Modern Slavery Bill

Debate between Lord Bates and Baroness Lawrence of Clarendon

Wednesday 25th February 2015 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bates]

My Lords, at the end of a very long session, I rise briefly to move Amendment 114. As the Modern Slavery Strategy makes clear, the Government’s response to modern slavery has victims at its heart. The Bill is an integral part of that response and also has the interests of victims at its heart. That should be reflected in the Title of the Bill, which is the purpose of the amendment.

In proposing this small change to the Title of the Bill, emphasising the importance of victims, I thank all noble Lords who have taken part in this Report stage. I do not think that any of us is retreating from Report entirely unbruised or a little disappointed, but perhaps that is the way of things. The reality is that on the vast majority of issues we are in absolute agreement, and paramount is the necessity of tackling this abhorrent crime and eradicating it from our society, protecting the victims while prosecuting the criminals. I commend the amendment to the House.

[Baroness Lawrence of Clarendon (Lab)]

My Lords, before I begin, I should declare my interest as a trustee and member of the campaigning organisation Liberty. I support government Amendment 114. As some of your Lordships may remember, I spoke to an amendment proposed in Committee by my noble friend Lord Rosser which put victims at the heart of the Modern Slavery Bill. I remarked then that it was for the humanity of the victims that we should act. Therefore, I am pleased that the Government have seen the necessity of an amendment to the Long Title of the Bill to reflect the fact that the new Act will make provision for the protection of victims.

For far too long, the criminal justice system has failed victims. In the pursuit of other objectives, victims have been seen as afterthought or, worse still, ignored altogether.

It is high time that we put victims at the heart of our justice system and this amendment highlights this by stating that the Modern Slavery Bill is intent on providing the protection and support that victims of trafficking deserve.

Children’s Privacy

Debate between Lord Bates and Baroness Lawrence of Clarendon

Tuesday 6th January 2015 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bates]

The We Protect campaign, which the Prime Minister launched and which is chaired very effectively by my noble friend Lady Shields, is about self-regulation. It announced a major breakthrough just before Christmas about internet service providers seeking to remove child abuse images from the internet, identify abusers and ensure that they are brought to justice.

[Baroness Lawrence of Clarendon (Lab)]

My Lords, given that three-quarters of the public believe that the media should protect children by pixilating or blurring their faces, does the Minister agree that more can and should be done to protect children’s privacy?

[Lord Bates]

I acknowledge the work which the noble Baroness has done and her personal experience in this area, which I am aware of and which, obviously, we all understand. In the case of the protection of privacy, everybody—certainly every parent—understands the lengths to which we are all prepared to go to protect our children and our children’s safety. The question is about weighing the balance between that right to privacy and the right and privilege of free speech and freedom of the press, which is an underscored part of our democracy.