Lords
Oral Questions
27 January 2026
10 contributions
Asylum and Immigration: Children
My Lords, that is encouraging, but the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child expects child rights impact assessments to be integral to policy-making from the outset. Deep concern about the likely impact of these proposals on children’s well-being and security and on child poverty have been express…
My Lords, I suggest to the Minister that there is a very real danger that the need to deal with immigration puts the rights of children at risk. I was delighted to hear what he said, but I am not sure that is across every government department. The welfare of children is paramount, and the rights of…
+8 more contributions in this session
Lords
Debate
27 January 2026
3 contributions
Crime and Policing Bill
My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Hogan-Howe, for highlighting the amendments that he has put before the Committee today and to the noble Lord, Lord Bailey of Paddington, although he is not in his place, who tabled two of the amendments.
The importance of collecting accurate and consi…
My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Neville-Rolfe, for her continued interest in improving transparency and accountability in policing. She will know that I am outcome-focused myself, and that I try to ensure that we get outcomes. I note the support from the noble Baroness, Lady Fox of Buckle…
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Debate
22 January 2026
10 contributions
Crime and Policing Bill
I am grateful to the Committee, and in particular to the noble Lord, Lord Hogan-Howe, for moving the amendment. To be fair to the noble Lord, Lord Bailey of Paddington, he stayed here very late—until the end—on the previous day on this. I am sorry that he is not able to be in his place today. He was…
My noble friend Lady Chakrabarti indicated that this was a probing amendment and I am grateful for the opportunity to discuss these points.
I start by saying to the noble Baronesses, Lady Jones of Moulsecoomb and Lady Doocey, and my noble friend that this Labour Government are committed to making i…
+8 more contributions in this session
Lords
Debate
20 January 2026
2 contributions
Crime and Policing Bill
I thank the noble Lord, Lord Banner, for his amendments. He has had a wide level of support today from, among others, the noble Lords, Lord Kempsell, Lord Clement-Jones and Lord Alton of Liverpool, the noble Baroness, Lady D’Souza, the noble and learned Lord, Lord Garnier, and my noble friend Lady G…
I am grateful to the noble Baroness, Lady Doocey, for her amendment, which concerns the process by which police and crime commissioners may call on a chief constable to resign or retire. As the noble Lord, Lord Cameron of Lochiel, has mentioned, the Government’s intention is to replace police and cr…
Lords
Debate
20 January 2026
9 contributions
Crime and Policing Bill
I am grateful that we are trying to make some progress—it is really good news—and I look forward to even more progress as we carry on today, but if the noble Lord will allow me, I will respond to the debate first.
The noble Lord has made some points that I accept, and he had the support of the nobl…
Section 60 powers are in operation and have been there for some significant time. As I shared with the Committee a moment ago, the use of those powers by police officers was significantly higher in the mid to late 2000s than it is now. That is because we are trying to ensure that there is operationa…
+7 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
19 January 2026
11 contributions
Domestic Violence Against Children
I thank the Minister for his Answer. Can he give an update on the Government’s response to calls to lower the statutory age at which individuals can be seen as victims of domestic abuse? This is otherwise known as Holly’s law, named after the Northumberland teenager, Holly Newton, who was murdered b…
My Lords, there is always, quite rightly, multi-agency involvement in these distressing cases, but there can be a problem when victims fall through the cracks and the joined-up approach fails. How can we be assured that this is being improved? This is difficult for the Minister to answer, but it is …
+9 more contributions in this session
Lords
Debate
15 January 2026
19 contributions
Crime and Policing Bill
My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Baroness, Lady Doocey, for tabling the amendments and starting this important debate. Facial recognition is an increasingly important tool that helps the police, and I am grateful for the support of the noble Lords, Lord Blencathra, Lord Cameron of Lochiel and Lo…
I do not think that it does. We will leave it at that. There is a proper and full consultation document, a copy of which is, I am sure, available in the House for Members to look at.
I revert to my starting point. For the reasons that have been laid out by a number of Members in the Committee today…
+17 more contributions in this session
Lords
Debate
13 January 2026
16 contributions
Crime and Policing Bill
I am grateful to the noble Baroness, Lady Jones of Moulsecoomb, for tabling her intention to remove Clauses 118 to 120. The Committee is aware of the purpose of those clauses. I am grateful for the support of the noble Lords, Lord Davies of Gower and Lord Blencathra, for the broad principle of the c…
There were a number of points there. If my noble friend will allow me, I intend to answer the points made during the course of the debate. I say to her straightaway that we have published our analysis of the ECHR obligations; I can refer her to it. I will ensure that if she does not have it to hand,…
+14 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
13 January 2026
9 contributions
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
My Lords, I appreciate what my noble friend says. However, the IRGC remains what it has always been: a bunch of murderous fascists and fanatics. We are seeing that fact play out tragically on the streets of Iran at the moment. In the context of the Question on the Order Paper, I am concerned about t…
My Lords, over the past few days we have witnessed horrifying pictures of murder and torture on our TV screens. We cannot allow that to just go past without making some very strong statements, knowing full well that the IRGC is behind a lot of those murders and killings. Will the Minister— I am sure…
+7 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
12 January 2026
9 contributions
Defending Democracy Taskforce
My Lords, I thank my noble friend the Minister. It seems wholly appropriate to have a Question this afternoon on defending democracy and democratic elections, although that is, of course, entirely coincidental. The Defending Democracy Taskforce is the main mechanism for tackling foreign interference…
My Lords, on 30 July, the Joint Committee on Human Rights published its report on transnational repression. Can the Minister tell us what weight he attaches to its conclusion that the UK has become a hunting ground for authoritarian regimes around the world to harass and intimidate, and its finding …
+7 more contributions in this session
Lords
Debate
7 January 2026
6 contributions
Crime and Policing Bill
Moderately?
I hope it does not surprise noble Lords if I confess that I have been on the odd protest in my time. I have quite enjoyed the freedom to have a protest. I have protested against the apartheid Government, against the National Front and, if the noble Lord, Lord Blencathra, will bear with me, against h…
+4 more contributions in this session
Lords
Debate
7 January 2026
12 contributions
Crime and Policing Bill
I am grateful to the noble Baroness, Lady Morgan of Cotes, for Amendment 356A, and I am glad we have reached it today. We hoped to reach it prior to Christmas, but time did not permit. I know that she has championed this issue in the House before, and I welcome her contribution pressing the Governme…
We are in danger of the Committee revisiting Clause 37. I have an opportunity to meet the noble Baroness, and we can discuss those issues then. I am saying to my noble friend, in relation to his amendment, that the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 makes offences against public-facing wo…
+10 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
7 January 2026
9 contributions
Shamima Begum
My Lords, does my noble friend agree that we are talking about a young girl who was brought up in the UK, groomed and trafficked to Syria as a 15 year-old, has lost three babies and is now, in effect, stateless? What does my noble friend think will happen to her? Is she going to stay there for ever?…
My Lords, without asking the Minister to go into individual cases, has he had a chance to read the report from the Joint Committee on Human Rights, debated in your Lordships’ House back in September, on Daesh crimes? Has he seen the evidence that we were given that there is a distinction to be made,…
+7 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
7 January 2026
12 contributions
Computer-generated Child Sexual Abuse Material
Does the Minister agree that much of the responsibility for making Section 121 of the Online Safety Act effective lies with Ofcom? Will he confirm that the Government expect Ofcom to be bold and robust in its application of the new law to online spaces in private messaging contexts, and to use its n…
My Lords, given the recent experience with AI platforms such as Grok generating unacceptable non-consensual sexual images and the warnings from the Internet Watch Foundation, I welcome recent comments from the Secretary of State for DSIT about Grok. However, what discussions are senior Ministers hav…
+10 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
5 January 2026
10 contributions
Muslim Brotherhood
I thank the Minister for his Answer. Of course he, along with other Ministers, has spoken about other individual organisations—the IRGC has been discussed in this House, as was Polisario a few weeks ago and other far right organisations—so we do discuss these matters. Secondly, it is not just an int…
Will the Minister also look with concern at the Jamaat-e-Islami UK organisation, which should cause us all concern, given the influence it now has with organisations here in the UK, and which might interfere in elections in Bangladesh?
+8 more contributions in this session
Lords
Debate
17 December 2025
Crime and Policing Bill
My Lords, I confess that when I woke up this morning I did not anticipate having a discussion about Thames Valley Police and a gay horse. Such is political life on the Government Front Bench. Nor did I anticipate talking about the Prime Minister’s private parts, referred to by my noble friend Lady C…
Lords
Debate
17 December 2025
12 contributions
Crime and Policing Bill
I will come back to that point in a moment. I think the noble Lord is trying to inject a slight bit of topicality into a different argument, but I respect his opportunities in trying to raise those issues.
I say at the outset that I am with the noble Baroness, Lady Doocey, on this, which is why we …
I hope the noble Lord will accept that I am not indicating that he or anybody else would accept that language, but the point is that we have to define and be clearer about the definition in relation to racially aggravated insults. The reason that we brought this forward is that, on the back of polic…
+10 more contributions in this session
Lords
Proceedings
17 December 2025
6 contributions
Violence against Women and Girls Strategy
I am grateful to the noble Lord. I said on 27 November that the strategy would be published soon, and I think 18 December is soon. It will be published tomorrow. I know that Members of this House have been pressing me to publish the Statement as soon as possible. The Statement will be delivered in t…
The noble Baroness is absolutely right, and she will know that my colleagues in the Ministry of Justice, who are responsible for the prosecution element, are going to review this issue. In the strategy to be published tomorrow, she will see that there is a real commitment to up the number of prosecu…
+4 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
16 December 2025
6 contributions
Asylum Accommodation
I thank the Minister for that Answer. A previous Permanent Secretary to the Home Office told a Select Committee of the House of Commons that there were a thousand lessons to be learned. I am not going to ask the Minister to outline the answers to all those thousand lessons, but can I specifically as…
My Lords, the Minister will be aware that the Government are proposing to spend over £1 million refurbishing the Cameron barracks in Inverness to house asylum seekers. Will he promise that there will be a similar amount of money to refurbish other barracks that are currently occupied by our soldiers…
+4 more contributions in this session
Lords
Debate
15 December 2025
2 contributions
Crime and Policing Bill
My Lords, I agree: it does matter. I welcome the support of the noble Lord, Lord Davies of Gower, for Clause 106.
I will bring the debate back to what Clause 106 is about, which is ensuring that every road user complies with road traffic law in the interests of their safety and that of other road u…
With due respect, I am very happy to look at that. Essentially, there is a Home Office aspect to this clause, which is death and serious injury by dangerous cycling, but the issues the noble Baroness raised about insurance and the definition are for the Department for Transport. I will take those is…
Lords
Debate
15 December 2025
16 contributions
Crime and Policing Bill
My Lords, I am grateful for the amendments in this group from the noble Lord, Lord Clement-Jones, and the noble Baroness, Lady Maclean of Redditch. There are also a number of amendments in my name, which I will formally move and explain what they mean in a moment.
Clause 94, which we will come to i…
That is my understanding of the position. I hope that helps the noble and learned Baroness. That is the principle behind what we are proposing here today. Again, I say to the whole Committee that this is, ultimately, management based on risk, not on gender.
+14 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
15 December 2025
9 contributions
Sydney Terrorist Attack
First, my Lords, I want to praise the bravery of Mr Ahmed al-Ahmed in tackling one of the terrorists. He is clearly a better human being than I am, in that he took the rifle and then put it down, because I would have shot him.
I am afraid it appears that a small portion of our British people are un…
My Lords, it is Hanukkah. What is Hanukkah? Hanukkah is when families get together, lighting the candles, celebrating the victory of light over darkness. We had another type of family, a father and son, barbarically shooting at will. This morning, I went to Western Marble Arch Synagogue and spoke to…
+7 more contributions in this session
Lords
Proceedings
11 December 2025
6 contributions
Grooming Gangs: Independent Inquiry
My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Davies of Gower, and the noble Baroness, Lady Brinton, for their comments.
I will start with the noble Lord, if I may. I hope he wants this inquiry to work—I know that he does. We want to look not at where we have come from over the last 15 or 16 mont…
I am grateful to the noble Lord. The survivors are not a coterminous, cohesive group. They have different experiences and different views on what is happening. The noble Baroness, Lady Casey, and now my noble friend Lady Longfield are trying at least to meet a panel of survivors to examine how best …
+4 more contributions in this session