International Travel

Baroness Goudie Excerpts

Wednesday 9th September 2020 Lords Chamber

[The Deputy Speaker (Lord Faulkner of Worcester) (Lab)]

Short questions will enable more noble Lords to be called in this session. I call the noble Baroness, Lady Goudie.

[Baroness Goudie (Lab) [V]]

My Lords, international travel is a great thing. We should encourage it, at least in normal times and with proper respect for the environment. However, at this time, we must think not only of those who are able to and those who do not travel abroad but of all those within these islands. They must be protected from infections coming from abroad. There must be testing at airports. If 77% are reliable, that is far from being enough. There must be second testing. Testing is vital. It needs to be at airports worldwide, and we should lead this initiative. I ask the Minister to take this forward.

[Baroness Vere of Norbiton (Con)]

As I previously mentioned, the Government are taking this forward as quickly as we can. We need to be assured of the evidence and to make sure that, if there is testing not only at the airport but at any border into the country, it is efficacious and does the job. At the moment we are not there, but I reassure the noble Baroness that we are looking at it. Obviously we would like to put it into place as soon as possible, but we will not do so unless it will make sure that our citizens remain safe.

People Trafficking

Baroness Goudie Excerpts

Thursday 2nd February 2012 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Goudie]

My Lords, I congratulate the noble and right reverend Lord, Lord Eames, on arranging to have this short debate. As short as it is, it is very important to raise the profile of human trafficking. I declare that I am a pro bono member of the Vital Voices Global Partnership board, and chairman of the Women Leaders’ Council of the United Nations. I congratulate this and the previous Government on what they have done in taking the lead on human trafficking globally but today, in the few minutes that I have, I will concentrate on the question of forced labour. That is now becoming a huge issue in this country in the agricultural trade, in the diplomatic service and in the building and construction industry.

I ask the Government and the Minister to consider looking at the Athens protocol, which was agreed two years ago, and setting up a government inquiry, like the Davies report, to persuade companies to sign up to the Athens ethical agreement. This would mean that companies would look at the source of their goods and the source of their labour. If this was signed up to and the BIS department was involved in this, we could help to eradicate the question of forced labour in the whole of the United Kingdom. This is an area where we have very few prosecutions—and where we have them, they are not very large. There are sometimes very small fines. We also have to remember that no trafficked person lives a very long life and that this is a cash industry. That is why the Government now have to take a longer stand on forced labour, in particular, as I said, in the agricultural trade, in diplomacy and in the building trade.

--- Later in debate ---

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, I am sure that interested organisations will read this debate in Hansard. If they want to send me the right questions to ask interested parties, I will take careful note of them.

[Baroness Goudie]

Will the Government consider fining Eurostar for letting in trafficked people, as happens with airlines?

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, I think the noble Baroness is referring to the controls imposed on airlines where the passenger does not have the correct document. I am confident that Eurostar will not willingly allow someone to be trafficked. However, we need to understand that this is an activity of those involved in organised crime who are extremely skilful at achieving their ends.

Motion to Adjourn

People Trafficking

Baroness Goudie Excerpts

Monday 7th March 2011 Lords Chamber

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, I am certainly not unduly optimistic, and I was far more apprehensive about taking this Question than the previous Question. Trafficking is a hidden crime and, for that reason, is difficult to measure and detect. It is usually for sexual exploitation, labour exploitation or domestic servitude. Some 1,048 individuals were referred to the UK’s human trafficking victim identification and support framework, the national referral mechanism, from 1 April 2009 to 30 September 2010. Those are the ones whom we know about because they have been referred, so to an extent the noble and learned Baroness is quite right—this is a serious problem.

[Baroness Goudie]

My Lords, is it not correct that the European convention on human trafficking was amended at the end of last year and that the United Kingdom has decided not to sign up to that amendment? Would it not be right now, after what the Minister has said further to what we know about human trafficking, for the Government to sign up to that? The amendment would ensure tougher border controls, tougher recovery of money across borders and a longer time for victims to be taken care of. Will the Minister please take this back since the UK is, through its Government, one of the two countries that has not signed up?