Immigration and Asylum: Appeals

Lord Kennedy of Southwark Excerpts

Monday 29th June 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab Co-op)]

My Lords—

[Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms and Chief Whip (Lord Kennedy of Southwark) (Lab Co-op)]

It is the turn of the Labour Benches next, then the Conservative Benches.

[Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab Co-op)]

My Lords, as my noble friend knows, in my advancing years I have become more understanding, particularly of those who find themselves, sadly, in opposition. The Front-Bencher opposite clearly got up early this morning to put in this PNQ so that he could have a go and attack the Government. Can my noble friend say what positive proposals the Opposition have put forward for reducing the huge backlog that they created?

Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office

Lord Kennedy of Southwark Excerpts

Monday 22nd June 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Garnier (Con)]

My Lords—

[Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms and Chief Whip (Lord Kennedy of Southwark) (Lab Co-op)]

We will hear from the Lib Dem Benches then the Conservative Benches.

[Lord Fox (LD)]

My Lords, as the noble Baroness said, Peter Wai was a UK Border Force officer and a special constable, but it has also been reported that he was a director of a private security company. A third defendant, Matthew Trickett, who died before the trial, was an immigration officer and a director of a different security company. It seems to me that it is a conflict of interest to be both an immigration officer and running a private security company. Can the Minister explain what is now going on to make sure that we do not have these conflicts of interest in our important Border Force employees?

Refugee Move-on Period Pilot Evaluation Report

Lord Kennedy of Southwark Excerpts

Wednesday 10th June 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Lab)]

My Lords—

[Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms and Chief Whip (Lord Kennedy of Southwark) (Lab Co-op)]

It is the turn of the Conservative Benches. Next will be the Lib Dem Benches and then the Labour Benches.

[Lord Young of Cookham (Con)]

The Minister will know that contractors acting for the Home Office—Clearsprings and Serco—are bidding for private rented accommodation as asylum seekers move out of hotels. Local authorities are also looking for private rented accommodation as they move families with children in temporary accommodation into the private rented sector. This is resulting in a local bidding war between two publicly funded authorities, driving up the price of private rented accommodation, which is already suffering from the consequences of the Renters’ Rights Act. Should there not be some memorandum of understanding or concordat to prevent what is happening on the ground in local authority areas?

Unite the Kingdom March

Lord Kennedy of Southwark Excerpts

Wednesday 20th May 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bailey of Paddington (Con)]

My Lords—

[Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms and Chief Whip (Lord Kennedy of Southwark) (Lab Co-op)]

My Lords, it is the turn of the Cross Benches next; then we will go to the Liberal Democrat Benches.

[Lord Singh of Wimbledon (CB)]

My Lords, all communities seen as different experience prejudice. There are no comparative statistics, properly gathered, to show that one community suffers more than others from this hate crime. It is visible difference that is the causing factor. Does the Minister agree that all communities should be protected equally and that there should not be a special difference set aside for one community, such as the definition of anti-Muslim hate crime? Why not anti-Sikh, anti-Hindu or anti-Buddhist hate crime? Does he further agree that the law already protects different communities? It is already there in law, and if other communities are hurt, that should also be looked at.

Crime and Policing Bill

Lord Kennedy of Southwark Excerpts

Consideration of Commons amendments and / or reasons
Thursday 16th April 2026 Lords Chamber

[Viscount Hailsham (Con)]

On Motion R1, I agree with the Minister, not with my noble friend Lord Davies. It is important to remember—

[Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms and Chief Whip (Lord Kennedy of Southwark) (Lab Co-op)]

We have wound the debate up, and apparently the noble Viscount was not present at the start of the debate. We have had the wind-up by the Minister. We now need to proceed to divide or not divide the House.

[Lord Young of Acton (Con)]

The risk we draw attention to is that information has been recorded against people’s names that the police would not today record under the new regime because they regard it as posing no risk. That is a risk that I and my noble friends are not prepared to take, so I would like to test the opinion of the House.

Golders Green Ambulance Attack

Lord Kennedy of Southwark Excerpts

Thursday 26th March 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Altmann (Non-Afl)]

My Lords—

[Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms and Chief Whip (Lord Kennedy of Southwark) (Lab Co-op)]

We will hear from the noble Baroness, Lady Foster, next and then we will come back to my noble friend on the Labour Benches.

[Baroness Foster of Aghadrumsee (Non-Afl)]

My Lords, I absolutely agree with the Minister’s assessment that this was a vile attack on the Jewish community. As a Christian, I stand in solidarity with that Jewish community today. Does the Minister agree with me that the growth of extremism and indeed the continued glorification and normalisation of terrorism in our society lead to attacks such as these, particularly with the impressionable young people who listen to these chants all the time and are influenced by them?

Crime and Policing Bill

Lord Kennedy of Southwark Excerpts

3rd reading
Wednesday 25th March 2026 Lords Chamber

Bill read a third time.

[Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms and Chief Whip (Lord Kennedy of Southwark) (Lab Co-op)]

My Lords, before we move on to the Motion that the Bill do now pass, I understand that the noble Baroness, Lady O’Loan, has tabled an amendment. I expect the debate on that to be brief and to be contained to the narrow subject it seeks to address, relating to an impact assessment. This is not the opportunity for another long debate about the general issues which have already been debated at length in this House and on which the House has made its mind very clear. I urge noble Lords to consider carefully whether a contribution is necessary, and to keep any remarks concise and focused on the amendment before us.

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[Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Lab Co-op)]

Before anyone else comes in, I will just say that we should be addressing only the narrow issue of the impact assessment and nothing else.

[Lord Biggar (Con)]

My Lords, I rise to speak for no more than 90 seconds in support of the amendment from the noble Baroness, Lady O’Loan.

When we in this House voted through Clause 246 last week, we had failed to consider an important logical effect. In voting to decriminalise abortion by the mother up to the eve of birth, we decriminalised the deliberate killing of a mature, foetal human being. Between the human foetus on the eve of birth and the human infant 24 hours later, there is no significant moral difference. In passing Clause 246, we chose to breathe down the neck of legitimising early infanticide.

The fact that the clause leaves in place a general prohibition of abortion after 24 weeks makes no difference. In declaring that the killing is no crime, we declare that it does not matter. The killing does not matter only because what is being killed does not matter. What applies to the mature foetus applies equally to the early infant.

Our failure to assess that significant implication is highly regrettable, and that is why I support the amendment.

Shamima Begum

Lord Kennedy of Southwark Excerpts

Tuesday 3rd February 2026 Lords Chamber

[Viscount Hailsham (Con)]

My Lords—

[Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms and Chief Whip (Lord Kennedy of Southwark) (Lab Co-op)]

We have plenty of time. We will hear from the Cross Benches first and then from the noble Viscount.

[Lord Pannick (CB)]

I declare an interest as a former legal counsel of Shamima Begum—there are many of us in that position. The Minister has repeatedly stated that the existence of legal proceedings in the European Court of Human Rights prevents him answering detailed questions. I am aware of no doctrine of the European court that imposes such a restriction. Why are the Government hiding behind the European court’s proceedings to avoid answering the Question from the noble Lord, Lord Dubs?

National Police Service

Lord Kennedy of Southwark Excerpts

Wednesday 28th January 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Hintze (Con)]

My Lords—

[Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms and Chief Whip (Lord Kennedy of Southwark) (Lab Co-op)]

We will hear from the Cross Benches next.

[Lord Hogan-Howe (CB)]

My Lords, I support the White Paper. I think it is the right broad direction and it is decisive. As the noble Lord, Lord McCabe, indicated, it has been tried before and we did not get very far. There are a lot of questions on the detail, of course. On the commission that has been set up to recommend the number of forces, can the Minister tell us a little about the direction of travel the Government would like it to take? It could recommend anywhere between 43 and six and, of course, a figure towards 43 would probably damage the model he has described for national policing and some of the regional elements of it. Can he give us a flavour of how that model might materialise?

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[Baroness Uddin (Non-Afl)]

My Lords—

[Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Lab Co-op)]

My noble friend Lord Stansgate can go ahead.

[Viscount Stansgate (Lab)]

I draw my noble friend’s attention to the appalling state of forensic science in this country, ever since the abolition of the Forensic Science Service a decade ago. Is he aware that the Science and Technology Committee of your Lordships’ House, of which I have been a member, is about to produce a report about the rebuilding of forensic science? Can my noble friend and the Government take advantage of the opportunity of this White Paper, which I support, to make real progress, save the forensic science service in this country and rebuild it on a national basis in a way that has not proved possible so far?

Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill

Lord Kennedy of Southwark Excerpts

Committee stage
Monday 13th October 2025 Lords Chamber

[Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms and Chief Whip (Lord Kennedy of Southwark) (Lab Co-op)]

My Lords, I do not like doing this, but I am conscious that a number of noble Lords have arrived here for the buses Bill ping-pong. While it is not ideal, we may need to break mid-group and come back to this important group after the ping-pong.

I note that my noble friend Lord Hendy has just popped out for two seconds, so perhaps we should adjourn during pleasure—

[Noble Lords]

Keep talking!

[Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Lab Co-op)]

I will keep talking while we get my noble friend Lord Hendy in. He will be here shortly. I thank all noble Lords particularly for their consideration today at Question Time, which was much appreciated by everyone here. My noble friend is, I hope, here now. No, he is not.

[Baroness Chakrabarti (Lab)]

Can I interrupt my noble friend for a moment to say that I understand the reasons for breaking mid-group but that the period of the break will give me a little longer to reflect on the many positive contributions that precede my other noble friend’s return to the Chamber?

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[Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Lab Co-op)]

I am most grateful to my noble friend for assisting me there. With that, I will now sit down.

House resumed.