Health Bill

Lord Shinkwin Excerpts

Committee stage
Tuesday 3rd November 2026 Lords Chamber

[The Deputy Chairman of Committees (Lord Russell of Liverpool) (CB)]

My Lords, I now call the noble Lord, Lord Shinkwin, to make a remote contribution.

[Lord Shinkwin (Con) [R]]

My Lords, I support Amendment 29 and other amendments in this group. I would like to say that it is a pleasure to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Gerada, but it is a mixed one. That is not a reflection on the noble Baroness but a reflection of my disbelief that we are even having to raise this crucial issue. But raise it we must. I thank the noble Baroness, and the noble Lords, Lord Hunt of Kings Heath and Lord Austin of Dudley, for giving your Lordships’ Committee the opportunity to consider it.

I say “disbelief” because I cannot imagine that those noble Lords who helped pass Labour’s Race Relations Act could ever have envisaged that, 61 years later, we should be debating whether it is necessary for the Government to take measures to counter the shocking anti-Jewish racism that scars our NHS, a founding principle of which is surely equality. As a lifelong patient who owes so much to the NHS, I would say that, for such a treasured institution to apply that principle in practice, the provision of healthcare must be made in an environment in which all feel safe and mutually respected, patients and staff alike. The reason why I believe this amendment is essential is that, sadly, some feel neither, on account of their Jewish identity.

I would hope that it is generally recognised that racism is wrong. What I am less sure about is that antisemitism is recognised as racism. Adolf Hitler was very clear: his virulent hatred of Jewish people was racist. Indeed, he was so passionate about his racism that he made it a central tenet of the Nazi creed, which, sadly, as we all know, underpinned and informed the Holocaust. Jews were to be murdered for the crime of being Jewish. It therefore strikes me as bizarre that anyone could either delude themselves or seek to delude someone else—on social media, for example—that antisemitism or anti-Zionism is somehow not racist. This is simply factually incorrect, which is why the recommendations made in the review of the noble Lord, Lord Mann, and the amendments in this group, are so important.

I wonder whether the Minister, in her response, can assure the Committee that the third aspect of training mentioned in the amendment—that of responding to antisemitism—will include reference to historical facts, such as: the fact that the Jewish people have a historical claim to the land of Israel; that Israel has a long, if broken, history; that biblical records about, for example, the construction of the temple of Solomon in Jerusalem, which is believed to have existed between the 10th and 6th centuries BC, bear testimony to this; that the Jews were dispersed from their homeland by the Romans almost 2,000 years ago; that perhaps no other race has been subjected to such extreme prejudice and barbaric persecution in the history of humanity; and that, given the history of how the Jewish people have been treated, Israel has learned that there is only one country on which it can rely to defend its interests—most recently in the face of the egregious fabrication that the tragedy of Gaza is a genocide—and that is Israel. In short, can the Minister assure the Committee that any training on the need to respond, and on how to respond, to antisemitism and other forms of racism will be informed by, not divorced from, factual historical context?

In conclusion, there is another reason why I support this group of amendments. I discovered only after he had passed away that my childhood orthopaedic consultant, who played such a vital part in optimising my life chances, fled for his life on the last Kindertransport to leave Prague before the Nazis closed the borders in June 1939. Records show that the family members he left behind were murdered at Auschwitz only 82 years ago—within the lifetime of some Members of your Lordships’ House. Hanuš Weisl lived with that memory for the rest of his life. I am not Jewish, but for me his memory will always be a blessing. It is in recognition of the debt I owe to him, and indeed that I believe many of us owe to members of our wonderful Jewish community—particularly those who have dedicated their skills and their lives to the NHS—that I support this important group of amendments. I hope the Government will give it the careful consideration it deserves.

[Lord Blencathra (Con)]

My Lords, the proposed new clause in my Amendment 279C would require statutory regulators of health and care professions to remove from their professional registers any practitioner found to have engaged in antisemitic behaviour or speech, as defined in my amendment. It would also make clear that removal from the register is a mandatory sanction and cannot be replaced by a lesser penalty.

The amendment is founded upon a simple principle: medicine depends upon trust. Every day, patients place themselves in the hands of doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals. They disclose intimate details of their lives. They place themselves in vulnerable situations. They trust that they will be treated fairly, equally and without prejudice, regardless of their race, religion, ethnicity, nationality or beliefs.

That trust is not optional; it is fundamental to the practice of medicine. If patients lose confidence that they will be treated impartially, the doctor-patient relationship is damaged. If an entire community begins to doubt that healthcare professionals regard it as deserving of equal dignity and respect, confidence in the healthcare system itself is undermined. That is why racism has no place in medicine. That is why antisemitism has no place in medicine. That is why this amendment is necessary.