Holocaust Memorial Day

Lord Morse Excerpts

Monday 26th January 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Morse (CB)]

I am very honoured to follow that excellent speech; and I take the chance to acknowledge the very brilliant maiden speech that we heard earlier as well.

I am intending to speak quite briefly on this subject, because it has been very fully covered already, and I am sure nobody will mind that. First, I should declare an interest. I am a member of the APPG on British Jews, although I am not Jewish. I believe that it is really important for all British citizens to show their support for each other in the face of antisemitism.

This needs to be offered with humility and a sense of how little—certainly for me—we know. I have not experienced the emotions that my Jewish friends have experienced or the loss that they have experienced. I have read about the Holocaust. I understand it to that extent, but I do not have the deep empathy that so many noble Lords in this Room have.

What I do have is a feeling of absolute fury when I think about children not being able to go to their schools, or going in while concealing their identity; or schools having to look like fortified camps because of fear that something may happen to the children or that they may be attacked; or indeed, Jewish friends I know who are beginning to have discussions about whether this is much of a country to live in any more and whether it is a safe country for Jewish people to live in. I was absolutely horrified to hear some of those discussions, but this is where it seems to be going.

Our country—my country—is surely much better than this. Our Jewish people and fellow citizens, who have contributed so much to this country and who continue to do so, are entitled to expect much better of the whole country and to expect our vigorous and committed support.

Religious hate crime, I am afraid, is growing significantly. We might try to believe otherwise, but it is not true. It is directed not just at Jewish people—a significant number of hate crimes are directed at the Muslim community as well, and it is important to remember that—but when you come down to the intensity of number of hate crimes per 10,000 people, the Jewish population suffers three or four times more than the Muslim community. So, although others do suffer from hate crimes, it is the Jewish community that is the most heavily struck.

When HM Government take a clear stance against hate crime and antisemitism, we have to acknowledge that, but, equally, we have to say when it is not working very well.

Antisemitism is advancing, and our Jewish fellow citizens feel that they are subject to pervasive threat and that their life, in many cases, is being made miserable as a result of these threats and antisemitism. Notwithstanding what HM Government are already doing, I believe they could and should go much further and start by setting hard, measurable targets to reduce and stamp out hate crime by specific target dates, and be willing to be held to account against them. What is measured generally gets done; that is my experience in life.

Even in this very serious matter, I think we need to be tough with ourselves—not sanctimonious, but tough—about what can be done. The best tribute we can offer, in my mind, to the horrors of the Holocaust is to act vigorously now, to fight against antisemitism and to keep on fighting until we win.

Queen’s Speech

Lord Morse Excerpts

Monday 17th May 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Morse (CB) (Maiden Speech)]

I very much appreciate the opportunity to address your Lordships for the first time in this debate and follow the noble Baroness, Lady Pinnock. I am very grateful for the welcoming and helpful attitude I have encountered on all sides, most particularly from the noble and learned Lord, Lord Judge, Convenor of the Cross Benches, and from his secretary, Kate Long, as well as the doorkeepers and all those who have helped guide my uncertain steps as I find my way around this place. Please keep going.

I am a Scottish chartered accountant. They are the humorous, interesting, original ones. After a career in public practice and three years at the Ministry of Defence as defence commercial director, I was Comptroller and Auditor-General and chief executive of the National Audit Office for 10 years. Since leaving the NAO, I have become chair of two London hospital trusts—Hillingdon and London North West. I am lost in admiration for how they both responded to the Covid crisis. I am very proud of them.

At the NAO, I was responsible for auditing central Government and published approximately 600 reports over 10 years, assessing the efficiency, effectiveness and value for money of Government’s use of public resources across a whole spectrum of public sector activity. The largest single area for these reports was the NHS, followed by major projects in transport and defence, and welfare and benefits. Many of the projects and programmes I examined I looked at more than once, and they still continue today—High Speed 2 and Crossrail being two notable examples in transport, and universal credit in welfare.

Let me briefly mention a few of the lessons I learned over 10 years, which I hope are relevant to this debate. In the context of major projects and programmes, including transport ones evidently, considerations of efficiency and effectiveness are often outweighed by the political agenda, which can demand eye-catching but often overoptimistic announcements about the costs, timescales and benefits of the project concerned. Unfortunately, the sugar high of publicity passes all too quickly and is replaced by reality and, quite often, years of highly visible and avoidable underperformance follow. In this context, the independence of the Civil Service in raising concerns about public value is of great importance. Civil servants need to be able to do their job without risking career damage.

In the area of welfare and benefits, the Government need to make sure they understand, from the ground up, the harsh realities of life for people with low or no income before legislating or making benefit rules which can affect those people’s lives so fundamentally.

Finally, I learned that, over time, Governments are judged not just by policies or announcements but by their perceived competence, evidenced by the results delivered to and experienced by the taxpayer and the citizen, who have, after all, underwritten the whole enterprise. It is worth while getting it right first time.

I look forward, in conclusion, to expanding my experience and knowledge in the service of your Lordships' House.