Rugby: 200th Anniversary
Debate between Lord Campbell of Pittenweem and Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay
Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con)
That question gives me the opportunity to add my tributes to the late noble Baroness, the first Paralympian in your Lordships’ House. I am pleased to say that Sport England has provided more than £800,000 of support for wheelchair rugby since 2019 to encourage people of all backgrounds and abilities to get involved. We are supporting communities to have pitches and sports facilities to ensure that people of all backgrounds and abilities can take part in sports.
Lord Campbell of Pittenweem (LD)
My Lords, has the Minister’s department taken any opportunity to discuss with the rugby authorities the provision of medical cover at all levels, including grass-roots rugby?
Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con)
My right honourable friend the Sports Minister meets the sporting bodies regularly and discusses these matters. I will take that point back and discuss it with him.
Channel 4 Privatisation
Debate between Lord Campbell of Pittenweem and Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay(2 years, 7 months ago)
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Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con)
Like the sale of any Government asset, the sale of Channel 4 will need to meet a careful assessment process to ensure value for money for the taxpayer. Further details will be set out in the White Paper to address that. We expect a lot of interest in Channel 4 from around the world.
Lord Campbell of Pittenweem (LD)
My Lords, but is not Netflix a complete red herring? How many journalists and camera crews has Netflix sent to Ukraine?
Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con)
Netflix is not a news producer in the way that Channel 4 is a public service broadcaster, but it is competing with Channel 4 for all the other things which Channel 4 does, including its entertainment and other content. This debate is not about the remit of Channel 4 but about ensuring that it can continue to compete with those, such as Netflix, which produce different but, at the moment, very competitive things.
Football: Casey Review
Debate between Lord Campbell of Pittenweem and Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay(2 years, 11 months ago)
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Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con)
My Lords, I do not have those figures. However, as the noble Lord points out, where there is CCTV footage and with the further evidence gathered by the noble Baroness in her report, it is obviously for the prosecuting authorities—rightly separate from Government—to look at that and take the decisions they feel are appropriate.
Lord Campbell of Pittenweem (LD)
My Lords, does the Minister accept that the most damaging outcome of the events at Wembley—notwithstanding the success of the Olympic Games in London and the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and the undoubted soon-to-be success of the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham—is that international sporting bodies will be reluctant to send prestigious events to be held in the United Kingdom?
Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con)
I am pleased to say that the UK has a very strong track record in staging international sporting events, the vast majority of which go exceedingly well. We thank the noble Baroness for her report, to make sure that we have learned the lessons from this incident and will continue to do so in future.
Human Rights Priority Countries
Debate between Lord Campbell of Pittenweem and Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay
Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con)
My Lords, we continue to raise our concerns directly with the Belarusian authorities via their embassy in London and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Minsk. We continue to speak out in international fora, including on individual cases. I will certainly pass on the noble Lord’s message and update him in writing on the individual case he mentions. We continue to follow the situation in Belarus closely and attend trials, and we have requested access to political prisoners too.
Lord Campbell of Pittenweem (LD)
My Lords, does the Minister recall that, when we left the European Union, it was said that there would be plenty of opportunities in the Commonwealth? Given that there are Commonwealth countries that do not recognise LGBT rights, and indeed prosecute and sometimes persecute gay men and women, what sort of attitude will the Government take towards a trade deal with Nigeria?
Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con)
My Lords, sadly some EU member states also do not have an unblemished record when it comes to these important rights. LGBT rights are an important part of human rights, and they feature heavily in our Annual Report; they are exactly part of the concerns and values that we wish to uphold as we trade internationally.
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe
Debate between Lord Campbell of Pittenweem and Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay
Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con)
My Lords, we have long been clear about our concerns over Iran’s continued destabilising activity throughout the region, including its political, financial and military support to a number of militant and proscribed groups. The noble Lord raised points about nuclear; the UK remains committed to making the Iran nuclear deal a success, and Iran must stop all its nuclear activity which breaches the terms of the JCPOA and come back into compliance. On sanctions, we take a robust stance against Iranian human rights violations, and we have already sanctioned 82 individuals and one entity.
Lord Campbell of Pittenweem (LD)
My Lords, is it not the harsh truth that we have been on the back foot since the clumsy and inexcusable intervention by the Prime Minister? There is a logjam here, and it has to be broken if we are to preserve the health of the prisoners. If that means paying the disputed money, so be it.
Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con)
My Lords, the UK Government from the Prime Minister down are committed to doing everything we can for Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe and her family, and we are determined to see her reunited with her family in the UK. We raise her case, and those of other British dual nationals, with the Iranian Government at every opportunity, and continue to call for their immediate and permanent release. As I have said, we do not think it helpful to conflate this with other bilateral issues.