King’s Speech

Lord Davies of Gower Excerpts

Monday 18th May 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Davies of Gower (Con)]

My Lords, it is a real pleasure to close this debate on behalf of the Opposition, and as ever I express my gratitude to His Majesty the King for delivering the gracious Speech.

I congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Case, and the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich on their excellent maiden speeches. If that is a taste of what is to come, we are exceedingly fortunate. I also congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Hennessy of Nympsfield, on his valedictory speech and wish him well and many years of enjoyment outside your Lordships’ House.

The country was promised tough action to “smash the gangs” and bring down illegal migrant arrivals. We were promised that Labour would “take back our streets” and a Government who would put our national security first. Yet what has actually been delivered? Has illegal immigration come down? Have the gangs been smashed? Do British people feel their streets are safer? From the recent campaign, I have to say that the answer on the doorstep is unfortunately a resounding no. Small boat arrivals are at their highest ever level: 77,076 people have crossed the channel since this Government took office—a significant increase. Far from reducing small boat crossings, the actions taken by the Government have increased them.

The Minister of course talks up the Government’s record on increasing returns, but he will know that the vast majority of that increase has come from voluntary returns, not enforced deportations. Labour ripped up the Rwanda deal immediately upon entering office and has been floundering ever since, but we know now that the Government are exploring a similar system. Would it not have made more sense to persist, perhaps, with the Rwanda deterrent, which was oven ready, rather than unceremoniously ending it before it had even started?

In the last Session, we passed the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act. It contained some measures that we supported but, as I warned then, it is nowhere near strong enough to get a grip of the scale of the problem we face. We heard the Government boast about their new counterterror-like powers for border officers, but at the same time they repealed the Illegal Migration Act 2023 and refused to back our plans to deport all illegal migrants within one week and leave the ECHR.

The latest crime statistics offer the Government some solace, but overall police numbers are down. There has been a reduction in the police workforce of some 1,334 as of 30 September 2025 compared to March 2025. How is the Government’s neighbourhood policing programme coming along? Well, according to police workforce data, they have hired approximately 2,500 new neighbourhood officers, but were we not promised 13,000 by the end of this Parliament? If growth continues at its current rate, the Government will almost certainly not hit their target by 2029. Much like their promise to build 1.5 million homes, I fear that this is just another target that this Government will fail to deliver on. On the issue of policing, I was heartened to hear the noble and learned Lord, Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd, talk about police discretion and police independence, something which I fear has almost disappeared. I am afraid that I must disagree with him on the other aspect of his speech on devolving policing to Wales.

I express our support for the measures to increase the baseline qualifying period for indefinite leave to remain, introduce the earned settlement pathways and make refugee status temporary. However, we know from the experience of the previous Session that the Government have struggled immensely with getting their agenda past their own Back Benches. There have already been U-turns on winter fuel payments, wealth reform and business rates for pubs, which were forced by the parliamentary Labour Party. Resistance from Government Back-Benchers to the indefinite leave-to-remain reforms is already palpable. Not content with torpedoing the efforts of the previous Government to enact the wishes of the British public and end illegal migration, the left-wing zealots on the Labour Back Benches now want to torpedo their own Government’s very sensible and vital immigration reforms. In a rare turn of events, I say to the Minister that I genuinely hope the Government succeed. The Home Secretary is to be commended for having the courage to propose these reforms and I sincerely hope that the Government have the backbone to stand up for what is right and face down the challenges.

Where they face difficulty, as my right honourable friend the leader of the Opposition has said, we on these Benches stand ready to help the Government pass their immigration and asylum reforms. That does not mean that we will not challenge the Government and seek to amend the immigration and asylum Bill when it comes to your Lordships’ House. I have been clear for many months that we do not believe that the Government’s plans go far enough. They are a welcome start, but these measures alone will not be enough to tackle the scale of the problem.

Unfortunately, though predictably, this Government do not have the vision or the political will to do what is necessary. We know that the immigration and asylum Bill will seek to reform the domestic interpretation of the qualified rights under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, but this is merely tinkering around the edges. If we alter our interpretation of Article 8, illegal migrants, human rights lawyers and immigration advisers will simply turn to other parts of the convention such as the absolute rights under Article 3 and 4 to prevent their legitimate deportation.

The only solution to taking back control of our laws is to leave the ECHR in its entirety and to repeal the Human Rights Act 1998. There is no other way. Until we do that, until we end the legal merry-go-round of appeals through the immigration tribunals and judicial review, we will not be able to end the crises at the border and restore order to our system. That is why, in our alternative King’s Speech, we have a fully worked-out plan to leave the ECHR and the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings, repeal the Human Rights Act, ban illegal migrants from obtaining asylum, deport them within a week and end all judicial review and legal appeals for these cases. The Minister can rest assured that we will be bringing forward amendments to that effect.

The Government’s failures do not just extend to immigration and border security. Crime remains a deep and growing concern. Too many people no longer believe that the law operates swiftly, visibly or fairly. Too many offenders regard punishment as uncertain and deterrence as negligible. What is the Government’s response? A programme that appears increasingly to confuse administrative reform with public protection. The Government have introduced their plans to limit our ancient right to jury trials—already referred to by a number of noble Lords this evening—and restructure the courts. We hear the endless drone of the managerialists talking of modernisation and efficiency, as if modernisation has ever solved a problem.

Victims of crime do not lie awake at night worrying about administrative structures. They worry about whether criminals will be caught, prosecuted and punished. Unfortunately, we know that, under this Government, thousands of criminals have been released from prison and thousands more will never even set foot in one. The Sentencing Act passed in the previous Session means that the vast majority of short sentences have been abolished. So, in future, shoplifters will almost never see the inside of a cell and even some sexual offenders and domestic abusers will instead be let out to roam the streets. This does not seem like the action of a Government who are determined to make the British public safer.

On that note, I wholeheartedly echo the comments made by my noble friend Lord Wolfson of Tredegar about the appalling rise in antisemitism. I am sure the Minister will have seen the excellent recent report from StandWithUs, which shows that Jewish students are being followed home, abused in the streets and sent death threats by their fellow students at our universities, as already referred to by the noble Baroness, Lady Noakes. That report lays bare the sheer scale of antisemitism among students—and let us remember these are the very same people who claim to be anti-racist. They rally against anyone they perceive to have done or said something racist, and yet they think it perfectly acceptable to abuse and intimidate Jewish people. It is evidently the case that for some people it is not racism if it is directed at Jews. I ask the Minister what interaction there is between the Home Office and the Department for Education to address this.

In what is perhaps another olive branch to the Minister, it is welcome to see the inclusion of the tackling state threats Bill and the national security Bill. I am sure the Minister will not have forgotten our efforts last Session to force the Government to proscribe the IRGC. I once again thank the Liberal Democrats, particularly the noble Lord, Lord Marks of Henley-on-Thames, for their support in that. While I remain unconvinced that a specific regime is required to ban organisations such as the IRGC, and disappointed that it took the Government so long, it is none the less welcome to see that the Government have signalled their intention to make good on their word. We have offered to help the Government expedite this legislation to ensure that the IRGC and other entities that seek to promote Islamist terror and antisemitic hatred on our streets are swiftly prohibited and so that those who support them are appropriately punished.

When the Government act, however late, in the national interest, the Conservative Party will support them. But I would not want the Minister to start thinking that any of this will be easy for him—oh, no. While we will support many of the immigration and asylum reforms and while we will help the Government pass the state threats Bill, I remain resolute in my criticism of their record. Too much of what they have announced is too little, too late. They whisper warm words about ridding the country of the scourge of antisemitism. They refuse to acknowledge that the problem is with Islamist extremism. They bury their heads in the sand when small boat crossings reach a record high. They free thousands of convicted criminals and then legislate to prevent even more being put behind bars. And they still believe that passing ever more legislation is a substitute for political resolve. But the problem is not a shortage of Acts of Parliament; it is a shortage of political will, of competence and of strategic direction.

We were told that the creation of a Border Security Command would transform enforcement. We were told that enhanced powers and data sharing arrangements would dismantle organised immigration crime. Yet the criminal gangs are still flourishing, crossings persist, and confidence in the system continues to erode.

This country deserves better than perpetual crisis management masquerading as reform. It deserves a Government willing to make difficult decisions. The Government may announce Bills in abundance, but until they demonstrate the courage and competence to enforce the laws already on the statute book and to do what is necessary to regain control of our borders, the British people will remain unconvinced.