State of Climate and Nature
Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer Excerpts(2 weeks ago)
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Lord Whitehead (Lab)
The noble Lord is substantially but not entirely correct about OECD prices; however, he is not entirely correct that other OECD countries are reliant on gas to the extent that we are in this country. A very substantial driver of electricity prices is the volatile price of gas, as he will know, and the reliance that we still have in this country on gas as a market-maker for electricity very substantially leads to those high prices. Therefore, on the idea of getting off that wheel we are on, of volatile gas prices leading to volatile electricity prices and to high energy prices, it is quite right that we resolve that by making sure that our energy arrangements are as low carbon—and, hence, not gas based—as they can be.
Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer (LD)
My Lords, I welcome the Statement, but does the Minister agree that marine areas are very important both in terms of climate change, as a carbon sink, and in terms of biodiversity? Does he therefore agree that it is an urgent issue for the Government to make the decision to end bottom trawling in marine protected areas? It destroys vast areas of kelp beds and sea grass, both of which absorb carbon, and it is very destructive.
Lord Whitehead (Lab)
Yes, the noble Baroness is quite right about bottom trawling, how destructive it is and how it completely destroys the ecology of shallow to medium deep-sea areas as a result. It is very important that, among other things, those practices are not carried out in marine protected areas. She will know that the Government have a great record of developing marine protected areas around the UK’s coast and internationally in the Crown dependencies. Those will all be areas in which practices such as bottom trawling will not be tolerated.
Ecodesign for Energy-Related Products and Energy Information (Household Tumble Dryers) Regulations 2026
Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer Excerpts(1 month, 2 weeks ago)
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Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer (LD)
My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Baroness, Lady Hoey, for the opportunity to debate this important SI—although I am still a bit mystified as to why she is so unhappy, since this realigns the UK with the EU, and this would seem to mean that Northern Ireland is in alignment too. More importantly, given the existential climate crisis and household energy bills, I would have thought everybody would support this SI. It is such a win for both consumers and the environment. As the noble Lord, Lord Davies of Brixton, said, we need to take every step we can. The climate crisis means that every possible effort needs to be made not to use energy unnecessarily and to be as efficient as possible in its use.
I think there is a hierarchy in how to dry laundry, and I have long thought that tumble dryers should probably be at the bottom of the hierarchy. For those lucky enough to have outside space, using a tumble dryer is a thoroughly bad use of energy, except on really rainy days. I have been a bit of an evangelist about this, to the extent that I have given friends nice wooden clothes pegs as a hint when they are always talking about using their tumble dryers but they have outside space.
Before noble Lords ask, “What about the rainy days?”, I have lived nearly all my life in the West Country—Somerset and Devon. Even on the wettest of West Country days, it is rare to get three of them consecutively that are such rainy days that you cannot hang the washing out. Hanging out the washing, of course, takes extra time. That is the biggest downside. Besides the big energy saving of using wind and sun to dry things, it makes clothes last longer, in my opinion.
Before I turn to the detail of the SI, I must ask the Minister whether the Government will consider bringing in a provision for flat owners and renters that would make freeholders not unreasonably withhold the right to dry laundry on balconies or in courtyards. I declare an interest as a flat owner where the freeholder forbids laundry to be dried outside, even though we have a nice courtyard where the breeze would dry it. The Government recently brought in the right for people to request to have pets, which should not be unreasonably withheld. I hope that the Minister can have a look at whether freeholders might be asked—or it might even be legislated for—not to unreasonably withhold the right to hang your laundry out. That is the first thing that you should be doing if you possibly can.
One thing that really surprised me in this SI, when I read through the comparisons, was how a heated airer is not very efficient compared with a heat pump tumble dryer. The heat pump tumble dryer is the most energy efficient overall. There are 17 million tumble dryers in the UK, and they account for 2% to 3% of UK energy use. With heated airers, you sometimes need to run a dehumidifier alongside them, and that might add 0.2 kilowatts to 1 kilowatt during the drying period. With that, the combined energy is often similar to or lower than a conventional condenser dryer but not lower than a heat pump dryer. It is quite clear that the heat pump dryers really are the way to go.
A good reason to do it sooner—and I am glad that the date is set for pretty soon—is that we do not want to become a dumping ground for the manufacturers of the old design of less efficient dryers when the EU is no longer a possible market.
In conclusion, heat pump tumble dryers use much less energy. They are better for people’s household bills and, over the 20 years, the impact assessment says that there would be a household saving of about £910 per household. But actually the upfront costs when you buy the new heat pump tumble dryer would be paid off in about two years. All in all, there is everything to recommend this SI, and nothing against it.
King’s Speech
Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer Excerpts(2 months, 1 week ago)
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Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer (LD)
My Lords, I congratulate all four of our maiden speakers, whose speeches were very moving and inspirational.
I have been reflecting that, if this were the King’s own speech, rather than the Government’s plan relayed by His Majesty, there would be far more on nature and biodiversity in it, as my noble friend Lord Russell said. That really is an immense lack in this legislative programme. Given that nature underpins our food production and what we drink, it is essential that we take better care of it. The only mention of it in the Government’s plans—it was not even in the King’s Speech; it is just out for consultation—is the trail-hunting Bill. I do not think that banning trail hunting will contribute anything to biodiversity; it is just a political choice.
What is far more important for preserving our British mammals and would command cross-party support—the noble Baroness, Lady Helic, introduced it as a Private Member’s Bill last Session—is introducing a closed season for hares. In England, they can be shot while pregnant, lactating or caring for young. However, Scotland and Northern Ireland have recognised how important a closed season is, and they have passed such legislation. I really wonder why the Government cannot just introduce such a simple Bill and do it.
The sad decline of hare numbers is obviously due to other factors as well, such as hare coursing and lack of habitat, but it does make recovery impossible where the closed season means that, as soon as the females are pregnant, they can be shot. The book Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton joins other remarkable books, such as The Leaping Hare, to show why we must protect these wonderful, iconic creatures, which are a really central part of our natural heritage.
I join my noble friend Lady Grender in welcoming the water Bill, but there is a lot of work to be done on it. I think it should be called the water and sewage Bill. It needs to be much bolder than what is currently envisaged. The fact is that, as the remarkable programme “Dirty Business” showed, we are poisoning our very rivers. I am very glad that the noble Lord, Lord Blackwater, chose to take the title of a river, because rivers need friends.
We are choosing to poison our rivers with sewage, but it is not only that; a lot of other things need to be addressed, such as the fact that the sludge that comes from industrial waste is now mixed with sewage sludge and spread on farmland. The run-off from that contains the forever chemicals that the industrial process is using. That is really toxic—it is entering into people’s bodies, including the bodies of our children—and is the sort of thing that absolutely must be addressed in the water Bill.
Finally, I ask the Minister what plans the Government have for educating children about nature. Obviously, there are forest schools and field trips, but we need our children to become nature champions. David Attenborough has inspired many, of course, but we need the next generations; we need the citizen scientists, who showed what was happening to rivers; and we need the activists.
King’s Speech
Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer Excerpts(2 years ago)
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Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer (LD)
My Lords, I join other noble Lords in congratulating the noble Baroness, Lady Hayman of Ullock, on her appointment. I am so glad that we have a new Government full of energy and with a series of ambitious Bills and policies, many of which I look forward to supporting. Domestically in the UK, it is a time of optimism. Globally, it is a fearful time. Of course, it is good news that the Government have prioritised climate change, practical solutions and climate change negotiations, and that Ed Miliband will lead the UK delegation to the COP talks. I think that this Government, unlike the last, get why top-level, consistent leadership is so important.
In mentioning climate change, I must also congratulate the noble Baroness, Lady Hayman, who has led Peers for the Planet, providing us with so many briefings over the last several years. Her initiative really deserves wide recognition and I am very glad she was speaking today. I look forward to Bills that address what we can do in our own patch here in the UK, in cleaning up rivers and supporting regenerative agriculture that protects both food production and biodiversity, because swinging wildly from encouraging food production to just rewilding is not helpful. We need to strike a balance and give farmers certainty. We need to see that solar panels are the new normal on roofs, and there are many other practical steps that we can take.
Of course, our role as Liberal Democrats, with a much stronger voice in the Commons and a crucial voting mass here in the Lords, will be to play the constructive part of a good opposition. As the Government roll out their housing Bills, it is essential that housing and planning include a standard for associated green space for those new communities and for existing communities. The heritage lottery report Space to Thrive drew on a decade of research and 365 studies, and shows just how important public green space is for so many things, including for physical and mental health, something that was emphasised during the pandemic; for mitigating inequalities, so that people who do not have their own gardens can mix with those who do and it becomes a space that children can play in and improve their physical health; for connecting with nature; and indeed for supporting local economies.
As housing plans are developed, they absolutely must respect the need for green space. More housing does not have to negatively affect biodiversity either. As this country addresses the great need for housing, we can do it in a win-win way that enhances biodiversity. I have been much cheered by the emphasis on clean water today. Noble Lords may have seen the report from Singapore recently, where lots of otters actually thrive in the city. They returned to the city simply because the rivers were cleaned up. I look forward to having trouble crossing to Millbank because of the otters. We need to pass on a sense of wonder in nature to our children and grandchildren, encouraging school trips and family opportunities to experience wilder places, national parks, local woodlands, mountains and coasts, because what people cannot see is hard for them to value. That is why the Countryside and Rights of Way Act brought in by the Labour Government in 2000 was so important. We had the pleasure, in this House, of many Committee days spent making that Act practical and workable. I note that an update to the right to roam is no longer in the Government’s programme. I regret that and I hope that they will remember the crucial importance of enabling more people to stay in touch with nature.
Perhaps if there is one other lesson from the Labour years of the 2000s, it is that when the going gets tough they must resist the temptation to get repressive. The 2005 Serious Organised Crime and Police Act meant that you could not even stand on your own in Parliament Square in a T-shirt with a slogan on it. The repression was so laughably extreme that the comedian Mark Thomas made a show out of it, but it was serious.
Talking of repression, I hope that this Government will review the Conservatives’ crushing Public Order Act. That has a bearing on the climate change issue, because young people want to express their fears about climate change, and the last nine years have seen a really Orwellian situation with the then Government saying that freedom of speech and the right to protest are important, then enacting laws that have made protest very difficult and have increasingly criminalised those who are bona fide protesters—not extremists but concerned citizens. In cleaning up our environment and addressing climate change, the Government should renew faith in democracy by coming down on the side of the concerned citizen. I look forward to working with this Government towards that future.