Draft Conversion Practices Bill

Debate between Lord Collins of Highbury and Baroness Meyer

Wednesday 1st July 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Meyer (Con)]

My Lords, given that abusive conversion practices are already criminal offences, can the Minister tell the House what conduct the Government intend this Bill to criminalise that is not already unlawful? Can he identify a single case in which a victim was denied justice because existing criminal offences were insufficient, thereby demonstrating the need for this new criminal offence?

[Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)]

I had hoped that the noble Baroness would have listened to my response to the Front Benches. To be clear, we have identified gaps in existing law where we cannot prosecute offences properly. The legislation on domestic abuse and coercive control, for example, is designed for someone who has a relationship with an intimate partner and would not capture the offence committed by someone they did not know. There are many other examples that I think the pre-legislative scrutiny will be able to identify.

We should not forget the point I made about the other offences that we have introduced, where people could have argued that existing law would capture them. Upskirting and non-fatal strangulation are two good examples, because they highlighted offences that were being committed and could have been prosecuted, but the victims were not prepared to identify or could not identify properly that it was an offence. That is an important element of why this Bill is so important.

Cuba: Humanitarian Situation

Debate between Lord Collins of Highbury and Baroness Meyer

Tuesday 9th June 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)]

I suspect that the noble and learned Lord knows the answer to that question. We are members of the United Nations Security Council. We are absolutely committed to international law and urge all members of the Security Council and the United Nations to follow suit.

[Baroness Meyer (Con)]

My Lords, the United States has offered $100 million in aid to be administered by the Catholic Church, which the Cuban Government have not accepted, as they insist that all aid must go through their own institution. Given that the Cuban regime has provided support to the Russian war effort, what steps will this Government take to ensure that any aid we provide is not diverted to the Cuban authorities but goes directly to the Cuban people, who have, as we know, suffered economic hardship and denial of freedom under a one-party communist regime?

[Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)]

I repeat what I have said before. We continue to provide support, primarily through the multilateral system, including organisations such as the World Food Programme and UNICEF. In addition, we are among the major contributors to the UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund. That is what we have been doing. Bodies such as the World Food Programme and UNICEF have established systems for monitoring distribution and ensuring accountability, which reduces the risk of diversion.