Digital ID

Debate between Lord Collins of Highbury and Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe

Monday 19th January 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)]

The world has moved on from 20 years ago. We are talking about recognising the opportunities that this new age presents for us—certainly in the provision of public services. Darren Jones was absolutely right to focus on that. We are not going to create a central database. There will not be that “honeypot” opportunity, as the noble Baroness put it. We are determined to ensure that those systems can talk and communicate more effectively with each other.

[Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe (Lab)]

My Lords, does my noble friend the Minister not agree that this is a typical example of what is now alleged to be “broken Britain”? We were moving forward in 2010 to deal with the changes that were taking place, and it was abandoned by the alliance. It was thrown out, and here we are again with the same problems facing us. Can he please give us an assurance that what is now before us will be stuck to and will not be withdrawn or watered down?

[Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)]

I appreciate the comments of my noble friend. We have an absolute determination, and this is what Darren Jones was talking about, to deliver better public services and make them more accessible to all people who have traditionally been excluded and disadvantaged. We are determined to do that. To reassure my noble friend, the whole point is that, fairly soon, we will launch a consultation so that we can hear from all those people who have a concern about public services and how they access them. We are determined to do that, and I am sure that, as a result of that consultation, we will have a better policy and better delivery of public services.

United Nations International Day of Peace

Debate between Lord Collins of Highbury and Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe

Monday 9th June 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe]

To ask His Majesty’s Government what plans they have to celebrate the United Nations International Day of Peace on 21 September.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (Lord Collins of Highbury) (Lab)]

My Lords, peace day falls at the start of the UN General Assembly high-level week, the annual gathering of world leaders to discuss matters of peace and security and, this year, to commemorate the UN’s 80th anniversary. Peace is the bedrock of the UN. As always, the United Kingdom will be at UNGA in full force, demonstrating our support for the UN, its charter, and the essential role of the UN in effective multilateralism and the international rules-based system.

[Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe (Lab)]

I am grateful to my noble friend the Minister for that Answer, which is much welcome. I thank him for the great energetic and principled service which he has given to this House and to the Government. Looking at the Question, I wonder whether there is a possibility that we might start thinking of shifting the focus marginally away from it simply being about international diplomacy and towards looking for better peace among ourselves, so that we might look for more inner peace, more intergenerational well-being and more community well-being. When we come to celebrate the day, might the Government think about sending a message to our 23,000 schools around the country that they should give some thought to those kinds of principles?

[Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)]

I thank my noble friend for that question. He is absolutely right. One of the things that I have recently done is meet the new Secretary General of the UNA, who is actively involved in promoting the UN at all levels of community. I spoke about how we could reach out to all civil society groups to recognise the importance of the anniversary and the work of the UN, because it is not fully understood how important its role is, particularly in peacebuilding and peacekeeping. My noble friend is absolutely right. I will speak to my ministerial colleagues to see if we can reach out beyond civil society in recognition of the 80th anniversary and think about the role of schools and so on.