Crime and Policing Bill

Baroness Hazarika Excerpts

Report stage
Wednesday 18th March 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Neate (CB)]

My Lords, as a former chief executive of Women’s Aid, I will specifically address the comments made about domestic abuse, particularly in relation to telemedicine. It is common for domestic abuse to begin in pregnancy, and it is common for all aspects of pregnancy, including conception, to be tools used by perpetrators of domestic abuse. That is why groups wishing to end violence against women and girls—domestic abuse groups, those who deal with so-called honour-based violence, those who deal with forced marriage, Rape Crisis and many others—have written to parliamentarians saying that creating clinically unnecessary barriers to abortion helps abusers, not survivors. I would really like noble Lords to take note of the fact that, in denying women discrete space for action, they are actually enabling abuse much more than they are preventing it.

[Baroness Hazarika (Lab)]

My Lords, Amendment 423A in my name would ask the police to cease investigations into women since the other House passed this vote back in June. Since June, in a number of cases women and mothers have been investigated. At Christmas, a woman in her 40s thought she was in her early pregnancy. She delivered a foetus in its gestation sac. She was very distressed. It turned out that that was actually at 24 weeks; she had not realised. She called the ambulance, and it was made clear that she had safeguarding issues. She was a victim of domestic violence. She had children. Then the police came. Her house was searched, including the Christmas presents for the children. It was incredibly distressing. The children had to leave the house. Many noble Baronesses here have talked, rightly, about the effects on the unborn child, but what about the children of the mothers who are taken away for investigation? So this is a very important addition to the other amendments. I very much support the amendment that the noble Baroness, Lady Thornton, has tabled.

As the noble Lord, Lord Pannick said, I am sure that nobody, whatever side of this debate they sit on, thinks that anyone has a late-pregnancy abortion for the fun of it. No one is doing it to get some promotion at work or to get a late holiday—some of the excuses that we have heard suggested. This is an incredibly traumatic thing. Actually, I would say that an abortion at any time was an incredibly traumatic thing for a woman. I urge noble Lords to go, if they have not seen the Tracey Emin exhibition at the Tate; she speaks incredibly movingly but in a very harrowing way about her own lived experience of abortion. This is not something that is taken lightly.

For that small number of women who end up doing this at a late stage in their pregnancy, they are not doing it for the fun of it. They are often abused and often in situations of domestic violence; they are often from very marginalised communities, such as my own community—from the Muslim community, or from other more isolated communities. Many of them are from deprived backgrounds; they are not from nice families such as ours, where you can talk about these things. Many of them are told, by the way, that they do not know what is going on with their bodies, by their abusive partners or abusive parents, because coercive control does not just come from the husband or partner —it can come from within the family structure. They are not even told about their bodies; they are not given agency about their body—and they are told that if they dare to go to anyone for help, they will end up in prison, and here is the evidence. While I understand the concerns about coercion and care and making sure that we protect vulnerable women—it is very well intended—this could further push those very isolated women into situations that are ever more dangerous.

The final point that I want to make is that, whatever side of the divide we are on, we know that the police are really struggling with resources right now. We have had many conversations about how we do not think that police are investigating serious sexual assault against women and severe anti-social behaviour. Do we really want our police to be rifling through the bins of women who have just had a stillbirth? Do any of us think that that is a good use of time? Do we honestly want to see vulnerable women put in prison, when there are very few places in prison right now?

Finally, you cannot solve this problem by just prosecuting vulnerable women. I have had many conversations with people on the other side, and I understand that, as the Chief Whip said on our side, these views are profoundly and genuinely held by all of us. But I have heard the argument from people who say that, when the terrible thing happens and there is a late abortion, someone has to pay the price—someone has to go to prison. I would push that back. Throwing women, vulnerable women who have often been beaten and treated violently, into prison, is not the answer. Believe you me: these women need compassion, and their kids also need a mother, so that they do not fall into the patterns that lead to bad outcomes. If anyone thinks that these women need to be punished, trust me—what they will have gone through is punishment enough, which will stay with them for the rest of their lives.

[The Lord Bishop of Leicester]

My Lords, I shall speak to the amendment in my name, Amendment 426D. I start by thanking the Minister for meeting me a couple of weeks ago to discuss this matter—and I want to be direct at the outset about what the amendment would do and would not do.

The amendment is distinct from Amendment 425, which stands on its own merits, and which your Lordships will consider on its own terms. This amendment says nothing about adult women’s access to abortion, nothing about where medication is taken and nothing about the broader questions that have been part of our debate up till now. It rests entirely on one safeguarding principle—that when a child is the patient, a professional should meet her before prescribing. I believe that that is something that your Lordships can support, regardless of the views that you hold on everything else before the House today.

The amendment is brought on behalf of the National Network of Designated Healthcare Professionals for Children—NHS doctors and nurses who carry statutory safeguarding responsibilities for children across every local safeguarding partnership in England. Its concern is that the needs of children, particularly looked-after children who become pregnant, are not sufficiently accounted for in this clause. Since 2022, a girl of 14 can telephone an abortion service, receive medication by post, take it at home, and no clinician will ever meet her. How does that give confidence that safeguarding risks are being properly assessed? How does the provider of medication know whether there is someone else in the room when they speak to the child on the phone? How do they know whether someone else has suggested that the child should make the phone call? Surely the only safe way to assess risk is to meet in person.

The noble Baroness, Lady Blackstone, says that telemedicine is safe. I fully respect her experience in this field and, in many situations, I would agree, but in the case of children, of which I note she made no mention in her speech, I believe she is wrong. Telemedicine is not safe for children.

Crime and Policing Bill

Baroness Hazarika Excerpts

Report stage
Monday 2nd March 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Hazarika (Lab)]

My Lords, I want to be supportive of the Government, but I also urge them to listen really closely to what the noble Baroness, Lady Bertin, has said today, particularly in light of the Jeffrey Epstein files, as she mentioned. Pornography pervaded the Epstein files. This is a scandal that has shocked us all. It has come to this House. It has affected the upper echelons of society. I just want to read a message that one of Jeffrey Epstein’s friends sent to him in the Epstein files. He said:

“Porn has taken over and the guys just want in the bedroom what they’ve seen in porn”.


This is a moment for the Government to be very brave. This is not a moment to be socially conservative. It is better for the Government to be right at the vanguard on this. We often ask the exam question: how can we prove that porn is affecting real life? That time is here and now; we have seen it through the Epstein files.

I want to leave your Lordships with this. On 20 January 2017, Jeffrey Epstein was Skype-messaging with a young girl still in school. He sent her instructions to watch Pornhub. He said:

“It will be very odd at first, but think of it like a school project … Don’t be shy, watch your reactions with no judgment”.


We are seeing pornography being used in real time to groom young women and young men, and I really hope that the Government will listen to the noble Baroness, Lady Bertin.

[Baroness Benjamin (LD)]

My Lords, I have put my name to support the amendments in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Bertin. Over the last eight years or more, every time that we have debated the harmful pornography issues that are in these amendments, I think, “Why is it taking so long for change?”, and I am an optimist. I never give up, so I keep on believing change is a-coming and good will prevail.

The murder of Sarah Everard and the recent revelations contained in the Epstein files, as we have just heard, expose graphically just how much online pornography has not only influenced violent sexual behaviour towards women and girls but caused massive long-term harm to the victims subjected to it. This is why these amendments are crucial to the well-being of women and girls, and men and boys, as well as very young children, to protect them from violence and harm—from having their minds distorted and, in many cases, having their childhood taken away from them.

For years now, Barnardo’s—I declare an interest as vice-president—and CEASE have called for online pornography to be regulated to the same standards as offline. Content involving strangulation, incest and adults dressed as children, as well as that involving trafficking and torture, is rightly illegal offline—yet these images and videos remain widely accessible online. This inconsistency is indefensible and must be stopped, so it is a relief that the Government are now moving on this issue to put a stop to it. Hallelujah! Thank goodness. This change has been worth waiting for. It is common sense. Why should children be exposed to harmful online material which is rightly illegal offline? The harm of violent online pornography is not abstract or without consequence. Men who watch violent online pornography are more likely to be violent towards women and girls, as well as sexually harming children, so the sooner action is taken to make the offline and online worlds compatible, the better for our children’s well-being and mental health.

I support all of the amendments from the noble Baroness, Lady Bertin, and have to congratulate her on her tenacity and her commitment to making a difference. I will speak on Amendment 300, because it seeks to ensure that platforms undertake age-consent checks for performers. This is a critical amendment in protecting women and girls. User-generated content dominates pornography platforms, yet this content is often uploaded with little or no verification. It is great that this amendment would ensure that every individual featured in all content is an adult and has given consent but, crucially, that women are given the right to withdraw their consent at any time and have the content removed.

I also support Amendment 281A, which seeks to ban nudification apps. The Government must be commended for their actions in making it an offence to create deepfake images, but there is an outstanding issue of so-called nudification apps, as we have heard. These AI power tools are being used to create non-consensual sexual images targeting women and girls, and even very young children. The Internet Watch Foundation reported a 380% increase in AI-generated child exploitation imagery, so we must stop every loophole to make sure that that is not possible. If we do not act now, technology will continue to outpace regulation, leaving victims unprotected.

Crown Court Criminal Case Backlog

Baroness Hazarika Excerpts

Thursday 20th March 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Hazarika (Lab)]

My Lords, I add my congratulations to my noble friend Lady Longfield on her excellent maiden speech. She has been such a force for good in public life, speaking up for young people, and I know she will make a fantastic contribution. She is also my roommate; I do not know whether that is a blessing or a curse for her, but it is certainly very lucky from my point of view.

We are all rightly concerned about the huge backlogs in the court system. As we heard, there are reports of cases being heard in 2028. It is profoundly shocking, and we all know that justice delayed is justice denied. How can we look victims of crime in the eye and say that we do care when their trial could take years and they have to live in limbo waiting for their day in court—particularly female victims of sexual violence? These delays cause anger, hurt and frustration to all parties, and we have heard that they can also make people drop their cases.

The system that this new Government have inherited is broken. That is why it is good that some radical thinking is going on, and I welcome the fact that the Government have asked Brian Leveson to conduct this review. I know that many noble Lords and noble Baronesses will disagree, but I think it is time to examine whether we can move away from trial by jury in some but not all cases. I ask this question: how can it be right that a class C drugs offence sits in the Crown Court while a vulnerable rape victim has to wait five years from report to court?

I also hope that we can use magistrates’ courts more. They do excellent work and, having spoken with many in the profession, I know that they would be keen to step up. Can the Minister tell us whether there are plans to recruit more magistrates, as we may need more of them if we are to change the system? Can he also update us on plans to improve court infrastructure, including crumbling buildings and the national computer system, which often goes down and causes delays?

We all have a shared interest in sorting this out. Our country is built on the rule of law, and we believe in having a strong legal system. But, if we do not find a way to clear these backlogs in a reasonable time-space, there is a real danger that people will not only lose trust in our system but feel that we now live in a society that is essentially lawless, and that crimes go unpunished for years and years, and then maybe just wither away. That is something that none of us wants.

Courts: Backlogs

Baroness Hazarika Excerpts

Wednesday 15th January 2025 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Baroness Hazarika]

To ask His Majesty’s Government what plans they have to tackle court backlogs, and whether they have considered reducing trial by jury.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Justice (Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede) (Lab)]

My Lords, the Government remain committed to bearing down on the Crown Court backlog, but the challenge in doing so is significant. The Lord Chancellor has commissioned an independent review of the criminal courts, led by Sir Brian Leveson, to recommend long-term reform. Sir Brian has been asked to specifically consider the merits of hearing more trials outside the Crown Court. Jury trials will always remain a cornerstone of our justice system for the most serious cases, but we must consider bold action to tackle the backlog in our courts.

[Baroness Hazarika (Lab)]

I thank the Minister for that Answer. He is right that, because of the terrible inheritance of these court backlogs, we have to think radically and challengingly. We have to think about the victims. Some victims now are having cases listed as far away as early 2028. Is it right that a class C drugs offence sits in the Crown Court queue, while a vulnerable rape victim has to wait five-plus years from report to court? That often risks them walking away and allowing a potential rapist to escape. Does he agree that justice delayed is justice denied?

[Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede (Lab)]

Yes, I agree with my noble friend that justice delayed is justice denied, and I agree with the sentiments she expressed in her question. But that is the argument for bold and ambitious reform—and we very much hope and expect that that is what Sir Brian will deliver. The review will consider the merits of longer-term reform, as well as court efficiency. Sir Brian will consider court reform options that would reduce demand on the Crown Court, including reclassification of offences, consideration of magistrates’ sentencing powers and the introduction of an intermediate court. The review will provide findings on court reform by spring this year, and its findings on efficiency will come forward by autumn this year.