"My Lords, we have already demonstrated today just how complex this issue is. We began talking about it on the last day in Committee and, as I said last week, it affects children and young people in ways we never imagined; nor did we imagine years ago that this would …..." Baroness Armstrong of Hill Top - View Speech
"My Lords, I thank everyone for their contributions to this debate and to the previous one.
This is complex and we all want to have good outcomes. I appreciate that the Minister is saying that we need more discussion and to make sure that we address this issue in a …..." Baroness Armstrong of Hill Top - View Speech
"My Lords, the amendments in this group, as the Minister has explained, are about child criminal exploitation. This is something that, quite honestly, when I started my career, we did not think of—it is something that I think we all became aware of in the last decade, particularly during Covid. …..." Baroness Armstrong of Hill Top - View Speech
"My Lords, I will intervene briefly to support my noble friend Lord Hunt of Kings Heath, who is a member of the Public Services Committee, which I chair. I am delighted to see other members of the committee in the Chamber this afternoon. We published our report only on Friday …..." Baroness Armstrong of Hill Top - View Speech
"Does the noble Baroness accept that there is a problem with that situation, which happens often at the crisis level and not the early intervention level? It also excludes any organisation, such as a voluntary sector agency, that may be working with a child if they are not one of …..." Baroness Armstrong of Hill Top - View Speech
"My Lords, I thank the Minister. My amendment takes out the part that states that a person “ought to have known” that someone else was carrying, rather than that person carrying. That is the bit that is particularly pernicious in terms of the woman that I was talking about...." Baroness Armstrong of Hill Top - View Speech
"My Lords, I want to speak about a specific group who will be affected by some of the Bill’s provisions. I suspect that I would not need to make this speech had the Government accepted the amendment I moved during the passage of the Domestic Abuse Act, which would have …..." Baroness Armstrong of Hill Top - View Speech
"My Lords, this has been a sorry tale, which, more than anything else, has exposed that the Government either did not know or were avoiding telling Parliament what was happening. Part of the next phase is the opening of a detention centre—I think that is what it is being called—in …..." Baroness Armstrong of Hill Top - View Speech
"My Lords, I am going to be very disciplined in this Bill—some people may say that that is a bit unusual for me—and speak only to those things that are not part of the criminal justice system. I am concerned that overall the Bill has been dominated by the criminal …..." Baroness Armstrong of Hill Top - View Speech