Cohabitation Rights Bill [HL]

Lord Garnier Excerpts

2nd reading
Friday 17th July 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Garnier (Con)]

My Lords, I am delighted to be able to support the noble Lord, Lord Marks, in introducing his Second Reading of this Cohabitation Rights Bill. In lay man’s language, I suppose one could call it the “unmarried couples divorce Bill”. The Bill reflects modern societal habits and ways of living, and it is time that Parliament legislated for this reality.

The noble Lord brings with him considerable experience. I believe that, when he began his career at the Bar, he was a family law practitioner, so he brings to the Bill his expertise in that field. I am none the less somewhat fearful that the person succeeding me in this debate is the noble and learned Baroness, Lady Butler-Sloss, a former President of the Family Division, so I shall keep my remarks short but also, I hope, moderately uncontroversial, as I hope the Bill is.

I also hope, following on from what the noble Lord said a moment ago, that the Government, who gave a manifesto commitment along these lines, and the noble Lord can amalgamate their efforts to produce one Bill which all of us can support. If it has the advantage of government backing, the assistance of the Civil Service and so on then we can produce at speed a Bill which is fit for purpose and will achieve the justice and the humanity the noble Lord speaks of.

I am sure that there will be many issues of detail in relation to financial settlement orders and financial relief, the difference between whether periodic payments or simply lump sum payments should be allowed, and so on. However, I hope that these matters can be discussed between the two parties—the Government and the noble Lord—and, if necessary, ironed out in Committee.

Essentially, this is an idea that has been long in development, as the noble Lord, Lord Marks, indicated. I seem to remember supporting a Bill similar to this, if not exactly the same, which was introduced into the other place by the late Lord Davies of Stamford, who was then the Member of Parliament for Grantham and Stamford. It had broad support there but never got much further than a Friday morning’s debate.

As I said, the Bill recognises contemporary societal norms and, above all, protects the children of these unions in a way which is fair and right. I recognise the good sense of the example that the noble Lord, Lord Marks, mentioned just a moment ago about one of the couple working and the other not working, and so on, which seems highly important in modern family law.

Unlike so many Private Members’ Bills, this one has a decent ancestry: that is to say, it flows from a Law Commission recommendation. It is detailed and clear. I am sure it is capable of improvement but, none the less, it is clear in its purposes and its effects. I hope that the House will give it its support today and allow it to pursue its further passage with the assistance of the Government.