Rhodes Wildfires: Repatriation of Holidaymakers
Debate between Baroness Smith of Basildon and Earl of Courtown
The Earl of Courtown (Con)
My Lords, we should pay tribute to the people of Greece who have opened their homes to many holidaymakers in their area. The FCDO travel advice should not impact people’s ability to claim insurance for things such as cancelled hotel bookings or flight changes, depending on their policy and level of cover. However, we recognise that some travel companies use FCDO advice as a reference point to their policies. Our travel advice is focused on ensuring the safety of British nationals and is designed to give people the detail they need to make an informed decision. Of course, our travel advice is always under review.
Baroness Smith of Basildon (Lab)
My Lords, can I ask the Minister to rethink this matter in the light of the information from the noble Lord, Lord Young? It seems quite poignant. We are all ready to go off on our summer holidays—last year I went to Rhodes for a week; it is a marvellous place—and our hearts go out to those people who are there and struggling, or are about to go and are worried about the consequences, and the people of Rhodes whose livelihoods rely, in many cases, on a robust and busy holiday season.
When the Minister at the FCDO was asked whether he would go to Rhodes on holiday, he admitted that he would not travel there. The Government’s lack of advice is not helpful to those who are not sure whether they should fly this week, or what the financial consequences could be. With the cost of living crisis, many people make sacrifices for their annual week-long holiday. I ask the Minister to reconsider the reply he gave to the noble Lord, Lord Young. I am not convinced he entirely understands the position of insurance companies and the struggle that many families have faced to pay for these holidays.
The Earl of Courtown (Con)
My Lords, I quite understand the point made by the noble Baroness, Lady Smith of Basildon. The situation in Rhodes is stabilising at the moment. The vast majority of the island is not affected by these fires and, as I said, our travel advice is kept under constant review. I understand the situation for people taking valued holidays in difficult times; they really want some certainty. I will take that back.
The Earl of Courtown (Con)
The noble Lord’s question revolves around travel advice issued by the FCDO, which I mentioned earlier. That is always kept under review.
Baroness Smith of Basildon (Lab)
My Lords, I bring the Minister back to a point I made at the beginning, which he did not respond to. If individual insurers and independent travellers are looking for travel advice, does he think that the Minister’s comment that he would not travel to Rhodes will assist them in any claims they make?
The Earl of Courtown (Con)
I am not aware that this would affect any claim that may or may not be made. Every individual has their own choice of where they go on holiday; I will be staying at home over the next six weeks. I understand the point the noble Baroness made, but the advice given to travellers is always to check the FCDO to see what its travel advice is.
Departure of the Previous Home Secretary
Debate between Baroness Smith of Basildon and Earl of Courtown
Baroness Smith of Basildon (Lab)
My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Earl for repeating the earlier statement about the crisis in government. I had intended to ask a number of questions about the resignation or sacking of the Home Secretary and, indeed, ask whether he could say anything more about the resignation or sacking of the Chancellor of the Exchequer. We have had one of the shortest-serving Chancellors of the Exchequer in history, the shortest-serving Home Secretary ever and now, as we were sitting in the Chamber waiting for the statement, the Prime Minister has announced her resignation.
What an utter shambles this Government are. Crisis after crisis is heaped on this Government and yet, who is paying the price for that? It is the people of this country, who are seeing food prices go up and increased fuel bills, and they do not know what is happening to their mortgage payments. The Government think the answer to all this is to reshuffle the deck chairs on the “Titanic”. Perhaps the noble Earl is answering questions today because he is the only member of the Government left. This is not a game of pass the parcel, whereby the office of Prime Minister is in the personal gift of the Conservative Party, which can keep passing it on like it is Buggins’s turn. That is not how it works.
I said yesterday at the Dispatch Box on another issue that the Prime Minister’s job is one of the most important in the country. It is a job that brings enormous responsibility, particularly when the country is in such a state. This Government now have no mandate to govern. Replacing the top person with another top person who has been around the Cabinet table for all the years that have led to this crisis will not address it. The next Prime Minister who serves this country needs to have the consent of the British people. It is a straightforward issue: no Government should be able to govern without consent.
This morning I did an interview on BBC Essex with a very articulate and distressed member of the Conservative Party and a Liberal Democrat. The lady from the Conservative Party came on to defend the Government and say that there should not be a general election. She had changed her mind overnight after the shenanigans in the other place. So, there are a number of questions to be asked about the resignation of the Home Secretary, but there is a greater and more fundamental question that the Government need to address as a matter of urgency. There is no mandate for this Government any longer. It is not just a case of taking one person from the top and putting in someone else. Each time we have seen the change, there has been a fundamental shift in policy. This is not what the people of this country voted for. It is time for the Government to seek a mandate, move over and let somebody else run the country who can do it better.
The Earl of Courtown (Con)
My Lords, I note what the noble Baroness has to say on various issues that are not really relevant to this exact Urgent Question. She mentioned the situation relating to the former Home Secretary and the former Chancellor of the Exchequer. The fact is that it was clear that there was a breach in Cabinet confidentiality and a breach of the Ministerial Code. This was accepted by my right honourable friend the former Home Secretary, who immediately resigned. As far as my right honourable friend the former Chancellor of the Exchequer is concerned, as noble Lords know, the Prime Minister can request a resignation for any number of reasons. Details of the former Chancellor’s resignation were shared in the exchange of letters last Friday. These are different cases with different causes.
Development Aid: Pakistan
Debate between Baroness Smith of Basildon and Earl of Courtown
The Earl of Courtown
My Lords, the noble and right reverend Lord makes a very good point about ensuring that we target aid to the people who need it. DfID Pakistan continues to review its support to poor and marginalised people in Pakistan and we aim to better disaggregate our results data in future. We recently had some success in collecting more and better-quality data on people with disabilities in Pakistan, and this also picked up other minorities. We have learned from that and will build on it to focus our energy on collecting data from these other groups.
Baroness Smith of Basildon (Lab)
My Lords, the Minister will be aware that a key part of our support for Pakistan is the CSSF’s rule of law programme, which aims to increase Pakistan’s civilian capacity to investigate, detain, prosecute and try terrorists. He will also be aware that Pakistan routinely uses the death penalty, including against those who are alleged to have committed terrorism offences as juveniles. He talks about targeting how aid is used, so can he guarantee to this House today that not a single penny of the CSSF has been used to indirectly support the death penalty in Pakistan in any way?
The Earl of Courtown
My Lords, as the noble Baroness is perfectly aware, we condemn the death penalty wherever and by whoever it is used anywhere in the world. We cannot support this barbaric penalty. I cannot give individual details on that programme, but I will ensure that that information gets to the noble Baroness. I should also point out that the rule of law is paramount. For example, in the Asia Bibi case we are very pleased to see Pakistan’s commitment to the rule of law following the Supreme Court of Pakistan’s decision in January this year to uphold Asia Bibi’s acquittal on blasphemy charges.
Passports
Debate between Baroness Smith of Basildon and Earl of Courtown
The Earl of Courtown
My noble friend mentioned the arrangements that occur in some countries in the European Union. As I said in my opening Answer, contracts do not need to be put out to tender where services can be obtained from a state-owned company. Some countries have a state-owned company; we do not have that here in the United Kingdom. I will not comment on any commercially sensitive details but I should add that there will be a saving of £120 million to the taxpayer over the course of this contract.
Baroness Smith of Basildon (Lab)
My Lords, does the Minister not understand that he sounds rather complacent on this issue? I have to ask: why do other European countries have state-owned companies? It is because of their concerns around security. To most of us, it seems quite a bizarre decision that, while other countries are producing their passports at home, we have taken that away from a company which, by all accounts, has provided an excellent service to this country. There is a risk of workers in this country losing their jobs now that that company has lost a flagship contract. Given the rhetoric of Ministers that Brexit means taking back control, is the Minister able to tell the House how taking back control means handing out the passport contract to another country?
I have two further questions on the issue of security. First, the Minister dismissed security implications because the passports are blank, but I would question that and ask whether our security agencies feel the same. How are we going to ensure compliance when a company outside the country is producing the passports? Secondly, as we move forward with the digital development of passports, what plans are being considered now to ensure compliance with security arrangements in those circumstances?
The Earl of Courtown
I thank the noble Baroness for her questions, in which she made a number of points. There will be jobs created in this country under the new contract. Under the present contract, 20% of the blank passports are already manufactured overseas. As far as the security issue is concerned, under the new contract all passports will continue to be personalised with the passport holder’s personal details, such as name and photograph, in the United Kingdom. This will ensure that no personal data will leave the United Kingdom.
Death Penalty: Worldwide Abolition
Debate between Baroness Smith of Basildon and Earl of Courtown
The Earl of Courtown
I think that the noble Lord, Lord Dubs, is correct. The situation in America is difficult to believe, but there has been progress. Nebraska has abolished the death penalty, while Oregon and Washington State have entered a moratorium. Since 2010 we have banned drugs being exported to the United States, which was followed by the whole of the EU in 2012.
Baroness Smith of Basildon (Lab)
Further to what has been said about the USA, perhaps I may raise with the noble Earl a specific issue which I would ask him to raise with the US authorities and perhaps also with our EU partners. Thomas Knight was executed in Florida on 7 January 2014 for a murder he committed at the age of 23. However, he had been on death row for 39 years. There are numerous incidents of young men being held on death row for years and years when presumably they are quite different people by the time they are executed. I ask the noble Earl to raise this very serious issue to ensure that we do not have people on death row for such inordinate lengths of time, waiting for their execution.
The Earl of Courtown
I thank the noble Baroness for bringing that to my attention. Spending that length of time on death row is quite inhuman. I will of course raise it with officials in the department.