Afghanistan

Baroness Jolly Excerpts

Wednesday 18th August 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Jolly (LD)]

My Lords, I echo the gratitude of noble Lords for the efforts and sacrifices of our Armed Forces over many years in Afghanistan.

Yesterday we watched, with alarm, the return of the Taliban, taking front of stage in Kabul, projecting a new, softer public image. There is no doubt that many fear the Taliban. They have seen them at work and are alarmed for their personal safety, and particularly that of women and girls.

I want to talk about the NATO occupation. Clearly there has been a catastrophic failure in the performance of the regular Afghan army during the last month. The reasons, as opposed to journalists’ speculation, are likely to be many and complex. However, we cannot ignore the fact that, for at least the last decade or more, the US and UK have been heavily involved in equipping and training that army. In any inquiry into this debacle—and there must be an inquiry, which should be independent and not internal—it is important that the implications of the Afghan army’s collapse to a much smaller and less well-equipped force are properly analysed and that changes are implemented.

I also raise a concern that either the rapid collapse was recognised as a significant risk factor in the contingency planning for the timely and safe evacuation of people we are responsible for, or the possibility of rapid collapse was not recognised, which would indicate a serious failure of intelligence. As my noble friend Lord Dholakia said, our cultures are different; we do not always think in the same way. We continually underestimate the ability of our foes and overestimate our own and that of our allies.

One real concern for the future is immediate: the impact of this military and political defeat on the refugee crisis which will arise in the next few months and years—not just directly from Afghanistan and neighbouring countries but from the effect on other regimes emboldened by the failure of western democracies’ collective foreign policy, for example in sub-Saharan Africa. Our current government strategy of creating a hostile environment to refugees to discourage crossings of the English Channel is as effective as a Woodentop army battle plan. The Dover Strait is not the place to conduct an exercise in “comfort persuasion”, when refugees have already demonstrated their determination to escape brutal regimes by clinging to the undercarriages of aircraft about to get airborne or walking across a continent—or two—to get to Calais.

Working with our allies, we need to create a safe conduit so that refugees are welcome and their asylum applications rapidly assessed, and they are then supported properly into our communities. This will not be cheap either in monetary terms or, I suspect, in electoral popularity—but it is the price to be paid for political and military failure.

Covid 19: Winter Plan

Baroness Jolly Excerpts

Tuesday 24th November 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park (Con)]

As I said, the decisions on Christmas have just been made, so I probably do not have full information. As I said, between 23 and 27 December, up to three households will be able to join together to form an exclusive Christmas bubble. Everyone can be in one bubble only and cannot change that bubble during this time period. The bubble will be able to spend time together in private homes, attend places of worship or meet in a public outdoor place. Beyond this, people should follow the local restrictions in the area in which they are staying. I will speak to my noble friend Lord Bethell about the noble Lord’s other question.

[Baroness Jolly (LD) [V]]

My Lords, I echo the plaudits of my noble friend Lord Newby for the team in Oxford that developed a viable, stable, successful and inexpensive vaccine. Does the noble Baroness have any clear idea when the vaccination programme will start? Will it start all across England at the same time? Who will be responsible for carrying out the vaccinations? How many will be trained to do this? They do not need to be clinicians.

On behaviour in churches, can congregations now sing?

Moving to testing, last month, in round figures, of the 315,000 people who were identified as having come into close contact with someone who tested positive, only 60% were reached and asked to self-isolate, and that figure was little changed from the record low of the previous month. It means that 126,000 people with coronavirus were not contacted and, therefore, were not isolating and so were infecting others. Are the Government are satisfied with this? We have had months to make this more effective. Why can we not do better?

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park (Con)]

Well, there will be further guidance on carol singing, I am assured, so the noble Baroness can keep an eye out for that.

On vaccines, obviously the safety of the public comes first. A Covid vaccine will be approved for use only once it has met robust standards. In relation to the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, the Health Secretary has asked the MHRA to begin its assessment of this vaccine, and Pfizer/BioNTech has begun supplying data to the MHRA. But it is an entirely independent process, so that will be done in time. As I have said, we anticipate a number of safe and effective vaccines available in 2021.

Syria: UK Military Action

Baroness Jolly Excerpts

Wednesday 2nd December 2015 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Jolly (LD)]

My Lords, recent research by Charles Lister, a visiting fellow at the Brookings Doha Center, found after interviewing Syrians of all faiths and sects that they valued their pluralist society of old and wanted to return to the days when Christians and Druze were friends and all lived on the same street. The debate today allows us to debate whether the action proposed by the Government will contribute to this aspiration.

After much deliberation, Lib Dem MPs are supporting the Government based on five criteria or principles: that the action should be legal; that there should be a diplomatic framework; that we should lead pressure on the Gulf states and Turkey to re-engage; and that there should be a post-Daesh plan that includes an exit strategy. At home, we should look into foreign funding for British extremist groups, do better on refugees and adopting the Save the Children plan for child refugees, publish the report on the Muslim Brotherhood and, finally, work on all of this with our European neighbours to co-ordinate our action plan against Daesh.

Any military action by the UK must be part of a wider international effort involving all who have an interest in defeating Daesh, which is not an army but a collective mafia. This would be as a prelude to ending the conflict in Syria and Iraq. The effort must include Russia, Iran and Turkey. The Government should use all efforts to ensure that the Vienna talks succeed in bringing together the broadest possible support for action to end the war in Syria and effect political transition, as well as physical and economic reconstruction.

One thing that has not been mentioned so far but must be addressed is the appallingly high unemployment rate among young men and women across MENA: to be disenfranchised, educated and unemployed is just what appeals to Daesh recruiters. The UK should lead a concerted international effort to put pressure on the Gulf states to stop their nationals funding jihadi groups within the region and worldwide.

Daesh collects taxes, and even VAT, and a cash economy does not suit its way of working: it uses banks. Oil and gas plundered from Syria and Iraq is finding its way on to the world market and putting $3 million a day straight into Daesh coffers. Although I know that we all differ on that figure, whatever it is, it is an awful lot. At the moment it looks very much as if Turkey is complicit, allowing transit across its borders and then into the international market. We need to deny Daesh use of world banking systems and oil markets.

Daesh is not short of arms and armour. It took American kit from Iraq and Russian kit from Syria, but, as I read in a new report yesterday, and contrary to what the noble Lord, Lord King, said, it needs ammunition. There will always be an arms trader who wants to make an easy dollar, renminbi, rouble, euro or pound. Is the Minister confident that no Daesh oil is finding its way into our markets? I would be grateful if he would also explain to the House the moves being taken to curb the sale of oil and ammunition, and the stops on banking, in particular in Syria.

At home, we call on the Government to step up their acceptance of Syrian refugees and to opt in to Save the Children’s proposal to rehome 3,000 unaccompanied refugee children from within Europe. For politicians, your Lordships will understand that this works out at about five children per constituency.

My challenge to the Government is to ensure that debates over military intervention do not drown out the cries of those desperate for our help, and that we keep our eyes very much on the plight of the Syrians and plan for their future—a future of community, peace and growth. I support the Government in this and, along with my colleagues in the House of Commons, I very much hope that our support is not in vain.

Alcohol Consumption

Baroness Jolly Excerpts

Tuesday 27th January 2015 Lords Chamber

[Lord Harrison]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of policies to reduce alcohol consumption, what discussions they have had with supermarkets about the range of strengths of alcoholic drinks they supply.

[Baroness Jolly (LD)]

My Lords, the Government have long worked with the alcohol industry to reduce health and social harm. Supermarkets are committed to all relevant alcohol pledges under the public health responsibility deal, and have contributed to removing 1.3 billion units of alcohol from the market by reducing strength; 80% of labels now have the correct health information; and there is the promise not to sell any carbonated drink with more than four units of alcohol in a single-serve can.

[Lord Harrison (Lab)]

To help supermarkets communicate with their customers, will the Government consider providing a legal definition of lighter wine, as well as exploring duty differentiation in wines to provide a service that will enable people to choose lighter wines? Finally, will the Government encourage the average strength of house wine to be lowered where such house wines are sold in pubs, restaurants and, indeed, here in the House of Lords?

--- Later in debate ---

[Baroness Jolly]

The noble Lord is right in that all the major supermarkets and chains have worked really hard to reduce the amount of alcohol in the wine, beer and spirits that they sell. However, one thing they are not particularly good at—with the exception, perhaps, of Morrisons and Asda—is having separate spaces within each supermarket where wines with lower levels of alcohol are displayed. On the question of the House wine, I am happy to have a word with the Secretary of State about that.

[Baroness Gardner of Parkes (Con)]

My Lords, is the Minister aware that some time ago we were told that the calorific value of a glass of wine would be published? Why is that not proceeding, because it is quite an incentive for people who are not too worried about the alcoholic effects but are concerned—as we all should be—about obesity?

[Baroness Jolly]

We should all be concerned about the alcoholic effects as well. Currently, not all wine bottles have calorific labelling, although there is labelling that relates to anxiety about pregnant women, but I will have to come back to Peers on that.

[Lord Turnberg (Lab)]

My Lords, is the Minister aware that whenever the price of alcohol goes up—above the level of inflation—the incidence of deaths from liver disease goes down? Will the Government consider increasing taxation on alcohol to take it above the level of inflation so that we will see a reduction in liver disease?

[Baroness Jolly]

The noble Lord is right. Alcohol consumption has fallen, as has the number of alcohol-related deaths, due to the increase in taxation on alcohol by this Government and possibly previous Governments. Nevertheless, harmful effects such as liver disease, as well as social impacts linked to alcohol, such as crime and domestic violence, remain much too high.

[Baroness Cumberlege (Con)]

Does my noble friend agree that there is great merit in keeping the pubs open and that single men who are lonely and depressed are very often welcomed into pubs? Their spirits are raised—in all senses of the word—and they then are not a burden on the National Health Service.

[Baroness Jolly]

I am not quite sure. I can tell noble Lords about licensing. We are actively working with Public Health England on the practicalities of how health-related objectives for the licensing of premises selling alcohol would work at a local level.

[Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe (Lab)]

My Lords, while we welcome the reduction in the amount of alcohol being sold in certain areas, is it not true that growth is taking place in other areas? In particular, the drinks industry is trying to get its brands into the heads of young people. Is the Minister content to see supermarkets now selling alcoholic lemonade that is stronger than many beers? Is she content to see them selling ginger beer and other soft drinks with more alcohol than is contained in many beers? Should we not be doing something about that?

--- Later in debate ---

[Baroness Jolly]

Yes, indeed, and that has been done already. There is a commitment on the amount of alcohol that can be contained in fizzy, canned drinks.

[Lord Krebs (CB)]

My Lords—

--- Later in debate ---

[Lord Krebs]

My Lords, can the Minister give us some information on the Government’s current assessment of the public health benefits of a 50 pence per unit minimum price for alcohol, which has been recommended by the Chief Medical Officer, among many others?

[Baroness Jolly]

We are keeping the developing evidence on minimum unit pricing under review. It has only ever been one part of the Government’s strategy, which, as I have explained, includes a wide range of national and local actions, including partnership with industry and increased powers for local communities to take action.

[Lord Phillips of Sudbury]

Will my noble friend assure the House that the Government will continue to resist the temptation of yet more legislation in this area and rely on persuasion? Secondly, can she tell us whether the existing law is being enforced? My suspicion is that it is extremely patchy.

[Baroness Jolly]

I know that as part of the responsibility deal there has been a big move by Public Health Ministers at the Department of Health to drive down the number of alcohol units being sold. As I have said, that number has been significantly reduced—by 1.3 million units.

[Baroness Armstrong of Hill Top (Lab)]

Is the Minister satisfied that supermarkets have done enough—it is voluntary, as she said—to reduce the amount of high-value alcohol products being sold cheaply as loss leaders?

[Baroness Jolly]

There is always more to be done in this area.

Mid Staffordshire Foundation Trust Inquiry

Baroness Jolly Excerpts

Wednesday 6th February 2013 Lords Chamber

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, I remind the House of the benefit of short questions in order that my noble friend the Leader of the House can answer as many questions as possible, which I am sure he is very keen to do. If necessary, I can help.

[Baroness Jolly]

My Lords, we, too, welcome the Francis report, and the many recommendations that we believe will strengthen the whole NHS. In particular, we welcome Francis’s recommendation of a statutory duty of candour: the duty of a clinician to explain and apologise when things go wrong. When and how does my noble friend see this being implemented?

[Lord Hill of Oareford]

As my noble friend said, Robert Francis certainly recommended a statutory duty of candour, and my right honourable friend the Secretary of State will give full consideration to that. So far, he has said that he will work through all 290 recommendations in the report, and that the Government aim to give an initial response within a month. Precisely what the timeframe will be on all these elements, I cannot say. As my noble friend will know, in the interim we created legally binding rules that require the NHS Commissioning Board to insert a contractual duty of candour into the NHS standard contract in 2013-14. That means that NHS hospitals will be required contractually to tell patients when they have been significantly harmed by a patient-safety incident during their care. Otherwise, I take my noble friend’s point on board.

Queen’s Speech

Baroness Jolly Excerpts

Wednesday 9th May 2012 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Jolly]

My Lords, I beg to second my noble friend’s Motion for an humble Address. I thank my noble friend Lord Cope of Berkeley for all his help, support and advice, most timely, in making this speech. I am told that this is a great honour bestowed on me by my Chief Whip and my leader, and I am minded of the great privilege and responsibility that it is to second the Motion for an humble Address. Invariably, it is asked of someone new to the House. New, gullible and always willing to please, I said yes. The advice given was to aim for something like a maiden speech and to make it amusing, with topical political content—but please, no jokes. I confess that I did not know what I was letting myself in for, but on doing some research I discovered that I was not alone. Research into recent seconders suggest that many said, “Yes, fine”, to their Chief Whips, too, but that they had no clear understanding either of the import of the occasion. With the noble and learned Baroness, Lady Scotland, and the noble Lord, Lord Bragg, professional communicators both, as previous seconders, I am in rarefied company indeed—no pressure there, then.

In the gracious Speech, there was a reaffirmation of the commitment to keep aid spending at 0.7% of gross national income from 2013. Times are tough, but we should not balance our budget on the back of the world’s poorest. That is quite timely, as this week I am joining several Members of your Lordships’ House, led by the formidable duo, the noble Baroness, Lady Jenkin of Kennington, and the Lord Speaker, in living on £1 a day to highlight the fact that there are 1.4 billion people around the world living on just that amount or less. So, at parties yesterday and today, the Lord Speaker and I have both been there with our glass of water and saying, “Thank you very much” to the nice nibbles that have been offered to us.

I know that on this matter the Economic Affairs Select Committee suggests that the effectiveness of the programme is more important than ensuring that the target is met. I suggest that we never take our eye off ensuring that aid programmes are effective, but neither should we lower our sights on offering structured support to the poorest in the world.

Rural Cornwall is my home, tucked under Bodmin Moor. The economy is poor—75% of the European average. We do a lovely line in holidays and splendid food: fish, baby new potatoes, cauliflowers, strawberries and dairy products, clotted cream, cheese and of course the pasty. My honourable friends in the other House have spent a lot of time telling the media what their view is on the pasty; I shall just say that I enjoy one every third Saturday.

Supermarkets want fine produce on their shelves, but they drive hard bargains and sometimes cut rough. They try to pass risk and costs from themselves to providers. Farmers’ margins are squeezed, keeping wages low, which reflects in our economy. I welcome the legislation announced today, the Groceries Code Adjudicator Bill—a catchy title—which gives an arbitrator the role of making binding decisions in such cases where there are disputes between retailers and direct suppliers.

Your Lordships’ House spent many hours in the previous Session on the Health and Social Care Bill, now an Act. Throughout the Bill were woven duties about the integration of health and social care, but it was silent on key issues around social care. I welcome the promise of a White Paper on adult social care later this month, and today’s announcement of a draft Bill on adult care and support.

It seems strange to say this in this Chamber, but we all know that ageing is not easy. We must start involving people early in the planning for their old age, and that includes pensions. If you need care in London, your care needs will not change if you move to Leeds or Launceston. We need to see a national system of eligibility, with information and advice available to help navigate it. The Dilnot commission reported last summer that funding for care is a fraught subject, so built into the next spending review should be a decision about a mechanism to be used and the timescale for its implementation. These issues attract all-party support. They are difficult and not without cost, but the problem will not go away. The demographics are clear, and something has to be done.

I was introduced into the House eight months into the coalition, in the week that the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill began. I remember a discussion about the Pannick amendment in the Bishops’ Bar—I note that the noble Lord is not in his place—and I wondered exactly what level of desperation could drive a Peer to table an amendment in panic. How did one lay such an amendment? Such was the level of my ignorance. I learnt very quickly that it was not that sort of panic, and that the noble Lord in question would never let anything get to a state of desperation.

To me, the coalition was quite normal. It was an agreement entered into that met the needs of the time. It was all that I knew. There were bits that I was unhappy about and that our partners in coalition were unhappy about, but a deal had been done and we honoured it. There were days when I—and, I suspect, many others—supported some elements of, say, LASPO and welfare reform with a heavy heart, but it was an agreement and tough decisions had to be made. That is what a partnership is about.

I need to make a second confession: I knew very little of my noble friend Lord Cope of Berkeley. A quick glance in Dod’s told me about his illustrious career in the other place and then latterly as Chief Whip in your Lordships’ House—nearly 40 years of service to Parliament and a fine record—but what was really telling was that my noble friend lists his recreation as a Derby Bentley motor car, not rare stamps or the 20th century novel, or even just a Bentley, but a Derby Bentley made only between 1933 and 1939 and which is now nearly as rare as hens’ teeth. That is what I call style. I am mindful of the unwritten brief for this speech, borne out by research, that I am expected to develop the Chief Whip’s style, so is style a prerequisite for a Chief Whip? Here, I know I walk on eggshells. The Chief Whip of Her Majesty’s Opposition must get into this category. Anyone wearing crushed raspberry suede pixie shoes into the Chamber shows style, if not taste. My noble friend Lady Anelay of St Johns—nothing out of place, always stylish and taste personified—is one who can communicate volumes with the lift of an eyebrow.

Now I turn to my own Bench. My noble friend Lord Shutt of Greetland has a style of his own. He served as Lib Dem Chief Whip for seven years, the last two as government Deputy Chief Whip. He had the difficult task of exhorting a group of Lib Dem Peers to support the Government in coalition when previously they were given to guerrilla tactics to make a point. That cannot have been easy. If you believe the tweets of the Chief Whip of Her Majesty’s Opposition, he has done it with Stalinist authority. Contrary to popular belief, he is willing to poke fun at himself and tells stories of fitting his less than slender body into the uniform of the Captain of the Queen’s Bodyguard of the Yeoman of the Guard. He was the 100th person to hold that office and the first Liberal to do so in 80 years. We are proud of him and will miss his direct Yorkshire ways in our group meetings and on the Front Bench. On behalf of us all, I wish him well as he joins us on the Back Benches.

The baton—or perhaps it should be sword and spurs—has now passed to my noble friend Lord Newby. I had not realised what a green process it is as far as the uniform is concerned. Not a penny of taxpayers’ money is wasted. I understand that, thanks to excellent tailoring, it is very much a case of reduce, reuse and recycle. My noble friend Lord Newby, another Yorkshireman, is well known to your Lordships as Lib Dem Treasury spokesman and a member of the Ecclesiastical Committee, but he also has form with tricky political situations. He was chief executive of the SDP for its final five years, press officer to my noble friend Lord Ashdown and chief of staff to Charles Kennedy throughout his leadership, right to the end, which were all jobs that brought their challenges. I am sure this Session will bring him testing times, too. We welcome his appointment and will try not to cause more than a modicum of bother. I am also sure that we will determine his style.

I have never watched the State Opening of Parliament on television or been part of such a rich pageant as today, and it has been truly remarkable. The Queen, with her 60 years of experience and duty, calm and poised delivering the gracious Speech outlining our work for this Session, makes even this Liberal Democrat feel a warm glow of pride in the occasion. When we meet again after the debate on the Queen’s Speech, we will bring to this Chamber our differing backgrounds and political convictions—or none—to scrutinise what the elected Chamber and our elected leaders have proposed. We will live in interesting times, and I look forward to it.

Motion to Adjourn

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