Women, Peace and Security Bill [HL]

Lord Grocott Excerpts

3rd reading
Friday 14th July 2023 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Con)]

My Lords, I begin by saying a few words of thanks. First, I thank all noble Lords who spoke up and supported the Bill at Second Reading. It had support from all around the House, and I was so grateful to everybody for all the backing and encouragement that I received. I would also like to thank Theo Pembroke in the Public Bill Office, who did an amazing job in preparing the Bill. I thank too all those outside the House who have helped with advice and assistance.

In his statement to the UN Security Council in 2020, the Foreign Secretary said:

“As proud champions of the Women, Peace and Security agenda we will not accept any roll-back of the progress made on women’s rights over the last 20 years”.


I very much hope that the Government will support the Bill, which simply puts into law the commitments they have already signed up to under UN Security Council Resolution 1325 and the subsequent 10 UN Security Council resolutions on the women, peace and security agenda. I beg to move.

[Lord Grocott (Lab)]

My Lords, I rise briefly to wholeheartedly support the noble Baroness, Lady Hodgson, in her persistence in getting this far with a highly desirable Bill. However, I lament the fact that it is in a different category from the previous three Bills whose Third Readings we have heard today, all of which were Commons starters and are now passing into legislation, whereas this Bill is a Lords starter, as we know. I hate to rain on the parade, but the chance of Lords starters passing into legislation is close to nil.

The figures are as follows. Since 2014, 363 Private Members’ Bills have started in the Lords, of which three obtained Royal Assent at the end of the process. That is 363 attempts, and three successes. I suppose I ought to declare an interest, in that my Bill has been one of the persistent failures. I simply make this point as it is an ideal opportunity to do so. We have four highly desirable Bills, three of which are becoming law and one of which I hope will, but the odds are stacked against it. The Lords Senior Deputy Speaker and the Commons Chairman of Ways and Means have given me some of these statistics. Discussions should now take place between the usual channels of the two Houses to try and establish why so many worthy, highly desirable Lords starters do not reach their conclusion, whereas in comparison, significant numbers of Commons starters do.

[Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)]

My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Hodgson, for pushing this Bill, which I certainly welcomed at Second Reading. What we are talking about is cross-party support for the same policy. UN Security Council Resolution 1325 was a breakthrough, ensuring that women are at the table and involved in finding solutions to conflict throughout the world. Since the adoption of that resolution, we have seen real progress. Like her, we want to ensure that that cultural change is embedded in the future, and one way of doing that is through this Bill.

I know that, sadly, the Bill does not have the support of the Government—but things do change and Governments change. Hopefully, the noble Baroness, Lady Hodgson, and I can work together to ensure that the sort of changes she is advocating become law. I hear the comments of my noble friend Lord Grocott, but with a change of government we can make rapid progress. Beat that!