European Council

Debate between Baroness Stowell of Beeston and Lord Tomlinson

Monday 23rd March 2015 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Stowell of Beeston]

On the first question the noble Lord asks about sanctions against Russia, I can be absolutely clear: those sanctions are linked to the full implementation of Minsk and remain in force until the end of this year. That is what was committed to at the Council. He may remember that the Prime Minister led the charge to ensure that these sanctions extended beyond the original deadline of July 2015 until the end of this year, and that is what was agreed at the Council last week. As for his question about the central Mediterranean, I am afraid I will have to come back to him on that.

[Lord Tomlinson (Lab)]

My Lords, is the noble Baroness familiar with the content of paragraph 13, which was referred to by the Liberal Democrats? It says:

“The European Council stressed the need to challenge Russia’s ongoing disinformation campaigns and invited the High Representative … to prepare by June an action plan”.

It goes on to say:

“The establishment of a communication team is a first step in this regard”.

It plans to get a programme “by June”, and before that it will establish a communication team. Does the Minister agree that that statement, to which her Government have subscribed, does not give the necessary degree of urgency to a problem which this House took much more seriously at Question Time than the Government seem to have done in their communiqué?

[Baroness Stowell of Beeston]

I do not agree with the noble Lord’s description of what the Council agreed. However, clearly, I will ensure that the views expressed during Oral Questions today on that matter are relayed back to the Foreign Office. Indeed, my noble friend Lady Anelay answered those questions, so I am sure she will already have done so.

Population: International Migration

Debate between Baroness Stowell of Beeston and Lord Tomlinson

Monday 16th March 2015 Lords Chamber

[The Lord Privy Seal (Baroness Stowell of Beeston) (Con)]

My Lords, it is the turn of the Labour Benches.

[Lord Tomlinson]

My Lords, will the Minister explain to the House how the Prime Minister got immigration figures so stunningly wrong when looking at this country’s need for overseas students? He promised us that immigration would be controlled at tens of thousands rather than hundreds of thousands. His words in emphasising that were, “No ifs, no buts”. If he can get those figures so stunningly wrong, why should we believe any of the statistics that are coming from the Government on immigration?

EU Council

Debate between Baroness Stowell of Beeston and Lord Tomlinson

Monday 27th October 2014 Lords Chamber

[Lord Tomlinson (Lab)]

My Lords, I think we can all agree that the figures that have been produced need to be pored over in the greatest detail and justified, if they are justifiable. However, we have all read in recent days and weeks about the domestic changes that we have made to the calculation of GNI. I ask the Minister —as the Government seem to have been quite coy about this—whether, in the recalculation of GNI, we have included two service industries that have not been included previously, one of which is the illegal drugs trade and the other prostitution. If that is the case, what was their contribution to the increase in GNI and are we in fact the victims of our own success in boasting about the growth of GNI?

[Baroness Stowell of Beeston]

There is a lot of talk going on at the moment and many suggestions are being made. People are trying to complicate yet further something that is already incredibly complex. As the Prime Minister has been emphatic in saying, this is a standard process that happens on an annual basis. The UK expects to play its part in this process in the way it has done in the past. What has not happened before, but has happened this time, is this kind of demand being made at this sort of level. We need to understand the detail before we can go any further forward on this matter.

UK: Oil Refinery Capacity

Debate between Baroness Stowell of Beeston and Lord Tomlinson

Thursday 21st June 2012 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Stowell of Beeston]

My Lords, no one wants to see any business fail and in such circumstances our first thoughts must be with the workers—the people whose jobs are at risk, even though they have done their best to make Coryton efficient and competitive. Indeed, it is very disappointing that the administrators have not found a buyer for the refinery as a going concern. It is right for me to offer noble Lords some context to explain why that is the case.

Potential bidders are faced with high up-front investments to make the refinery viable for the long term. UK refineries are facing tough competition from others in Europe and Asia. The profit margins are low and there is overcapacity in the sector. Eight European refineries have closed in the past three years, and more are likely to do so. Also, the European refinery industry has become out of balance with changing domestic demands. Noble Lords might like to know that since 2000, petrol demand has fallen by 35% and demand for diesel has risen by 34%. We looked long and hard at whether state aid should be provided for Coryton but came to the conclusion that it would not be sustainable because of the existing overcapacity in the refining industry and declining demand for petrol. As to the long-term future, I would add that the department is working with the UK Petroleum Industry Association on a sector-wide UK refining study and intends in the autumn to set out a strategic policy framework for the UK refining sector.

[Lord Tomlinson]

Is the Minister aware that it would be folly indeed to judge our refining capacity needs on the basis of current consumption, when we are in a double-dip recession? Surely, we all expect the economy to improve and demand to increase? I was not quite sure from her reply whether she referred properly to European state aid. Can she tell us clearly whether the Government have rejected the idea of applying for it? If not, have they applied? If they did apply, what was the effect?

[Baroness Stowell of Beeston]

My Lords, on the noble Lord’s first point, I should repeat what I have just said. Over the past 10 years, the consumption of petrol has gone down by 35%, so this is not a recent phenomenon at all. More specifically on state aid, the department looked very carefully at whether state aid should be provided for Coryton but we have come to the conclusion that the existing overcapacity in the refining industry and the declining demand for petrol, as I have just made clear, mean that state aid would not be sustainable, irrespective of whether it is allowable under state-aid law.