A year Inside The Lords...
Claire Fox rounds up the year in parliament, from misbehaving peers to the return of failed prime ministers.
Inside The Lords ends 2023 with one peer in the eye of the storm: Baroness Mone. The PPE scandal certainly ticks the headline-grabbing ‘they are all corrupt box’. There can be no excuses for such seemingly venal, personal greed. And yet it seems to me there’s a danger – as always – of missing the bigger picture. The Covid Inquiry is costing far more in terms of eye-watering amounts of money, and to what ends? WhatsApp tittle-tattle, individual blame-games and a predetermined outlook that lockdowns were necessary, proportionate and justified. I was happy to sign this important UsForThem open letter this week, along with other parliamentarians, on the inquiry’s impartiality and its failure to consider whether there was any alternative to lockdown to deal with the pandemic.
In other news, the return of David Cameron as foreign secretary - via a peerage - sums up the parlous state of democracy. When so many in both the Commons and the Lords express delight that the grown-ups are back in charge, one suspects that for too many politicians the solution to today’s implosion within the Conservative Party amounts to rolling back the years before that infamous popular revolt of 2016. I have seen Lord Mandelson in the Lords more in the past six months than in any of the three years since I arrived at the place. His influence on the anticipated Labour government is not reassuring; it feels more like a harking back to Labour as a warmed up, if watered down, version of Blairism. But I was struck by this article by Trevor Phillips in The Times which notes just how unrepresentative mainstream parties are for millions of voters. After Cameron’s appointment, I filmed a special Inside The Lords with Michael Heaver on GB News.
Israel and anti-Semitism
Lord Cameron has made his mark in relation to a shift in emphasis when it comes to events in Israel and Gaza. I fear a fudge by the UK government amounts to a lack of stomach in taking on Islamism internationally or at home, something I will ensure I speak out on in 2024. I made my position clear on the issue early on in this speech in October, and I stand by it.
What is particularly disturbing is the growth of domestic anti-Semitism. In that context, can I urge you all to sign The October Declaration – British Friends of Israel. I discussed this issue on Talk TV last week with Jonny Gould.
Human rights
The pantomime of the Rwanda policy trundles on, and my fellow peers are rubbing their hands in anticipation of the Lords being used to block the policy in 2024. But while Cameron and all those Tories who make much of the need for the UK to adhere to international treaties and organisations created post-Second World War, it is important we demand a reassessment of how fit for purpose such arrangements and institutions are for the modern age. I used the 75th anniversary of the UN Declaration on Human Rights to point out that the UN’s priorities today may be less than partial; while human rights are applied differentially, smacking of double standards. Whether used as a block to policy decided by elected politicians, or cited loudly and aggressively in relation to the tragedy of women and children killed in Israel’s bombing of Gaza (but conveniently silent when Jewish women were raped and sexually assaulted by Hamas in plain sight) we must reject the notion that human rights are a magical phrase to be deployed to support particular policies with no debate.
The King’s Speech
The legislative programme for 2024 was laid out in a lacklustre King’s Speech. There are a range of proposed laws I will follow next year, from the Victims and Prisoners Bill to Leasehold Reform. I will oppose the ludicrously nannying anti-smoking laws and also vigorously speak out against two private members bills on conversion therapy, both of which are threats to free speech, child safeguarding, religious freedom, the autonomy of counselling and pastoral care - not least for young lesbian and gay people struggling with their sexuality who are too often steered towards gender solutions. The first date for your diary on this issue is Friday 9 February, when one Conversion Therapy Bill will be fully discussed in The Lords.
My aim is to ensure that important matters relating to what are dismissed as ‘culture wars issues’, from tackling gender ideology’s pernicious effects on women’s rights to the creeping ideology of critical race and decolonisation theories, are exposed as divisive and chilling to free speech. I raised some of these concerns in a speech on the Elgin Marbles, of all things. But history matters, and when the past is politicised, we end up with philistine attitudes to museums, artefacts and indeed historical facts.
The King’s Speech also mentioned legislation regarding the media. So I raised the BBC’s egregious partiality in presenting white privilege as fact rather than opinion in a Newsround item aimed at young viewers, in relation to a case raised by Don’t Divide Us (DDU).
Let’s finish on a positive note - the BBC has since backed down on the Newsround issue, so well done to DDU for this victory. I hope my speech made a modest contribution to that win.
Gender ideology
Similarly, for those of us in the Lords who have constantly raised the issue of the need for school guidance in relation to gender, pronoun use, social transitioning of children and the parental right to know (and have often been ignored by ministers or treated with contempt for making a fuss) there has at last been some good news - government action. The guidelines are by no means perfect, and there is a long way to go. But to note, no positive changes would have happened without grassroots organisations such as Sex Matters, Safe Schools Alliance, Transgender Trend, the Scottish Union for Education and many more; and, of course, the Academy of Ideas ensuring these issues are debated and discussed. Indeed you can see one such discussion at the Battle of Ideas 2022 – a masterclass in shining light on an issue we are told we can’t discuss, but should.
I will be back to the Lords on 8 January with more shenanigans from Inside the Lords – before then, loads of legislation to read and prepare for in between turkey, presents and family fun. From all of us at the Academy of Ideas, we hope you have a wonderful Christmas and a happy new year.
ACADEMY OF IDEAS BOOKSHOP
We’ve had some fantastic speakers at our Battle of Ideas festivals this year and now is a great opportunity to delve into their writing. The books above are all available direct from the Academy of Ideas Bookshop online.
You can find all 36 of our Letters on Liberty on our website here. They’re £2 each, or £5 for each three-pamphlet set. And why not become a paid subscriber to this Substack to get every future batch delivered to your door for free? Just sign up below for £5 or more a month and send us your postal address.