Better Prisons: Less Crime (Justice and Home Affairs Committee Report)

Lord Babudu Excerpts

Thursday 12th February 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Babudu (Lab) (Maiden Speech)]

My Lords, I am grateful to be able to speak in this important debate, which goes to the heart of who we are as a society. As it is my first time addressing your Lordships’ House, let me start by thanking the wonderful staff throughout this place: the doorkeepers, the caterers, the cleaners and the security staff. My mother worked as a cleaner and my dad as a security guard, so there is a special magic for me every time I get to greet anybody in this House doing such work—they are the unsung heroes of our story.

I thank my supporters, my noble friends Lady Lawrence of Clarendon and Lord Boateng, two giants of Black British history who have inspired me from my childhood through to this very day. I also thank Black Rod, Garter, the Clerk of the Parliaments and everybody else who, among all the demands on them, has so dutifully learned to pronounce the surname Babudu. Those efforts make me feel incredibly welcome.

“But where is Babudu from?”, I hear noble Lords ask. From Ghana, where my parents were born and raised, and where they left in search of a better life for their as yet unborn children. They came to Peckham, via Elephant and Castle. I was born here, and for some 40 fine years we lived under the watch of the force of nature that is the noble Baroness, Lady Harman, who was until recently our Member of Parliament. Peckham, my little corner of south London, is a magical place. I grew up there, my wife grew up there, we are raising our five children in the area, and I had the honour of representing Rye Lane in Peckham as a local councillor.

However, as magic as Peckham is, it is not always the easiest on its residents. Growing up in Peckham, I saw how normal it was for children to carry knives. I was 11 the first time somebody pulled a weapon on me. I was 14 when I first lost a friend to knife crime. Were it not for the warm embrace that my parents held over me and my siblings’ lives, I am under no illusion that I could have been the subject of, rather than taking part in, this debate on our prisons.

We are living in history. Democracy is under strain, society is fracturing and technology is racing forward. In such times, I am especially glad to find myself in your Lordships’ House, where working with each other to find common cause is seen as a badge of honour, not a lapse in party discipline.

While I am younger than many of your Lordships—something my children simply do not believe—I bring some understanding, I hope, of issues relevant to this place. I have spent most of the last two decades helping charities and funders better use evidence, and working with young people to help get their voices heard by decision-makers. Time after time, young people show an incredible ability to bring unique and valuable perspectives. One initiative that I am especially proud to have been a part of is Peer Action Collective, which has so far seen nearly 300 young people conduct research and social action involving over 12,000 young people across England and Wales, changing how communities understand the role of violence in young people’s lives and how to tackle it. I hope to continue to use my voice to amplify young people’s views.

I also bring some wider experience: I started off as a corporate solicitor, I have led and grown social enterprises, I have been a local councillor and I have led successful initiatives on issues as diverse as tackling school exclusions and getting finance into start-ups, particularly those led by women and people from minoritised backgrounds. The guiding purpose which has steered me through all those roles and to this place will guide me in it. That purpose is to help bring about a healthier society; one where, whatever your background, your race, your sex or your socioeconomic status, you have a genuine opportunity of living in good health. I am currently executive director of Impact on Urban Health, part of Guy’s and St Thomas’ Foundation. Whether there, here, or elsewhere, I will always spend my time championing solutions that impact the true drivers of good health: where you live, where you work, the air you breathe and the food that you eat.

We know a lot about how we can turn back the tides of ill health that are rising all around us. With that purpose in mind, this debate is a perfect opportunity to say that health will be advanced by appropriately investing in people, especially those who are furthest from good health. That does not mean indefinitely large and growing prisons or welfare bills. It means giving people an opportunity, an honest chance to find their feet, when they are trying to overcome challenges that have been part of their lives for a long time.

In preparing for this debate, I spoke to a friend who had two spells in prison before dedicating himself to ensuring that young people do not make the same mistakes he did. He shared his worry that prisons, as they stand, cement people’s identity as a criminal, and do not prepare them for the outside world. I believe that is a big part of why we have a persistent reoffending crisis. We also face a health crisis in our prisons. The Chief Medical Officer for England, Professor Chris Whitty, said late last year:

“On average, people in prison and on probation start from poorer physical and mental health than the general population, and the prison environment can exacerbate this”.


Prisons should be places that people leave healthier, more ready for work, less likely to reoffend and more able to contribute to society.