Government Resilience Action Plan

Debate between Lord Cryer and Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent

Thursday 10th July 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Lab)]

I think we can all appreciate that, especially in the early stages of the pandemic, it was very difficult to get genuine information about what was coming. It was unprecedented in living memory, and many eminent experts across the field were trying to establish what was happening next. We are members of the World Health Organization and we continue to actively participate and engage with it, and will seek to have an ongoing relationship with it. It is not our only source of information; we continue to work across the piece with all partners to assess threats as they emerge.

[Lord Cryer (Lab)]

My Lords, there is a pretty strong chance that any future terrorist attacks in Britain will be linked directly or indirectly to the regime in Tehran. I welcome recently introduced provisions which mean that British citizens who have undeclared links to Tehran can face criminal prosecution. Would it not be a good idea to look at extending the provisions to those who have links to the proxies of the Tehran regime—I am thinking of Hezbollah and Hamas, but also more home-grown proxies?

[Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Lab)]

My noble friend, who I am very fond of, has not asked me an easy question. He will be very aware of current concerns; in fact, only this morning, the Joint Intelligence Committee published a report about the threats posed by Iran. The Government keep an ongoing review of what those threats are and will always act to protect people in the United Kingdom.

European Union: Court of Justice

Debate between Lord Cryer and Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent

Wednesday 26th February 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Lab)]

I thank my noble friend for his question. I think we did have an apology from the current leader of the Opposition who, on 16 January, said:

“We announced that we would leave the European Union before we had a plan for growth outside the EU”.


I think that is probably the closest we will get to an apology.

[Lord Cryer (Lab)]

My Lords, does my noble friend agree that, if we signed up to the ECJ again, as was the case under the previous Government, we would be, to some extent, moving towards reversing the referendum of 2016? Will she also confirm who was in government when we signed up to the Single European Act, to Maastricht and to the growth and stability pact? Which Government forced us into the exchange rate mechanism, which led the then Chancellor, who is sat in his place today, to lose 20 billion quid without even going near a betting shop?

[Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Lab)]

I thank my noble friend for his question. He will appreciate that I was slightly too young for some of those agreements. But I am very aware of my history and appreciate that it was colleagues now on the Opposition Benches. We are very clear about where we stand in our relationships with the European Union. We will work to ensure that businesses and consumers are protected and that the best possible deal for Britain is delivered, while we work closely with people we consider to be friends and allies.