Inside The Lords: Rwanda, #Nova and the Daily Mail
Claire Fox reports on the final week of Parliamentary business before the Easter recess.
The big issue this week Inside The Lords has been the Rwanda Bill and its delay via ‘ping pong’ (the to and fro of amendments to Bills between the Commons and the Lords). I have said time and again that this Bill is useless - a molehill for the government to get stuck on instead of dealing with the mountain of properly dealing with the issue of immigration. But when you hear the tone of the debate in the Lords opposing the Bill, you know that it has less to do with making it work and more to do with sneering at the idea that caring about borders is important. I didn’t intend to speak, but I got so angry I did - and was heckled for my efforts. The Palaces of Westminster is usually very sanctimonious about the wrongs of intimidation and bullying - seemingly not when it comes to people who disagree with the noble peers (like me).
I also spoke on the attempts by the Conservative government to ban public organisations from being associated with BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions). I’ve spoken about this before, and for years have been worried that these censorious anti-Israel boycotts have created a nasty, anti-Jewish atmosphere. But the inadequacies of this Bill were really laid bare in this week’s debate. On the one hand, the wording is so broad that it manages to criminalise anyone who tries to ‘persuade’ anyone to support BDS(!). It’s also potentially a huge threat to academic freedom, with the government promising that it will be rolled out on campus.
On the other hand, it will make no difference at all to serious anti-Semitism - the measures only cover things like investment in pension funds.
This week, I went to a screening of #Nova, a documentary film made up of footage from the young people who were attacked, brutalised and murdered by Hamas at the Nova festival on the 7 October. It was the worst thing I’ve seen, but such an important watch - and the shocking thing is that the creators can’t get it streamed on mainstream platforms because it is deemed to be ‘too political’. You can watch the trailer and get more details here. I am going to try to get it screened where I can, watch this space. I’m also going on a trip to Israel this week, and will give you a report after with my thoughts.
I wanted to mention a follow-on from the Lords work on IPP prisoners that I talked about last week, and the scandal of 3,000+ still languishing in jail (despite the Imprisonment for Public Safety sentences being abolished in 2012). The excuses used by the government and front-bench opposition always amount to a fear of a public backlash. What will the Daily Mail say, they ask, if we talk about people getting out of jail? ‘Surely this will play badly with the type of people who watch GB News?’ This amounts to a form of snobbery that suggests ordinary people – who, yes, rightly want the criminal-justice system to work – will be conned by the words ‘public protection’ and act as an unthinking and reactionary mob who have no sense of fair play. What an insult. I wanted to prove these naysayers wrong, and so was delighted when the Daily Mail published a version of my House of Lords speech this week. Credit to Patrick Christys on GB News also, for inviting me on his show alongside Anthony, who is still on an IPP licence.
On Friday, I did a podcast with the Spectator on Scotland’s new hate-crime law, which removes all distinction between private and public places. What’s important to note is that Police Scotland themselves admitted that they were focusing on young white males from ‘deprived’ communities - in other words, the white working class. This heinous attack on freedom of speech, with a particularly ugly class dimension, should be opposed to the end. Those of us not in Scotland shouldn’t be complacent - hate crime madness is happening in Ireland and could easily be imported to England and Wales. We must be proactive with our defence of free speech, instead of waiting for draconian government bans to provoke us into action.
See you after the Easter recess.