Ukraine

Debate between Baroness Evans of Bowes Park and Baroness Neville-Rolfe

Thursday 24th February 2022 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park (Con)]

I am grateful to the right reverend Prelate and all the faith leaders he mentioned for the action they are taking. We stand united in the face of this Russian aggression and, once again, it is fantastic to have leadership from across all our communities standing together. I set out to the noble Baroness, Lady Smith, a number of things that we are doing in relation to the humanitarian effort—in particular working through the UN, which we will continue to do. Of course, we will assess the situation and discuss with international partners other things that we may be able to do to help if we see a refugee crisis unfold within what is happening in Ukraine.

[Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Con)]

My Lords, I thank my noble friend the Leader for taking the time to make this Statement and have a full Front Bench, as well as for finding time tomorrow for a proper debate. I want to return to the economic crime area and ask whether resources will be made available to Companies House for enforcement, because that is of course important and reform there is overdue. Also, will similar measures be taken in other countries? That would level the playing field, act as an incentive for good behaviour and reduce corruption in other countries.

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park (Con)]

As I have set out in our general discussion—obviously, there was also the G7 call today—we are working with our global partners on a range of issues. I am sure that discussions around the international rules have been part of that. As I said in the Statement, we will set out before Easter further detail on the policies that we intend to bring in, including reforms to Companies House, so my noble friend should not have too much longer to wait for that.

Ukraine

Debate between Baroness Evans of Bowes Park and Baroness Neville-Rolfe

Wednesday 26th January 2022 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park (Con)]

In answer to questions at the beginning, I set out a whole range of things that we have done, and are doing, to tackle money-laundering and economic crime. We will continue with that work.

[Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Con)]

My Lords, I declare an interest as chair of Crown Agents, which supplies Covid vaccine to Ukraine. I think a further debate on Ukraine would be useful, as the noble Lord, Lord Alton, suggested. I am interested in the position of Germany and France, which were, of course, involved in the Minsk protocol, signed after the 2014 Ukraine crisis. How far are they aligned with UK thinking at present—especially Germany, given its particular trading interests across eastern Europe?

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park (Con)]

We are working very closely with our allies. I am sure my noble friend will be aware that, today, there is a political advisers meeting taking place in Paris of the Normandy Format—France, Germany, Ukraine and Russia. Although we were not part of that process because we are not within that group, we actively support France and Germany’s efforts, and are working very closely with them.

COP 26

Debate between Baroness Evans of Bowes Park and Baroness Neville-Rolfe

Tuesday 16th November 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park (Con)]

I thank the noble Lord. I knew that he would probably ask me this question, so I have an answer for him about the United States, which he asked about last week. It intends by 2024 to further double its annual public climate finance to developing countries to around £11.4 billion, including around £3 billion to support adaptation efforts. He might be pleased to know that we have indeed published such a document, COP26 Presidency Compilation of 2021-2025 Climate Finance Commitments, which lists the commitments made in this area and which he might be interested to read.

[Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Con)]

My Lords, I would like to acknowledge the unexpected progress that was made at COP, for example on rainforests, which I do not think anybody has mentioned. On the move to change the energy mix, I think it is at least as important for the Government that they keep the lights on as it is to take measures to save the planet. In that context, does my noble friend agree that the move to intermittent renewables needs to be balanced, and indeed balanced now, by a substantial investment in the British nuclear industry, another source of zero-carbon energy? Does she further agree that the neglect of the nuclear industry since the mid-90s has been a disgrace?

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park (Con)]

I am sure my noble friend is aware that we have a Bill in the House of Commons looking at this area which will be coming to your Lordships’ House soon so we can discuss these issues. We are certainly looking to reinvigorate that sector. I will also just say that last year was the first year in which renewables were the primary source of the UK’s electricity and we have quadrupled the percentage of our electricity that comes from renewables but, of course, we need a mix in order to make sure that we have security of supply.

Covid-19 Update

Debate between Baroness Evans of Bowes Park and Baroness Neville-Rolfe

Thursday 13th May 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park (Con)]

Decisions as to whether the inquiry will comprise a panel in addition to a chair will be made in due course, but I can certainly confirm that we want to learn the lessons of the pandemic as four nations together, just as we recover together. That is why, as I say, we have already begun discussions with the devolved Administrations, because we want this to be a UK-wide inquiry. We have gone through this together and we want to come out of it together.

[Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Con)]

I congratulate the Government both on the vaccine rollout and on getting ahead with plans for an independent inquiry. I am, however, concerned by the Covid-related delays in medical treatment, both by GPs and in hospitals, with more people probably dying early or living in pain than actually dying from Covid. Will the Government ensure that the NHS returns to normal rapidly, that energetic efforts are made to reduce the backlog of operations and that all medical practitioners return to offering face-to-face consultations immediately?

Covid-19 Update

Debate between Baroness Evans of Bowes Park and Baroness Neville-Rolfe

Tuesday 3rd November 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park (Con)]

We have secured early access to 350 million vaccine doses through agreements with six separate vaccine developers, and are investing more than £140 million to make sure that we are ready to manufacture a successful vaccine. We are planning for rollout, making sure that we have adequate transport, PPE and logistical expertise. I assure the noble Lord that, at the forefront of what we are doing, we are working towards making sure that we can take advantage of vaccines when they reach the stage when they can be used.

As we have said, we want track and trace to improve and need faster testing turnaround times. They are improving but I accept that we need to do more. As I have said, the testing pilot in Liverpool is another way in which we hope we will be able to use the time over the next month. By testing a large proportion of a single town or city, more positive cases can be identified and people can be told to self-isolate immediately. The residents and workers of Liverpool will be tested using a combination of existing swab tests and the new lateral flow tests that can turn around results rapidly, within an hour, without needing to be processed in a lab. With all these things together, we will make use of this time to see how much we can roll out so we can really bear down on this in December.

[Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Con)]

My Lords, I think the Cabinet may come to conclude that national lockdown is not the answer. However, let us look forward. When adopting Covid measures in future, can the Government please set out, in a straightforward way, the expected cost-benefit analysis in numerical terms, including not only the number of delayed Covid deaths and hospital admissions but estimates of the economic costs and the cost in other lives lost, as NHS treatment for other diseases is necessarily limited as a result?

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park (Con)]

My noble friend is right: we want to be transparent with data and information. Obviously, scientific data and information informing our actions are published on GOV.UK, as are specific relevant findings shared in presentations. I am sure that colleagues across government will take note of what she says.

Covid-19 Update

Debate between Baroness Evans of Bowes Park and Baroness Neville-Rolfe

Wednesday 14th October 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park (Con)]

First of all, our Job Support Scheme is in line with those of other major European countries, including France, Germany, Ireland and Italy, in its proportion of wage support. We very much believe that this scheme can help the lowest paid in particular, who can benefit from the responsiveness of our welfare system. The dovetailing of those two things should actually mean that some of the poorest workers—or those on the lowest pay, I should say—could end up on around 88% of their original income, and so more than the two-thirds on which the scheme itself is based. Obviously, businesses are able to top up the two-thirds as they wish, as they did for the furlough scheme.

However, I think the Chancellor has been quite clear: unfortunately, we are not going to be able to save every job. We will do all we can to support businesses and individuals. That is why we are trying to look to the future with, for instance, the £2 billion Kickstart scheme, which will create thousands of subsidised jobs for young people; paying employers to hire apprentices; and doubling the number of work coaches. We are very cognisant of the issues in this area, and have a range of things—both trying to protect jobs at the moment and looking to the future—to make sure that everyone has an opportunity for employment going forward.

[Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Con)]

My Lords, it is now clear that lockdowns do not solve the problems posed by the virus. They merely delay them, at enormous cost in money, running into tens of billions; unhappiness, brought on by loneliness; and, indeed, lives lost, due to the consequent neglect of other medical conditions. We need to avoid another national lockdown at all costs. Instead, we need to deal with the virus regionally, as the Government are now doing. Will the Government ensure that any local controls are adapted very quickly to take account of developments? Speed is of the essence—I think everyone agrees about that—and we are not yet as quick as we need to be.

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park (Con)]

I entirely agree with my noble friend. That is the basis of the thinking behind the very high tier in particular, where restrictions can be dovetailed to the specific circumstances of the individual region. I can assure her that PHE, the Joint Biosecurity Centre and NHS Test and Trace are constantly monitoring levels of infection and data across different areas of the country, so we can do exactly as she suggests.

Covid-19: Strategy

Debate between Baroness Evans of Bowes Park and Baroness Neville-Rolfe

Tuesday 12th May 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park]

Of course we are absolutely cognisant of the real issues that many of the socially isolated are having, and we are very concerned about them, but we cannot put them, their carers and their families in danger—in a situation where the virus could start to get out of control once again. Of course we keep this under review, but we are proceeding with cautious steps because we have seen the tragedy in care homes and we want to make sure that it does not happen again. We want to make sure that everyone is safe and that we can move forward as a country. However, I can assure the noble Baroness that we are very aware of all these issues and we look at them in the round when we are making decisions as we start to move away from the lockdown.

[Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Con)]

The Prime Minister is rightly charting a staged return to normality, in the interests of our economy and our economic future. I agree with my noble friend that we can learn from abroad. Will the Government consider adopting the World Health Organization standards of one metre of social distancing rather than two, as Denmark has done as part of its recovery? For example, that could help to restore the scale of activity that we need in our vital construction sector, or in galleries and museums, mentioned by my noble friend Lord Cormack.

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park]

There is good reason for the two-metre social distancing rules, because experimental and mathematically modelled data support the view that the droplets associated with the spread of coronavirus—those expelled during breathing and talking—in the main drop to the ground within a two-metre radius of the person. There is science behind the two-metre rule. Having said that, as we continue with our hand washing along with social distancing, I hope that we will steadily move to having the disease even further under control. SAGE continually looks at this, but there is good reason for the two-metre rule at the moment.

Global Britain

Debate between Baroness Evans of Bowes Park and Baroness Neville-Rolfe

Monday 3rd February 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park]

I have to confess that I have not had a conversation with him about that recently. However, if that is what he said, that is what he said.

[Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Con)]

Does my noble friend agree that we also bring many advantages to the EU-UK relationship? Four-fifths of capital for other member states is raised in London, and we provide an amazing food market for the French, and an even better car market for the British.

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park]

My noble friend is absolutely right. That is why we want a relationship with the EU based on friendly co-operation between sovereign equals and centred on free trade. That will be the basis of our approach, and we look forward to discussing these important issues with the European Union over the coming months.

Brexit: Negotiations

Debate between Baroness Evans of Bowes Park and Baroness Neville-Rolfe

Thursday 3rd October 2019 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park]

The noble Lord is right: if consent was withheld, the arrangements would not come into force or would lapse after one year. On his second point, the Prime Minister is absolutely committed to and putting his full energy into achieving a deal that can get through the House of Commons in the timeframe he has set out. We have faith and trust that he will do that.

[Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Con)]

My Lords, I am glad to hear of the progress he is making. I move away from Northern Ireland for a moment to ask my noble friend about work on the tariff schedule. This will be especially important in the event of a no-deal Brexit, which the Statement says could still be an outcome. I am interested to know the timing for finalising the schedule and debating it in this House. I am a great believer in free trade and cannot see how we can both unilaterally introduce low tariffs, as proposed in the draft schedule, and conclude amazing free trade agreements. There will be no incentive for countries such as Canada, let alone the EU, to conclude good deals. This is a concern that is outstanding, which we have not had an opportunity to debate.

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park]

I thank my noble friend, and I can say that the tariff schedule will be published shortly.

G7

Debate between Baroness Evans of Bowes Park and Baroness Neville-Rolfe

Tuesday 3rd September 2019 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Con)]

My Lords, growing protectionism is a great worry across the world, so it was refreshing to hear that the Prime Minister brought his energy to this area. As my noble friend the Leader said, he made the case for free trade as an engine of prosperity and progress and talked of the need to simplify regulation. Can my noble friend tell us a little more about WTO reform? I am reminded that the real progress was made in the Bali package, which was pushed through by my noble friend Lord Green of Hurstpierpoint when he was the Trade Minister. I very much hope those sorts of reforms can be extended. It was good to hear that the WTO might be being looked at again and pushed forward.

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park]

The G7 reiterated its commitment to open and fair trade and to an overhaul of the WTO. The priorities for that are to ensure the continued effectiveness of the dispute resolution and settlement mechanism, increase trust in the system by improving transparency and develop new rules on issues such as industrial subsidies and e-commerce. Modernising the WTO rules will also make them more relevant to current trade issues. We strongly support the informal process launched by the general council at the WTO to seek a resolution to the appellate body issues, and we have been urging all WTO members to engage constructively on these ongoing discussions.

Priorities for the Government

Debate between Baroness Evans of Bowes Park and Baroness Neville-Rolfe

Thursday 25th July 2019 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park]

I am happy to reassure the noble and learned Lord that that is indeed a priority for the Prime Minister. In fact, he has decided also to call himself Minister for the Union to ensure that concerns and issues from all parts of the United Kingdom are taken into consideration in every policy announcement. He made it very clear during Cabinet this morning how committed he is to the union, and there are plans for him to travel around very soon.

[Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Con)]

I congratulate my noble friend on her reappointment. Her experience will be very useful in the coming months as we tackle the various bits of Brexit legislation. I share the warm words that have been said about both the Chief Whip and Mr Evans. They will be with us but they will be missed in their current roles.

I commend the Statement for the comment on business, the suggestion that there will be an economic package to boost business and, indeed, the promise to look at incentives to invest in capital and research. It is important that this is part of our agenda in the coming months and years, and I look forward to hearing more about the details.

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park]

I thank my noble friend. I assure her that this is something that the new Chancellor is absolutely committed to. We will be seeing further ideas and details of the proposals coming out very soon.

Brexit: Negotiations

Debate between Baroness Evans of Bowes Park and Baroness Neville-Rolfe

Thursday 22nd November 2018 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park]

I am afraid that I completely disagree with the noble Lord. We have been very clear in saying that we want a positive, strong and deep partnership with the European Union in the future, and I am afraid that I do not recognise his characterisation of the approach we are taking.

[Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Con)]

My Lords, I am glad to see progress in the latest documents in a number of places: for example, on fisheries, on electronic trade facilities, on digital, on medicinal radioisotopes and on future governance. But, assuming that the withdrawal agreement and the political declaration are agreed, what leverage will the Government have in getting timely agreement on the free trade partnership and the associated treaty, thus avoiding the backstop, which seems to suit other member states more than us? We will have paid a lot of money, given up our ability to charge tariffs, accepted the regulatory level playing field and made generous provisions on things such as security—all of which are good—but how will we ensure that we can get the negotiations to end in the timely way that my noble friend described?

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park]

As I said in response to a number of questions, the withdrawal agreement includes a legally binding commitment that ensures that both sides will use best endeavours to negotiate the detailed agreements that will give effect to the future relationship so that they can come into force by 2020. In the unlikely event that a party considers that the other has not negotiated in good faith, the complaining party could bring a complaint under the process established by the withdrawal agreement.

Salisbury Incident

Debate between Baroness Evans of Bowes Park and Baroness Neville-Rolfe

Wednesday 14th March 2018 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park]

As the noble Lord will know, the National Crime Agency will continue to bring all the capabilities of UK law enforcement to bear against serious criminal money. There is no place for these people or their money in our country. As I mentioned on Monday, we have now introduced unexplained wealth orders, which can be used to compel individuals to explain their sources of wealth; indeed, the first UWOs have already been issued by the court.

In relation to our conversations with our EU partners, this will, as I mentioned, be an agenda item at the EU Council next week and we will of course be talking to our EU partners. The Prime Minister has already spoken to Chancellor Merkel and President Macron, among others, to see what ways forward we can find with our EU partners to look at the precise areas that the noble Lord set out.

[Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Con)]

My Lords, Salisbury is my home town and we are still in shock. Can my noble friend tell me how Mr Skripal and his daughter—and indeed brave Sergeant Bailey—are doing and what their prospects of recovery are? Have there been any signs of anyone else getting ill, which would obviously concern us a lot?

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park]

As I said in my answer to the noble Countess, we are aware of a number of individuals who have presented at Salisbury District Hospital following the recent incident, but they have been assessed and discharged. Advice has of course been provided to GPs, acute hospitals and emergency departments across the NHS. Mr Skripal and his daughter remain in an extremely serious condition; Detective-Sergeant Nick Bailey has been making some recovery and has been able to communicate, but all have obviously had their lives put in grave danger.

Brexit Negotiations

Debate between Baroness Evans of Bowes Park and Baroness Neville-Rolfe

Monday 11th December 2017 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park]

It is actually during the implementation period that the UK’s and the EU’s access to each other’s markets could continue on current terms. During the implementation period, we would stay in all EU regulators and agencies and take part in existing security measures.

[Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Con)]

My Lords, it was very interesting to see how worried the European Union became when there was a risk of the UK crashing out, showing, I think, that we have a stronger negotiating hand than some might think, if we keep our nerve. Contrary to what some have said, some fear that regulatory alignment means a soft Brexit by stealth, making us a rule taker in relation to all future EU rules rather than a rule maker. Is this a valid concern?

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park]

As I have said, maintaining alignment means that we may have the same objectives but we may well want to do something in a different way. However, in discussing our future trading relationship, we should also understand that we are in a unique position with full regulatory alignment at this point. We want to maintain high standards going forward, so we believe this is an excellent basis for a strong future relationship.