Crime and Policing Bill

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath Excerpts

3rd reading
Wednesday 25th March 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Farmer (Con)]

My Lords, I disagree with the noble Lord, Lord Pannick. We did not debate an impact assessment. We need a proper government impact assessment for this clause before it is made law. There are foreseeable consequences to taking down important guardrails within our abortion law for the sake of a relatively small number of people—

[Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Lab)]

My Lords, will the noble Lord kindly give way?

[Lord Farmer (Con)]

I would prefer to get a move on so that everybody is happy that this comes to an end. Have we forgotten that hard cases make bad law and public policy should be a consideration? Knowing that she aborted a perfectly viable baby can haunt a woman for years. Even if we start and end with an individual woman, enabling her to procure her own abortion at an extremely vulnerable point in her life—the amendment points to vulnerability—without committing a crime creates a moral hazard.

--- Later in debate ---

Despite much policy talk about prioritising children’s welfare and hearing their voices, this clause will silence many before they even draw breath. I agree that this clause needs a very thorough impact assessment, to which I hope the Government will agree.

[Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Lab)]

My Lords, I am sorry that the noble Lord did not give way, because I wanted to ask him this question. In his first sentence, he managed to speak to the amendment before us. He then went off on a tangent. In relation to impact assessment, has he, like me and many others, received hundreds of emails with countless papers and briefings about the implications of this clause? Did he observe the Second Reading debate in your Lordship’s House, as the noble Lord, Lord Pannick said, and the extensive debates in Committee and on Report? The issue is whether the House has had sufficient information on which to make a judgment. My argument is that we have. We have made a judgment. This is totally unnecessary. We should move on and invite the Front Benches to now wind up.

[Lord Farmer (Con)]

I am addressing the point of impact assessment, which had not been properly debated.