Lord Bird
House of Lords
CrossbenchLord Bird's full title is The Lord Bird MBE. His name is John Anthony Bird, and he is a current member of the House of Lords.
Overall, across health & social care this Parliament
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Ranks 713th of 1273 MPs and peers who have spoken on health or care this Parliament — top 56%. 9 contributions since 2024-07-19.
What they’ve raised
Lord Bird made 9 debate speeches addressing public health, heart disease and stroke, and mental health, predominantly focusing on poverty prevention and its connection to health outcomes. His contributions emphasised the links between poverty and adverse health conditions—particularly citing research that 50% of cardiac arrest sufferers experience food poverty—whilst arguing that government efforts should prioritise systemic prevention rather than managing the consequences of poverty. He advocated for binding targets on child poverty reduction and joined debates on housing, homelessness, and support for vulnerable groups, consistently framing these as interconnected public health and prevention issues.
Generated from their own Hansard record, below
Record by topic
- Heart disease & stroke69th of 3866.0
- Public health & prevention249th of 6836.0
- Mental health739th of 8672.0
What they’ve said
“The Minister says that he is ambitious, which I am pleased to hear, but where in government is work to prevent people ending up in prison? I cannot see it. I cannot see homelessness prevention, prison prevention or the exportation of poverty from people’s lives—90% of people in prison are there from poverty.”
Imprisonment for Public Protection Prisoners · 2026-07-06 · Read on Hansard ↗
“I am very pleased that this amendment is to be discussed again. What troubles me is that it could be such a small, insignificant thing to ask for targets from the Government. Are targets part of the armoury that we use to get rid of poverty? If we are endeavouring to get rid of poverty, we will need more than targets.”
Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill · 2026-01-28 · Read on Hansard ↗
“To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether new funding allocations to local authorities are sufficient to deliver the prevention commitments in the National Plan to End Homelessness.”
National Plan to End Homelessness · 2025-12-16 · Read on Hansard ↗
“…Look at the fact that 50% of people who suffer from cardiac arrests and cardiac illnesses are those who have food poverty in their background. If you look at the prison system, it is almost a poverty system.”
Autumn Budget 2025 · 2025-12-04 ·