International Anti-Corruption Court

Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb Excerpts

Monday 2nd September 2024 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

I am always trepidatious when my noble friend stands up. Probably the best thing I can do is commit to raising the issue of the Covid corruption commissioner with my relevant colleagues in the Department of Health.

[Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (GP)]

The noble Lord opposite made a very good point that there seems to have been an awful lot of corruption over the past 14 years, and presumably into the future. Perhaps the unit needs better funding.

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

I will take on board the comments of the noble Baroness.

Artificial Light and Noise: Effects on Human Health (Science and Technology Committee Report)

Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb Excerpts

Thursday 9th May 2024 Grand Committee

[Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (GP)]

My Lords, I say a huge thank you to the noble Baroness, Lady Brown of Cambridge, for bringing this debate, which is well overdue—I say that not as a criticism but with relief that it has actually happened.

Back in 2000, three Greens, newly elected to the brand-new London Assembly, were made aware by a diligent staff member that London was about to fail the EU standards on clean air. We worked on that issue, and I have worked on it ever since. The evidence has stacked up on the damage that air pollution does to humans—often the poorest in society who live closest to large roads. The death of Ella Kissi-Debrah meant that it was understood that such pollution could cause deaths, as well as all sorts of other health issues. Ella was the first person in the world to have air pollution as a cause of death on her death certificate.

My work has included bringing a Private Member’s Bill to this House with some quite tough measures to clean up our air. It passed, but it is now languishing in the other place. However, not once that I can remember have we thought about the impact on wider, non-human ecosystems. As the Select Committee says, there are significant gaps in our research on all kinds of pollution. I was interested that the Government’s response was rather dismissive. I look forward to hearing the Minister’s explanation of that dismissiveness.

The excellent briefing from Buglife concentrates on research into artificial light pollution and lists a worrying number of detrimental impacts on all forms of wildlife and on humans. While I understand that the reduced number of meteors visible to us because of light pollution is a shame, it is the list of impacts on human health which disturbs me. It includes diabetes, depression and cancer from disrupted circadian rhythms, not to mention considerable consumption of electricity and greenhouse gas emissions.

Much more than that, the impact on insects, birds, bats, reptiles, sea-life, fish and crabs, and even plants such as corals—are they plants?—is truly worrying. Light pollution can confuse and alter feeding, life cycles and survival. There is a mantra: “No bees, no bugs, no food, no people”. Luckily, in the case of light and noise pollution, we have a Select Committee report that clearly outlines what we do not know but ought to know, and suggests some methods of getting there.

Noise pollution is easier for most of us to understand. Here in London, in Lambeth, I get woken by foxes shrieking, or even occasionally by my overhead neighbour’s clog-dancing classes, and we all hear aeroplanes. Aeroplane noise from Heathrow is painfully unbearable for many residents—apparently there is, on average, one complaint every five minutes. I completely support the point made by the noble Earl, Lord Russell, about better noise insulation in housing; that should be a must. With noise pollution, we get an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, coronary heart disease and strokes. That puts pressure on all other parts of society, such as children having to deal with ill parents, and on the NHS. It is not just a complicated issue but one that impacts society.

On noise pollution, there has been a fairly positive reaction from the Government, who say that work is under way. It would been good to hear an update from the Minister on how that work on noise pollution is going. The Select Committee argued that the current government approach to regulating noise and light pollution is “confused”, but instead of taking this report and accepting that there is a problem here for national government, we see excuses.

One possible bright point in the response is that the

“UKHSA will consider a dedicated team focusing on light and health”.


It would be lovely to hear an update on that dedicated team. However, the Government disagreed with the committee’s request for a statutory requirement for local authorities to report nuisance complaints to DLUHC, as this

“would introduce a new burden on stretched local authorities”.

That is because the Government have massively cut their budgets, so they can barely run the transport schemes that would reduce the number of cars on the road and so improve air pollution.

Finally, the Government argued that the committee’s

“recommendation that DLUHC should set out what resources local authorities should have to respond adequately to light and noise pollution policies would involve restricting the choices local authorities are able to make over their own staffing and funding priorities”.

The Government have no problem interfering in other areas of local authority work, so I wonder why not this one.

It is not as if this Government have not been warned. I do not just mean by the Select Committee today and by environmental activists like me. Back in 2009 there was a report from the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution, but almost none of its recommendations have been implemented. Perhaps the Minister could tell us why that is. My last question is: when is Defra going to take this seriously?

Finally, I am so delighted to be speaking before the noble Lord, Lord Krebs, because he says that when I speak, I make the rest of the speakers look reasonable. I thank him for that.

Forest Risk Commodity Regulations

Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb Excerpts

Tuesday 12th March 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Benyon (Con)]

The noble Lord is absolutely right: we have to practise what we preach domestically, which is why we have put an enormous amount of money through the Nature for Climate fund to promote that and through other schemes. We are encouraging land managers to look at tree planting and are seeing an increased number being planted. The supply chain to support that is so important. I have just come back from Costa Rica, which has doubled its tree cover in recent years, and we want to increase ours significantly in the UK.

[Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (GP)]

My Lords, do we have to continue with biomass subsidies after 2027? I would like some confirmation on that. Secondly, ancient forests in Canada are still being cut down to make wood pellets to supply companies such as Drax, which has had billions in subsidies. It is not clean energy, it is highly polluting and it is not economical, so why are the Government still doing that?

[Lord Benyon (Con)]

I will write to the noble Baroness about Drax, because it is a very complicated issue. It fits into the UK’s net zero balance sheet in terms of what Canada is doing, where the woodchip comes from. I want to be absolutely right in my answer, so I will write to her.

Sudan: Darfur

Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb Excerpts

Thursday 29th February 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Benyon (Con)]

I am very happy to work with the right reverend Prelate and anyone who has means of getting support to particular groups such as he suggests—not just faith groups. There is a fracturing of the whole civil society across Sudan, and those are precisely the people whom we need, first, to support those in need in the current situation and, then, to rebuild the country in the future. Something as simple as banking is very important, and I am very happy to look at any suggestions he has about how the Government could influence the banking community to continue to support organisations such as faith-based ones.

[Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (GP)]

My Lords, the Minister mentioned rebuilding. Has his department made any assessment of the damage to infrastructure in Darfur since April 2023—for example, the damage to water supplies, schools, medical facilities and humanitarian aid storage?

[Lord Benyon (Con)]

We have, and we are. This is obviously a continuing conflict; it appears that the RSF has taken large parts of Khartoum, so that part of the conflict is ongoing. In Darfur, I cannot give precise details, but part of the atrocities being committed is not just against people but against the infrastructure that supports them—such as those that the noble Baroness listed. In our package of international support to rebuild Sudan, we need to make sure we are rebuilding those assets that society will need.

Office for Environmental Protection

Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb Excerpts

Tuesday 23rd January 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Benyon (Con)]

I thank the noble Duke for his question. The report the OEP produced was for the year up to the end of March last year. In April we published our plan for water, which addresses many of the points the OEP raised. Of course, since then we have had the announcement of the large investment in water quality that we are requiring water companies to make. His point is interesting, and I have considered over many years whether we could have a better landscape of regulation of our water industry. What I want to urge is that there is an urgency about trying to tackle the problems. We have set ourselves very important targets, and if government were to indulge in navel-gazing over many months in trying to create a new body, we would miss our really important 2030 target, which Ministers are concentrating on.

[Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (GP)]

My Lords, we all have huge respect for the Minister—even I do —but he keeps repeating the same thing from the Government. Clearly, the report is not happy. It says that this is deeply concerning, adverse environmental trends continue and:

“Government must speed up … its efforts”.


Are the Government going to speed up their efforts?

[Lord Benyon (Con)]

We have a real sense of urgency in the department; it does not just stop at Ministers but goes right down through the agencies that are the delivery bodies for this. We could double the size of Natural England and the Environment Agency and we still would not hit the targets if we were not weaponising the most important people in terms of improving the environment: the people who control and manage the land. Completely changing how we support farming, from an area-based system to one that is improving nature and incentivising and rewarding farmers, is just one part of what we are doing. I have great respect for the noble Baroness as well, so I say to her: come in to Defra and sit down. I will take her through the most ambitious plan for our environment that this country has ever seen.

Poverty: International Development Aid

Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb Excerpts

Monday 15th January 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)]

I totally agree with my noble friend I am sure that Hansard will correct me otherwise, but I think I did mention trade. I agree that trade is part and parcel of this, which is why we are working with the BII and British investment partnerships to ensure that we raise and leverage more financing to ensure sustainability. It is not just about providing aid; this is about development support, which allows countries to really progress directly themselves, and we need private finance and the private sector to work hand in glove with us on this.

[Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (GP)]

My Lords, does the Minister, or rather do the Government, understand that there is a link between the super-rich getting richer—for example, five men have since 2020 been adding £14 million per hour to their wealth—versus 5 billion people who have fallen into greater poverty? There is a link between inequality and the whole issue of being able to mop up poverty. Do the Government understand that link?

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)]

The noble Baroness differentiated between me as a Minister of the Crown and the Government. I assure her that we are at one and we totally understand the connection that she makes, because it is right. That is why we must focus on the most vulnerable. Again, I reiterate our focus on issues of girls’ education and the empowerment of women, because it is the most vulnerable who suffer and inequalities fuel that. We will focus on this in many of our programmes. That is why my right honourable friend the Development Minister has published our figures beyond this year and into next year, to demonstrably show how we are increasing funding, notwithstanding the challenges we face with the reduction to 0.5%, to ensure that there is real transparency in the British Government’s spending.

Storms: Weather Resilience

Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb Excerpts

Thursday 11th January 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Benyon (Con)]

I entirely join my noble friend in saying what fantastic work the Environment Agency has done in reaction to these floods, along with the ongoing work it does in between to make sure that we are more resilient to them. Its annual maintenance programme activities are prioritised and timetabled using information from inspections, maintenance standards, levels of flood risk and legal and statutory obligations. Local teams work with partners, including drainage boards, on maintenance and dredging programmes. In 2022-23, the agency spent over £200 million on maintaining flood risk assets. In 2021, we announced an additional £22 million per year from 2022-25 for the maintenance of flood defences, and details can be found in our Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Report.

My noble friend also talked about farming. The flood recovery fund will pay for the uninsured costs of preparing arable land for planting crops or reseeding grass where it has been damaged, and our agricultural transition plan has a range of measures which will support farmers in these matters.

[Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (GP)]

My Lords, in the interest of helping this Government, who appear to have run out of good ideas on almost every topic, what about banning new building on flood plains?

[Lord Benyon (Con)]

I really want to know what the noble Baroness means by that. Does she mean that there should be no more houses built in York, Leeds, London or Exeter? It is not what you build; it is how you build and how resilient the buildings are to flooding. I entirely accept and agree with her that some appalling decisions were taken over the last half century, and houses have flooded because they should never have been built there. But we cannot ban the building of properties; we just have to make them resilient to flooding.

Ethiopia: Peace Process

Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb Excerpts

Monday 5th December 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)]

My Lords, equally, I know that the noble Lord has detailed insight of this area and particularly this conflict. As he and I discussed only a couple of weeks ago in a very—as ever—informed debate in your Lordships’ House, there is great hope for Ethiopia. Of course, however, I take on board his practical suggestion and I assure him that, at the highest level, we will look to engage. It is not just about Eritrean forces withdrawing; they need to withdraw now.

[Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (GP)]

My Lords, this conflict has been going on for two years. In that time, thousands have been killed and raped, people have lost their homes and livelihoods, and they are starving. Now the World Health Organization says that it does not have access to all areas in Tigray. What are the UK Government doing about that?

Tigray Province: Ceasefire Agreement

Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb Excerpts

Tuesday 15th November 2022 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (GP)]

My Lords, I too congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Browne, on bringing this debate. It is a war that has been going on for two years and about which we hear almost nothing here in Britain. It is very hard to follow two such powerful speeches, and I congratulate both speakers on their knowledge of the area.

In the mid-1990s, in the last century, I worked for three months as an archaeologist in Axum in Tigray. It was not long since another war had finished. The people were quite shocked. There had been a lot of death and distress. There was very little food—no fruit or vegetables—because they had not been able to sow their harvest or crop their food. Life was very hard, and it seems that yet again they are experiencing this sort of life.

In two years, 2.5 million inhabitants have been displaced, at least 600,000 innocent civilians have been killed, and the young have been robbed of a prosperous future. Nearly one in three children under five in Tigray is malnourished; 29% of very young children are suffering from global acute malnutrition; and more than half of pregnant or breastfeeding women are also malnourished. This is not just an immediate problem but a problem that will persist for decades as those people move on and those children live lives made worse by the experiences that they have had. I very much welcome the fact that both previous speakers spoke of the sexual violence that has been happening. Women and young girls have been subject to sexual violence and torture by Eritrean and Ethiopian forces. These are war crimes.

The recent ceasefire agreement between the TPLF and the Ethiopian Government is obviously very welcome and comes as a relief for the victims. The fighters will enter a disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration programme while the Government have assured us that they will cease hostilities and enable humanitarian agencies to deliver much-needed aid to the Tigray region.

However, there is never any room for complacency; as with all wars, the prospect of a reignited conflict is always possible. Britain should do all it can diplomatically and financially to ensure that Ethiopia does not experience yet another political conflagration. As the Rwanda reconciliation model has shown, post-conflict stabilisation is possible but, for it to succeed, the country needs to have a conversation with itself to address the underlying tensions and trauma experienced by victims. There has to be a judicial process, as in Rwanda, bringing perpetrators of genocide and crimes against humanity to justice so that victims can have some level of peace. There need to be educational programmes, which Britain and the UN can organise, teaching the young the importance of peace and democracy.

Of course, all this is put at risk by the humanitarian crisis that the Tigray region faces today. A combination of fuel costs and lack of access due to fighting has prevented the delivery of vital medical aid and food supplies. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a report that a

“limited number of commercial transporters”

are

“available for the northern Ethiopian response”.

In addition, a lack of harvests has meant that 4.6 million people are food-insecure and facing famine. This is not the foundation of a lasting peace but could be a reason for further violence down the line. Britain should surely take a proactive role in leading the humanitarian effort, along with aid agencies and the UN—in facilitating the logistical task of delivering tonnes of supplies to affected areas, utilising all its available resources and assets.

I have two questions for the Minister, which have sort of been covered already. First, can the Government make assurances that they will provide financial and logistical assistance to Ethiopia and ensure that humanitarian aid is delivered safely to areas most in need? Secondly, can the Government reaffirm their commitment to regional security in east Africa by communicating to the Ethiopian Government that humanitarian agencies must be allowed unhindered access to the Tigray region?

Iran: Women Protesters

Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb Excerpts

Wednesday 9th November 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)]

My Lords, we will and I do so now.

[Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (GP)]

My Lords, the Minister mentioned that sanctions had been put on some of the morality police and others. What were those sanctions? Could there not be sanctions on much higher-profile people, such as the ruling caste?

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)]

My Lords, the noble Baroness rightly raises the issue of sanctions. The sanctions are consistent in their application in terms of travel bans, finances and bank accounts held. She will know that I cannot speculate on future sanctions policy, but I assure her that we are considering very carefully every element and tool at our disposal in our response to Iran.