Welfare of Animals at the Time of Killing (England and Northern Ireland) (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019
Debate between Lord Ashton of Hyde and Lord Hain
Lord Hain (Lab)
My Lords, following the very quick passing of the remaining stages of the Historical Institutional Abuse (Northern Ireland) Bill last Thursday evening, does the Chief Whip any information on when it will receive Royal Assent, and does the Commons have, as I gather is the case, broad support to pass it in a similarly expeditious fashion?
Lord Ashton of Hyde (Con)
My Lords, as the noble Lord said, following his amendment, last Thursday this House completed all the stages of the Bill in record time and sent it to the House of Commons. The scheduling of the Bill is now a matter for the other place. As noble Lords know, the other place is electing a new Speaker today, but I know that the representations made by the noble Lord, and indeed by the Minister in this place, have been heard by the other place. I am not able to say whether the other place has decided to deal with it tomorrow, and I am not sure that that House would have been able to announce it. However, I can assure him that the powers that be are aware that we have passed the Bill in this House.
Business of the House
Debate between Lord Ashton of Hyde and Lord Hain
Lord Ashton of Hyde
My Lords, I have accepted that there is widespread feeling in the House on this. As I said, a lot depends on the House of Commons. It would be silly to spend a lot of time on this if we knew that it would not get through the House of Commons. If the noble Lord will withdraw his amendment, I will agree to talk to the usual channels and, if necessary, he could bring back his amendment tomorrow—or we may not even need an amendment. Is he happy to accept that?
Lord Hain
My Lords, I appreciate the dilemma and predicament that the Chief Whip is in; I am not having an argument with him. There is no argument across this House about the principle. I would hope that in pressing the amendment to a vote, as I intend to do, I would be helping him and the whole House provide leadership on this matter. The House of Commons needs to follow suit and support the victims concerned.
Lord Ashton of Hyde
I am grateful for the noble Lord’s suggested help. It is better if we follow the normal procedure, which is to agree these things between the usual channels. We have understood. I have agreed to talk to the usual channels tomorrow. I leave it up to him whether he will accept that and press his amendment or not.
Public Service Broadcasters
Debate between Lord Ashton of Hyde and Lord Hain(5 years, 8 months ago)
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Lord Ashton of Hyde
One difference between this country and Russia is that there is a rule of law. The legal process is being followed, which includes regulation that Parliament has given to Ofcom, independent of government. That will be followed, and I trust that something useful will happen from it.
Lord Hain (Lab)
My Lords, will BritBox be available to British holidaymakers in Spain, France and so on, and to British expats who are resident there? I ask because I was approached on holiday in Spain some years ago by a local provider of British television who wanted to negotiate a legitimate fee-paying service with freeview suppliers, including the BBC and ITV. But when he approached the heads of the BBC and ITV, they were not interested. That does not seem sensible.
Lord Ashton of Hyde
The difference with BritBox is that it is a commercial service and therefore that it will be in its interest to get as many people to pay as possible. It already exists in America. I cannot answer precisely on whether it will be available in Europe, but there will be different motivations for the BBC and ITV, as this is a commercial service and they will want as many subscribers as they can get.
Mobile Roaming Charges
Debate between Lord Ashton of Hyde and Lord Hain(5 years, 9 months ago)
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Lord Hain (Lab)
My Lords, surely the Minister could agree that “no plans to”—his words—is not the same as a guarantee. In the EU we have a guarantee of no additional data roaming charges or voice roaming charges outside our bundle. He is not providing any guarantee at all, and it is about time he did.
Lord Ashton of Hyde
That is based on a fundamental misunderstanding of the position. Currently, we have a guarantee because we are part of the EU single market. If we leave the EU single market, which is what this SI is about, we will not be able to provide that guarantee. Therefore, I am incapable of giving the noble Lord the guarantee that he asks for. We have been completely open about that. That is why I said that the four companies have no plans for increases. Of course there is no guarantee about that, and we would not be in a position to command it if we are not in the EU. The issue is not about the SI but about the consequences of leaving the EU.