Lords
Debate
26 November 2025
4 contributions
Sentencing Bill
I understand why we have all got a problem with the size of the prison population. Generally, we could be safer if there were fewer people in prison. Many of them have probably been there too long and not had an awful lot done to help them. But as I have tried to understand the Government’s proposal…
The noble Lord, Lord Jackson, is quite right. In fact, that is one thing I would mention to the Minister about the risk, because judges will try to do what is best. They are not trying to subvert the law, but they will try to do what is best in the case before them.
+2 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
24 November 2025
Non-Crime Hate Incidents
The Metropolitan Police has said that it will still record information collected from non-crime hate incidents, which is in line with the code of practice introduced by the previous Government in 2023. Ministers decide on issues, but we have commissioned a review of the 2023 guidance which is being …
Lords
Debate
19 November 2025
2 contributions
Crime and Policing Bill
My Lords, I shall speak to Amendments 211, 212, 213 and 214 in my name and that of the noble Lord, Lord Lucas. I am grateful to the noble Lord for his support in these amendments.
This area is about producing consistency and fairness. I would not like anyone to be confused about thinking that I wan…
I thank the Minister for both the tone and the content of his response. I agree with him entirely that the main purpose is to keep people safe, and I would never want to do anything to compromise that in any way. One reason for the amendments is that sometimes, the discretion of the police and the p…
Lords
Proceedings
18 November 2025
Police Reform
My Lords, the Government have done the right thing in removing PCCs. That said, some of them were very good and they sometimes made some good decisions. However, interestingly, as PCCs came along, we ended up with selections for chief constables with one applicant: the home candidate. Unsurprisingly…
Lords
Oral Questions
27 October 2025
Non-crime Hate Incidents
I am grateful to the noble Lord, who brings great experience to this area. Parliament has had a view on this matter—it passed the codification of non-crime hate incidents in legislation in 2023 under the Government that I was not party to, not a supporter of and not a member of. That is why the poli…
Lords
Debate
16 October 2025
Crime and Policing Bill
My Lords, I commend this Government’s mission to achieve safer streets and applaud particularly the aim of halving both knife crime and violence against women and girls in a decade. The Bill touches on a wide range of complex and important issues, and I will raise just a few.
Reporting of child sex…
Lords
Oral Questions
16 October 2025
Police: Vetting, Training and Discipline
That is an interesting suggestion from the noble Lord, who has great experience in this field, given his previous role as Metropolitan Police Commissioner. I can assure him that the 10 officers involved in this incident are having an expedited hearing. I think the evidence is very strong. I cannot d…
Lords
Debate
13 October 2025
Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill
My Lords, I support the amendment of the noble Baroness, Lady Coussins. She has been consistent in arguing for this with various Governments, and I would like to be consistent in my support for her.
As the noble Lord, Lord Harper, said, this is essentially an amendment about standards rather than t…
Lords
Debate
12 September 2025
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
My Lords, as the noble Lord, Lord Evans, has indicated, everything has been said—but, obviously, not yet by me. For me, it is a simple matter of choice. I support this Bill. It is a choice to end your life at a time of your choosing, when all hope of survival has gone; a choice to ensure that your p…
Lords
Oral Questions
10 September 2025
Gaza Protests: Anti-terrorism Legislation
The police are acting extremely professionally, and I am grateful for their support on this matter. I assure the House that it is not an offence to say, “I wish to see the Palestine Action proscription overturned”. People can hold a placard saying that, but they cannot say, “I support Palestine Acti…
Lords
Oral Questions
3 September 2025
Nitrous Oxide Misuse: Drivers
The noble Lord raises an interesting point about downstream supply. I refer back to the legislation currently in place: it is an offence to possess, use, traffic or supply nitrous oxide in its current form. That is very broad legislation which gives specific powers to police to investigate the type …
Lords
Debate
16 July 2025
2 contributions
Employment Rights Bill
My Lords, I support the amendment. It seems to be a reasonable change to get rid of the two years, and I think six months is a more reasonable representation. My question, though, is about how this will affect police officers.
Police officers are not employees. Their terms and conditions are govern…
My Lords, I support the amendment of the noble Baroness, Lady Grey-Thompson. I confess that at the beginning I was a little sceptical, not so much about the amendment but about the issue that the Government and every previous Government have faced of trying to control the benefits bill. It is not ea…
Lords
Debate
15 July 2025
Renters’ Rights Bill
My Lords, I support the amendment from the noble Lord, Lord Cromwell, to which I added my name. Sadly, he is right: the police do not have sufficient knowledge about the law changes, which are now quite old. I suspect the reason is that the complaints tend to be infrequent, but of course it can be a…
Lords
Debate
14 July 2025
2 contributions
Employment Rights Bill
I thank noble Lords for the opportunity to speak to this amendment in my name and that of the noble Lord, Lord Evans of Rainow, whose support I appreciate. This amendment seeks to extend the group of people in the criminal justice system who have the right to time off to fulfil their duties as a spe…
My Lords, I thank all noble Lords who have spoken, particularly the Ministers, the noble Baroness, Lady Jones, and the noble Lord, Lord Katz, for all the time they have given us on this very long Bill with many amendments. I and others involved in this appreciate their time, as we know it is not str…
Lords
Debate
10 July 2025
2 contributions
Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill
My Lords, my Amendment 99 is not directly related to the previous amendments other than by the connection of biometric data. My question is about which database the biometric data is being checked against. The question comes from the briefing that was helpfully provided by the Minister and his advis…
I thank the Minister. First, I am broadly reassured. There is just one area where I hope he might reassure himself and therefore me. I mentioned the Afghanistan IED material. It is probably difficult to talk about publicly, but if he could reassure himself that this biometric data had been checked a…
Lords
Proceedings
10 July 2025
Government Resilience Action Plan
My Lords, special constables, who are part of the police force, are part of the resilience network in this country. They are volunteers, who turn up every day, every week, and take all the risks of a police officer, with no payment—the risk of getting stabbed and shot, and all the other things that …
Lords
Oral Questions
23 June 2025
Business Rates Reform
I am very happy to follow the noble Lord’s suggestion and research that. I do not know the number off the top of my head, but in the spending review, we set out important new investment in the high street, particularly the security of the high street, because we know that, if we want people to go in…
Lords
Proceedings
19 June 2025
HS2 Reset
My Lords, can the Minister explain exactly what the purpose of the Infrastructure and Projects Authority is? It was created in 2016 and has presided over a number of these types of projects which have not worked out. At the moment, the police are looking to purchase a new radio system, which has gon…
Lords
Oral Questions
10 June 2025
2 contributions
Electric Cycles: Illegal Use on Roads
My Lords, through the Crime and Policing Bill, the Government will amend Section 59 of the Police Reform Act to allow the police to seize any vehicle, including e-scooters, which are used in an antisocial manner, without having to first give a warning to the offender. The Government are also consult…
I commend the City of London Police for its actions. The force covers a small geographical area, but it seized 325 e-cycles in 2024, which is a good thing. The noble Lord mentioned legislation; we have tabled several new offences to the Crime and Policing Bill, on causing death by dangerous cycling,…
Lords
Oral Questions
3 June 2025
Reservoirs: Protection from Contamination
I can assure the noble Lord that we discuss these matters with the Home Office. As I said, much of what we need to do is across government—one thing that we have been trying hard to do in Defra and other departments since we came into government is to work better across government; that is an import…
Lords
Debate
2 June 2025
Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill
My Lords, this has been an interesting debate. Listening to the different views makes me think of saying, “Here we go again”. I asked the Library how many Bills there have been since I came into the other place in 1989 that contain the words “immigration”, “asylum” or “migration”. I remember a numbe…
Lords
Proceedings
2 June 2025
Independent Sentencing Review
My Lords, I broadly support the Gauke review, which tries to address two major problems that have caused our prison population to get out of control. One of those is increased sentencing. I cannot remember a political party represented here today that has promised in any election that it would reduc…
Lords
Debate
22 May 2025
2 contributions
Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill
My Lords, I am really concerned about these child protection teams. Well-intended as they are, as the noble Baroness, Lady O’Neill, has explained, there are some dangers in the arrangements that are being proposed.
The good intention behind this is that it addresses one of the fundamental problems …
I am sorry to interrupt the Minister on one point that she raised. I can hear that she feels that the accountability point is probably going to be okay, but, to combine a couple of things that she mentioned, the team can call on the right skills at the right time. That is obviously a major argument …
Lords
Oral Questions
15 May 2025
Pensioners: Shoplifting
I agree strongly with the noble Lord that it is extremely important that all offences are registered. That is a responsibility on shops as well as on the police force and on us as a community as a whole. We need to know the level and scale of the problem. I am pleased to report that there has been a…