Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle — Hansard

Lords Proceedings 10 September 2026

Patient Data: Research

My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Patel, for securing this debate. I declare something of an interest, in that I am just back from the ninth World One Health Congress in Lisbon, partially supported by DSAC. I go to the UKRI to start with the basic fact that the social determinants of health de…

Lords Debate 9 September 2026

Financial Services and Markets Bill [HL]

My Lords, I rise with great pleasure to follow all the speakers thus far in this group and to support all these amendments. I have not attached my name specifically to any of them—some of the most prominent are fully subscribed and I wanted to leave space for the breadth of that subscription, noting…

Lords Proceedings 23 July 2026

Jammu and Kashmir: Human Rights and Political Situation

My Lords, I am sure I am not the only Member of your Lordships’ House whose inbox has been filled by a significant number of cries of great concern about what is happening in Pakistan-administered Jammu and Kashmir. I note that the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has put out a statement focusi…

Lords Proceedings 23 July 2026

Creative Industries: Qualifications

My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Keeley, for securing this very well patronised debate, our last debate before Recess. It was pointed out in the last debate that I am taking part in all three debates today, and one of the advantages of that is that you can make links between them. So, I wa…

Lords Statutory Instrument 22 July 2026

Infected Blood Compensation Scheme (Amendment) Regulations 2026

My Lords, it is a great pleasure to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Finlay, and all the speakers in this debate thus far. I continue where she left off, taking a moment to look at the big picture. We have a huge problem with trust in politics and government in our society at the moment. Sometimes, …

Lords Statutory Instrument 22 July 2026

Greater Cambridge Development Corporation (Establishment) Order 2026

My Lords, I thank the Minister for setting out the case for the Greater Cambridge Development Corporation. Unavoidably, it sounded like something out of the 1970s, rather than something fit for the 21st century. It is a pleasure to follow the noble Lord, Lord Lansley, although my perspective is ver…

Lords Statutory Instrument 22 July 2026 3 contributions

Universal Credit, Personal Independence Payment, Jobseeker’s Allowance and Employment and Support Allowance (Decisions and Appeals) (Amendment) Regulations 2026

My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow the noble Lord, Lord Davies, and to join the, I am sure, widespread view around the House in welcoming the continuing presence of the Minister, the noble Baroness, Lady Sherlock, in her position. Personally, I consider that a delight, even though I am often pushi…

If Hansard did not catch that, the comment from the Opposition Front Bench was, “What is new?” I begin by making a very simple point. The way in which the outcomes of the reviews of all the payments we are discussing have been conducted, particularly the personal independence payments, are causing …

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Lords Proceedings 21 July 2026

Natural England: Gamebird Release Licensing

I am sure that the Minister will recall the report of September last year from the coalition of wildlife organisations which noted how wildlife habitats around England are continuing to decline. The Government have a legal obligation to protect 30% of land and sea in the UK for nature by 2030, a ple…

Lords Proceedings 20 July 2026

Strait of Hormuz: Merchant Shipping

My Lords, my question follows on from that of the noble and learned Baroness, Lady Butler-Sloss. I stress that I am asking not for any operational information but for a general statement. Are UK bases and UK military assets being used by US forces in the continuing attacks on Iran. Specifically, wer…

Lords Proceedings 9 July 2026

Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty

My Lords, I will follow on from the question of the noble Baroness, Lady Miller, about our diplomatic capabilities and technical capabilities, which we have always contributed strongly to this process. The FCDO is in some degree of institutional turmoil, seeing significant regular changes in leaders…

Lords Proceedings 9 July 2026

The Space Economy (UK Engagement with Space Committee Report)

My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Ashton of Upholland, and the whole committee for this extremely enthusiastic report. I suspect I will be taking a different perspective from every other speaker in this debate because I am going to start from down here on solid earth—a planet that we have c…

Lords Debate 9 July 2026

Defence Readiness Bill

My Lords, it is a great pleasure to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Wheatcroft. I was listening to her speaking about the 89 lines of the risk register. I am perhaps inspired by the fact that I was yesterday with the campaign group More Than a Score doing SATs exams. Perhaps we could set an exam for…

Lords Proceedings 7 July 2026

Historical Forced Adoption

I declare something of an interest here. Back in 2012, as a volunteer, I designed the Movement for an Adoption Apology website and its logo. That was when campaigners came to the Green Party asking for the apology that we have finally secured. It spoke to me particularly because I believe that, as a…

Lords Proceedings 7 July 2026

Drugging and Sexual Assault of Women

My Lords, returning to the issue raised by the noble Baroness, Lady Hazarika, about the National Crime Agency findings, I draw on a statement today from the CEO of Rape Crisis England & Wales, which notes that many women will be wondering whether they were affected and, quite rightly, directs th…

Lords Debate 3 July 2026

Nature’s Rights Bill [HL]

My Lords, I begin by quoting the Government’s own words from a biodiversity strategy published jointly with the devolved Governments in February 2025: “Biodiversity is key to all the processes that support life on Earth. We rely on it for our essential needs, like food, shelter, energy and medicine…

Lords Proceedings 1 July 2026

Farming Road Map and Profitability Review

My Lords, under the heading “Government actions and commitments”, the road map says that the Government will work with industries to “co-develop horticulture and poultry Sector Growth Plans”. Given that we are only 17% self-sufficient in fruit and 55% in vegetables, I hope that no one in your Lord…

Lords Proceedings 1 July 2026

Defence Investment Plan

My Lords, with the honourable exception of the noble Lord, Lord Kerr, much of our debate today, as in the many months leading up to the defence investment plan, has focused on the bottom line and where the money is coming from; we have, unfortunately, had far less debate about how the money is being…

Lords Proceedings 29 June 2026

Palantir: Public Service Contracts

My Lords, have His Majesty’s Government considered applying a fit and proper person test to owners and managers for public sector IT contracts, particularly those involving Britons’ private data, with particular attention to their respect for human rights and the rule of law? If they do not have tha…

Lords Committee Stage 29 June 2026

Financial Services and Markets Bill [HL]

My Lords, I rise to speak to Amendments 83B and 86A, which appear in my name. It is a pleasure to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Northover, and to agree with a great deal of what she said. It is almost as if in the past week or so, the planet itself has been speaking to us and sending us a message …

Lords Proceedings 25 June 2026

Democratic Institutions: Threats

My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Wallace, for securing this debate—there could hardly be a more important one. It might surprise noble Lords to hear me say that. In this unprecedented heatwave, with the people and infrastructure of these islands melting around us, noble Lords might expect me t…

Lords Proceedings 24 June 2026

Darfur: Atrocities

My Lords, it was recently reported that hundreds of Colombian private military contractors, apparently hired by a UAE-based company, transited through UAE military facilities before being deployed to Sudan to support the RSF. Are the Government aware of this case, and have they made representations …

Lords Proceedings 24 June 2026

Scottish Government: Social Security Benefits

My Lords, the Scottish Government are using this social security spending to deliver a more humane system that treats people with dignity. We have recently had the family finances project from the University of Glasgow and the University of Manchester, which shows that the Scottish child payment has…

Lords Proceedings 23 June 2026 3 contributions

Legal Protections for Ancient Trees

My Lords—

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Lords Debate 15 June 2026 3 contributions

Social Housing Bill [HL]

My Lords, I begin with an apology for not taking part at Second Reading. My fellow Green Peer, my noble friend Lady Jones of Moulsecoomb, took part but is unable to be here today so we are doing a little tag team effort. I am afraid that I will not be here on Wednesday, but I expect that she will be…

My Lords, I thank the Minister for her response and everyone who contributed to this short but passionate Committee debate. I join others in welcoming the noble Baronesses, Lady Curran and Lady O’Neill, to the Front Benches. I think the Minister agreed with me that right to buy and the way it has b…

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Lords Proceedings 8 June 2026

South East Water: Disruption of Supply

My Lords, 84% of proposed UK data centres are in areas already in water stress or projected to be so by 2040, and water bills for households are expected to rise because of the construction of data centres. Does the Minister agree that we should not be building data centres where there is not enough…