Red Benches No 3: News from the House of Lords

Media regulation, Windrush scandal, keeping primates as pets (really?!), medical regulation and more

Welcome to the third edition of Red Benches, my weekly roundup of events in the House of Lords.

Part 1: Around the House

A. Media Bill

Unfortunately due to other commitments, I was not able to take part in the Second Reading of the Media Bill, but the flood of briefings in my inbox warned me that it is yet another major piece of work for the House that is likely to take quite some time in the coming months.

You can read the complete debate here.

The biggest element of excitement in the debate was the tabling of an unusual regret motion from Tory backbencher Lord Forsyth of Drumlean, “this House regrets that the Bill does not make provision concerning the ownership and control by foreign governments of newspapers in the United Kingdom”. Which was driven by the proposed sale of the Telegraph newspapers to a UAE-backed bid.

But there was some good news in that the government dropped plans that were to be in the Bill to privatise Channel 4 (after spending £200,000 on PR efforts to support the idea.) Remember, as I often say, campaigning works (at least some of the time!)

As a former newspaper editor, reflecting on the media is something I can’t avoid, as in this piece I wrote back in 2020, acknowledging that a huge amount of “fake news” is to be found in apparently mainstream outlets.

B. Windrush scandal debate

Liberal Democrat peer Baroness Benjamin (yes, of Play School fame) is now perhaps equally famous for her longterm campaigning for recognition of the scandal of the mistreatment of the Windrush Generation, British citizens trapped in the Home Office’s hostile, and chaotic and illegal, environment. Yet she was forced to secure yet another debate this week, to highlight how the compensation scheme being run by the very same Home Office is failing to work.

There were many fine speeches in the debate, but the one I’ve chosen to highlight is that of Lord Wooley of Woodford, founder of Operation Black Vote, who came into the House at the same time as I did in 2019.

Really worth a watch

C. Animal Welfare (Primate Licences) (England) Regulations

There’s a bit of a theme today about regulations, rules which the House cannot amend, but only accept, reject, or “regret” (to no practical impact). And so it was that on a Labour regret motion, there was a debate on these regulations, which eventually went through without a vote. That despite reflections from all sides of the House, including government backbenchers, on their inadequacy.

My fellow Green peer Jenny Jones boiled down the problems with the rules very clearly: “the Government have not actually banned keeping primates as pets; they have banned people from playing with their primates or pet monkeys and required them to pretend that they are zookeepers instead.”

D. Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill

Long-awaited, it arrived with us on Wednesday from the Commons, ceremonially wrapped with ribbon and carried in by a doorkeeper, who hands it over to a clerk, who announces the arrival. The Bill then has its (purely procedural) “first reading”. It is not yet appearing on the Forthcoming Business paper, but we probably should have the substantive second reading later this month.

E. Sad farewells

There was a palpable sense of shock on Monday as the Lord Speaker began the day by marking the death of Lord Cormack, an MP for 40 years from 1970 and in the Lords since 2020. He was described by the Archbishop of Canterbury as “an old-fashioned Conservative”. They certainly don’t make Tories like this any more.

I particularly remember a speech from the debate on the Environment Bill, when Lord Cormack was, as he often was, quite hard on the government on environmental issues. We were discussing preserving or improving biodiversity, and Lord Cormack used the memorable phrase: “The road to extinction is paved with good intentions.”

I also attended in St Martin-in-the-Fields Church a magnificent memorial service for crossbencher Lord Kerslake. Tickets had to be rationed to hear David Blunket reflect on Bob’s early life and Gus O’Donnell on his later, a great performance from the Choir With No Name, and solos from the stunning voice of Vimala Rowe. In the House Lord Kerslake spoke particularly on local government, governance issues and housing.

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Part 2: My week

A. Fatal Motion on the Regulation of Physicians Associates and Anaesthetist Associates

My work this week that got the most social media, and email lobbying, attention by far, was the government’s plans to have the General Medical Council regulate PAs and AAs. I explained for Yorkshire Bylines why I had tabled the fatal motion, not to call a vote (which since Labour is four-square supporting the government would have been pointless), but to plead with the government to go back to the drawing board and find a democratic, consensual way forward. This given the state of our NHS, which I reflected on for Left Foot Forward after the government ignored the uproar. You can read my speeches here. The whole debate was very high quality. I’d particularly pick up our medical contributions, from Lord Winston (Labour) - who reminded us “We do not even understand fully how anaesthetics work” and Lord Patel (crossbench), who described this Order as “crossing the Rubicon”.

B. UK strikes on Houthi targets: The government is taking "successful" military action with no discernible impact, talking of working with the "usual suspect" countries. This is all very 20th-century style thinking. But we're in the 21st-century Age of Shocks. We need new thinking, I suggested.

C. Housing: “Speculative private development” is failing to meet our housing needs, a major report concluded this week. To get the right home in the right place at the right price - and better quality - surely we have to get away from this privatised model? I suggested. It won’t surprise you to know the government was not listening.

D. Healthcare in Myanmar: In a Question for Short Debate, I reflected on an internationally focused event I hosted in the House this week on antimicrobial resistance, and stressed the importance of focusing on women’s health.

E. Windrush: I also made a modest contribution to the Windrush debate. As well as, with many others, demanding that the compensation scheme be given to an independent body, and losses from private pensions and lost earnings be included in the compensation, I used it to reflect on how this is a symptom of much wider dysfunction in government.

F: “Homes for Palestinians” scheme: One reason why I could not take part in the Media Bill debate was hosting a passionate, packed and important meeting promoting the idea of visa schemes and changes to enable families to bring relatives now in Gaza to the UK (with crucially the right of return) and others to sponsor Gazans to arrive on the model of the “Homes for Ukrainians” scheme. You can watch a report on the meeting here.

Expect more on this next week, but in the meantime I hope you will consider signing the petition here, as more than 31,000 people already have.

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