Prisoners for Palestine: Hunger Strikes

Viscount Hailsham Excerpts

Monday 2nd February 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Walney (CB)]

My Lords—

[Viscount Hailsham (Con)]

My Lords—

[Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms and Chief Whip (Lord Kennedy of Southwark) (Lab Co-op)]

It is the turn of the Cross Benches.

[Lord Timpson (Lab)]

Our prison and probation staff do an incredible job in dealing with some of the most complicated people in this country. When they turn up to work, they turn up to help people turn their lives around, not to get assaulted or be, as has happened recently, hospitalised as a result. It is our job to make sure that we keep our prisons safe not just for those people who live and work in them but also for people who are going into and out of work.

[Viscount Hailsham (Con)]

My Lords, I remind the Minister that we have been here before. I express the hope that medical facilities are available to prisoners who need them, but it would be a great mistake for prison authorities to give way to the substantive demands of hunger strikers. To do so would make the prisons unmanageable.

[Lord Timpson (Lab)]

The noble Viscount is correct. This is a clinical decision, and that is why the work with our prison staff and health partners is so vital.