Employment: Remuneration

Debate between Baroness Neville-Rolfe and Lord Tebbit

Thursday 8th September 2016 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Neville-Rolfe]

We are looking at the precise wording of the consultation document, but the idea is to explore the various ideas that the Prime Minister set out so eloquently in this area. That would include binding votes, employee representation, which I am aware of because I used to sit on a German board—it has pluses and minuses—and, of course, full disclosure of bonus arrangements.

[Lord Tebbit (Con)]

Does my noble friend agree that it might help to bring a different dimension to these discussions if, occasionally, we referred not to the “shareholders” but to the “owners” of businesses and not to the “executives” but to the “hirelings” who operate on behalf of the owners?

[Baroness Neville-Rolfe]

I thank my noble friend for his interesting and provocative remark.

Intellectual Property

Debate between Baroness Neville-Rolfe and Lord Tebbit

Tuesday 26th April 2016 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Neville-Rolfe]

That is a lot of questions. When the Unified Patent Court comes in, it will be better for small businesses. We have looked carefully at the charges for them. But I am not convinced about bringing in statutory mediation. There is a government mediation service run by the Intellectual Property Office—which I value—which offers a low-cost way of resolving disputes. I am not convinced that there is a case to go further, although I am always happy to discuss it.

[Lord Tebbit (Con)]

My Lords, can the Minister say anything to encourage authors, musicians and owners of such intellectual property rights who have those rights stolen from them every day, not least through the so-called social media, which seems to behave in a very unsocial manner?

[Baroness Neville-Rolfe]

My noble friend is right to support our creative industries—our musicians, our writers—and this is at the heart of our policy on intellectual property. One of the reasons we set up PIPCU was to put more focus into this area. Crime has moved online and we have to change the way in which we help our writers. But our attitude in Britain is right and strong.

Superfast Broadband

Debate between Baroness Neville-Rolfe and Lord Tebbit

Thursday 26th November 2015 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Neville-Rolfe]

My Lords, the Prime Minister talked about 10 megabits per second because that is fast enough to enable households to, in combination, stream films, watch catch-up TV, make a videocall and browse online. The expectation is to get there by 2020. Clearly, ultra-fast speed is incredibly important, too. It was probably not noticed, but there was an announcement in yesterday’s Budget that we are setting up a broadband investment fund that will look at public/private support for alternative network development, looking at ultra-fast broadband in particular.

[Lord Tebbit (Con)]

My Lords, could my noble friend say how we equate the provision of a service such as clean drinking water as against broadband services? I lived not long ago—and many people live now—in a place where there was no mains water supply. Is broadband really more essential than water?

[Baroness Neville-Rolfe]

I, too, was brought up on a farm with no mains water supply and I survived. The point we are making is that broadband has become like the other utilities. It is really important, particularly as we move online—for example, for public services—so we have to try to extend it further. We want to extend it as far as possible and raise our game. That does not mean that at the top of every mountain there will be broadband, but there is a lot we can do by 2020 and we are investing in that.

Redcar Steel

Debate between Baroness Neville-Rolfe and Lord Tebbit

Thursday 15th October 2015 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Neville-Rolfe]

My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness for her comments. The local task force that we have set up, which of course did very good work in 2010, will be looking innovatively at options. It is able to come forward with proposals. As she says, we have 170 years of great steel heritage and we need to look forward and find good options for Redcar. Like her, I welcome the summit, because it will look more broadly, obviously well beyond Redcar, at the problems and opportunities for the steel industry.

The noble Baroness asked about mothballing. The company made a last-minute, and I am afraid unrealistic, request for the taxpayer to make an open-ended funding commitment to maintain the coke ovens in Redcar. We were not able to accept that request. On the basis of a limited case, the Government had no confidence that there was a realistic proposal for viability and therefore could not give taxpayer support, even if they wanted to breach state aid rules. The awful truth is that there is a world oversupply of this type of steel. The company had already lost £500 million in its operation over the past three or four years, so despite all the endeavour and optimism of 2012, things did not work out. We have to look forward.

On the northern powerhouse, Teesside is actually making an impressive contribution. The Tees Valley LEP is one that I have visited and is very impressive. The latest investment, while not actually on Teesside but in Darlington, was in the National Biologics Manufacturing Centre. We share common ground that that sort of northern investment is very important for the future of the country.

[Lord Tebbit (Con)]

My Lords, we should all be grateful to the Government for their efforts to do something to help the workforce at Redcar, but it is common ground among us that the fault leading to the closure was not that of management or of the workforce. To what extent was it caused by high energy prices in this country? On the continent, there are steelmakers far less efficient than Redcar, with a far less able workforce and far worse management, which are continuing to be in business. How can that be, in a common market? Furthermore, how can it be that the Chinese are dumping steel into Scotland at the behest of the Scottish Administration? How do these things happen? Why can our steel workers not have a level playing field?

[Baroness Neville-Rolfe]

My noble friend asks a very good question, which is the question I first asked when I heard about this great challenge. But we have in fact provided more than £50 million in compensation to steelmakers for energy costs under the emissions compensation scheme. We voted—in fact I voted—for anti-dumping measures on certain Chinese steel products and we have identified a pipeline of more than 500 infrastructure projects to help the industry to win contracts. The trouble is that we have a worldwide problem in the steel industry. I know from talking to the French, the Germans and the Luxembourgers that they share that problem.

Iraq and Syria: Religious and Cultural Heritage

Debate between Baroness Neville-Rolfe and Lord Tebbit

Thursday 10th September 2015 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Neville-Rolfe]

This is a commitment the Government have made. It is for the parliamentary managers to decide exactly what is done when. All I can say is that we regard it as a priority. The Secretary of State regards it as a priority. The circumstances around the world today make it all the more important. I look forward to debating it in due course with colleagues on all sides of the House.

[Lord Tebbit (Con)]

My Lords, is it really the view of Her Majesty’s Government that the principal source of revenue for ISIL is illegal trade in oil? Do they have an estimate of how much is paid in protection money by Gulf states and other rich Arabs to ensure that none of the refugees lands in Muslim states but that they are all pushed into western Europe?

[Baroness Neville-Rolfe]

My noble friend makes a strong point, which goes beyond the cultural area that we are mainly discussing today. I stand by what I said: the assessment I have had is that the revenue stream from illegal oil is a much more serious source of money for ISIL than the cultural items that we are talking about, important though they are.