My Lords, I want to make one or two observations. This is
a simple but important piece of legislation with a clear
purpose; namely, to close a gap in the law around the
taking of upskirt images.
I am grateful for the positive way in which noble Lords
have engaged in debate over the Bill. There is clearly a
strong consensus that this behaviour be addressed, and I
am pleased that noble Lords and Members of the other
place have agreed that the Bill works as drafted, and
that it will pass through this House unamended.
I would like to thank a number of noble Lords for their
engagement with the Bill: the noble Baroness, Lady
Chakrabarti, for her support throughout the process and
for her commitment to ensuring that the Bill passes
through this House rapidly; and the noble Lord, , and the noble
Baroness, Lady Burt, for engaging in the debates, for
challenging us to think about whether the purposes of the
Bill are, indeed, fit for purpose and for raising the
important issue of the onward sharing of non-consensual
intimate images. I remain confident that we have taken
the right decision on that matter by agreeing to review
this first with the Law Commission. I also thank the
noble Lord, , and the noble
and learned Baroness, Lady Butler-Sloss, for their
contributions to the debate and discussion.
I consider that the review in two years’ time that we
committed to in the other place will be a good
opportunity to assess how these offences are working in
practice. With that, I beg to move.
