“For Women Scotland” Supreme Court Ruling

Debate between Lord Kennedy of Southwark and Lord Cashman

Thursday 24th April 2025 Lords Chamber

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

My Lords, we will hear from the noble Lord, Lord Cashman, next and then the noble Baroness, Lady Fox.

[Lord Cashman (Non-Afl)]

Thank you. My Lords, currently, trans people in this country live in fear; they live in fear of their safety and their futures. Indeed, some friends are now looking at seeking asylum in countries where they will not fear for their safety but will receive a welcome.

Therefore, due to the blatant misrepresentations that have occurred and continue, I ask the Minister whether the Government will enforce the principles contained in the Equality Act. Will they now bring forward their manifesto commitment to implement the Law Commission’s recommendations of December 2021, in particular that

“across the various hate crime laws (including aggravated offences and stirring up offences) all protected characteristics should be treated equally”?

NHS: Single-sex Provision for Staff and Patients

Debate between Lord Kennedy of Southwark and Lord Cashman

Wednesday 8th January 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Cashman (Non-Afl)]

My Lords—

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

We will hear from the noble Baroness, Lady Hayter.

Divorce (Financial Provision) Bill [HL]

Debate between Lord Kennedy of Southwark and Lord Cashman

Friday 21st November 2014 Lords Chamber

[Lord Cashman (Lab)]

My Lords, I welcome all the noble Baroness’s amendments. They seem sensible and the principle of equality is at the heart of them. I just wanted to point out that, given the equal marriage Act and the Civil Partnership Act, feasible as it is for a noble Baroness to find her footballer, it is equally feasible for a noble Lord, too.

[Lord Kennedy of Southwark]

My Lords, on the footballer point, I suggest that noble Lords should look at carefully at the teams, because certainly the teams that I and my noble friend Lord Hunt support probably would not give the sort of assets that people would be looking for.

The three amendments in this group in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Deech, beginning with Amendment 23 in her name and that of the noble Lord, Lord Grantchester, again respond to concerns raised at Second Reading. I and others then raised the concern that the one-size-fits-all approach would not work in all cases, as there was no provision to take account of individual circumstances that could leave an individual in a much weaker position than would be reasonable. The amendments seek to address those concerns. In particular, Amendment 24 sets out a specific duty for the court to satisfy itself. This is a step in the right direction, but I am still left wondering whether we should go a little further to protect the weaker partner. However, the case for indefinite maintenance orders needs addressing and these amendments make progress in that respect.