European Union Membership (Economic Implications) Bill [HL]

Baroness Stowell of Beeston Excerpts

Friday 25th November 2011 Lords Chamber

[Lord Willoughby de Broke]

I am not sure that is right. The target of 20 per cent of our energy from renewable sources by 2020 is entirely an EU target, so I cannot agree with the noble Lord on that.

I think that the penny has finally begun to drop in the City of London, and I hope that it is indeed not too late for something to be grabbed back from all this. I wonder sometimes what UKREP is doing in Brussels. This tide of regulations, directives and thousands of rules seems to come almost entirely unamended, but UKREP is supposed to be looking after our interests in Brussels. I should like to find out whether that is what it is doing. I had a quick look at its website and saw that the EU flag was right at the top, with the Union Jack being almost invisible right at the bottom. I hope that that is not a sign of its priorities.

Leaving that aside, recent events have brought this whole debate into very sharp focus. The Government must recognise, however reluctantly, that we should stand back coolly and look at the economic benefits and disbenefits of our membership. Things have gone completely pear-shaped in the euro. What was supposed to be the cement is not even holding together the tottering edifice of the EU, which seems to be falling apart by the day. It is rather a cruel spectator sport to watch the daily news bulletins to see which domino is to fall next. All that the European politburo—the so-called élite—seem to be able to do is stand on one leg and sing “Ode to Joy”. They do not seem to have an answer at all to what is happening. Surely we have now reached a tipping point. The Government must take up the challenge in this Bill and try to identify where our interests lie. As my noble friend said, it is no longer good enough to say that the benefits of our membership of the EU are self-evident. That is simply no longer the case.

Let us take a brief look at the economics. The euro, as the noble Lord, Lord Ryder, said, was always a badly flawed project. The eurozone has turned out to be an economic disaster for the weaker members. They can never compete with Germany in the same currency—there is no chance of that at all. Ireland, Greece, Portugal and Italy have gone down the pan and Spain seems to be on the brink. However, for them—this was presciently put by Mr William Hague—the euro is,

“a burning house with no exits”.

The euro has turned out to be an incendiary device—a weapon of mass economic destruction.

However, almost incredibly, there are still voices telling us that we should be in the euro. From a padded cell in Conservative Central Office just last week the noble Lord, Lord Heseltine, said that we should join the euro. Frankly, I suggest that they throw away the key. However, cheerleaders such as the noble Lord, Lord Heseltine, and others—of whom there are examples in this House—owe it to us to explain how a system that was supposed to engender prosperity and democracy has turned into the very opposite: a Caliban that is causing hatred and conflict, and turning people against their Governments and against each other. Already we have in Greece anti-German jokes, perhaps regrettably. When the EU economic task force imposed on Greece by the EU arrived, one Greek newspaper had the headline “The prison guards have arrived”. Unfortunately and unluckily, the head of that task force was a German called Mr Horst Reichenbach, who was instantly dubbed “Mr Horst Thirdreichenbach” by the Greeks. That sort of thing may be amusing to read about but it is actually a disaster when it comes to democracy and co-operation between member states and democracy in those countries.

The fact is that the economic cost is enormous, as my noble friend and others have pointed out, but the political cost also has to be looked at in this context. Do we need to be part of an organisation that is not only an economic failure but a political failure as well? Do we want to be a member of an organisation that usurps elected leaders in member states? Do we want to be in an EU that is so terrified of having a referendum that it took the elected Prime Minister of Greece behind the bike shed wherever the meeting was and forced him to resign? Do we want to be part of an organisation that hand-picks the leaders of democratic countries—the ones who can be relied on to toe the line—never mind that Monti and Papademos were willing parties to both Italy’s and Greece’s accession to the euro? Their hands are not clean on this, yet they are the people who have been put in place by the European Union. Above all, the Government need to carry out this analysis to nail, once and for all, the threats that, by disengaging from the EU, Britain will somehow be left in the slow lane and will lose its place at the top table. That is what they like to tell us. If the food at the top table is rancid—

[Baroness Stowell of Beeston]

My Lords—

[Lord Willoughby de Broke]

I shall finish very shortly. I am going to finish my speech. This is an important debate, as the noble Baroness, Lady Noakes, said. I intend to finish my speech in a minute.

[Baroness Stowell of Beeston]

My Lords, I would like to make the point that I understand that different views were expressed at the start of the debate. The noble Lord, Lord Campbell-Savours, asked the government Whip to intervene when noble Lords had exceeded six minutes, and the noble Lord has exceeded eight minutes.

[Lord Willoughby de Broke]

Yes, I shall be as brief as I possibly can be, but this is an important subject. I am sorry, but I do not feel that there is a time constraint in a Second Reading debate.

I was saying that we should not be told that we are going to be in the slow lane or removed from the top table if we are out of the EU. The noble Lord, Lord Howell, is not in his place—

Banking: Savings Accounts

Baroness Stowell of Beeston Excerpts

Monday 23rd May 2011 Lords Chamber

Asked By

[Baroness Stowell of Beeston]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the levels of interest set by banks on cash individual savings accounts as compared with other savings accounts.

[The Commercial Secretary to the Treasury (Lord Sassoon)]

My Lords, the interest rates offered on savings accounts are a commercial decision for providers and, as such, vary. The Money Advice Service, which was set up by the Government, provides information and advice to encourage consumers to manage their finances proactively and to shop around for the best deal. The benefits of tax-free savings offered by cash ISAs allow the majority of savers to receive a tax advantage on all their cash savings.

[Baroness Stowell of Beeston]

My Lords, I thank my noble friend for his reply. Does he agree that the tax relief available on cash ISAs is offered by the Treasury as an advantage for savers, not a commercial opportunity for the banks? If he does agree, will he join me today in demanding two things from the banks? The first is that they should address immediately the discrepancy between the interest rates offered on some fixed-rate savings bonds and fixed-rate cash ISAs. The second is that they should give a guarantee to their customers that never again will they offer lower interest rates on fixed-rate cash ISAs than those they offer on fixed-rate savings bonds?

[Lord Sassoon]

My Lords, I am grateful to my noble friend for raising this important area of savings. We should remind ourselves that a total of 23 million people hold ISA accounts, and of those 15.5 million hold cash ISAs, so this very important part of the savings market is held by some 40 per cent of households. My noble friend’s Question prompted me to speak to the British Bankers’ Association today and I can confirm that the association is working on its own recommendations following on from those made last year by the Office of Fair Trading after it had looked at this area. For example, from early 2012, additional information about the interest rates being offered will be shown on all statements. Further, in line with the recommendation made by the OFT, the association’s members are working to significantly shorten or halve the time it takes to switch accounts. But the structure of interest rates being offered, which is increasingly transparent on the websites that are now available, is a matter of commercial competition. I would recommend all savers to take advantage of the tools that are out there in order to shop around.