Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill

Debate between Baroness Verma and Lord Clinton-Davis

Tuesday 20th December 2011 Lords Chamber

[Lord Clinton-Davis]

My Lords, may I? That side has just been speaking.

[Baroness Verma]

My Lords, let us hear first from the noble Lord and then from my noble friend.

[Lord Clinton-Davis]

My Lords, I would like to ask the Government a simple question. What do the Bar Council, the Law Society and the organisations concerned with poverty with regard to legal services have to say? Have the Government taken the trouble to consult these organisations? The noble Lord says that they have. So what is their reply? They remain obdurately opposed to the principles that the Government are putting forward today. I unhesitatingly support the amendment. Pretty well all the speeches in the Committee—whether from the Conservative, Liberal Democrat or these Benches, and on the Cross Benches—have expressed opposition to what the Government are trying to do and support for what the amendment stands for.

I also unhesitatingly support the remarks of the noble Lord, Lord Carlile. He has spoken very bravely, and has been supported by several noble Lords who share his profession. A bevy of Silks have announced support for the proposition advanced by the amendment. I got involved with legal aid from pretty well the very beginning, because of a very simple notion—I thought it was imperative that ordinary people should be able to advance their cause and, where they are impaired from doing so, they should be supported by the state. That was my view then. The amendment sets out very clearly, within the constraints that are necessarily imposed upon us, the basic principles that we should preserve.

It is vital that individuals should have access to legal services, where their rights are being seriously impaired or are not being properly advanced—subject always to the provisions of the 1999 Act. There is a serious risk that both of these will occur, separately, under the changes to legal aid provision now being contemplated. I am surprised that any person of any sensitivity—and I think that the noble Lord, Lord McNally, would fall into that category—would support such changes. I have always had great admiration for the noble Lord—I do not know why, as he has done his best to impair that decision on my part. It is not a question of party prejudice at all; it is a question of downright decency and that is what I support today.

International Labour Organisation

Debate between Baroness Verma and Lord Clinton-Davis

Tuesday 5th April 2011 Lords Chamber

[Lord Clinton-Davis]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will reconsider their decision to withdraw discretionary funding to the International Labour Organisation.

[Baroness Verma]

My Lords, the UK’s multilateral aid review found that there was no longer a case for voluntary funding from DfID to the ILO. However, the department remains open to providing project funding to the ILO at a country level, now and in the future. The ILO will continue to receive an annual, assessed contribution from the UK paid by the Department for Work and Pensions. This amounts to £16 million in 2011.

[Lord Clinton-Davis]

Does not the Government’s stance reflect their prejudices rather than seek to improve the ILO in dealing with the many matters with which it has to cope? Is it not a fact that just 12 months ago DfID said conclusively that the partnership between the Government and the ILO would continue? How do they react now?

[Baroness Verma]

My Lords, the United Kingdom, led by the Department for Work and Pensions, remains a fully paid-up member of the ILO governing body. We will continue to engage proactively with the International Labour Organisation and we will pursue a range of reform-related issues, including the reform of the workings of the governing body and improving audit arrangements. All this will carry on, and the ILO, on a country-by-country, programme-by-programme, basis, is still able to apply to DfID for funding, as long as it has a provable business plan.

--- Later in debate ---

[Lord Clinton-Davis]

Is not the noble Baroness arguing that individual Governments should have the last word in this matter? Is that not a prescription for indecision and discontent?

[Baroness Verma]

No, my Lords, I cannot agree with the noble Lord. I have made it clear throughout my responses that we support raising labour standards in global supply chains. The number of fairtrade-certified producers has increased from 1.1 million to 2.5 million. That is an improvement. We are not going backwards, but we need to make sure that every penny we spend is spent well.

Gaza

Debate between Baroness Verma and Lord Clinton-Davis

Monday 13th December 2010 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Verma]

My noble friend is right that education will be key to solving many of the difficulties that both these nations face. Of course, through our aid programme, that is exactly what we are trying to do to ensure that the infrastructure projects are able to work as normally as possible under the very difficult circumstances in which we find ourselves.

[Lord Clinton-Davis]

My Lords, apart from the point raised by my noble friend, how is Hamas reacting to the present situation? In the Government’s view, is it helpful or unhelpful?

[Baroness Verma]

My Lords, we have no dialogue with Hamas.