Clean Air (Human Rights) Bill [HL]

Debate between Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb and Lord Randall of Uxbridge

Committee stage
Friday 18th November 2022 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (GP)]

My Lords, I thank everyone who has helped me get the Bill to this point—it has been a lot of people. This is quite a momentous moment, because this is a very important Bill. Air pollution is the UK’s largest environmental health risk. This Bill will set England and Wales on course to comply with the World Health Organization’s new air quality guidelines in the next five to 10 years; it will achieve our carbon budgets and protect our natural environment. Just as we followed the science for Covid-19, we must follow the science with the air pollution pandemic.

There have been several important international developments since the Second Reading of my Bill on 8 July, which I wish to highlight. We are also much closer to two important anniversaries, which I shall remind noble Lords about.

On 28 July, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution recognising the right to

“a clean, healthy and sustainable environment”

as a human right. The resolution calls on states, international organisations and business enterprises

“to scale up efforts to ensure a clean, healthy and sustainable environment for all”,

with 161 countries voting in favour, including the UK, and none against. That means that the Government have signed up to a UN resolution to make clean air a human right. My Bill turns that declaration into something meaningful in England and Wales. Today, here in your Lordships’ House, I hope that we will do the Government’s work for them by making clean air a fundamental and legally enforceable human right for people in this country.

On 26 October, the European Commission published its proposals for the revision of the European Union’s ambient air quality directives, after more than four years of analysis, discussion and consultations. It has proposed new limit values for fine particulate matter, so-called PM2.5, and nitrogen dioxide, so-called NO₂, to be attained by 1 January 2030 and put the EU on track to achieve zero pollution for air by 2050.

Important upcoming anniversaries include the 70th anniversary of the Great Smog of 5-9 December 1952 and the 10th anniversary of the tragic death of Ella Roberta Adoo Kissi-Debrah, aged nine, on 15 February 2013. I am very grateful to her mother, Rosamund Kissi-Debrah, for being here today, listening to this debate and agreeing that the Clean Air (Human Rights) Bill could be called Ella’s law. We will be doing this for Ella and children like her, but also for all of us, so that none of us has to suffer from poisoned air. So my Bill is very timely. In fact, it is being presented in the right place at the right time to address the public health, environmental and climate emergencies that we face.

I am grateful to everyone who spoke at Second Reading or has spoken to me since about the Bill. The noble Baroness, Lady Jones of Whitchurch, has asked me to highlight her support for my Bill in her necessary absence today. The noble Baroness, Lady Finlay of Llandaff, pointed out that the issue of internal air pollution in schools and homes is also extremely dangerous. She is also unable to be here today. The noble Lord, Lord Moylan, raised issues that we have recognised. Other noble Lords have written, showing how the standards in my Bill can be achieved or used to deliver clean air.

As noble Lords will remember, in my opening speech at Second Reading I thanked the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee for scrutinising my Bill and confirmed that I would propose amendments to the Bill to address its three recommendations. I have therefore tabled amendments here in Committee to deliver on my assurances. Those amendments slightly delayed Committee for my Bill until today, so I took the opportunity to table a small number of other amendments to make my Bill as perfect as possible. In total, I have tabled four types of amendments in a single group for debate, which covers all amendments.

These are, first, on time extensions. An amendment to Clause 1 would allow the Secretary of State to

“postpone the deadline for a particular pollutant in relation to a specified area by a maximum of five years subject to strict conditions”

where the initial deadline cannot be achieved. No time extension would be possible beyond 1 January 2033. A consequential amendment is proposed for local authorities.

This amendment would mean, for example, that the Government could delay the deadline to comply with the World Health Organization’s new air quality guideline for annual mean concentrations of fine particulate matter in one or more zones to January 2033. This is long enough, given that the European Commission’s press release announcing its recent proposals included a baseline map showing that this guideline would be achieved across most of the UK by 2030. The conditions I have tabled for this postponement would ensure that the Minister’s feet are still held to the fire—that is quite a graphic image; I am sorry about that.

Secondly, a new clause would set limit values for fine particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide of 10 and 20 micrograms per cubic metre respectively, to be attained by 1 January 2030. These would act as interim thresholds or backstop targets, depending on the progress made, and would match the latest European proposals. An additional limit value for nitrogen dioxide of 40 micrograms per cubic metre, to be attained by 1 January 2024, would strengthen existing obligations. This amendment builds on debates in this House on the Environment Act and international developments.

Thirdly, my amendments respond to three recommendations from the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee that I accepted in a letter to the committee dated 4 July, and in my opening speech at Second Reading. In essence, these amendments would align parts of my Bill relating to the tightening of future standards after Royal Assent more closely to mechanisms in the Climate Change Act 2008 which require the Secretary of State to “comply” or “explain” to Parliament. The tightening of future standards would require a draft of the instrument to be laid before and approved by resolution of each House of Parliament. These technical changes would be achieved by a new clause which would replace several subsections in Clause 2, and the substitution of several subsections in the existing Clause 3. Together, these amendments would improve my Bill, and I am grateful to the committee for drawing my attention to the need for them.

Fourthly, I have taken the opportunity to table a small number of other amendments to improve my Bill and correct several omissions and typographical errors—for example, adding Network Rail alongside other public authorities; substituting the new citizens’ commission for clean air for the Environment Agency when reviewing and revising standards and advising Ministers; substituting the World Health Organization for the International Organization for Standardization in relation to indoor air pollutants; adding standards aligned to the World Health Organization’s good practice statements for ultrafine particles—PM0.1—in indoor and outdoor air and its air quality guideline for 24-hour mean nitrogen dioxide in indoor air; and, finally, correcting the name of Highways England to National Highways, following its rebranding in 2021.

These amendments will give the UK the best and most up-to-date clean air standards in the world, and they each improve an incredibly strong Bill. Together, they make my Bill oven-ready for the Government to adopt. They can take it and run, and do something fantastic for the UK. For those who want more, or something slightly different, I encourage them to present evidence to Ministers, the citizens’ commission for clean air, and public authorities once my Bill has achieved Royal Assent and given them new powers and duties. If I can, I would be very happy to help in that process if it will deliver clean air sooner.

As I said in July, let us give Rosamund “Ella’s law” on the 70th anniversary of the great smog and before the 10th anniversary of Ella’s death on 15 February 2023. I hope your Lordships will support my amendments today and that the Government will agree to allow my Bill time to progress in the other place early in the new year and to reach Royal Assent.

[Lord Randall of Uxbridge (Con)]

My Lords, I rise very briefly; I do not want to detain this Committee for long, because there is other important business. Having been a bit of an expert on Private Members’ Bills down the other end, I know that time is of the essence.

I congratulate the noble Baroness, Lady Jones, on bringing this forward. I am sure her amendments will improve the Bill—whether that is the view of the Government, we shall see. We will be told that this matter is too big for a Private Member’s Bill—it is one of those things; I may have even had to say it myself once or twice—but I urge my noble friend on the Front Bench to see it as an opportunity. If there are things in the Bill which are not quite to the Government’s liking, there is ample opportunity to change them. I am sure that the noble Baroness, within reason, will allow that, without a complete filleting of her Bill.

We have waited too long for proper clean air legislation. We tried to introduce provisions to what is now the Environment Act. We owe it to the people who live with the consequences of this pollution, which unfortunately people are dying from. I urge the Minister to take this back and say that it is a golden opportunity to do something really wonderful. The Government could take pride in being part of a world-beating Bill, which is the sort of thing I believe they like saying.

Domestic Abuse Bill

Debate between Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb and Lord Randall of Uxbridge

Committee stage & Committee: 3rd sitting (Hansard) & Committee: 3rd sitting (Hansard): House of Lords
Monday 1st February 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (GP)]

My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow the noble Lord, Lord Cormack. I will make a rare comment for Committee: I think the clauses are very well written and could go unamended. They do what needs to be done and do it well, so I congratulate the Minister and officials on them. I hope they will make it easier and more straightforward for people to get legal protections against an abusive partner or ex-partner.

The one area I am a bit concerned about—which might be because I do not understand its import—is Amendment 81 from the noble Lord, Lord Ponsonby. I feel it is inappropriate to put any sort of coercive requirement on people to attend drug, alcohol and mental health programmes. These are things that people should enter into willingly; it would be dangerous to start imposing criminal penalties on people for not taking them up. I do not understand this amendment, because they are made to go to them only if they agree to them. I would like a bit of explanation on this.

Although drugs and mental health can be causative factors in domestic abuse, it is better to place the restrictions on the abusive behaviours themselves rather than to try to force people to obtain help. This is especially true as the success of these programmes can be quite variable. Merely attending a programme is not a magic cure for addictions or mental illness; it is much better to focus on outcomes and effects rather than simply forcing someone to follow a set process. This is not to say that these programmes should not be well supported and strongly encouraged—they absolutely should—but criminalising addiction and mental illness is a dangerous and, I think, unhappy policy to pursue. I look forward to the Minister providing assurances on this issue.

[Lord Randall of Uxbridge (Con) [V]]

My Lords, it is always a pleasure to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Jones of Moulsecoomb, particularly when she is in full approval mode—I have no problem agreeing with her. I also have no problem agreeing with her concerns around Amendment 81. I am in two minds on this; like her, I wish to hear my noble friend give examples of where these courses might be necessary for those who do not volunteer for them. I can understand that the effectiveness of a course is not always guaranteed and that, if someone goes on it unwillingly, that does not necessarily mean that they will benefit from it, although they might. I would like to probe that; I heard what was said in the previous group on this, but I ask for a little further clarification.

Agriculture Bill

Debate between Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb and Lord Randall of Uxbridge

Report stage & Report: 3rd sitting (Hansard) & Report: 3rd sitting (Hansard): House of Lords
Tuesday 22nd September 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (GP)]

My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow the noble Lord, Lord Whitty, and of course the noble Baroness, Lady Finlay. I support these amendments wholeheartedly. I would like to speak at length about them, but I will keep my remarks quite short so that we have plenty of time for a vote.

It seems strange that in America, Monsanto—or rather the new company, Bayer—is paying out $10 billion to settle tens of thousands of claims that Roundup causes cancer, yet it still claims that this a perfectly healthy product, does not put warning labels on the product and says that it is safe. It strikes me as very strange that anybody could deny that this amendment is necessary.

The amendment does not do what I would like it to do—that is, ban all pesticides from 9 am this morning—but it protects the more vulnerable people in our country. In particular, it protects children in schools, childcare settings and nurseries, people in hospitals, and people in any building used for human habitation. It seems such a sensible amendment—I do not know why the Government do not see that it is necessary.

I urge all noble Lords to please vote for this and make sure that the Government get the message very clearly.

[Lord Randall of Uxbridge (Con) [V]]

My Lords, I was pleased to be able to put my name to Amendment 78 from the noble Lord, Lord Whitty, and it is a pleasure to follow him. It is of course always a pleasure to follow the noble Baronesses, Lady Jones and Lady Finlay.

There is no need for me to repeat the arguments that have been so ably put, except to say this. As Members who have been following our deliberations will know, I have been speaking about the importance of preserving our wildlife and biodiversity. One of the seminal works that I remember reading when I was very young was Silent Spring by Rachel Carson, in which she highlighted the devastating impacts of DDT on wildlife. However, this is much more fundamental: this is about protecting human life. If we have not yet learned that people sometimes assure us that everything is all right when it patently is not, we need think only of the tobacco industry—as the noble Baroness, Lady Finlay, said—and of asbestos. We would be failing ourselves, the public and our fellow human beings if we did not recognise the harmful nature of pesticides.

I am not an expert to know whether they should be banned entirely, as the noble Baroness, Lady Jones, has suggested. I am sure that there are many in the agricultural sector who say that they are incredibly important. However, one thing we can do is to get this amendment into the Bill, because it would protect so many people. It is not just about protecting those in rural communities, because the fumes can waft over other areas. I have not heard so far—although I am willing to hear it—the reasoning of my noble friend on the Front Bench, but from what I have heard so far, I am happy to support the amendment in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Whitty.

--- Later in debate ---

[Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (GP)]

My Lords, the noble Baroness, Lady Jones of Whitchurch, has laid out the need for this amendment with great clarity, and perhaps I can inject a little bit of the emotion that this amendment gives rise to for me. Earlier, I said that the amendment on food standards was probably the most important one, but in fact, this is of course the most important from a long-term point of view because it is all about survival. I am trying to save the planet and the people on it; even the noble Viscount, Lord Trenchard, is part of the group that I want to save—from itself, really.

We know that farming is a massive source of greenhouse gas emissions, and it is likely to grow as a percentage of our emissions as we decarbonise other parts of the economy. Therefore, it is going to get worse and worse if we do not have a clear plan for how to go forward. For me, this Government have shown no urgency; I cannot convey the urgency I feel when I think about what is happening to our planet and the destruction caused by our burning fossil fuels. The Government have not shown any logical trajectory towards zero carbon emissions; they are just dabbling, with a good idea here and an idea there that is probably not quite so good. There is no coherent vision.

The Government have to start budgeting carbon in exactly the same way that they budget money. I realise that budgets are out of the window at the moment due to the coronavirus, but the fact is that we do need to think about it like that and say that, if we allow one area to have more carbon, we have to decrease it in another. Actually, the Green Party has been calling for a “carbon chancellor”: somebody who can take an overall look at this issue, understand how the systems and the economy work and try to make a coherent plan.

This Bill has been bouncing around for three years now and has been delayed several times. It was written two years before the Government adopted a net-zero carbon emissions target, which means that we need to update it because it does not reflect the new net-zero target that the Government have set themselves. Amendment 100 is a genuinely cross-party amendment and will set British farming on a trajectory towards net-zero emissions. We desperately need it, and I very much hope that the Government will listen.

[Lord Randall of Uxbridge (Con) [V]]

My Lords, it is always a pleasure to follow the noble Baronesses, Lady Jones of Whitchurch and Lady Jones of Moulsecoomb. The hour is late, but it is also late for our planet. While I do not take quite such a pessimistic view of the Government’s actions in this field as the noble Baroness, Lady Jones of Moulsecoomb—in fact, they should be congratulated in many respects—for many of us, things are not moving fast enough, and we need to encapsulate some of this in the Bill.

I agree that the NFU has brought forward its own ideas, but there is a lot more to this. For example, I know that Defra is looking at the issue of burning blanket bogs, but surely, under ELMS, we will not be able to give money to land managers who consistently burn peat bogs. That should also be part of the Bill.

I will not detain noble Lords any longer. I support the amendment and I recognise that the Government have taken steps towards it. Perhaps we are too impatient, but we need to get on with it.

Agriculture Bill

Debate between Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb and Lord Randall of Uxbridge

Committee stage & Committee: 6th sitting (Hansard) & Committee: 6th sitting (Hansard): House of Lords
Thursday 23rd July 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Randall of Uxbridge (Con) [V]]

My Lords, I added my name to that of my noble friends Lady Fookes and Lady Hodgson of Abinger. I did so slightly warily because I was not convinced that the Bill is the measure in which we should be adding this provision, but I do not doubt the need for it. As we have heard, it was a commitment in the Conservative manifesto at the last election, and I admire the doggedness of my noble friend Lady Fookes in keeping on this subject for a long time. She has been incredibly patient, and it is time that we looked at this matter seriously. It is incredibly complex to legislate for this and is not quite as simple as it might seem, for a variety of reasons that I am sure the Minister will tell us.

However, as regards travel within the UK, I can remember—not as far back as 1973 but in 1979—travelling on the “Good Shepherd” between Shetland and Fair Isle, where sheep were being transported. It was stormy, and I remember that sheep are not good sailors on small boats. I will not go into the result, but it is not easy to transport animals.

Our worry is, as has been said, that while we are told that inspections take place once animals leave our shores, we have great doubts that that has been done properly. Onward transport, not just across the channel, but to Bulgaria and elsewhere, and then on to the Middle East is of concern. I should like the Minister in his reply to say exactly where we are with this.

I should also add that I cannot support Amendment 277 in this group. However appalling the production of foie gras is—I am no great fan— criminalising people who might have some in their luggage as they come across the channel is not the way forward. It should be more about education.

[Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb [V]]

My Lords, I support both amendments in the group. On the first, it was a pleasure to hear the noble Baroness, Lady Fookes, and her long, noble and sincere fight to protect animals that are exported.

Amendment 277, in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Jones of Whitchurch, is about foie gras. I strongly disagree with the noble Lord, Lord Randall, that we should not penalise people who import it. We would not like it if people brought back bits of dead dog in their luggage. We hate the thought that, in some countries, dogs are eaten; yet, somehow, it is okay with ducks and geese. Foie gras is a brutal and horrific system of animal abuse. The practice is illegal in this country, but it can be circumvented by allowing people to import it from elsewhere. The simple point is that it does not matter if the animal abuse happens here or abroad; it is still animal abuse. A duck or goose is harmed just as badly in another country as it would be here.

I echo the noble Baroness, Lady Fookes, in asking why both these provisions are not already in law. Why will the Government not commit to amending the Bill on Report on these issues? It would get a lot of public approval, which the Government are probably in need of at the moment. Banning live animal exports was always a given by Brexiteers, who gave it as an example to lure green-minded people to support Brexit. It is time for the Government to make good on that and give us what we voted for.

Fisheries Bill [HL]

Debate between Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb and Lord Randall of Uxbridge

Report stage & Report: 2nd sitting (Hansard) & Report: 2nd sitting (Hansard): House of Lords
Wednesday 24th June 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Randall of Uxbridge (Con) [V]]

My Lords, I am happy to have put my name to this amendment, because, as the noble Lord, Lord Krebs, just said, this is probably the most important amendment that we can make to the Bill.

I congratulate the Government, as the noble Lord, Lord Teverson, said, on the various measures coming forward: the Agriculture and Environment Bills— and indeed this Bill—which show a commitment to improving our environment, both terrestrial and marine, although we may want to change a few little things in both of those. However, this amendment, as the two noble Lords preceding me said so well, is incredibly important.

First, as the noble Lord, Lord Krebs, just said, it is important to realise that this is not just being pushed by environmentalists: business also wants it. Therefore, you have a very holy alliance between business and environmentalists. It is important to collect the data. I think the Minister would be disappointed if I did not say something or other about birds. For example, the Government’s own estimates of bycatch in fulmars is between 4,500 to 5,700 annually, and in guillemots 2,300 to 2,700. But this is in fact inadequate data, because those figures are purely an estimate. We need more information if we are to protect these species and see what is actually happening, and the same is of course true with cetaceans.

The other important thing is that we will be able to monitor changes in species as the climate changes. I have just finished reading a very interesting article in the latest issue of the Marine Conservation Society’s journal, on the new species that are now attracted to warmer waters as those who like the colder waters move further north. This data would be extremely important in finding out what is happening in our oceans. It is very difficult to see without a lot of expensive equipment, so this would be a very useful tool for scientists.

I have heard this item about the devolved Administrations. First, I ask my noble friend: has this been discussed with the devolved Administrations and, if so, have they rejected the idea? I also know, from my time trying to develop policy for the previous Prime Minister, that very often the devolved Administrations, particularly the one north of the border, like to get one step ahead of us. The noble Lord, Lord Teverson, had an idea about it being for England only. I would prefer to see it for the whole of the United Kingdom, but if that cannot be done, and if the other Administrations are slow in taking this up, it would be admirable if we did this just for England.

I am afraid that, unless I hear something very encouraging from my noble friend, I shall once again find myself at odds with my Government—which always grieves me in many ways—and will support the amendment.

[Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (GP) [V]]

My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow the previous three noble Lords. They, and I, demonstrate that support for this amendment comes from all over the House.

It is an incredibly annoying amendment for the Government; I understand that, but it is sensible and the right thing to do. The Government, however, seem absolutely unable to accept any amendments that they have not thought of first. I realise that the Minister is very emollient and tries hard to be helpful. The fact is, however, that the Government must understand that they are not very good at writing legislation at the moment. This is one of the amendments that has to be accepted.

This is another time when I shall be incredibly annoying, because I am going to quote the Government’s own manifesto, which they delivered to us only six months ago, to them. On page five, they say that Brexit will allow us to

“raise standards in areas like workers’ rights, animal welfare, agriculture and the environment.”

This amendment will raise those standards drastically. Page 54 says:

“We have a long tradition of protecting animals in this country, often many years before others follow. Under a Conservative Government, that will continue”.


I really hope it does, and I hope the Government will accept this amendment. By rejecting it, the Government will ensure that we continue to fall behind other countries. Australia, for example, found that reporting improved massively after CCTV was installed on a fishing fleet, and that interactions with sea birds and mammals were reported seven times more often when the cameras were there keeping an eye on things.

This amendment will help to save the lives of many marine creatures, such as dolphins and porpoises. It will spur a cultural change in the fishing industry and help to protect our oceans. I look forward to the amendment being pushed to a vote, so that your Lordships’ House can show the strength of feeling on this and reflect the huge public support for improving animal welfare.