Police: Racism

Debate between Lord Waddington and Lord Taylor of Holbeach

Thursday 25th April 2013 Lords Chamber

[Lord Taylor of Holbeach]

My right honourable friend Damian Green, the Minister for Policing, recently met the National Black Police Association to discuss its concerns about race in policing and offered to work in partnership with the College of Policing because, as noble Lords will know, that new institution will be important in strategies such as this. There have been suggestions that elements in policing, as with other institutions, still sustain racist attitudes, but it is clear from the comments of the commissioner of the MPS, Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, that he is determined, and he is supported by the Government in this regard, to stamp it out.

[Lord Waddington]

My Lords, does this not come close to the pot calling the kettle black? What could be more institutionally racist than insisting on having a black police association?

[Lord Taylor of Holbeach]

For my part, I am reassured that any drivers that ensure that the police more fully reflect the communities that they serve must be a good thing, so I cannot join with my noble friend in this regard. A lot of progress has been made in increasing the number of police officers from BME backgrounds but there are still too few, and there are still too few in the higher ranks of the police force. I hope that one of the considerations of the direct entry scheme will be to ensure that some of the higher levels of the policing profession are from British minority ethnic backgrounds.

Police and Crime Commissioners: Elections

Debate between Lord Waddington and Lord Taylor of Holbeach

Tuesday 4th December 2012 Lords Chamber

[Lord Waddington]

Would it not have been a lot better if the polls had taken place at the time of the local elections? Would the poll not have been very much higher then—and was it not the wish of the Liberals in the coalition who insisted on the vote not being taken at the right time?

[Lord Taylor of Holbeach]

I note what my noble friend has to say on that matter, but I am a great believer in the coalition. We will be taking his advice, because the next election will be three and a half years from now, in May.

House of Lords: Elections

Debate between Lord Waddington and Lord Taylor of Holbeach

Monday 29th November 2010 Lords Chamber

[Lord Taylor of Holbeach]

I thank the noble Lord for his concise précis of a complex report; it is exactly the basis of my arguments in answer to the Question. Of course the conventions will depend on the shape of this House following an election. As I said in answer to the noble Lord, Lord Grocott, the issue of the relationship between the two Chambers and the conventions on which it is based are being considered by the Joint Committee.

[Lord Waddington]

Does my noble friend agree that there would be no point in creating a new Chamber which could claim democratic legitimacy and then saying that it should have fewer powers than the existing House?

[Lord Taylor of Holbeach]

Precisely, my Lords.

Government: Role of the State

Debate between Lord Waddington and Lord Taylor of Holbeach

Tuesday 2nd November 2010 Lords Chamber

[Lord Taylor of Holbeach]

The noble Lord will be aware that this side of the House is very conscious of its responsibilities in government and, indeed, to protect the vulnerable. I acknowledge that this is a difficult time for the country as we take necessary action to reduce the deficit. The voluntary and community sector has always been there for vulnerable people in tough times, and I know that it will be there again. That is why we are looking to support it.

[Lord Waddington]

Does my noble friend agree that successive Governments have in fact been reducing the role of the state for years and years by farming out difficult decisions, such as whether there should be a law of privacy or whether prisoners should have votes, to bodies such as the European Court of Human Rights, and farming out virtually all their other powers to the bureaucracy in Brussels? Is it not about time that we went for the repatriation of some of our powers?

[Lord Taylor of Holbeach]

We have plenty of opportunity to discuss European matters on other occasions, and it is certainly beyond my brief to comment on my noble friend’s contribution.