G20 Summit

Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville Excerpts

Monday 17th November 2014 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Stowell of Beeston]

I am grateful to my noble friend for his endorsement of what I said about rhetoric. I agree with him: there are no words strong enough to describe what has happened at the hands of these people in Syria and Iraq. As to his question about action from all the G20 partners, certainly the Prime Minister urged all the G20 partners to demonstrate their support for the Iraqi Government and the international efforts to counter ISIL, as well as the need to work against Assad and condemn his regime, which has allowed terrorism to flourish. As my noble friend said, we must all recognise—which I think is now starting to happen—that there are threats from ISIL to all parts of the world and it is not just a threat that we face in the West.

[Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville (Con)]

My Lords, in the tax and transparency portion of the Statement, there is a reference to the OECD saying that $37 billion of extra tax is being paid by big companies. Can my noble friend give us any information as to how much of that extra tax is being paid to G20 countries and how much is being paid to the rest of the world?

[Baroness Stowell of Beeston]

I am afraid that I do not have the level of detail to answer my noble friend so I will provide further information in writing, if I may.

House of Lords: Questions and Correspondence

Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville Excerpts

Thursday 8th May 2014 Lords Chamber

[Lord Hill of Oareford]

This is a matter that the House looks at from time to time. It looked at it recently and concluded that the current arrangements are correct. I very much agree about the benefits of our Question Time. My strong feeling about it is that “short and intense” is good: we increase scrutiny by making sure that the questions and answers are short and then we can get more people in.

[Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville (Con)]

My Lords, is my noble friend aware of the principle by which the late George Bernard Shaw conducted his correspondence, which was that of riposte? His definition of riposte was a letter by return of post.

[Lord Hill of Oareford]

I cannot say that the Government will be able to manage return of post, although these days return of post is not quite as quick as it was in the days of George Bernard Shaw.

EU Council

Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville Excerpts

Monday 28th October 2013 Lords Chamber

[Lord Hill of Oareford]

My Lords, I will make two points in response. First, my noble friend is right to point to a growing disaffection across Europe with the institutions and processes of the European Union. One of the things that many people are trying to work for is to bring the work of the Union more into contact with the everyday concerns of the citizens of Europe and overcome this growing democratic deficit as people call it. That is something that my right honourable friend the Prime Minister would say he is seeking to pursue by arguing against measures that would affect British businesses, choke off growth and all the rest of it.

Regarding the point about telephones, as my noble friend knows, he will not tempt me to comment in any detail on the work of our intelligence services. The leaders at the Council issued a statement after a great deal of thought in connection with the issue he raised and that has set out a way and a process in which the French and the Germans will talk to the Americans about what may or may not have gone on.

[Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville (Con)]

My Lords, paragraph 10 of the European Council conclusions that accompanied this Statement stated that the EU was in 2011 faced with 300,000 unfilled vacancies in the ICT sector. It added that if this trend was not checked there could be 900,000 unfilled vacancies in the sector by 2015. Could my noble friend contemplate covering a domestic omission in this Statement by putting in the Library a breakdown of the UK’s statistics within these EU-wide figures?

[Lord Hill of Oareford]

I am afraid, my Lords, I do not know the basis for the calculation made by the EU and whether it was based on data drawn from individual member states. If there are any data I can find I will, of course, let my noble friend have them, but I cannot say with any certainty what the basis of that calculation was.

European Council

Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville Excerpts

Monday 22nd October 2012 Lords Chamber

[Lord Strathclyde]

I have two points on that question from the noble Lord. First, we have every intention of continuing to work at the table and to be part of the negotiation. There are some very important and crucial issues that need to be resolved over the next few weeks, and I will be back at this Dispatch Box discussing and debating them, as I have done over the past two and a half years. But it is important to get some sense of the economic reality, which is very different to when the last EU budget was negotiated. For example, the level of public debt across the 27 EU member states in 2012 will be 50% more than it was in 2007. Across the EU on average, countries are expected to see expenditure as a percentage of GDP fall by about 8% between 2010 and 2014, and more than 16% of Commission officials earn more than €100,000. At a time when we are trying to boost growth, it is hard to justify a budget in which 45% is spent on the common agricultural policy.

Let me deal head-on with noble Lord’s concern that when we talk about a nil increase we mean a nil nominal increase. We do not. We mean that we do not see the case for increases in spending that are above the rate of inflation.

[Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville]

My Lords, in the Statement the Prime Minister specifically quoted, and thus emphasised, a passage in paragraph (g) of the European Council conclusions on the right regulatory framework for growth. The conclusions go on to state:

“The European Council looks forward to the Commission communication expected in December, which will take stock of progress and signal further action to be taken by the end of the current parliamentary cycle at the latest, including the follow up on the top 10 most burdensome pieces of legislation for SMEs”.

Will my noble friend remind your Lordships’ House of whether this is an actual or approximate date that constitutes the end of that parliamentary cycle so that our anticipation can be further whetted?

[Lord Strathclyde]

My Lords, I think that the parliamentary cycle comes to an end in 2014. However, we would like to see real progress on deregulation and dealing with regulation, particularly as it affects businesses and small businesses, as soon as possible. What was apparent at the end of last week was that that was a view shared not just by other member states but by the Commission itself. There are important prizes to be won here. If we can make the economies of Europe more efficient and effective, that will lead to growth, which is something that we all want to see.

European Council

Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville Excerpts

Monday 5th March 2012 Lords Chamber

[Lord Strathclyde]

My Lords, my noble friend encourages us to act unilaterally on the list of subjects that she offered. I am aware that we are moving forward on some of them, perhaps more tentatively than my noble friend would like. On others, we are not doing so. Perhaps I can check the situation when I get back to my desk, and if I can offer her any more concrete examples, I shall write to her.

[Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville]

My Lords, on the previous occasion that my noble friend delivered the Prime Minister’s Commons Statement on a prior European Council, did he notice the coincidence in the accompanying conclusions communiqué that the number of SMEs in the European Union is 23 million and that the number of unemployed in the EU is, give or take thousands, almost precisely the same number? Without expecting my noble friend to have the same UK statistics to hand, does he find it attractive that British SMEs should seek to provide one extra job each, carrying the double advantage of creating an example of hope to the rest of Europe at large and simultaneously highlighting the desirability of reducing regulations on companies with fewer than 10 people?

[Lord Strathclyde]

My Lords, my noble friend has a well earned reputation for finding these sorts of statistics that have passed so many others by, including me. He is right on the figure of 23 million small firms and 23 million unemployed. One each has an extra job, and that sweeps up unemployment. Of course, that is one of the reasons why, at last, many other European countries are joining us on deregulating and are accepting the case that what are called microenterprises—those that employ fewer than 10 people—are one of the basic engines for growth and employment. I am very grateful to my noble friend for pointing that out.

House of Lords: Scottish Referendum

Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville Excerpts

Wednesday 1st February 2012 Lords Chamber

[Lord Strathclyde]

My Lords, that is a good point: when all the parties are united, there is no room for much opposition. However, if a Bill is published after the gracious Speech, I am sure that there will be very effective debate within Parliament, because, as I have said before, very often the differences on House of Lords reform exist within the parties rather than between them.

[Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville]

My Lords—

[Lord Low of Dalston]

My Lords—

[Baroness Anelay of St Johns]

My Lords, it sounds as though my noble friend Lord Brooke has the Floor just at the moment.

[Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville]

My Lords, to revert to an earlier answer, why does my noble friend think that the world is not going to come to an end if a Bill to abolish the House of Lords is introduced into your Lordships' House?

[Lord Strathclyde]

My Lords, I am always wary of my noble friend winning this sort of competition to speak in the House. I rather wish that I had taken the question from the noble Lord, Lord Low.

Planning: Naseby Wind Farm

Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville Excerpts

Tuesday 17th January 2012 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Hanham]

My Lords, on the back of that history lesson and exposition, I do not think I can say anything more, other than that I hear what noble Lords have said.

[Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville]

My Lords—

[Baroness Parminter]

My Lords—

--- Later in debate ---

[Baroness Hanham]

My Lords, that would be a matter for the local community to decide when they put together the local plan on which ultimate decisions will be made.

[Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville]

My Lords, does my noble friend recall that the royalist centre at the Battle of Naseby was led by that great soldier Sir Jacob Astley, who subsequently surrendered the last royalist army in the field with the words which have a lasting relevance to the political scene: “Gentlemen, you have beaten us, now go fall out among yourselves”?

[Baroness Hanham]

My Lords, I merely thank my noble friend for adding to the history lesson which we have all much enjoyed.

Procedure of the House (Proposal 5)

Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville Excerpts

Tuesday 8th November 2011 Lords Chamber

[Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville]

My Lords, I take slight issue with the noble Lord, Lord Pearson of Rannoch. We had this problem fairly early after the coalition was formed. I raised the question on one occasion when the Leader was making a Statement that was not available to us because it had not finished in the Commons. The Leader was gracious enough to say that the rules of engagement in the Printed Paper Office should be altered and that the Statement should always be available as soon as the Minister got up in this House. I agree that the Printed Paper Office is not always consistent in its reactions. I had no difficulty in persuading it that these instructions had been given and the paper should in fact be released.

[Lord Campbell-Savours]

My Lords, the Motion actually reads,

“‘may’ (with the agreement of the usual channels)”.

One must assume that the usual channels would have this matter in mind when deciding. Therefore I do not see any problem at all.

Summer Recess: Ministerial Cover

Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville Excerpts

Monday 5th September 2011 Lords Chamber

[Lord Strathclyde]

The Prime Minister is always in charge, of course, but when he is abroad the Deputy Prime Minister, if he is in the United Kingdom, holds all the regular, routine meetings in and around No. 10. When he, too, is on holiday, another senior Minister, usually the Foreign Secretary, chairs all those regular meetings.

[Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville]

My Lords, to adapt the novel structure of the Question asked by the noble Lord, Lord Kennedy, who was in charge of government economic policy between 2007 and 2010?

[Lord Strathclyde]

My Lords, my noble friend has clearly enjoyed his Recess. No doubt he will be inviting the House to read the former Chancellor of the Exchequer’s book, which has just been published.

Public Disorder: Policing

Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville Excerpts

Monday 13th December 2010 Lords Chamber

[Lord Strathclyde]

My Lords, on my noble friend’s first point I am sure that the IPCC will want to examine all aspects of this demonstration and to test the tactics that the police used on that day. While so many of those are of course operational matters for the commissioners, I am sure that it will look at that. On protecting the statues, it is difficult for me, standing at this Dispatch Box, to disagree with my noble friend but I dare say that the police cannot instruct that every single statue in central London be boarded up every time there is a demonstration. Yet something clearly went wrong on Thursday and it is for the police commissioner, the IPCC and the police, in all their internal reviews, to take a view on what happened and, I hope, to make sure that it does not happen again. Let me re-emphasise that if those demonstrators who came along had come for genuinely peaceful reasons, none of this would have been required. The blame for the violence lies entirely with those who came to central London to perpetrate it.

[Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville]

My Lords, I continue to declare an interest as someone who was formerly elected deputy president of the National Union of Students. First, does my noble friend know whether the police have any estimate of the number of non-students taking part in the events? Secondly, on the basis of the degree of organisation shown by those who were not students, does he agree that “anarchist” is perhaps becoming a contradiction in terms?

[Lord Strathclyde]

My Lords, there was a nice joke at the end there about anarchy and organisation. I note my noble friend’s interest. I am sure that when he was vice-president of the NUS, he would not have organised a demonstration such as this.

As for the direct question about how many non-students were in the crowd, I do not have that estimate, but it is clear that there were those present who were not only interested in violence but displayed thuggish behaviour, came from gangs, were well organised and splintered away. We shall have to wait for the review to see what those figures might be.