how many billions of dollars are hidden. It is also associated with horrendous abuses of people and all kinds of illicit activities, including c…
My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Brown of Silvertown, for securing this timely and profoundly important debate. I also support wholeheartedly the contributions from the noble Baroness, Lady Helic, and my noble friend Lord Oates, powerful as they were.
Today is World Food Day, when we comm…
My Lords, over the past two days of debate, we have heard sincere and often moving contributions from every side of the House. The arguments for and against assisted dying touch on the most profound questions of life, death, autonomy and compassion. I have also received a large number of letters and…
I thank the noble Lord for that question. The Government recognise that we need a new approach to Africa to reflect that the world and Africa have changed. We must progress beyond the paternalistic approach of previous Governments, which too often saw relationships through the lens of old-fashioned …
My Lords, I will speak very briefly in support of the comments by the noble Lord, Lord Pannick, and shall give one example as to why automatic removal regardless of the circumstances is so wrong. The noble Lord, Lord Harper—whom I was lucky to work with many years ago in the coalition Government and…
My Lords, I am speaking on behalf of my noble friend Lady Ludford, who unfortunately cannot be in her place today. In doing so, I pay tribute to her tireless advocacy for EU settled status holders. I also thank the3million for the brilliant work that it does representing EU citizens in the UK and fo…
I regularly meet with the Samaritans and doubtless will be doing so again soon. I know it is a matter for the Samaritans to decide how best to use its resources, but I will gladly speak with them.
My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper, and in doing so I declare my interest as chief executive of United Against Malnutrition and Hunger.
My Lords, we are committed to the sustainable development goals and to continue working with partners to accelerate progress by 2030. To do this, we are resetting our approach, moving from donor to investor and building modern, mutually beneficial partnerships to navigate global issues. Aid alone ha…
My Lords, I declare my interest as chief executive of United Against Malnutrition and Hunger. We heard last night from diaspora representatives from Sudan about the devastating impact that malnutrition is having particularly on people suffering from diseases that would normally be minor, but who are…
I absolutely recognise what the noble Lord says. It is important to recognise that the debt relief Act was different in scope and scale. It targeted a small, ring-fenced amount of historical debt. Current proposals for legislation would impact all future debt contracts written under English law. We …
I do not want simply to repeat myself, but it is really important to understand that we were absolutely trying to convey those messages at the conference on 15 April, which we convened. We made very clear that all those engaged regional parties should resist supporting one party or the other and sup…