UK-EU Relations
Lord Berkeley of Knighton Excerpts(1 week, 2 days ago)
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Baroness Twycross (Lab)
On the sanitary and phytosanitary agreement, the Government are committed to pursuing an agreement that could reduce trade friction and bring benefits to both the UK and the EU. The UK and the EU are like-minded partners with similarly high standards, and we have been clear that an SPS agreement could boost trade and deliver benefits on both sides.
Lord Berkeley of Knighton (CB)
My Lords, we had a useful debate on this subject a few days ago, and I noted very considerable agreement on the creative industries, as the noble Baroness mentioned. But I ask her one specific question: will this reset include an attempt to relieve the problems caused by cabotage, which are really sinking many touring proposals at the moment?
Baroness Twycross (Lab)
I restate that we are committed to addressing this. I will write to the noble Lord on his points.
Europe: Youth Mobility
Lord Berkeley of Knighton Excerpts(3 weeks, 2 days ago)
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Lord Berkeley of Knighton (CB)
My Lords, I welcome the noble Lord, Lord Moraes, and very much enjoyed hearing his soft Scottish accent. In fact, we have heard a duo of Scottish accents.
We are discussing a hugely complicated area, as we have just heard, but the complications are essentially bureaucratic, economic and political. I was very interested to hear the noble Lord, Lord Frost, talk about his perception of what the EU had offered. I take his point about our being able to go to only one country while others might be able to come here. However, I was also very pleased to hear him recognise, with all his knowledge and expertise in this area, that we need to do something for touring artists and musicians and, if we can, for youth mobility.
The ability to travel and experience the world is profoundly important. It is an important aspect of human behaviour and indeed civilisation. That is not complicated. Going back to the Renaissance and before, curiosity, that prerequisite of intellect, has led people to travel, learn and exchange ideas. Think of the Grand Tour—think of what Turner painted when he toured or what the noble Baroness, Lady Featherstone, found when she toured. Students of language improve their mastery by visiting and speaking to natives in their mother tongue. I doubt whether many noble Lords have not at some point improved their French, Italian, Spanish or German in France, Italy, Spain or Germany.
Perhaps I could refer to some personal reminiscences. My father, Lennox Berkeley, learned his trade as a composer when Maurice Ravel took him to Paris to study with Nadia Boulanger. That quintessentially English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams studied with Ravel and always paid tribute to what he learned. More recently, George Benjamin, one of our leading composers, immersed himself in French music in studies with Olivier Messiaen. Many British composers have benefited, as have I, from visits to IRCAM, Pierre Boulez’s research institute investigating electronic music in the Beaubourg centre. We need to protect our soft power and the voice of our leading artists is a soft power.
Talking of soft power, I am extremely concerned to hear that the British Council is heavily in debt, owing to loss of income from English language teaching during Covid. I hope the Government can reassure us that they will support the British Council, which not only helps with the exchange of ideas and helps us take works of art abroad—my opera with Ian McEwan would not have happened in Rome were it not for British Council support—but fosters the exchange of ideas.
The Government must try to make sure that the British Council does not sink beneath the waves of the English Channel. It is a really good advert for UK culture, as is the BBC World Service. I must tell noble Lords that I was informed today that it has had to institute some major cuts, despite Government investment.
Youth mobility is surely part of growing up, as we have heard. I fear that, if it is not protected and enhanced, it will become, like music education, the preserve of the well off. Reacting to initiatives from the EU, Priti Patel, the shadow Foreign Secretary, said that she thought youth mobility would be damaging to freedom of movement and that it would relax freedom of movement rules. What is the Government’s view of this? In my view, it is overly paranoid. Where would we be without our architects experiencing the work of European architects, without writers immersing themselves in foreign climes, or without cooks sampling international traditions? I would like to see us rejoin Erasmus; although it was quite right of the noble Lord, Lord Jackson, to talk in glowing terms of the Turing Scheme, it is not Erasmus and it is not reciprocal.
I want to see better rules about cabotage—these are utterly ridiculous. If you are taking a symphony orchestra or a ballet company abroad, you have to exchange your truck on entering Europe, and you then have to exchange it again after every two venues. That adds incomparably to the cost of touring.
There are things that we can do. The noble Lord, Lord Frost, intimated that there are things that could be tweaked, and that is a good start for all of us. As the right reverend Prelate said at the beginning of the debate, let us not get into well-rehearsed discussions about Brexit but let us see what we can do to improve where we are, and possibly move on from there. I want to see future generations have the opportunities that the right reverend Prelate mentioned. I want them to have the opportunities that we had—to go to Paris and to Berlin, and to discover things and exchange ideas with their counterparts in Europe. I hope that the Government may be able to move us in that direction.
Infected Blood Inquiry
Lord Berkeley of Knighton Excerpts(2 years, 2 months ago)
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Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Con)
I thank my noble friend. I think I have said probably as much as I can about having an arm’s-length body, but clearly it is helpful to have Sir Robert’s advice on this important matter. No options are ruled out, and that is certainly one of the recommendations that we are looking at very seriously.
Independence in making sure that everybody gets the compensation they need and ensuring trust in the system are lessons that need to be learned. I like my noble friend’s challenge that we always need to learn lessons from mistakes that are made in government; coming from another world, it is something that I always try to do. Across all parties, we have been slow to take grip of this awful issue.
Having said that, it was the Conservative Government who set up the inquiry into infected blood in 2017. We then commissioned Sir Robert Francis to do a compensation study. The force of that study led Sir Brian—they are both involved in this; they work together—to recommend, on 29 July 2022, that an interim payment should be made. By October, we had paid that interim payment to all those he recommended should receive it. We have also ensured that it is exempt from tax and disregarded for benefits.
Lord Berkeley of Knighton (CB)
My Lords, as the Minister said, this is a tragedy. It is almost unimaginable what the families affected by this have gone through and are going through. My question is very simple and follows on from what two noble Lords who have spoken said. Do the Government anticipate that all the people who have suffered infection will get an interim payment, or is it limited?
Nuclear Test Veterans: Medals
Lord Berkeley of Knighton Excerpts(2 years, 2 months ago)
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Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Con)
I agree with the noble Baroness that it is important to publicly acknowledge the use of lands belonging to traditional landowners for nuclear testing, both in Australia and the Pacific; I was going to volunteer that point which the noble Lord, Lord Purvis, made. We are acknowledging it publicly in Parliament, and we have to continue to do that; I am not aware of any particular research in the area that the noble Baroness mentioned, but I will certainly ask that question and come back to her if I can give her any more information. I suspect that she may know a great deal more about Australia and what is going on there.
Lord Berkeley of Knighton (CB)
My Lords, I very much echo the congratulations of other noble Lords on this matter finally being resolved. The points about the indigenous population and any kind of fallout are very important, because there could be nothing worse for the reputation of our country than the idea that we would conduct experiments of this sort, which are very important, and somehow poison other people’s land without compensating them and checking that it is now safe.
I, too, very respectfully suggest that there are lessons to be learned here. Bureaucracy, of course, takes a long time. Where compensation, medals and pensions are concerned, I am sure the Government would prefer not to be seen to have this matter resolved by people constantly having to campaign and drag it from them. I suggest to the Minister that we should try to be more proactive about looking ahead when these problems arise, and perhaps even come up with solutions before we need endless campaigns. It is more honourable and dignified, and it is clearly applicable to a question such as this. However, I repeat that I am very glad that this question has now been resolved.
Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Con)
I am glad that the noble Lord also mentioned the communities in Australia and elsewhere. Of course, as I said, there has been a government ex gratia payment, which I believe was very important. Although the 1950s and 1960s were a long time ago, it is not too late to honour the brave people involved. Those looking at these cases in the round have difficult judgments to make but, having said that, the noble Lord is right that we should learn from mistakes. That is one of the principles I have brought into government with me: learn as you go along, because you can improve in almost every area of government.
House of Lords Appointments Commission
Lord Berkeley of Knighton Excerpts(3 years, 5 months ago)
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Lord Berkeley of Knighton (CB)
My Lords, I fear that I take a rather contrary view to the noble Baroness, but then perhaps I am a rather awkward nut. I will contribute a few words from the point of view of another person who, like my noble friend Lord Anderson, joined your Lordships’ House through the HOLAC route. This gave me an impressive insight into the workings of the commission and convinced me that this must surely be the most democratic route into your Lordships’ House that exists. Although it would be naive to think that the support of highly regarded and influential Peers does not play an important role, that is true in any walk of life where references are required.
I assure your Lordships that the stages of submission and interview are no doddle. I recall being thoroughly put through my paces by the late Lord Hart of Chilton—Garry Hart. In the same year, 2013, my noble friend Lady Lane-Fox was the other recommendation—so, in that year, an internet expert and a musician were ennobled. Thus, the desire to have the commission bring in people who might widen the expertise of the House but would not perhaps emerge through the political system of nominations was continued, as mentioned by my noble friend Lord Anderson of Ipswich.
Given its impressive work, HOLAC surely deserves and needs to be put on a statutory basis. Otherwise, we risk insulting people who do hours and hours of work thinking very carefully about who should and who should not be Members of your Lordships’ House.
Spyware
Lord Berkeley of Knighton Excerpts(3 years, 7 months ago)
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Lord True (Con) [V]
My Lords, again, I cannot comment on individuals, but I underline what I have said about this Government’s deploring of any effort to target UK individuals, the representations that we have made and the commoditisation of this kind of spyware. Unfortunately, the commercial cyber capability industry is global. We are seeking in many ways to try to secure better control and have legal, proportionate and proper use of any such devices, and better control of exports.
Lord Berkeley of Knighton (CB) [V]
My Lords, I realise that the Minister is under some constraint here, so let me try to put this in a slightly more philosophical sense. Is there not a somewhat justifiable element of fearing what we wish for, not unlike in the Huawei dilemma? In other words, do we need and use this technology and what it covers, and in so doing might we be lowering our own defences to it?
Lord True (Con) [V]
My Lords, I have said something about the controls on our own intelligence framework. As the noble Lord will know, the UK’s use of any investigative powers—I am obviously going much wider than this Question—including equipment interference, is governed by the Investigatory Powers Act. That provides extensive and robust safeguards and oversight that is judicial, political and parliamentary.
European Union (Future Relationship) Act 2020 (References to the Trade and Cooperation Agreement) Regulations 2021
Lord Berkeley of Knighton Excerpts(3 years, 7 months ago)
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Lord Berkeley of Knighton (CB) [V]
My Lords, I am very pleased to follow my friend Dafydd, the noble Lord, Lord Wigley. We move from one part of Wales to another for what I am about to say, which will be mercifully brief. I, too, thank the Minister for not bombarding us with every single change. I am happy with the process he has outlined.
We have heard a bit from previous speakers about drops in trade. We have heard about co-operation and trust, coherence and clarity; these are things we simply have to build with the EU so that our various sectors can prosper. Although this is slightly off the point, I hope the Minister will give me a moment of indulgence to mention that in terms of trade, as he knows, musicians have been hit appallingly hard and there is a little lack of clarity about how we are going to overcome this.
The noble Lord, Lord Frost, with whom I have had private and public meetings, and the noble Baroness, Lady Barran, at the DCMS, have explained that we will try to find bilateral agreements with countries. I am extremely grateful that they are doing that, but we were hoping that this could be sorted out at least at a TCA level, because the problem for people building a tour in Europe is that, if all or an awful lot of the countries are different, it is an absolute nightmare. I bring this back to trade now. People are seeing their livelihoods pulled from underneath them. I make that point, but I am happy for the Minister to proceed as he outlines.
Overseas Development Assistance
Lord Berkeley of Knighton Excerpts(3 years, 7 months ago)
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Lord Agnew of Oulton (Con)
My Lords, that will be for when we have re-established a fiscal position that allows us to meet our commitments without having to borrow money on a day-to-day basis. That is the position we are in now, and I respectfully remind noble Lords that it will be the next generation who will pick up the tab for this huge amount of borrowing, and something has to give. That is what has happened in this situation.
Lord Berkeley of Knighton (CB) [V]
My Lords, given what the Minister has just said, I wonder how he would respond to the devastating observation by John Major yesterday that we seem prepared to build an expensive national yacht—which I would describe as a floating embassy—that we neither need nor want, while cutting back support for thousands of malnourished and starving people around the world who we could and should be further helping to feed.
UK and EU Relations
Lord Berkeley of Knighton Excerpts(3 years, 7 months ago)
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Lord Frost (Con)
My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness for our sadly brief but enjoyable co-operation. I look forward to standing here at the Dispatch Box and dealing with her successor. On her question, the difficulty is that we did something pretty exceptional as a country in the withdrawal agreement, which was to agree that goods could be controlled in a particular way as they moved within our own country. Self-evidently that can happen only if it is applied with a degree of delicacy, pragmatism and proportionality, which, unfortunately, we are not seeing. That is the core of the difficulty. If we can re-establish the balance, we shall be able to find a satisfactory way forward.
Lord Berkeley of Knighton (CB) [V]
My Lords, I look forward to discussing the problem of musicians touring in Europe at a later date, but there is one specific problem that I will put to the Minister. Will there be some arrangement between the UK and the EU over emergency replacements? Let me give an example: suppose the Royal Opera House is putting on the “Ring” here and Wotan falls ill. As the noble Lord might know, only a handful of singers can sing Wotan in the world. This is analogous with sports as well. Will there be any way to deal with this in the coming months?
Lord Frost (Con)
My Lords, I am very familiar with that particular issue. In fact, my last private trip aboard before the pandemic was to see “Das Rheingold” in Berlin. I look forward to such things resuming. I will take away the particular point he mentions. DCMS has established a working group with representatives from across the sectors looking at these particular problems in a high level of detail. I will make sure that that is drawn to the attention of those involved.
Budget Statement
Lord Berkeley of Knighton Excerpts(3 years, 11 months ago)
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Lord Berkeley of Knighton (CB) [V]
My Lords, it is indeed a pleasure to welcome the flow of fresh blood into your Lordships’ House, and I welcome its owners too.
The opening thrust of the noble Lord, Lord Agnew, was this: the Budget protects jobs and livelihoods. The creative industries cannot wait to get back to work, to start contributing the billions to the Exchequer that they have historically raised. I commend the Chancellor for the help that he gave to the sector, but he and the Minister will know that many slipped through the net of support and will now be hit by the second blow of a double whammy—the inability to tour in Europe. I fear that many actors, dancers and musicians may not be there to help rebuild our economy.
I have two suggestions: help with insurance for promoters and venues, and a return to the EU to sort out touring visas and work permits. It is no good saying that the creative industries are being consulted and the Government’s door is open; the Government simply must go back to renegotiate a reciprocal agreement, however much they appear loathe to do so. It is not just about money but about the precious exchange of ideas.
Finally, I endorse my noble friend Lord Butler of Brockwell’s suggestion that those who can should pay more on a one-off basis for NHS nurses. For my part, I would certainly be up for that.