Holocaust Memorial Bill

Lord Wilson of Sedgefield Excerpts

Report stage
Wednesday 11th June 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord in Waiting/Government Whip (Lord Wilson of Sedgefield) (Lab)]

My Lords, as everybody knows, we are now on Report. These issues have been debated extensively in Committee, so we do not need any Second Reading speeches. I urge noble Lords to reflect that in their contributions to the debate. This is a self-regulating Chamber, and one of the characteristics of that is discipline. I think we need to show that now.

Amendment 3

Moved by

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With great respect to the noble Lord, Lord Evans of Rainow—

[Lord Wilson of Sedgefield (Lab)]

With great respect, I remind the noble Lord that, in deciding the fate of his amendment, it is not necessary to respond to all the points raised in the debate. It might be helpful to the House if he could proceed to a decision.

[Lord Carlile of Berriew (CB)]

With great respect to the noble Lord—and I do admire him—he is a relative newcomer to this place. I am not replying to all the points that were made by all Members; I am making a few comments about particular points.

I was about to say, and will continue to say, to the noble Lord, Lord Evans of Rainow, that I am afraid he was not listening to my speech when I first made it, because I was not opposed to what he thinks I was opposed to.

I am grateful for the numerous other speeches that were made. The questions asked by the noble Baroness, Lady Fookes, were not answered by the Minister. I am one of the quite large number here who remember her as the queen of nitty-gritty when she was Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons. We learned enough in that other place to reply to her questions when they were asked, or else—I see the noble Lord, Lord Alton, nodding in agreement.

I have suggested something practical and sensible, and I have had encouragement and support from Members of your Lordships’ House who I admire. I beg to test the opinion of the House.

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[Baroness Deech (CB)]

My Lords, it is a matter of regret that Committee took place in the Moses Room, where there was not much room for discussion or, indeed, attendance. Now we find that the Government are still trying to steamroller this through by whipping—which is quite wrong—and keeping us here late at night in the hope that people will get tired and go home. This needs more time.

Let me advert to some misconceptions in the speeches made. We have a National Holocaust Centre already—

[Lord Wilson of Sedgefield (Lab)]

Let me just say to the noble Baroness that, in deciding on the fate of the amendment, it is not necessary to respond to all the points raised in the debate. It might be helpful to the House if we proceed to a decision.

[Baroness Deech (CB)]

I have no intention of responding to all the points, but there were some things said that simply are not correct. Not all the survivors want a memorial, or one in this place. No one has studied the impact. There is all this talk about it having to be next to Parliament to make some signal about democracy, but there has been no study of the impact of location or visiting. No one has done a study to say, if you go and visit a Holocaust memorial museum, what you will feel like when you come out at the other end. The model that we have been given is somewhat misleading. It does not show the whole project.

As for the unfortunate little Victoria Tower Gardens, which is really a very nice place and an open space for Peabody building inhabitants and all those who live in flats, it is going to be real mess in the forthcoming years because it will be a repository for the scaffolding, the building equipment, concrete mixers, et cetera, associated with restoration and renewal. The prospect that anyone will be able to stroll around and enjoy it for the next 30 years or so is simply untrue.

As for the design, no due diligence was done at the outset, otherwise people would have realised that the design had already been presented in Ottawa. Since then, the same design has been used in Niger and in Barbados, so there is nothing in it about sensitivity or special affiliation to London, the park or the Jewish community.

Given the lateness of the hour, I can do nothing but withdraw the amendment, but the truth within it remains. I beg leave to withdraw the amendment.

Renters’ Rights Bill

Lord Wilson of Sedgefield Excerpts

Wednesday 14th May 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord in Waiting/Government Whip (Lord Wilson of Sedgefield) (Lab)]

My Lords, it may not surprise your Lordships that before we start the debate on the first group, I remind the Committee again of the protocol around declaring interests. As I have mentioned, noble Lords should declare relevant interests at each stage of proceedings on a Bill. That means that in Committee, relevant interests should be declared during the first group on which a noble Lord speaks. If a noble Lord has already declared an interest in Committee, that is sufficient, but if this is their first contribution, any relevant interests should be declared.

Amendment 206A

Moved by

Renters’ Rights Bill

Lord Wilson of Sedgefield Excerpts

Monday 12th May 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord in Waiting/Government Whip (Lord Wilson of Sedgefield) (Lab)]

My Lords, it may not surprise noble Lords that, before we start the debate on the first group, I again remind the Committee of the protocol around declaring interests. As I mentioned last week, noble Lords should declare relevant interests at each stage of proceedings on a Bill. That means that in Committee, relevant interests should be declared during the first group on which a noble Lord speaks. If a noble Lord declared an interest during the previous two days in Committee, that is sufficient, but if this is their first contribution, any relevant interests should be declared.

[Lord Shipley (LD)]

My Lords, I thank the noble Lord for what he has just said, reminding us of the importance of declaring interests in Committee if they have not been declared so far, but will he make a statement to the Committee about the Government’s plans for further consideration of this Bill, given that we were promised six days of consideration? We lost more than two hours last week through dinner-hour business, and today—for extremely good reasons—we have now lost more than five hours of consideration. I hope the Government have now decided that they must give this Committee an extra day, because we were promised six days and we have not had six days. I hope the Government’s intention is not simply to go through the night tonight and through the night on Wednesday. This would not mean reasonable discussion of the 132 amendments that still stand to be debated in your Lordships’ Committee.

[Lord Wilson of Sedgefield (Lab)]

I thank the noble Lord for those comments. We will try to resolve this through the usual channels, but there are six days and this is the fifth day. We want to make progress today and we want to complete Committee on the sixth day, which is Wednesday this week.

Clause 17: Landlords etc: financial penalties and offences

Amendment 145

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[Baroness Williams of Trafford (Con)]

My Lords, before the Minister stands up to respond, I just make the point that it has gone midnight. We did not start consideration of Committee until 8.30 pm. That has meant that people have gone home without putting forward their amendments, and there has not been proper scrutiny on the last few groups. The Committee has done amazingly well to get as far as it has, but it has now gone midnight. I do not know if the Whip intends to resume the House.

[Lord Wilson of Sedgefield (Lab)]

I will resume the House at the appropriate time. This is not the first time where debates have gone beyond midnight: on day 1 of Report, the Great British Energy Bill went to 1 am. I do not intend to take this much further. I want to stop at Amendment 206, which is another two groups, and then that will be it. Hopefully, we will be finished very shortly.

[Baroness Williams of Trafford (Con)]

The reason we are on the penultimate group is because people have not been in the Chamber to move their amendments in Committee. There have been very short debates in Committee, and some very important groups in Committee have just been glossed over—that is my point.

[Lord Wilson of Sedgefield (Lab)]

As I said, I want to get to Amendment 206. There is only one amendment that has not been moved. There have been other debates that have gone on until 1 am. If we spent less time discussing this aspect, we could finish quite soon.

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

My Lords, the central aim of the Renters’ Rights Bill is to give tenants more security in their homes. Landlords must not be able to evict tenants without a ground for possession, as defined in Section 8 of the Housing Act 1988, which we are expanding and refining to ensure that landlords can gain possession where proportionate.

The noble Baroness, Lady Scott of Bybrook, supported by the noble Lord, Lord Jamieson, has stated that they do not support Clause 61 standing part of the Bill. This clause will repeal Part 3 of the Housing and Planning Act 2016, which, if brought into force, would have allowed landlords to take possession of premises they believed to be abandoned without a court order. However, Part 3 of the 2016 Act was never brought into force. It also wholly pertained to assured shorthold tenancies. Those tenancies will cease to exist in the private rented sector after the implementation of the Bill. The repeal of Part 3, therefore, is necessary to maintain a coherent statute book.

As I mentioned, Part 3 of the 2016 Act would have enabled landlords to reclaim possession of properties under an assured shorthold tenancy that had been abandoned without a court order, provided they had issued three warning notices without response and the tenant was in rent arrears. While we acknowledge that genuine abandonment can present challenges—I dealt with a case that had gone on for years and years in Stevenage—not only for landlords but also for the wider community, these provisions were not the appropriate solution. At the time, they were criticised as a rogue landlord’s charter, and it is appropriate that they were never implemented.

Where abandonment has occurred, landlords will need to establish a ground for possession. It is likely that, in abandonment scenarios, tenants will also be in rent arrears, making those grounds for possession applicable. Landlords may also rely on breaches of tenancy agreements, such as clauses prohibiting prolonged unoccupancy or on grounds relating to deterioration of the property. In clear-cut situations, implied surrender may also apply—for example, where tenants have returned the keys and the landlord has accepted them even if no formal notice was given.

It is vital that tenants have access to justice when facing the loss of their home. Landlords must not be enabled to take possession without a valid ground. Clause 61 ensures the removal of these redundant provisions from the statute book. I commend this clause to the Committee.

Renters’ Rights Bill

Lord Wilson of Sedgefield Excerpts

Tuesday 6th May 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord in Waiting/Government Whip (Lord Wilson of Sedgefield) (Lab)]

My Lords, before we start the debate on the first group, I remind the Committee again of the protocol around declaring interests. As I mentioned last week, noble Lords should declare relevant interests at each stage of a Bill’s proceedings. That means that, in Committee, relevant interests should be declared during the first group in which a noble Lord speaks. If a noble Lord declared an interest during the previous two days in Committee then that is sufficient, but if they are making their first contribution today then any relevant interest should be declared.

Clause 12: Right to request permission to keep a pet

Amendment 118

Moved by

Renters’ Rights Bill

Lord Wilson of Sedgefield Excerpts

Monday 28th April 2025 Lords Chamber

Relevant document: 14th Report from the Delegated Powers Committee. Scottish Legislative Consent granted; Welsh Legislative Consent sought.

[Lord in Waiting/Government Whip (Lord Wilson of Sedgefield) (Lab)]

Before we move to the debate on the amendments, I will make a statement. I remind the House again of the protocol around declaring interests. As I mentioned last week, noble Lords should declare relevant interests at each stage of proceedings on a Bill. That means in Committee, relevant interests should be declared during the first group on which a noble Lord speaks. If a noble Lord declared an interest during the last two days in Committee, that is sufficient, but, if this your first contribution, any relevant interests should be declared in a specific but brief way.

Amendment 69

Moved by

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These amendments seek to satisfy the interests of renters and landlords, and indeed the investors standing behind the landlords. They try to avoid the cumbersome conflict and potential delay involved—

[Lord Wilson of Sedgefield (Lab)]

Can I ask the noble Lord to bring his remarks to an end? He has spoken for well over 10 minutes.

[Lord Best (CB)]

They introduce an arrangement that all parties could accept as a distinct improvement on the Bill’s reliance on appeals to the tribunal.

Renters’ Rights Bill

Lord Wilson of Sedgefield Excerpts

Thursday 24th April 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord in Waiting/Government Whip (Lord Wilson of Sedgefield) (Lab)]

My Lords, before we start the debate on the first group, I remind the Committee of the protocol around declaring interests, following a number of questions. As I mentioned earlier this week, noble Lords should declare any relevant interests at each stage of proceedings on a Bill. That means that, in Committee, relevant interests should be declared during the first group on which a noble Lord speaks. If a noble Lord declared an interest during the previous day of Committee then that is sufficient, but if this is their first contribution then any relevant interest should be declared specifically but briefly.

Clause 3: Sections 1 and 2: effect of superior leases

Amendment 16

Moved by

Renters’ Rights Bill

Lord Wilson of Sedgefield Excerpts

Tuesday 22nd April 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord in Waiting/Government Whip (Lord Wilson of Sedgefield) (Lab)]

My Lords, before we start the debate on the first group, following a number of questions, the Chief Whip has asked me to remind the House of the protocol on declaring interests. Noble Lords should declare any relevant interest at each stage of proceedings on a Bill. This means that, in Committee, relevant interests should be declared during the first group on which a noble Lord speaks. Declarations should be specific and brief. Members should briefly indicate the nature of their interest and not simply refer to their entry in the Register of Lords’ Interests.

Amendment 1

Moved by

Holocaust Memorial Bill

Lord Wilson of Sedgefield Excerpts

Committee stage
Thursday 27th March 2025 Grand Committee

[Lord Inglewood (CB)]

I am not Jewish, as I have explained to the Committee on previous occasions. I have found what I have heard in the debates around these amendments moving and interesting, but it is important in this context that we are clear that the Holocaust is not exclusively part of Jewish history. It is part of British history—because, for example, my family went and fought the Germans in order to try to rid the world of this evil. Some of my concerns about the proposal in its current form arise from the fact of this slightly wider context. Victoria Tower Gardens are an important site for the whole of the British people, but this commemorates something that, in a different way from the Jewish community, is part of our history and our heritage. It is important that that is borne in mind.

I also think as an individual—and this may engender considerable criticism—that the greatest thing we can do in this country to honour those who died in the Holocaust is to have a country that operates under the rule of law, where Governments cannot bully and just override citizens, and that we have a proper process where all the interested parties have their interests properly taken into account. My amendment—which the Minister, I thought rather unfairly, described as being about planning consent—was about using planning consent as a kind of milestone in the process.

[Lord in Waiting/Government Whip (Lord Wilson of Sedgefield) (Lab)]

I ask the noble Lord to sit down. We are no longer discussing his amendment. This is a completely separate group, and the Minister has now sat down. We need to move on.

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I am saving the best to last, naturally. My noble friend Lord Pickles was, in the nicest possible way, dancing on the head of a pin. He sought to rubbish the whole concept of the amendment by picking on the word “Nazi”. He rightly pointed out that many other countries in Europe were also killing Jews through their various police organisations and other nasty affiliations, but is he seriously suggesting that those countries would have committed their own Holocaust and started exterminating the Jews if Hitler had not given the lead, if they were not inspired by Hitler?

[Lord Wilson of Sedgefield (Lab)]

I just say to noble Lords that we do not want to be reliving the whole debate, as passionate as it is. We should be winding up now, as the Minister has sat down.

[Lord Pickles (Con)]

I can do this in 20 seconds. All I am saying is that the Arrow Cross was murdering Jews in Hungary while Hitler was attempting the Munich putsch. The antisemitic laws were first introduced not at Nuremberg but in Hungary.

Holocaust Memorial Bill

Lord Wilson of Sedgefield Excerpts

Committee stage
Tuesday 4th March 2025 Grand Committee

“to locate their offices, or set up satellite offices, within the wider physical campus. The Commission also recommends that the Learning Centre includes the Imperial War Museum’s Holocaust Exhibition”.

[Lord in Waiting/Government Whip (Lord Wilson of Sedgefield) (Lab)]

I ask the noble Lord to draw his remarks to a conclusion.

[Lord Blencathra (Con)]

I appreciate that. I apologise for going over 10 minutes, but I did not expect to have to do two minutes on the amendments tabled by the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of St Albans.

If I can conclude with just a few more seconds to go, the commission commended the 9/11 exhibition in New York. In November last year, I had to attend some official meetings at the United Nations, so I thought I would go along to see it. I was half expecting it to be, in the usual American way, a bit over the top and a bit tacky, but I was utterly wrong. It was exceptionally well done, moving and authoritative, with exquisite architecture—and it was absolutely massive. It was to commemorate just—just—2,977 victims. We are trying to commemorate 6 million victims by squeezing them into this tiny little bunker under the ground, which has usable space of just 1,700 square metres. It is simply not good enough. I commend my amendments to the Committee.

Renters’ Rights Bill

Lord Wilson of Sedgefield Excerpts

Tuesday 4th February 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Wilson of Sedgefield (Lab) (Maiden Speech)]

My Lords, I refer noble Lords to my entry in the register of interests. I thank all sides of this House for the welcome they have given me to the Lords. It has been a warm and gracious welcome, so thank you very much. I thank the offices of the Lord Speaker, Black Rod and the Clerk of the Parliaments, who worked with great professionalism to ensure that my introduction to this House went according to plan. I have discovered that the House of Lords is, like the House of Commons, a rabbit warren, only with red carpets. I therefore thank the doorkeepers for pointing me in the right direction.

I thank my noble friends Lady Smith of Basildon and Lord Kennedy of Southwark for their leadership. I pay tribute to my noble friends Lady Armstrong of Hill Top and Lord Hanson of Flint for sponsoring me. I have known my noble friend Lady Armstrong for almost 40 years. As MP for North West Durham, she introduced me to the House of Commons when I won the Sedgefield by-election. My noble friend Lord Hanson and I shadowed the Home Office between 2010 and 2015; my noble friend was the shadow Minister and I the shadow Whip. I remember us winning a couple of votes in Committee on one occasion—I emphasise that it was on only one occasion.

This year, 2025, is turning out to be an eventful one for the Wilson family. On 14 January, I became a grandfather for the third time, this time to a beautiful baby girl. On 20 January, I was introduced to this House, and, next month, my mother will celebrate her 100th birthday. Obviously a little tired after 100 years, mam is still as sharp as a pin and loves to reminisce. I will never forget how her face lit up when I told her I was to be a Member of the House of Lords. She leant forward in her chair, reached out for my hand and said: “And your dad was a miner”. Mam was born in 1925, in the colliery village of Fishburn, in County Durham. In 1925, this House was home to 26 Dukes, 29 Marquesses, 130 Earls and 73 Viscounts—none of them, as far as I am aware, the son or daughter of a coal miner.

My dad was brought up in Trimdon, another colliery village, just to the north of Fishburn, and my parents left school on the eve of the Second World War. Ambition and aspiration were restricted primarily to three occupations for men in those villages at that time: work on a farm, go down the pit, or join the Army. Dad’s first job was on a farm. Since he was in a reserved occupation, he joined the Home Guard, and would pick up his rifle and three rounds of ammunition from the vicarage to fend off any potential Nazi invasion. On 30 August 1939, his elder brother joined the Royal Artillery. Evacuated from Dunkirk, he would eventually see service behind the beaches of Normandy with the second battalion of the SAS. He was our rogue hero.

Careers for women in those villages at that time were also rare. Mam worked during the war in a fish shop in Billingham, on Teesside, and she still regales the family with how it was in old money: 1p for a bag of chips and threepence for a fish. Every night, the blitz came to Billingham. Every night, she took to the bomb shelter or hid under her neighbour’s reinforced kitchen table as the Nazis tried to destroy the town. By the time my parents married, dad was working down the pit, and he did so for the best part of 40 years. I grew up one of two sons on a council estate in Trimdon. It was a close-knit community.

I joined the Labour Party many years ago because I believe in ambition and aspiration. There is plenty of talent around, but opportunity for all is scarce. Equality of opportunity is central to a just society: an education that takes you as far as you want to go, a job which enriches your life and that of society, a society in which you are looked after when you are ill and where you live in a home not just a house, and where we all understand that the first duty of government is to defend the nation.

I had the privilege of representing Sedgefield for 12 years. The constituency had moved on from being a mining constituency. The area that was once the Sedgefield constituency boasts, at Newton Aycliffe, one of the largest business parks in the north-east. I am proud of the part that I played in ensuring that Hitachi Rail built its train manufacturing plant in the constituency, situated just a few hundred yards from where George Stephenson assembled Locomotion No. 1 some 200 years ago this September. I wanted to make sure that the opportunities that were not there for my parents were there for my constituents.

The 2019 election was a defeat for me and a defeat for Labour. That election was dire for the country. The electorate was confronted with a choice of Prime Minister which was not a choice between the lesser of two evils, as many thought, but was in fact, I am afraid, a choice between the evil of two lessers. It was a torrid time, but I am pleased and proud that Keir Starmer has turned Labour into a party that is once again serious about government—so serious in fact that we have formed a Government only five years after a massive defeat.

Of course, Tony Blair was my predecessor, and his leadership galvanised Labour to victory. I first met him in the bar of the Trimdon Community College at the time of his selection as Sedgefield’s Labour candidate in 1983, and I went on to work for him for many years. Tony had a big smile, big charisma and big ideas. However, so dreadful were Labour’s prospects in 1983 that, if you had said to me back then that Tony Blair would go on to form a Government that would keep the Conservatives out of power for 13 years and win three consecutive general elections, I would have replied, “Go away, pick up a pen and write a novel. You’ve a great imagination”. If you had said to me back then that I would be relaying this story in my maiden speech in the House of Lords, I would have replied, “I think that you have being drinking one too many pints down the Labour club”.

I want to end by returning to my granddaughter. Because of medical advancements, she will probably reach her centenary in 2125. What kind of world will it be? Will my granddaughter be able to afford to buy her own house, or will she only be able to afford to rent? Will she live in a society where we understand that we can go faster alone but only go further together? Will she live in a society where free speech is not just opinion but based in fact and founded on truth? Will our generation prevent another world war, so that my grandchildren can live to become grandparents themselves? Will the worst effects of climate change be stopped, or will it not even be safe for her to venture outside? In 2125, will there still be hereditary Peers in the House of Lords?

The task for us all, especially this Government, is to face the challenges that are moulding the 21st century, with all its contradictions, tragedies and opportunities, and to do so with belief, imagination and fortitude. Our responsibility is huge: to protect all that we believe in—human rights, democracy, the rule of law, equality of opportunity and our way of life. This Government need to be successful for the country and for the sake of all our grandchildren. It is my ambition and aspiration to ensure that I play my part in that.