Grenfell Tower Memorial (Expenditure) Bill

Baroness Hazarika Excerpts

2nd reading & Report stage & 3rd reading & Committee negatived
Tuesday 14th April 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Hazarika (Lab)]

My Lords, it is an enormous privilege to take part in this thoughtful debate. I remember the shock of witnessing the charred husk of Grenfell Tower as I drove across London to do the paper review on Sky News. I remember being on air, and it was incredibly difficult to process what had just happened, in this day and age, in a residential building. It was a moment and a tragedy that none of us, whether we were journalists or anyone else, could really get our heads around—72 people losing their lives, in this day and age. They were not just statistics, as we have heard, but men, women, mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, aunties, uncles, and so many children and babies who perished in what must have been unimaginable fear, confusion, bewilderment and pain that night.

I have been thinking about the tragedies that live on in history, the ones that we think change things, the ones that herald a new era of health and safety, and change. I was thinking, for example, about a tragedy that I spend a lot of time thinking about for various reasons: the “Titanic”.

As much as we talk about systemic failures—we will come on to discuss that, as my good friend, my noble friend Lady Hyde, just said in her excellent speech—the staying power of remembrance is about those human stories, people and personalities, such as Raymond Bernard, known as Moses to his friends, who had moved to the UK from Trinidad in 1969. He worked as an electrician and a part-time DJ. His relatives said that he

“had long, flowing locks like the free-thinking lion that he was”.

The wee girls Hania Hassan, aged three, and her sister Fethia, aged four, known as Fou-Fou, died along with their mum, Rania Ibrahim. Their dad and Rania’s husband, Awadh, said his life had “fully stopped” since the fire.

The Choukair family lived on the 22nd floor. Bassem died alongside his wife Nadia and their three girls Zainab, Mierna and Fatima. Bassem worked at Marks & Spencer and was described by his colleagues as a dedicated man who never took a day off, such was his pride in his work. His mother-in-law, Sirria, died alongside them. Sirria had come to this country from Lebanon back in the 1960s. She worked at the Royal Marsden Hospital, where she became close friends with her boss, a lady called Maria Del Pilar Burton, who also lived in Grenfell Tower and who died in hospital six months after the fire.

Anthony Disson, the retired lorry driver, lived on the 22nd floor. His son said of him that he was

“always there to help anyone, no matter who you were or where you came from”.

Ligaya Moore, the Filipino pensioner loved her 21st-floor flat and was so proud of it because, she said, it made her feel like she was

“on top of the world”.

The artist and photographer Khadija Saye lived and died with her mum, Mary Mendy, that night. Khadija was a great talent and her work was displayed at the Venice Biennale and Tate Britain after her death.

Gary Maunders, aged 57, was remembered by his family as a man with a great personality and as a devoted Manchester United football supporter.

Sheila, aged 84, had lived at Grenfell for 34 years. Sheila was full of life and fit as a fiddle, often being seen cycling around or doing yoga daily. She was a keen swimmer at the Kensington Leisure Centre until she was 80 years old.

Steven Power lived on the 15th floor. His daughter said her dad was a keen fisherman and DJ, and had a style which was like a

“West Indies man trapped in an Irish man’s body”.

Steven’s best pals were his three dogs, who also died with him that night in his flat.

These are just a handful of the stories behind that number of 72—the number of people who died that night. As we have all been discussing, we must remember and honour every single one of them. We must also honour what Grenfell Tower represented. In an often toxic, polarised world, we are often told, particularly online, that London, our capital, has been invaded by outsiders; that it is a violent cesspit and a crime-ridden, nasty and unhappy place. But we in this House all know that Grenfell—the Grenfell that we have all got to know though the work we have done—told a very different story. The globe resided there, with people from all over the world who came to London to work very hard, like Bassem, and make a better life for themselves alongside Londoners who lived in that building. They found in that tower block such riches: friendship, kinship and community in life and then, tragically, in death. Grenfell is a reminder of resilience and unity in a very divided climate, of hope and of the best of humanity, particularly in the aftermath and the days afterwards.

I very much welcome this Bill and the many wonderful, thoughtful and really moving contributions that we have heard, particularly from my noble friend Lord Roe. I think we were all extremely humbled by his story, his bravery and his lived experience. He powerfully reminded us of our privileges and responsibilities.

We all agree, though, that this memorial, however it takes shape, must be guided by survivors, families and the local community. As we have been discussing, the legacy must be more than simply memories. It must be about learning the right systemic lessons for the future and about justice, which means prosecutions. Like so many of the big scandals of our generation, including Horizon, nobody senior and very well paid ever seems to be held properly accountable. Every single one of these deaths was avoidable. As the inquiry said, everyone who died in the fire had been failed by those responsible for keeping them safe.

I welcome the words from the Minister and hope that she will have heard many of the questions. I am sure she will agree with us all that these reports and recommendations must not become just dusty tomes on the shelf of history. We must never allow a tragedy like this to happen again.

Voting at 16

Baroness Hazarika Excerpts

Thursday 24th July 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Khan of Burnley (Lab)]

My Lords, let me first say that the Government were elected on a clear mandate, which included lowering the voting age to 16 for all elections in the UK. This is a major change in the electoral franchise and we need to get it right. Changes of this magnitude to the electoral law require careful planning and should not be rushed. On the question about national insurance, we are looking at different options to ensure that young people can be easily and accurately registered to vote, including enabling people to register when they interact with other government services. The noble Lord keeps pushing, and I give him the good news that we are looking at that.

[Baroness Hazarika (Lab)]

My Lords, this policy is very welcome. It is always good to extend the franchise, particularly after the voter ID fiasco of recent years, but education is going to be incredibly important, so that young people can use this new right. What plans do the Government have to improve discussions around political education and literacy, media literacy and information and misinformation, because the next election will have a very heavy focus on social media?

[Lord Khan of Burnley (Lab)]

My Lords, my noble friend makes an excellent point. We are confident that, with the right education and support, young people will participate meaningfully. Young people are the future of our country and it is only right that they have a say over it. We know that education and engagement are a vital part of implementing this policy and we take empowering and equipping young people with the knowledge and skills they need seriously. We want to break down barriers and drive participation. Teaching about democracy and elections already forms a central part of the national curriculum for citizenship at key stages 3 and 4 and can be taught as a non-statutory topic in primary schools.

Integration and Community Cohesion

Baroness Hazarika Excerpts

Thursday 13th March 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Hazarika (Lab)]

My Lords, I begin by paying tribute to my noble friend—my good friend—the Minister, Lord Khan, who is doing a really terrific job. This is not an easy gig, particularly in these days of inflamed social tensions. He does his work with great energy, compassion and good faith. I also congratulate my noble friends Lord Raval and Lord Rook on their wonderful, warm maiden speeches. They are going to make some terrific contributions to this House.

I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Verma, for securing this important debate and for her very warm and personal opening speech. It made me think about my own story as a Muslim girl growing up in Coatbridge to Indian Muslim immigrant parents. I have told this story before but when my dad first got to Coatbridge as a GP, one of his patients asked him, “What are you?” He said, “I’m a Muslim”, and they said, “Aye, but what kind? A Rangers Muslim or a Celtic Muslim?” My mum and dad wanted to preserve their heritage while making sure that I integrated and learned the local culture. So, on a Saturday morning, my mum would drive me to my Koran lessons, which I then followed up with Scottish country dancing lessons. Having done the two, I am not sure which one was more dangerous, to be honest—stripping the willow is not for the faint-hearted.

I think of my father, who came to this country in the late 1960s. He began his working life in Clatterbridge Hospital on the Wirral and was desperately homesick and lonely. The sister on his ward, a formidable woman called Audrey, noticed this lost soul and, in her bossy way, demanded that he came round to her house for Sunday lunch. He did what he was told and off he went. Audrey took him and his pal Aftab under her wing. My dad had never been to a British house; he did not even know how to use cutlery properly. Audrey and her family taught them all about British life. My dad had his very first pint under the tutelage of her husband Arthur. He became a more moderate Muslim at this point, it is safe to say—don’t tell the Imam. In return, my dad cooked them delicious Indian food and they learned about his life. They became the best of friends and Audrey became like a grandmother to us. She sadly passed away a few years ago, but we are still so close to her children and grandchildren. That is the essence of integration. It should be based on human qualities of kindness, curiosity and friendship.

That is the fuzzy, feel-good bit out of the way—now for the other side. I got an email when I first came into this place. I had just done “Newsnight”, during the riots. I paraphrase, but this is the gist of that email: “Don’t kid yourself Hazarika. For the millions of us who can trace our heritage on these islands back many centuries—unlike you—we loathe and detest you and your kind more than life itself, because of how you have completely destroyed our country. You can fill the streets with uninvited and unwanted migrants, ethnics and left-wing Trots, but plenty of us are prepared to die to save our nation and its way of life, but we are not going to die in vain. Don’t ever, ever forget that. Long live Enoch Powell”. It is always nice to get some fan mail, isn’t it?

So it is not all good. There are extremists in different communities, including my own, who spread hate and feast off division. International conflicts, particularly in the Middle East, are affecting these shores, and, as we have heard, we are seeing a shocking rise in anti-Semitism and Islamophobia. Let us be honest: our politics have not helped either. We on the left are still deeply ashamed that anti-Semitism bloomed in the Labour Party under the last leadership. I personally apologise for that. On the right, politicians today say ridiculous things such as you cannot possibly be English if you have a different skin colour or were born to immigrants.

I do not share Rishi Sunak’s politics, but I was damn proud to see him become our first Hindu Prime Minister. We should be welcoming people who want to come here, work hard, contribute and be part of our community. Of course, we must allow people to have their religious and cultural differences, but we must also set clear guardrails about what is expected in our society and what we expect our values to be. We should all care about greater community cohesion and integration. It is better for everybody, as we have heard expressed so eloquently. But demanding it through humiliation, hatred and inciting violence is not the solution. To go back to my own dear dad’s story: a wee bit of kindness, humour, curiosity and friendship is the way. We should all be a bit more Audrey.

Community Engagement Principles and Extremism Definition

Baroness Hazarika Excerpts

Wednesday 22nd January 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Khan of Burnley (Lab)]

My Lords, let me reassure the noble Baroness that, having been a councillor for 16 years in the wonderful district of Burnley, I understand the fantastic work that local councils do. I reaffirm the Deputy Prime Minister’s position that we want to work in equal partnership with the local authorities and we want to give them more power. I would not be able to comment on the size of the wards because that is the responsibility of the Minister, Jim McMahon, in the other place.

[Baroness Hazarika (Lab)]

My Lords, I am sure the whole House will agree that this work could not be more important or timely. As a Muslim woman, can I ask the Minister what has been done to engage with women and girls’ voices? It feels like our voices are often ignored, and certain very noisy male groups dominate the conversation. Will the Minister acknowledge that it is often women and, sadly, girls, who are the victims of extremist violent behaviour?

[Lord Khan of Burnley (Lab)]

My Lords, my noble friend makes a series of excellent points. I totally agree about extremist behaviour and its disproportionate impact on women and girls. Let me reassure the noble Baroness that we are looking at ensuring that we have more female voices—not just female voices, but young female voices—in the faith space. Let me also let the House know that I have been up and down the country and have engaged not just with the major faiths but with every faith in our country. That has been a privilege, but I have learned that there need to be more female voices in the faith space.

Social Housing: Awaab’s Law

Baroness Hazarika Excerpts

Tuesday 22nd October 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Khan of Burnley (Lab)]

My Lords, we are working with social landlord and tenant groups to consider the practical implications of the proposed requirements to be set through Awaab’s law. The Government’s response to the consultation, which will be published in due course, as well as subsequent regulations, will provide details on how Awaab’s law will work. We will issue guidance for landlords and residents on the new duties to be set by the regulations. The guidance will be published before the regulations come into force, to give landlords time to prepare and for tenants to know their rights.

[Baroness Hazarika (Lab)]

My Lords, does my noble friend the Minister agree with me that Awaab’s law is not just important to our housing policy but absolutely germane to preventing child poverty? A child’s life chances depend on having a home that is clean, safe and habitable.

[Lord Khan of Burnley (Lab)]

I absolutely agree with my noble friend’s excellent and eloquent point. It is for us all to learn lessons from what happened. She talked about the wider societal issues and unfortunate challenges we have to deal with, and I hope that we can work together across government to address them.