Republic of Ireland: Aids to Navigation

Debate between Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville and Earl Attlee

Monday 25th February 2013 Lords Chamber

[Earl Attlee]

The noble Lord raises an extremely important point. One of the ways in which we have managed to reduce unnecessary expenditure is through the work of the joint strategic board to set the modalities so that assets can be shared and facilities are not duplicated.

[Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville]

My Lords, does my noble friend recognise that, for some of us, the fact that there was continued collaboration between the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland on lifeboats, lighthouses and the Ordnance Survey throughout the Troubles was a bright light in a darkened world? Furthermore, does he recognise that the reconstruction of the Ballyconnell Canal, 80% of which was paid for by the Irish Government—both of us being helped by the European Union—has had a powerful effect on tourism on our side of the border in Lough Erne?

Olympic Games 2012: Disruption to Businesses

Debate between Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville and Earl Attlee

Monday 26th March 2012 Lords Chamber

[Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville]

Does my noble friend regard it as a good or a bad omen that the first appearance of the phrase “the rush hour” in the English language appeared within two years of the first modern Olympic Games in 1896?

[Earl Attlee]

Yet another interesting question from my noble friend.

Transport Infrastructure: North-east England

Debate between Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville and Earl Attlee

Monday 23rd January 2012 Lords Chamber

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, I did the best research I possibly could on behalf of your Lordships, but I confess that I did not actually drive the route. I did look on the map and I used the excellent AA Route Planner to see what the difference in time for the two would be, whether I went on the M6 or on the single-carriageway A1.

[Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville]

My Lords, given that we have run out of questions before time, may I congratulate my noble friend on the comprehensiveness of his replies?

[Earl Attlee]

When my noble friend got to his feet, I thought, “Oh no, he is going to ask me one of those tricky questions to which I will have to agree to write”. On this occasion I shall just thank the noble Lord for his question.

Life Sciences

Debate between Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville and Earl Attlee

Tuesday 6th December 2011 Lords Chamber

[Lord Willis of Knaresborough]

My Lords—

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, we have not yet heard from a Conservative speaker.

[Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville]

My Lords, first, I congratulate my noble friend on having omitted a reference in his Statement to a valley of death fund. Secondly, having picked up the reference to big pharma in this welcome Statement, I called to mind the historic and dramatic decision of the late Austin Bide of Glaxo to increase the planning horizon for research in that company from five years to 25 years. The Statement makes clear the acceleration that we shall see in drug development. Can my noble friend hazard any estimate of what effect today’s announcement will have on the planning horizon of research, in the manner of the late Mr Bide’s remarkable extension?

War Memorial Gardens

Debate between Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville and Earl Attlee

Thursday 13th October 2011 Lords Chamber

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, I could not possibly agree with the Leader of the Opposition to any greater extent.

[Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville]

My Lords, is my noble friend aware that thanks to the late Fred Cleary there are approaching 250 gardens within the City of London? I acknowledge that some of them are in horse troughs and window boxes but there are a large number of alternative gardens which could be used for the purpose of the original application.

[Earl Attlee]

I am sure that my noble friend is correct.

Olympic Games 2012: Courier Industry

Debate between Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville and Earl Attlee

Tuesday 28th June 2011 Lords Chamber

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, part of the reason why we are in such a good position with the Games is the good planning put in place by the previous Administration. With regard to the use of black cabs, noble Lords will understand that the primary route for getting to the Games should be public transport—buses, the underground and railway systems.

[Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville]

My Lords, given the role of the runner Pheidippides in bringing the news of the battle of Marathon to Athens, could my noble friend see whether there was any way, since he gave his name to the race, that the name of Pheidippides could be worked into the process that he has been recently defending?

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, that is an extremely interesting question which I am sure my officials will love researching to enable me to write to my noble friend.

Olympic Games 2012: London Air Quality

Debate between Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville and Earl Attlee

Monday 23rd May 2011 Lords Chamber

[Earl Attlee]

No, my Lords. Everyone is responsible.

[Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville]

My Lords, what was the weather like in 1948 and, while we are at it, in 1908 as well?

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, I am not aware of the weather in those periods. All noble Lords know that legislation over the years has vastly improved the environment in which we live. We need only to think of the Clean Air Act and the benefits we got from it.

Controlling Migration

Debate between Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville and Earl Attlee

Tuesday 23rd November 2010 Lords Chamber

[Earl Attlee]

There has been only one Conservative question.

[Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville]

My Lords, can my noble friend expand a little on the reference to Highly Trusted Sponsors, who might be allowed to offer courses at a lower level—“Highly Trusted Sponsors” having an upper-case H, T and S?

Transport: Bus Stops

Debate between Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville and Earl Attlee

Monday 22nd November 2010 Lords Chamber

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, the police get involved where a parked vehicle causes an obstruction or a safety problem and they can have the vehicle towed away. Local authorities keep the revenue raised from parking fines, but they have to be hypothecated for transport-related projects.

[Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville]

My Lords, moving marginally from bus stops, is my noble friend aware that there is a strong correlation between cars parked in disabled parking spaces outside the main entrances to supermarkets and drivers with a criminal record?

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, yet again, I was not aware of that.

Visas

Debate between Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville and Earl Attlee

Thursday 18th November 2010 Lords Chamber

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, I believe that this happened under the previous Administration. I am not aware of the case, but I shall write to the noble Earl.

[Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville]

My Lords, does my noble friend, in the context of Amman, recall the exchange in 1918 in a military hospital between a visiting general and a Scottish private? The general asked the private where he had been wounded. The private replied topographically, rather than anatomically: “Three miles the Ardnamurchan side of Baghdad, sir”.

[Earl Attlee]

That is a very interesting anecdote from my noble friend.

Parking and Traffic Offences

Debate between Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville and Earl Attlee

Wednesday 6th October 2010 Lords Chamber

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, we will listen carefully to any suggestions that local authorities make about how to solve this problem. They need to remember that there are two problems: first, there is criminality, and with criminal problems it is easier to get the details from local authorities; but when, secondly, there are civil offences, registering authorities overseas are much less willing to give us the data that we need to pursue these civil debts.

[Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville]

My Lords, for parking offences, who are the three major offenders among foreign countries?

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, unfortunately I will have to write to the noble Lord.

Roads: Illegal Motorway Advertisements

Debate between Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville and Earl Attlee

Wednesday 21st July 2010 Lords Chamber

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, in my opinion most of these advertisements are illegal but the difficulty is one of enforcement. An advertisement on a vehicle is not subject to control under the 2007 regulations, provided the vehicle is normally used as a moving vehicle and is not used principally for the display of advertisements. When a vehicle is used principally for the display of an advertisement and is parked in one place for a prolonged period, the land can be regarded as a site for the display of an advertisement and then would require express consent from the local planning authority.

[Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville]

My Lords, does my noble friend accept that the same hazards described by the noble Lord, Lord Harrison, can occur in road signs? I am thinking in particular of the one in Lincolnshire, which directs you “To Mavis Enderby and Old Bolingbroke”, under which somebody had written, “the gift of a child”.

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, I am not familiar with that particular sign. The regulations we have in place are comprehensive, reasonable and effective and I pay tribute to the party opposite for the 2007 regulations.