Lords
Proceedings
14 July 2026
National Crime Agency: Reform Party Funding
My Lords, the Labour Together episode has already been mentioned. Not only did that organisation fail to declare donations but it paid to have journalists investigated. Does the Minister agree that it would be inappropriate for anyone involved in these scandals to be given a senior role in governmen…
Lords
Proceedings
14 July 2026
Violence Against Retail Workers
My Lords, if the Government are truly committed to tackling retail crime, such as shop theft and violence against retail workers, they need to improve enforcement and policing. Have the Government given any consideration to hotspot policing, whereby more officers are deployed to areas with particula…
Lords
Proceedings
9 July 2026
European Entry and Exit System
My Lords, there have clearly been serious issues across Europe this year in relation to the new European entry system and it is no secret that implementation has been poor. However, the European Union seems to be under the impression that the new entry and exit system is working well. What discussio…
Lords
Proceedings
9 July 2026
UK Migration
My Lords, it has recently been revealed that, despite the previous Government placing restrictions on dependants for those on health and social care visas, people are still bringing in huge numbers of dependants. Some 12 such visas were issued to nationals of Cameroon, who were able to bring 180 peo…
Lords
Proceedings
8 July 2026
Rochdale Grooming Gang: Offender Deportation
My Lords, when this Urgent Question was asked by my honourable friend Katie Lam in the other place on Monday, the Minister responding, Alex Norris, said:
“I could not be clearer that all options are on the table at this stage ”.—[Official Report, Commons, 6/7/26; col. 28.]
With respect, the only o…
Lords
Proceedings
8 July 2026
Lord Advocate
My Lords, I warmly welcome the Minister to her post on the Front Bench. The dual role of Lord Advocate as both the chief legal adviser to the Scottish Government and the head of the prosecution system in Scotland has become increasingly difficult to justify, not least in light of recent events and t…
Lords
Proceedings
1 July 2026
Counterterrorism: AI and Facial Recognition
My Lords, it has been reported that the newly created PoliceAI centre will roll out large-scale pilots in up to 10 police forces to help officers triage, disclose and summarise digital evidence. Can the Minister inform your Lordships’ House as to what impact the police reform Bill, and specifically …
Lords
Debate
30 June 2026
National Security (State Threats) Bill
My Lords, I echo the thanks given by the Minister to the officials of the House for their actions this evening in moving us so quickly to this point. I thank the Minister for, as ever, a courteous, sometimes robust, debate across the Dispatch Box. We have had two intense days debating this Bill. As …
Lords
Proceedings
24 June 2026
Scottish Government: Social Security Benefits
My Lords, the Minister may be aware that it has cost the taxpayer more than £650 million to set up Social Security Scotland, yet there are countless examples of claimants who are on benefits administered by both Social Security Scotland and the Department for Work and Pensions who have had money ded…
Lords
Proceedings
18 June 2026
Transnational Marriage Abandonment
My Lords, a recurring feature of these cases is that the victim’s passport is taken by the perpetrator before or during travel, leaving them unable to return to the UK independently. Improperly obtaining another person’s passport is already a criminal offence under Section 4 of the Identity Document…
Lords
Proceedings
4 June 2026
Temporary Skilled Worker Visas: Creative Occupations
My Lords, we all recognise the contribution that creative artists make when visiting our country, but we have to restrict the criteria for skilled worker visas to ensure that the system works as intended, so I welcome the Government’s action here. Given that, can the Minister confirm that the Govern…
Lords
Proceedings
2 June 2026
Windrush Compensation Scheme
There has been much commentary on the relatively high rejection rates for the Windrush compensation scheme. Subsequently, there have been calls for the Home Office to relax its criteria. It is of course imperative that the scheme is not open to exploitation and that compensation is paid only to thos…
Lords
Debate
18 March 2026
3 contributions
Crime and Policing Bill
My Lords, once again we have had a full and passionate debate on a matter of the utmost significance. It is apparent, from both deliberations in Committee and from today, that views on this matter are deeply and sincerely held across your Lordships’ House.
A wide range of points have been raised by…
My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Clement-Jones, for retabling his amendments. As we outlined in Committee, we are broadly supportive of his intentions. Data sharing, and more so international data sharing, carries a risk of accidental disclosure, and therefore the Government’s new measures mus…
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Debate
18 March 2026
Crime and Policing Bill
My Lords, I thank noble Lords for their amendments in this group. We accept the Minister’s amendments, which seem entirely reasonable.
I appreciate the sentiments behind the amendments in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Jones of Moulsecoomb. However, we believe that they are somewhat misguided…
Lords
Debate
11 March 2026
4 contributions
Crime and Policing Bill
My Lords, this group of amendments raises two significant issues for modern policing: transparency in the use of algorithmic tools and the modernisation of police data and intelligence systems.
I turn first to Amendment 400, in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Doocey. We on these Benches recogn…
My Lords, Amendment 402, standing in my name and that of my noble friend Lord Davies of Gower, concerns the application of the public sector equality duty under Section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, specifically to policing and law enforcement functions. The amendment would ensure that police forces…
+2 more contributions in this session
Lords
Debate
11 March 2026
5 contributions
Crime and Policing Bill
My Lords, although the movement of abnormal loads may seem like a niche and marginal activity, my noble friend Lord Attlee, who recently retired from your Lordships’ House, laid out a compelling argument in Committee for why that is not the case. The heavy haulage industry is a vital component of ou…
My Lords, I thank my noble friends Lady Neville-Rolfe, Lord Jackson of Peterborough, Lord Bailey of Paddington and Lady Buscombe for their amendments.
Amendment 385 in the name of my noble friend Lady Neville-Rolfe, spoken to by my noble friend Lord Jackson today, would, as we have heard, grant the…
+3 more contributions in this session
Lords
Debate
4 March 2026
5 contributions
Crime and Policing Bill
My Lords, I am very grateful to all noble Lords who have spoken in the debate on this group. It is a very large group with a number of significant amendments.
As a preliminary, my Amendments 346 and 348, and government Amendment 347, are about an issue relating to emergency workers which we on thes…
My Lords, I am grateful to the Minister for bringing forward these amendments. I thank my noble friend Lady Sugg for her determined and tireless work on honour-based abuse. I know that the Government had intended to bring forward a statutory definition at some point, but it is purely down to her eff…
+3 more contributions in this session
Lords
Committee Stage
3 March 2026
Immigration and Nationality (Fees) (Amendment) Order 2026
My Lords, I am grateful for the broad support of the noble Lord, Lord Cameron of Lochiel, for the principle behind the order. I am grateful for his generous support for the direction of travel that we are undertaking. He has asked two specific questions, which I will try to answer for him.
On the E…
Lords
Debate
2 March 2026
4 contributions
Crime and Policing Bill
My Lords, I am grateful to all noble Lords who have spoken to the amendments in this group and I echo the thanks of my noble friend Lord Black of Brentwood to the Minister for her remarks and for listening and acting on the concerns raised in Committee. I acknowledge the work of my noble friends Lor…
My Lords, I rise to speak very briefly. As was the case in Committee, we wholly support the intention behind my noble friend’s amendment. It would serve to prevent those who commit a sexual offence obtaining a gender recognition certificate and is a necessary step that would stop criminals retroacti…
+2 more contributions in this session
Lords
Debate
2 March 2026
5 contributions
Crime and Policing Bill
My Lords, we support the Government’s approach and indeed welcome it. In Committee, my noble friend Lord Davies of Gower and I tabled an amendment in the same form, in essence, as Amendment 236 in this group. The amendment would create a specific offence of rape of a child under 16 to close the loop…
My Lords, very briefly, I thank the Minister for bringing forward these amendments. They seem to be entirely reasonable and we support their implementation.
+3 more contributions in this session
Lords
Debate
25 February 2026
2 contributions
Crime and Policing Bill
My Lords, as in Committee, these Benches oppose Clause 40 standing part of the Bill. I will briefly remind the House of the background. Clause 40 repeals Section 22A of the Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980, which was inserted into that Act in 2014. Section 22A of the Magistrates’ Court Act provides that…
My Lords, I am grateful to the Minister, but I am afraid I am not quite persuaded. The Government have been attempting to appear tough in a so far unsuccessful attempt to demonstrate that they are cracking down on crime. Yet, as we know from the latest crime statistics, in the year ending September …
Lords
Debate
25 February 2026
5 contributions
Crime and Policing Bill
My Lords, it will come as no surprise to the Minister that these Benches maintain our opposition to the Government’s respect orders. We have heard, in Committee and today, many concerns about the new regime. Our concerns are slightly different from some of those expressed by other noble Lords, in th…
My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Russell of Liverpool, for his work on these amendments, and the noble Baroness, Lady Brinton, for her contribution to the debates on anti-social behaviour reviews, both today and in Committee. It is an important issue that touches on how our system responds to …
+3 more contributions in this session
Lords
Proceedings
3 February 2026
Police Reform White Paper
My Lords, when, on 20 January, I asked the Minister when this White Paper would be published, he said that I would not have to wait too long to see the Government’s police reform proposal. I am very pleased to say that he was correct; on this occasion “shortly” did indeed mean shortly.
I think it f…
Lords
Debate
2 February 2026
4 contributions
Crime and Policing Bill
My Lords, this has been a full, difficult and passionate debate, and I thank all noble Lords who have taken part. I know that issues of conscience such as this arouse very strong feelings, but I am pleased that we have managed to keep the debate respectful, as we always do in your Lordships’ House.
…
I do not think I suggested that for a moment—I do not accept that at all. I am pointing to the fact that this is a government Bill. It may not be the Government’s place to take a view on issues of conscience such as this, but it is their role and duty to ensure the coherence of the statute book and …
+2 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
28 January 2026
National Police Service
The police priorities are the extra 13,000 neighbourhood police officers the Government are bringing in to deal with day-to-day crime, anti-social behaviour, theft and shop theft. The police chiefs are very aligned with and supportive of that agenda. They have also to a person, through the police ch…