Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Lord Hayward (Conservative). It was answered on Wednesday, 17 June 2026.

Foreign Interference in UK Democratic Processes

Question: My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Pack, referred to the Rycroft report, and a series of amendments to the pending legislation on elections were placed very soon after that report was published. May I ask that the Government go somewhat more slowly in relation to the proposed amendments and look at them more carefully, along with the events that the noble Lord, Lord Pack, identified, so that we do not have to come back yet again and amend yet more elections legislation in 12 or 18 months’ time?

Answer: I know how excited the noble Lord will be about the legislation that will be in front of your Lordships’ House, which he will be able to scrutinise, and I am sure that my ministerial colleagues will enjoy the inevitable debate. The noble Lord is right: we obviously responded immediately to some of the biggest areas of immediate concern that we could legislate for, and our full response to the report will follow very soon. But several reports, including from the Foreign Affairs Select Committee in the other place, have looked at this space. We need to make sure that we respond to everything in the round and take some time, but also act quickly, given the potential impact that we see every day.

Secondary information