Lords
Debate
26 June 2025
18 contributions
Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill
I say in response to the noble Lord, Lord Framlingham, that there is a great sense of urgency from this Government on the issue that he raises. The people are not “wandering up the beaches” of Dover. They are being collected by boats in the channel when the criminal gangs bring them across, and then…
I appreciate the noble Viscount’s comments, but the clauses in Chapter 1—for example, “Duty to prepare annual reports”, “Duties of cooperation etc” and “The Board” overseeing all that—underpinned by statutory function give this House the confidence that there is a legislative background to those req…
+16 more contributions in this session
Lords
Proceedings
18 June 2025
11 contributions
Child Sexual Exploitation: Casey Report
I am grateful to both Front-Bench speakers for their contributions and questions. I will try, as ever, to address those issues.
Let me go straight to the heart of the challenge from the noble Lord, Lord Davies, to the Government regarding accepting the inquiry recommendations. When we came to offic…
I am grateful to my noble friend for echoing the praise and support for the noble Baroness, Lady Casey, and the work she has done. She has set down a further set of developments that we can look at and action to help reduce victims and reduce this level of crime. My noble friend tempts me into addre…
+9 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
18 June 2025
9 contributions
Child Sexual Abuse and Rape Gangs Inquiry
I thank my noble friend the Minister for his Answer. I welcome this inquiry. I just want to say that, as a Muslim woman, I apologise profoundly for what these wicked men have done to white, working-class girls. Many of us feel deeply ashamed. Let us not call them “grooming gangs”; these are rape gan…
Will the grooming gangs inquiry include Scotland, and, if not, why not?
+7 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
11 June 2025
7 contributions
Police Service
My Lords, I come from a family of four generations of police officers. I am proud to refer to that, as a matter of interest. The Labour manifesto promised to lower all sorts of crime, and I wish them well in fulfilling that promise. But the Police Federation and the Police Superintendents’ Associati…
My Lords, I declare an interest. I chaired an inquiry into the Police Federation of England and Wales, which was published in May this year and made 33 recommendations in respect of governance, campaigning and financing. Does the Minister agree that police officers, who do not have the right to take…
+5 more contributions in this session
Lords
Statutory Instrument
10 June 2025
3 contributions
Criminal Justice Act 1988 (Offensive Weapons) (Amendment, Surrender and Compensation) (England and Wales) Order 2025
My Lords, I beg to move, I hope en bloc, the Motions standing in my name on the Order Paper.
My Lords, I apologise but I wish to make two very quick points with regard to these measures that we debated last week in Grand Committee. I gave the Government Whips’ Office notice of this.
The first is that these measures relate to the foreign influence registration scheme, which is a significant…
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
10 June 2025
8 contributions
Public Order Act 1986: Section 5
I thank the Minister for that Answer. Your Lordships’ House will be aware that freedom of religion or belief in the UK was hard won over many centuries. Citizens need to be able to peacefully criticise the tenets of someone’s faith or beliefs and institutions. Regrettably, recently the Crown Prosecu…
My Lords, if such a review were to take place, would the Minister and the Government reaffirm that exercising the freedom to stand silently praying in a public place is not an act of hostility and should therefore not be considered a criminal office within the United Kingdom?
+6 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
10 June 2025
8 contributions
Electric Cycles: Illegal Use on Roads
My Lords, I commend the new Government for taking some steps, but I do not think they have taken enough. Sergeant Ford, who sits here today, has a small team of 10 in the City of London Police—the smallest force in the country—who are actually doing something about cyclists who are ignoring the law,…
My Lords, does the Minister agree that one of the greatest hazards among users of e-bikes comes from delivery drivers who have disengaged the speed limiter? They are fairly easy to recognise. Should the police not be focusing on them?
+6 more contributions in this session
Lords
Committee Stage
5 June 2025
3 contributions
Criminal Justice Act 1988 (Offensive Weapons) (Amendment, Surrender and Compensation) (England and Wales) Order 2025
My Lords, the order before us seeks to add ninja swords to the list of prohibited offensive weapons by amending the Criminal Justice Act 1988 (Offensive Weapons) Order 1988 to include them. I will briefly set out the context for why the Government have brought the order forward. The Government have …
My Lords, we believe that this ban is proportionate and we support it. Sword-related deaths are rare but even one, such as the tragic loss of Ronan Kanda, is too many. I join the Minister in his admiration for the family and how they have behaved. However, for this ban to be truly effective, it must…
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Debate
2 June 2025
Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill
That the Bill be committed to a Committee of the Whole House, and that it be an instruction to the Committee that they consider the bill in the following order: Clauses 1 to 40, Schedule 1, Clauses 41 to 53, Schedule 2, Clauses 54 to 63 Title.
Lords
Debate
2 June 2025
4 contributions
Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill
My Lords, it is a pleasure to open the debate on this important Bill and to welcome the interest shown by so many noble Lords in seeking to speak. This is a key Bill for the Government and for the United Kingdom as a whole. I will set out why this Government have brought forward the Bill for the ben…
My Lords, I thank the Minister for opening this debate today. It promises to be both an interesting and informative debate. I look forward to the maiden speech of my noble friend Lord Harper, who I had the pleasure of working with at the Department for Transport and who I know will make a considerab…
+2 more contributions in this session
Lords
Proceedings
15 May 2025
12 contributions
Immigration System
I am grateful to both the noble Lord, Lord Cameron of Lochiel, and the noble Baroness, Lady Hamwee, for their contributions, and I will try to answer them. I hope I do not surprise the noble Lord by saying that I am not going to go over the previous Government’s record; I will let that speak for its…
The Government want to try to operate a points-based system, but also to put some more rigour into the student post-graduation approach and to look at the fees around coming to the United Kingdom in the first place. The White Paper includes a shortening of the period after graduation. It includes a …
+10 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
15 May 2025
8 contributions
Pensioners: Shoplifting
My Lords, poverty is a major cause of shoplifting. The full state pension of £11,973 is less than 50% of the minimum wage and is received by less than 30% of pensioners. Despite benefits, 2 million pensioners live in poverty, and over 100,000 a year die in fuel poverty. The loss of the winter fuel p…
My Lords, I note that the Minister is about to have a meeting with a group of people dealing with this issue. Can he assure me that the trade union movement will be involved in that? I spent some time working for the Co-op many years ago. It is very frightening when people walk into a shop where you…
+6 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
14 May 2025
9 contributions
Telecommunications Fraud: Reimbursement of Victims
My Lords, I thank the noble Lord for that Answer. As noble Lords will be aware, banks now have to reimburse fraud victims. However, according to the PSR, over 70% of scams by volume originate online, 54% from Meta alone, and 31% of scams by value originate from telecoms companies. Yet, despite facil…
Is the Minister aware that there are still too many rural areas in the United Kingdom where the reception, both telephonic and in respect of all other modern machinery, is not viable? Will he therefore call in the senior directors of those companies to make sure that the push that is supposed to be …
+7 more contributions in this session
Lords
Committee Stage
12 May 2025
3 contributions
Investigatory Powers (Codes of Practice, Review of Notices and Technical Advisory Board) Regulations 2025
My Lords, it is a pleasure to be here today to bring forward these regulations. The Government have published an Explanatory Memorandum alongside them, and I shall begin with some brief background as to how we have got to where we are.
The Investigatory Powers Act 2016, known as the IPA, provides a…
I wonder whether the Minister would be kind enough in his reply to give us some idea of the ongoing arrangements for the updating of this kind of material. He has shown that the constant need for this is because of the speedy change of the world outside. Who is responsible for it? How are they able …
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Committee Stage
12 May 2025
4 contributions
Forensic Science Regulator Draft Code of Practice 2025
My Lords, forensic science is an integral part of delivery of the criminal justice system in the 21st century. I am a devoted fan of television programmes on real crime in the evenings, and I can honestly say that I have not yet seen one where DNA, drug analysis, mobile phones, photos, messages, hea…
My Lords, it is of note that the Minister, both opposition spokespeople and the chair are all Welsh, as we talk about forensic science. I wonder how often that happens.
+2 more contributions in this session
Lords
Proceedings
7 May 2025
6 contributions
Counter Terrorism Policing: Arrests
I am grateful to both Front Benches for their questions, and I will try to answer them as best as I can.
To summarise for the House, colleagues will know that on Saturday 3 May counterterrorism police undertook a series of arrests relating to what I must make clear are two separate incidents and in…
It is no surprise that my noble friend raises the issue that he has. I know he has raised it in both this House and in the House of Commons when he was a Member of that establishment. As I have said, I cannot routinely comment on proscription decisions. The House will be aware of our grave concern, …
+4 more contributions in this session
Lords
Committee Stage
6 May 2025
3 contributions
Licensing Act 2003 (Victory in Europe Day Licensing Hours) Order 2025
My Lords, this order was laid before Parliament on 23 April.
As noble Lords know, this Thursday, 8 May, marks the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day. It is a momentous day in our history as it marks the end of the conflict in Europe—but not, obviously, the end of the Second World War, since …
I thank the Minister for explaining the objectives of this statutory instrument. We are entirely supportive of what he said. It is appropriate that this SI is approved. I have very little to add, except to say that this is an event of major national significance. As a consequence of that, it is righ…
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
6 May 2025
8 contributions
Knife Crime
Much of the knife crime in my former constituency in east London was fuelled by county lines drug gangs. I worked with some amazing mums, who were desperately trying to rescue their children who were ensnared in the pernicious clutches of these gangs. Parents facing these circumstances need real sup…
My Lords, the Minister will know that there are reports of a dramatic increase in young people carrying knives on a regular basis. This generation of young people has had a really hard time. First, there has been a major increase in the break-up of parental relationships in their young years. Second…
+6 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
6 May 2025
10 contributions
Police: Stop and Search
My Lords, as the Minister said, stop and search is a valuable tool in taking weapons off our streets, but Home Office figures show that 86% of police stop and search is on suspicion of possession-only drug offences, and you are four times more likely to be stopped and searched if you are black than …
My Lords, how wise is it to put off the introduction of biometric ID cards?
+8 more contributions in this session