King’s Speech

Lord Farmer Excerpts

Monday 18th May 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Farmer (Con)]

My Lords, first, I support the Government’s health plans, which include a strong focus on prevention and neighbourhood, and I want to help them build on the integration of health and other services required by the Health and Care Act 2022.

We are getting there with the early years in delivering health through Best Start Family Hubs, which are thankfully now in all local authority areas. But, by definition, family hubs are for families with all children up to 19, and up to 25 if they are SEND. County councils such as Essex have pioneered healthcare for older children in their hubs and have much evidence of good practice to share.

Votes for 16 and 17 year-olds was a government manifesto commitment, but I cannot support it on child development grounds and due to its almost complete inconsistency with the rest of English law. Yes, prepare 16 and 17 year-olds to take the adult responsibility to help determine who governs this country, but do not thrust it upon children.

When I visit youth custody sites, I notice staff consistently refer to anyone in their care as children, because they are under 18. I was told it is not because they are highly vulnerable but because calling them children underlines to all concerned that children is what they are. Surely making them voters would require changing the Children Act 1989, which states that a child is a person under the age of 18. That definition is used across vast swathes of law and social policy, including safeguarding, family law, social services, education and youth justice. It is also used by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

So what if under 18s can work full-time and pay taxes? That is about training a child in the way they should go: taking responsibility and contributing. Our tax and voting systems do not completely overlap in terms of entitlement. Any further shift towards adultification needs to be strenuously resisted as it is a major threat to keeping children safe, as seen when victims were blamed in child rape gang cases. Neurodevelopment research is harnessed to argue for raising the minimum age of criminal responsibility. It shows that maturity of frontal lobes, where risk management and judgment take place, is not complete until around 25. One has to ask whether the Government are genuinely interested in children’s welfare or their votes.

Similarly, the draft conversion Bill panders more to identity politics than an objective need for a better legal framework. Violence and coercion are already illegal. This unnecessary legislation is also harmful; it intimidates those with genuinely therapeutic and caring motivations from engaging in any way with someone seeking help.

On the courts modernisation Bill, I will explore how we can improve the Children Act 1989 if this Government remove the rebuttable presumption that the involvement of both parents in their life serves the child’s welfare. Would the Family Justice Minister meet with me to discuss, for example, improving the welfare checklist?

Before I sit down, I want to say that I consider it a great privilege to have heard the valedictory speech from the noble Lord, Lord Hennessy, today. I will paraphrase Dr Emma Crewe, who is an anthropologist of Parliament who has said that, in the Lords, influence depends heavily on personal relationships, reputation, civility, reciprocity and trust across parties and groups. Courtesy therefore functions almost like a social currency. Peers who are respectful, co-operative and considerate are more likely to gain influence or persuade others. Thereby, we are a model to the outside world, and I pray that we will continue to be so.