Lords
Proceedings
7 July 2026
Military Conflicts: International Law
My Lords, like noble and learned Lord the Attorney-General, I want to take a moment to pay brief tribute to the late Lord Mackay of Clashfern. He was a great Conservative, a great lawyer, a great Lord Chancellor, and also a man of profound Christian faith, who lived out the words of scripture:
“He …
Lords
Proceedings
11 June 2026
Antisemitism
My Lords, is not one of the dangers of discussing antisemitism today that we still think about the problem coming from the far right? Increasingly, however, virulent antisemitism in our society comes from an unholy combination of the far left and Islamist fundamentalism. Does the Minister share my c…
Lords
Proceedings
18 May 2026
Retirement and Participation Committee
My Lords, I am grateful to the Minister for her speech outlining the Government’s legislative programme for the new Session in the area of justice and home affairs. I was particularly impressed, if I may say respectfully, that her speech managed both to defend her husband and to revive “Dixon of Doc…
Lords
Proceedings
18 May 2026
King’s Speech
My Lords, I am grateful to the Minister for her speech outlining the Government’s legislative programme for the new Session in the area of justice and home affairs. I was particularly impressed, if I may say respectfully, that her speech managed both to defend her husband and to revive “Dixon of Doc…
Lords
Proceedings
18 May 2026
King’s Speech
My Lords, I am grateful to the Minister for her speech outlining the Government’s legislative programme for the new Session in the area of justice and home affairs. I was particularly impressed, if I may say respectfully, that her speech managed both to defend her husband and to revive “Dixon of Doc…
Lords
Proceedings
27 April 2026
Antisemitic Attacks
My Lords, I know that the Minister takes this matter very seriously and he knows that I have the highest personal regard for him. However, the problem with taking questions on a Commons Statement entitled “Recent Antisemitic Attacks” a week later is that, since the Statement was made, there have bee…
Lords
Debate
24 April 2026
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
My Lords, I give special thanks to those who shared personal experiences with us, in particular the noble Lords, Lord Markham and Lord Dobbs, the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Newcastle, the noble Baronesses, Lady Hollins and Lady Grey-Thompson, the noble and learned Baroness, Lady Prentis, a…
Lords
Debate
27 March 2026
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
My Lords, I hope the Committee will forgive my brevity—I will focus on the few amendments I have tabled in this group.
As the Committee has heard, many of the amendments relate to the preliminary discussion or to recording general medical information as the patient progresses through the procedure.…
Lords
Debate
20 March 2026
5 contributions
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
My Lords, I first take a moment to say from the Front Bench how wonderful it is to see my noble and learned friend Lady Prentis of Banbury—who was here a moment ago.
Causation is denied. My noble and learned friend can read it in Hansard , and I spoke to her outside. It is a testament to her dedication that she has been following this on TV. I do not know whether that shows how poor daytime TV normally is, though those of us who were here on Wednesday will remem…
+3 more contributions in this session
Lords
Debate
18 March 2026
3 contributions
Crime and Policing Bill
I appreciate the time, but we are dealing with cases in which we may be extraditing our citizens in circumstances where they may not have a fair trial abroad. I read the letter from the Minister’s department, although as I understand it, the meeting was on 4 March and the letter only came out today,…
I am asking a question. It seems that only three noble Lords are entitled to speak in this debate.
New paragraph (b) says that
“the person would be so entitled unless a court in the territory concerned were to decide that they deliberately absented themselves from their trial”.
Is it not the case…
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Debate
6 February 2026
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
My Lords, I am grateful to my noble friend Lord Blencathra for opening the debate on this group. He is right that we should consider carefully how the most vulnerable will be protected under this legislation. Having a multidisciplinary specialist review before a person in a care home is certified to…
Lords
Debate
30 January 2026
3 contributions
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
My Lords, I approach this amendment in a largely exploratory spirit, because it raises an interesting and increasingly relevant question about the role artificial intelligence might play in the operation of legislation of this kind.
Much of what the Bill requires involves assessments of different n…
My Lords, I seek the indulgence of the Committee to say a word about my amendment. I am not speaking with my Front-Bench hat on, so to speak, because I understand that this group is going to carry on next Friday. I am in the middle of a trial and cannot attend then. I will speak to my amendment in t…
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Debate
23 January 2026
2 contributions
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
My Lords, the amendments in this group seek to establish a higher bar for reaching eligibility by requiring that informed consent be demonstrably shown. There are also amendments in the group tabled by my noble friend Lady Lawlor that seek to ensure that the patient has been made to understand the p…
I am sorry, but I think the noble and learned Lord has not quite picked up the noble Lord’s point. Of course, if the doctor does not explain it properly, or if the doctor maladministers the drug, there is liability in tort. As I understood the point being put, the doctor has explained it properly an…
Lords
Debate
21 January 2026
Holocaust Memorial Bill
My Lords, I too am puzzled why it is not possible to include this wording in the Bill. Given that the Bill makes provision for the construction of a Holocaust memorial and learning centre, why on earth can we not define what the learning centre is for? However, I accept the Minister’s assurances abo…
Lords
Debate
16 January 2026
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
My Lords, the amendments in this group relate to two fundamental question: first, who should have the legal right to assistance under this Bill and, secondly, who should not. They are both important questions. We have heard concerns about eligibility throughout the discussion in Committee. In partic…
Lords
Proceedings
16 January 2026
Arrangement of Business
My Lords, for the obvious reason, I want to place on record my personal thanks to the Government Chief Whip, because I know he takes these matters extremely seriously. He is placed in an invidious position because our procedures, it seems to me, are just not designed for large, controversial, notion…
Lords
Oral Questions
15 December 2025
Sydney Terrorist Attack
I offer my condolences to the noble Lord for his loss. I cannot be with him this evening, because I will be in the Chamber dealing with the Crime and Policing Bill, but if I were not, I would certainly be standing in solidarity with him. The noble Lord asked what we are doing. I have given a range o…
Lords
Debate
14 November 2025
4 contributions
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
My Lords, I welcome the opening comments of the noble Lord, Lord Wolfson, which were helpful. I thank noble Lords for this debate.
I want to set out some points about the role of government Ministers. As noble Lords are well aware, the Government remain neutral on the principle of assisted dying an…
I obviously did not express myself very clearly. I was not in any way suggesting that this was a government Bill to which the conventions applied or that there was any reason why we should not properly scrutinise it; I absolutely stand by that, and I do not think that there is any bar to us doing th…
+2 more contributions in this session
Lords
Proceedings
29 October 2025
Prisoner Release Checks
My Lords, I begin by thanking the Metropolitan Police, Essex Police and the British Transport Police for their prompt work in returning Mr Kebatu to custody. I am also grateful to the Home Office for eventually finalising Mr Kebatu’s departure and deportation last night. Most importantly, my thought…
Lords
Debate
19 September 2025
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
My Lords, I start by thanking all noble Lords for an extensive, passionate and insightful debate. As noble Lords have observed throughout this debate, its quality and its conduct have been exemplary, and I believe that that has allowed the expression of differing and deeply held views. I thank my no…
Lords
Oral Questions
16 July 2025
Female Genital Mutilation
It is going to be fatal to the young girls that we all want to protect if we turn this into a political issue—I am not suggesting that the noble Lord was doing that. He has given the most recent figures, and he is right to do so because those are the figures that we need to focus on, but I am not go…
Lords
Debate
9 July 2025
3 contributions
House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill
My Lords, Amendment 24 seeks to place in the Bill the Government’s intentions in respect of the determination of peerage claims. Can I say what a pleasure it is to see such a large turnout from the Government Benches when we are discussing the role of the Privy Council? It is heartwarming to see wha…
To be clear, when the Minister says that the Government would seek to consult, is that consult generally at large, so to speak, or consult with Parliament? Obviously there is a difference.
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Debate
9 July 2025
House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill
My Lords, the point raised by this amendment is very short, and I will therefore make only three short points on it. First, as the noble Lord, Lord Pannick, said, it is unfortunate that we do not have sight of the relevant legal advice. Here, the Government are not relying on legal advice that is co…
Lords
Debate
4 July 2025
2 contributions
Imprisonment for Public Protection (Re-sentencing) Bill [HL]
My Lords, I too begin by thanking the noble Lord, Lord Woodley, for his determination on and commitment to this matter, both today and on several previous occasions.
The injustice of the IPP sentence, and its effects, which continue, are not in dispute. As my noble friend Lord Balfe said, it is a m…
My Lords, given the way the debate on these amendments has gone—and with no disrespect to the noble Lord, Lord Woodley—I propose to say only a few words about Amendment 7, which is, as I understand it, the only live amendment, so to speak. It is in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Fox of Buckley…
Lords
Debate
2 July 2025
3 contributions
House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill
My Lords, I will be brief, because this is the fifth time I have spoken on this topic. The first time I spoke, when I advanced the proposition that the Lord Chancellor should come back to this House, Lord Judge—whom I think we all miss very much—inquired in that very gentle way of his whether I was …
The point I was trying to make is that I think—the noble and learned Lord the Attorney-General may correct me—that he took an oath because he wanted to. I think the only one that is based in statute is the Lord Chancellor’s. That is the point I was making.
+1 more contribution in this session