Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps

Lord McDonald of Salford Excerpts

Tuesday 13th January 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord McDonald of Salford (CB)]

Does the Minister accept that, in the end, the decision to proscribe the IRGC is a political one rather than a legal one, so the need to send a strong political signal may trump the desire for complete legal consistency?

[Lord Hanson of Flint (Lab)]

The issue for the Government at all times is the impact of that proscription in the first place, which is why we are keeping it under review. I cannot comment on the details of proscription, but I say to the noble Lord, who I know has great experience in this area, that sanctions, financial freezing of assets and the foreign influence registration scheme that we brought in very recently are all major pressures on the Iranian regime. The proscription issue is one that we will continue to examine, but it is not one I can answer on at this Dispatch Box, for reasons that I am sure the noble Lord is fully aware of.

Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill

Lord McDonald of Salford Excerpts

2nd reading
Monday 29th January 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord McDonald of Salford (CB)]

My Lords, the international system for dealing with refugees is breaking. That is hardly a surprise given that in 1951, when the refugee convention was approved, there were about 2 million refugees, whereas now the UN estimates there are 110 million forcibly displaced persons. We need a new system, but that would take years of painstaking multilateral negotiation.

His Majesty’s Government have reached instead for unilateral solutions. To be fair, so have other countries which normally welcome refugees, including Denmark and Sweden. But unilateral approaches to complex international problems generally fail. This policy has little chance of success.

When considering any new policy, civil servants always ask the key question: “Does it represent value for money for taxpayers?” On 13 April 2022, in the early days of the Rwanda scheme, the Permanent Secretary at the Home Office sought a ministerial instruction on value for money grounds. Two years and at least £260 million later, without a single refugee sent to Rwanda, evidently Sir Matthew was right. The Government persist in wanting to dump our problem on a fragile central African country, which is only now beginning to put in place systems to cope with traumatised refugees.

Other noble Lords have pointed out the constitutional, legal and moral problems of the Bill. I add my voice to those questioning the Bill’s most basic contention—that Rwanda is safe. Rwanda is safe, but only for people on the right side of the regime. It is not safe for others—not at all safe for its political opponents. It is not safe for the LGBT+ community.

Rwanda is a well-run country in its neighbourhood, but it is a dictatorship; no one can safely challenge President Kagame. No one doubts the outcome of the next presidential election on 15 July; after 24 years in office, he will be elected to a fourth term, this time for five years. Rwandan institutions depend on Paul Kagame; what happens when he goes is uncertain. A country whose institutions are only 30 years old and one man deep cannot be said to be safe for vulnerable refugees simply because it signs a treaty promising to treat those asylum seekers well. But such a country can provide reassurance by proven good performance over time. That is the position taken by the International Agreements Committee of your Lordships’ House.

Listening to today’s debate, we can all foresee that many amendments will be proposed in Committee. We can be sure that the Government will reject them, so Report will be fractious. Whatever we then send to the Commons will no doubt also be rejected. As the Prime Minister points out, we are merely an appointed House; he expects us to accept the Commons draft in toto.

After the Commons rejects Lords amendments, we will face a choice—either to cave, or to insist on, say, one essential change. That single change might relate to when the Bill’s provisions can be implemented. The International Agreements Committee set out 10 changes or tests related to structures, recruitment and training needed before the UK can safely proceed. We could insist that the Commons pays attention to that single, deep concern.

In the end, what is the point of a revising Chamber if it does not do all it can to improve fundamentally flawed legislation? I hope we do just that.

Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill

Lord McDonald of Salford Excerpts

2nd reading
Wednesday 8th February 2023 Lords Chamber

[Lord McDonald of Salford (CB)]

My Lords, like every noble Lord who has spoken so far, I support this clearly important Bill. I would like to a make one general point and three specific points. I apologise, as the specific points have all been made already but I will, I hope, expand them a little.

My general point goes back to something the noble Lord, Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede, mentioned, which is the impact of this area of life on our international reputation. To illustrate this, I refer back to the 12 May 2016 Anti-Corruption Summit, organised by Prime Minister David Cameron. Early in 2016 he took a close interest in corruption and decided that the UK had to lead the way, and officials came up with three compelling objectives for the summit. First, we should expose corruption so that there was no place to hide. Secondly, we should punish the perpetrators and support those afflicted by corruption. Thirdly, we should drive out the culture of corruption. All were estimable objectives. At this point, Mr Cameron’s Government were hit by the Gospel of St Matthew; in particular, the parable of the mote and the beam, from the Sermon on the Mount. Participants piled in and pointed out that the United Kingdom itself was guilty of many of the things it was liberally accusing others of doing.

Mr Cameron took the point but, unfortunately for him, his political career suffered a significant personal reverse the following month and this area of action was down-prioritised. One Prime Minister finds it very difficult to persuade a successor to take up the things he or she cares about. But it is good that, these years later, we are coming back to this issue because when we consider our international reputation, nothing is as damaging as a charge of hypocrisy that has substance.

The first of my three specific points concerns beneficial ownership. There is clearly an ambition to be more rigorous about this, and I agree very strongly with the point made by the noble Lord, Lord Clarke of Nottingham: that the overseas territories need to be included explicitly. They hate it, they wriggle out of it, they delay, but they need to be included. They would not have the financial sectors they have if they did not have the very strong link with the United Kingdom. They must feel the heat of this, and maybe it will be chance for them to diversify their economies away from a sector which, in the end, provides a benefit for very few citizens of the overseas territories.

The second issue is the proper underpinning of Companies House. There has been lots of discussion about increasing the amount of money a new company has to pay to register. I can see that this does not need to be argued in the Bill, but as the noble Lord, Lord Agnew, said, it is going to be addressed somewhere, so let us be honest. It is amazing that last year, 800,000 companies were registered in the United Kingdom. It does not take the brains of an Archbishop to work out that they cannot all be legitimate, so subjecting that large number to greater scrutiny would, I suggest, be a good thing.

The third issue is freeze and then seize, mentioned by the noble Lord, Lord Browne. This is clearly a difficult area, but other countries are tackling it. I hope the Government will be in touch with, for example, Italy, which is making progress. One idea which has been floated is that when a person or entity is sanctioned, they have to give a full list of their assets. If authorities subsequently establish that the list is incomplete, then all their assets might be subject to seizure. That would focus minds.

This is an important Bill which can and must be improved and strengthened. It is very striking that tonight’s debate has shown cross-party agreement. Like others, I pay tribute to the work of Dame Margaret Hodge and Sir Robert Buckland in the House of Commons. I hope that, in Committee, this House can strengthen the Bill.