King’s Speech

Baroness Taylor of Bolton Excerpts

Monday 18th May 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Taylor of Bolton (Lab)]

My Lords, how to follow that? It is not often that a Member of this House is heard in such silence and with such reverence. It is a great privilege to follow the noble Lord, Lord Hennessy, and we are all delighted to see him back in his place. We regret that he is leaving. We congratulate him on his appointment to the Order of the Garter. It is rather daunting to try to pay tribute to the work he has done. He is held in such high esteem, as we have already heard in this House this afternoon. He is a distinguished historian, a distinguished academic and a distinguished journalist and has been a very significant contributor to this House.

That might make the noble Lord sound rather a dry individual. But, as we have heard this afternoon, that is far from the case. When he speaks about contemporary issues, it is almost as if he is writing the readable history for the future of what is happening at the moment. I recall hearing that the noble Lord, Lord Hennessy, was once an altar boy. I think maybe that explains the innocent look he sometimes gives us—which is very disarming—when he is making a particular point in a very significant way. The noble Lord, Lord Wolfson, looked up the maiden speech from the noble Lord, Lord Hennessy, as did I, and he did say that he hoped he could help the House of Lords on constitutional matters, which is exactly what he has done.

As a former chair of the Constitution Committee, I recall some of our meetings during Covid. These were often held remotely, sometimes with the noble Lord, Lord Hennessy, joining us from Orkney, although only with the essential technological help of his wife, Enid, because I do not think he would ever quite have managed to master that particular task. I can certainly vouch for the fact that the noble Lord, Lord Hennessy, fulfilled his hope to help the House. He just said that he will miss this House and cherish the memories of our time together. May I say, on behalf of us all, that we are grateful for his many insights and for the hope that he gave us today, at what he described as a very challenging time? Like him, we will cherish the memory of our time together and we wish him and his family well.

Turning to the King’s Speech, and picking up on what has just been said about the strength of the British constitution depending on a sense of duty and public service, I note that in it the Government say that they will

“defend the British values of decency, tolerance and respect for difference”.

Alas, defence of these values is needed even more than usual. Anyone who knocked on doors in the recent local elections would probably confirm this. The experience was described by many as toxic, and we have to assert that greater respect for everyone has to be worked for. It is a great shame that many good and decent councillors, not just in my own party, were treated very badly, because we need people with a sense of public service at all levels of government. If we are to break out of what the noble Lord, Lord Hennessy, described as the politics of pessimism, we have to do more.

The King’s Speech is very heavy, which is good in one sense, because there is much that needs to be done, but in terms of the best functioning of Parliament, I worry about the weight of legislation and its complexity. I also worry about the knee-jerk reaction to many issues that we see today, as if there is only ever a binary choice. I would like to see more Bills presented in draft, or after a Green Paper, a White Paper and a system of consultation. Of course, some Bills—or some parts of Bills—will always be controversial. The Opposition made that clear today when mentioning the courts modernisation Bill but, as I think the Minister pointed out, everyone agrees that the current system is not ideal. I therefore wish that we could work more together to work out what practical improvements could actually be made. I hope that we can have constructive discussions on this. Specifically, I ask Ministers to intensify their efforts to recruit more magistrates and a more diverse band of magistrates. I know they are trying, but it really is urgent.

This debate is very wide, so I cannot resist mentioning one or two other measures in the King’s Speech. As a proud northerner, I have to welcome the proposed Northern Powerhouse Rail Bill, which is long overdue, long neglected and nothing to do with other events taking place at the moment. I also welcome the attention being given to the late payments problem for small businesses, because I think many of us have heard about many problems of that kind. Of course, I must mention and welcome the Sporting Events Bill. Finally, I mention the draft Bill to ban abusive conversion practices, an abhorrent activity. I hope that having that Bill in draft will enable us to get the details appropriate and comprehensive, without causing undue delay.

We have just had a very busy parliamentary Session and it looks like another intense year. I hope that we can have a constructive approach on all sides and can all bear in mind the words of the noble Lord, Lord Hennessy: that we should try to embrace the politics of decency.