My Lords, I express my agreement with the concern of the noble and learned Lord, Lord Falconer, that the Committee stage of the Bill should have been completed. I wanted to be part of a process that amended the Bill so that we could reach Report and have some meaningful votes on certain parts of the…
My Lords, it is a privilege to follow four such powerful, knowledgeable and moving speeches. I will briefly discuss five areas.
First, following the powerful speech of the noble Lord, Lord Scriven, I congratulate him on getting this debate and focusing on reasonable adjustments—that kept coming up …
My Lords, I am grateful to my right reverend friend the Bishop of Southwark for preparing the way for some of the comments that I wish to make briefly now. Broadly, this group seeks to address issues around communication, language barriers and interpreters and I support the amendments laid before yo…
My Lords, I will speak to Amendment 108, to which the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Lincoln has added his name. He regrets that he cannot be in his place today, as he is interested in this amendment as lead bishop for the L’Arche community in the UK. With the Church of England, L’Arche strive…
My Lords, taken together, the amendments in this group highlight the importance of contact with people at the hardest time in their lives—a time when we must be most vulnerable, clinically and personally. This must not be a process in which anyone is made to feel rushed or that can be completed enti…
My Lords, in his opening remarks, the noble Lord, Lord Birt, cited Australia. I am sure that he is aware that no Australian jurisdiction is recognised as one of the 10 comparable jurisdictions in the Bill’s eligibility criteria and the Government’s impact assessment. The most comparable are New Zeal…
My Lords, I join all noble Lords in thanking my noble friend for this debate. I look forward to the remaining maiden speeches and congratulate the noble Baroness, Lady Dacres of Lewisham, and the noble Lord, Lord Forbes, on their excellent contributions to today’s debate. I also refer noble Lords to…
My Lords, I have spoken in the Chamber before about the Leamside line, which is a modest 21 miles of railway in the north-east. Would the noble Lord agree that it illustrates the disconnect between statement and construction timeline? Would it be worth considering prioritising projects such as the L…
Tackling abuse in teenage relationships and preventing abuse before it happens is a priority for the Government. The recently published violence against women and girls strategy commits to ensuring that all children learn about healthy relationships and consent in school, provides a helpline for you…
I am very aware of the murder of Holly Newton, and my thoughts are with her family and friends. As the right reverend Prelate may know, the Home Office is undertaking a scoping review into the legal framework of domestic abuse to ensure that it captures the experience of adolescents in particular. T…
My Lords, if we pass this Bill, we choose to go down a particular road. Before we do that, we ought to ask where the road leads and whether there are any stopping places on the way. First, I much respect those who have long campaigned for this Bill. Their position rests on two convictions that I sha…
The right reverend Prelate is right, of course, that there will be different ways in which provision already exists and needs manifest themselves in different parts of the country. That is precisely why, in the development of not only the first early adopter hubs but the 50 hubs to be developed afte…
My Lords, it is a great pleasure to follow the noble Lord, Lord Rook, and I am also looking forward to the maiden speech of my noble friend Lady Shawcross-Wolfson and to hearing the valedictory speech of the noble Baroness, Lady Bryan, later in the debate. I declare my interest as a vice-president o…
I thank the right reverend Prelate for that question. I gave quite an extensive Answer on water and AI last week. There are specific requirements for places that could host the new AI growth zones, including for the power supply but also, importantly, the ability to look at how water is used, the us…
My Lords, the Sutton Trust’s valuable report highlights that too many children face barriers to success because of who they are or where they come from. That is why, through the Government’s opportunity mission, we will break the link between young people’s backgrounds and their future success by ta…
Funding is important, which is why the Government will consider the national funding formula and ensure that it focuses on the right places and addresses need in the way the right reverend Prelate outlined. But it is also important that we take action—across schools, for young people through trainin…
My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Palmer of Childs Hill, for tabling Amendments 78 and 79, to which I have added my name in support. My comments will be brief. I add my voice to those of other noble Lords in the Chamber in appreciation of the debates that we have heard today on the detail of th…