The Genocide (Prevention and Response) Bill [HL] is a private member’s bill, sponsored by Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws (Labour), which would make provision about how the government monitors and reports on activities to prevent and respond to genocide and other atrocity crimes.
Genocide (Prevention and Response) Bill [HL] (319 KB , PDF)
The House of Lords is due to debate the Genocide (Prevention and Response) Bill [HL] at second reading on 22 March 2024.
The bill is a private member’s bill sponsored by Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws (Labour). It would make provision about how the government monitors and reports on activities to prevent and respond to genocide and other atrocity crimes, by requiring the government to:
Baroness Kennedy has argued that these measures would follow similar changes adopted in the United States and help to ensure that the UK government was better equipped to prevent and respond to genocide and other atrocity crimes.
Genocide (Prevention and Response) Bill [HL] (319 KB , PDF)
2025 marks the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day and Victory over Japan Day, events which in 1945 brought an end to the second world war. On those days 80 years ago, celebrations erupted across Britain. However, world leaders and domestic politicians were aware of the numerous problems still to be tackled, such as reconstruction, demobilisation and the legacy of the development and use of the atomic bomb.
Between the 1970s and 1990s, the Gaddafi-led Libyan regime supplied the Provisional IRA with weapons, finance and military training. This included shipments of the explosive Semtex, which was used in several bombings where a number of people died and many more were injured. Campaigners have called on the UK government to use Libyan assets frozen in 2011 to compensate victims. However, successive governments, including the current Labour government, have declined to do so, arguing it would break international law.
On 8 May 2025, the country will mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day, the end of the second world war in Europe. Many of the commemorations will take place in cemeteries where those who died during the conflict are remembered. This briefing focuses on the organisation behind these cemeteries, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. It looks at how the commission developed and recent work on one of its key principles: equality in death.
