Lords
Proceedings
3 February 2026
Tributes: Lord Wallace of Tankerness
My Lords, from these Benches, I associate my comments and condolences with those who have previously spoken. Lord Wallace was kind, welcoming and generous to new Bishops joining this House. Both he and his wife Rosie are extraordinary people. He in particular made a significant impact on shaping the…
Lords
Oral Questions
2 February 2026
Single-Sex Spaces: EHRC Guidance
The right reverend Prelate could not have said it better and I strongly believe that. It is really important that we understand that the duties of the Equality Act reflect a duty on us all and apply to all the characteristics. But the Supreme Court judgment is very clear; we have to apply it, and we…
Lords
Proceedings
2 February 2026
Tributes: Lord McFall of Alcluith
My Lords, I add the thanks of our Benches to our former Lord Speaker. We are enormously grateful for the warmth of his welcome to us, which began from the moment we were introduced to the House, and continued each day, as he introduced the duty Bishop leading Prayers. We also warmly welcome the nobl…
Lords
Debate
28 January 2026
3 contributions
Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill
My Lords, I will be very brief. It is an old, apparently African, adage that it takes a village to raise a child, but it is no less true for that. What that captures in a few words is that raising a child is a balance: a partnership between the parents on the one hand and the wider community on the …
My Lords, this amendment is a repeat of one that I tabled in Committee, to which my right reverend friend the Bishop of Oxford spoke in my absence. I am deeply grateful to him, and to the noble Lords, Lord Lucas and Lord Marks of Hale, who have added their names to it on Report.
My concerns with th…
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
28 January 2026
Schools: Music and Dance Scheme
It is not right to say that the only support provided to music and the arts is through the music and dance scheme. That deals with a particular issue about how we ensure that, whatever your income, if you are highly talented, you can learn at the very best private schools, including Chetham’s. Along…
Lords
Debate
21 January 2026
Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill
My Lords, perhaps I am a simple-minded and naive bishop, but it seems we are getting into a debate we probably should have had in Committee on the different ways of approaching a quite specific issue, and I would rather we did not spend all night doing that. Yet we are where we are.
The very fact t…
Lords
Oral Questions
20 January 2026
Atrocity Crimes
My Lords, I too congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Alton, on introducing this debate. I am incredibly grateful to him for all he does to ensure that human rights are never forgotten in this House. This is an important topic to address, now more than ever. I declare my interest as co-chair of the Wome…
Lords
Debate
19 January 2026
2 contributions
Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill
My Lords, I am grateful for the opportunity to have this debate this evening. I will keep it fairly short, given the time.
Amendment 75, in my name, simply seeks to change the current duty of being “alert to” the needs of looked-after children to one requiring public bodies to have “due regard to” …
My Lords, I am very grateful for the short debate that we have had this evening. It is clear that we are all passionate about the same thing—we would not be here at this time on a Monday night if we were not. We are passionate about getting the best deal we can for care leavers and young people in c…
Lords
Debate
19 January 2026
4 contributions
Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill
My Lords, I am very grateful that these amendments have been proposed. They may not go as far as my Private Member’s Bill did a few months ago in terms of seeking a better financial deal for care leavers, but Amendment 40 takes us some considerable way towards that. At least it will make local autho…
My Lords, I am grateful for the amendments in this group. We are continuing, as the Bill makes progress, to strengthen the offer that is made to care leavers. In the previous group, we discussed matters that, assuming they are voted on in a little while, will improve conditions and improve what loca…
+2 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
19 January 2026
Greenland: Proposed US Tariffs
I agree that this needs to have the Greenlanders at the heart of it. I am pleased that many Ministers have met their counterparts in Greenland, not just in response to recent events but as part of a long-standing arrangement. The right reverend Prelate makes a strong point that diplomacy should neve…
Lords
Oral Questions
19 January 2026
Domestic Violence Against Children
It is. The Question was phrased in relation to teenage-on-teenage violence, but it is important that parental responsibility is also managed effectively. In the violence against women and girls strategy, that is certainly recognised, and I hope that the right reverend Prelate will be able to support…
Lords
Debate
13 January 2026
2 contributions
Crime and Policing Bill
My Lords, the more I listen to the debate this afternoon, the more worried I am getting. It seems to me that, over recent years, we have successively tightened up regulations around protests, including quite peaceful protests, making it harder and harder for people to express publicly their deep con…
My Lords, I am grateful for the opportunity to speak as these amendments deeply affect places of worship and religious practice. It is always an honour to follow the noble Lord, Lord Hain, whose track record around protests over so many years is one we can all learn a great deal from.
Noble Lords h…
Lords
Proceedings
8 January 2026
Broadcasting: Recent Developments
My Lords, I also join in the congratulations to the noble Lord, Lord Fowler, for inspiring this debate at what is a crucial time for broadcasting.
The Green Paper the Government published on the BBC starts off with a reminder of what, despite all its travails, the BBC delivers for this country:
“I…
Lords
Oral Questions
8 January 2026
New Homes: Target
We need to take particular care to make sure that we use all the mechanisms to deliver some of the very specialised housing that the right reverend Prelate refers to. Some of those local trusts know exactly what is needed for their local communities. They do a fantastic job, and my Government want t…
Lords
Debate
7 January 2026
Crime and Policing Bill
My Lords, I am grateful for this short debate. I would like to widen it a little beyond railways. I am blessed in living in Greater Manchester at the heart of a major Metrolink tram network, which has many similarities to the railways. There are often very few staff late at night, particularly on th…
Lords
Debate
15 December 2025
Crime and Policing Bill
My Lords, one area that is of great concern to me is private music tuition. I have had some pretty horrendous safeguarding cases to deal with in churches, where a church musician who has committed some serious offences has gone on to privately tutor underage pupils. That particular form of tuition—w…
Lords
Oral Questions
18 November 2025
Election Law
This is a really important point around the expanding of the franchise. As the grandmother of a grandson who will be 16 in February, I am very aware that we need to make sure that education and engagement are a vital part of implementing policy. We take empowering and equipping young people with the…
Lords
Debate
17 November 2025
2 contributions
Crime and Policing Bill
My Lords, Manchester’s famous Christmas markets are now in full swing. If you’re visiting my city any time in the next few weeks, until the last few days before Christmas, you are most welcome to patronise them. However, that was not the case for a number of young people from Gypsy, Roma and Travell…
Does the Minister accept that, aggregated across the country, the effect of lots of local decisions by local authorities is that there is a calamitous shortage of legitimate sites for Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people? If so, what do the Government plan to do about that, rather than simply saying tha…
Lords
Debate
5 November 2025
Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill
My Lords, as well as Amendment 45 in my name, and that of the noble Lords, Lord Alton of Liverpool and Lord Watson of Invergowrie, I also strongly support the other amendments in this group, to which the noble Lord, Lord German, has just spoken. In fact, I have added my name to two of them.
The cur…
Lords
Oral Questions
5 November 2025
Equality and Human Rights Commission: Draft Updated Code of Practice
The EHRC continues to do important work, but I take the point that the right reverend Prelate makes. The new chair of the EHRC, who will start in her role at the end of this month, has an important opportunity to build on that work and to ensure, as I know she will, that she builds trust among a wid…
Lords
Proceedings
4 November 2025
Huntingdon Train Attack
My Lords, these Benches pay tribute to the train crew and others who responded so heroically. Our thoughts and prayers remain with all those who have been impacted. The traumatic effects of being involved in an incident like that, in an enclosed space, do not just go away after a short period of tim…
Lords
Oral Questions
4 November 2025
Official Development Assistance
We know that the single most significant protective factor against that is education and being in school. We work with countries to try to enable that. Separately, I think that we are now the largest contributor to the UNFPA, which distributes contraceptive devices and products. Those do not always …
Lords
Debate
3 November 2025
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
My Lords, I noted what the noble Lord, Lord Evans, has just said. Unlike my predecessor, I have no intention of trying to petition for parts of the diocese of Chester to become parts of the diocese of Manchester, just because of the urban sprawl extending—but I rise to speak in favour of the amendme…
Lords
Proceedings
3 November 2025
Gaza and Hamas
My Lords, the last three functioning ICU beds in Gaza are in the Al-Ahli Anglican Hospital. In a time of transition, as we see, I hope, the elimination of Hamas, that will of course get rid of the Hamas-run health ministry. How can we ensure that health services are protected and indeed improved dur…