"My Lords, a conference has just taken place here in London about anti-SLAPP legislation. It is absolutely right, as the Minister has said, that the Solicitors Regulation Authority has issued a statement warning firms and solicitors about their support for these sorts of actions. This is about money and power. …..." Baroness Kennedy of Shaws - View Speech
"My Lords, in all this discussion, not enough is said about the horror of what was experienced in the years leading up to the Good Friday agreement. We are forgetting that. In the language of decency in the House of Lords, we are allowing ourselves to somehow not remember the …..." Baroness Kennedy of Shaws - View Speech
"My Lords, like so many others, I oppose this Bill because it contravenes the rule of law. First, there is this flagrant breach of international law and its serious implications for our global reputation. Others have mentioned our invocation of international law when we are denouncing Putin’s conduct in relation …..." Baroness Kennedy of Shaws - View Speech
"I agree with the noble Lord, Lord Dodds, that the Bill is ill-conceived and does not consider the ways in which the overlapping provisions create real difficulties for the democratic rights of the people of Northern Ireland...." Baroness Kennedy of Shaws - View Speech
"My Lords, by and large, I endorse what my noble friend Lord Dubs said. It is right that there need to be greater safeguards than there are in the Bill, which are not sufficient. Having public bodies essentially authorise themselves to conduct surveillance and undercover operations is unsatisfactory.
"My Lords, as the noble and learned Lord, Lord Brown, has just said, there are ways of having a discourse about legal judgments even by our Supreme Court. One should conduct oneself in a sane and careful way. Last week we were subjected to the unseemly spectacle of the noble …..." Baroness Kennedy of Shaws - View Speech
"My Lords, in giving that very powerful list of what happened in that process, my noble friend has not mentioned the fact that southern Ireland also changed its constitution, whereby the claim it had always maintained to the six counties of the north was removed from the constitution of southern …..." Baroness Kennedy of Shaws - View Speech
"To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that non-disclosure agreements are not used to cover up criminal behaviour or silence victims, and that there are no financial or other consequences imposed when a breach of an agreement is in the public interest...." Baroness Kennedy of Shaws - View Speech
"Noble Lords will know that after the great surge of disclosure when Harvey Weinstein’s sexual abuse came to light, those very serious allegations gave light to many other instances of women in the workplace experiencing sexual abuse and drew attention to bullying experienced by men and women both. A light …..." Baroness Kennedy of Shaws - View Speech
"My Lords, I am sorry that I was not here at the beginning of the discussion on this amendment. My name is on a later amendment associated with the discussions on family law. As many in the House know, I chaired the group in the European Union Select Committee that …..." Baroness Kennedy of Shaws - View Speech