Exercise Pegasus 2025
Debate between Lord Blunkett and Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent(1 week, 5 days ago)
Lords ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Lab)
We are very grateful to the noble and learned Baroness and her inquiry into Covid-19. Exercise Pegasus came out of one of the recommendations in module 1 of the inquiry, so we are reflecting on its recommendations as they are made. We have guaranteed that there will be one major tier 1 exercise per year and to publish their findings every year, which is an important part of it and one of the key recommendations that has already come from the noble and learned Baroness’s review. We look forward to her recommendations going forward.
Lord Blunkett (Lab)
I do not want to put my noble friend the Minister on the spot, but will she take cognisance of what has happened with the noble and learned Baroness’s interim report in relation to the use of statistics and the suggestion that a week-earlier lockdown would have saved 23,000 lives? The reliance at the time on certain academics, particularly at Imperial College, and the reliance of the noble and learned Baroness, Lady Hallett, on statistics from Imperial College, are extremely worrying because they have been debunked. Can my noble friend ensure that people are asked to really check the robustness of the analysis and the statistical methodology when they are going forward with Pegasus or other reports in the future?
Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Lab)
My noble friend is right that my statistics may not be someone else’s statistics. We should always interrogate the data that is being put in front of us.
Democracy and Unelected Strong Leaders
Debate between Lord Blunkett and Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent
Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Lab)
It would be an interesting experience for many in your Lordships’ House if the noble Baroness had the opportunity to be a despot. I could not agree more: it can occasionally feel like the concept of personality and humanity in our politics is missing, and definitely for those in communities—
Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Lab)
One second.
We need to be very clear about who we are, and why we are here.
Lord Blunkett (Lab)
I am not doing too well this morning; I will try again. Can I strongly welcome my noble friend’s replies, not least to the noble and right reverend Lord, Lord Harries? Will she permit me to draw her remarks to the attention of the chair of the curriculum and assessment review, given that the interim report did not mention citizenship at all?
Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Lab)
As I have said before, it is always a mistake to disagree with the noble Lord, so I agree absolutely.
Public Sector: Working From Home
Debate between Lord Blunkett and Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent
Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Lab)
My Lords, I am not brave enough to answer the final point. As for my performance in the Division Lobby, I think most noble Lords have now experienced that. I can either apologise or be grateful for it. In terms of online working and how we use technology, personally, I benefit from sitting in the same room during meetings; I definitely absorb more. But noble Lords will be aware that I also do a great deal of work with the Northern Ireland Office and all our meetings have to be hybrid because of where people are. That is the case for most of us who are operating in government. Our officials are spread, so to make sure that we hear voices from our nations and regions, it is important that we operate a variety of different technologies.
Lord Blunkett (Lab)
My Lords, returning to the earlier question about skills and training, will my noble friend talk to her noble friend on the Front Bench and to Pat McFadden and Georgia Gould in the Commons about re-establishing a new form of civil service college, which could be done with a confederation of universities at a fraction of the price that was going to be charged by EY until this Government stopped it back in July?