European Union: Environmental Policy

Debate between Lord Gardiner of Kimble and Baroness Ludford

Monday 12th December 2016 Lords Chamber

[Lord Gardiner of Kimble]

My Lords, the great repeal Bill will provide an opportunity to ensure that there will be no gaps, to provide certainty for businesses, stakeholders and everyone. It is precisely the case that those standards will be coming back to this country and if there is any requirement for alteration, it would come before Parliament in the normal manner of scrutiny by both Houses.

[Baroness Ludford (LD)]

My Lords, health and flooding have been mentioned, but is it not true that without EU environmental laws on air pollution and clean water, we would have had an even worse situation on air pollution, particularly in London, and would not now be building a supersewer to stop the discharge of raw sewage into the Thames, which is still happening in 2016?

[Lord Gardiner of Kimble]

My Lords, what the noble Baroness said about the Thames Tideway project is extremely important: raw sewage is going into the Thames; we must reduce it and work on it. That is why it is a very important investment. However, when I looked into the matter, much of what the noble Baroness mentioned is domestic legislation which even predates our membership of the EU. We will be continuing with our environmental course so that we have a better environment.

Air Quality

Debate between Lord Gardiner of Kimble and Baroness Ludford

Monday 23rd November 2015 Lords Chamber

[Lord Gardiner of Kimble]

My Lords, I am sure that as these matters develop, research will tell us a lot more, and it is important that we consider it. That is why real-world testing, for instance, will be of much greater benefit in the future. The health of the nation is one of the reasons why we are very conscious of this problem and of the need to address it. Wherever the pollution is—whether it is in the docks at Southampton, in inner London, in Scotland or wherever else—we need to crack the problem.

[Baroness Ludford (LD)]

My Lords, if 10,000 people a year were dying prematurely in London, and many others in the rest of the country, as a result of any health threat other than air pollution would the Government have a greater sense of urgency, rather than the complacency, and a degree of hypocrisy, that they have at the moment?

[Lord Gardiner of Kimble]

My Lords, I see no complacency or hypocrisy, if I may say so to the noble Baroness. I think that the officials who are working hard on this problem in local authorities might take exception to that description. Everyone here is in an honest adventure to ensure that we get this right. It is very important that we get it right. That is why we have to get everyone working together in local authorities, and at EU and other international levels. By bringing forward real-world testing, we will get a much better result.

Eurostar: Passengers with Pets

Debate between Lord Gardiner of Kimble and Baroness Ludford

Tuesday 30th June 2015 Lords Chamber

[Lord Gardiner of Kimble]

The noble Baroness has given us a splendid reason why one should be extremely cautious of ferrets. Last year 68 ferrets came in under the pet scheme, and I very much hope that everyone has taken note of what the noble Baroness said about trousers.

[Baroness Ludford (LD)]

My Lords, at the risk of bringing this down to the boringly serious, perhaps I may ask about Eurostar. There are supposed to be direct trains from Marseille and Lyons but everybody has to get off at Lille with all their baggage—and presumably their pets, if they have them—to go through passport and baggage checks, which takes about two hours. As we are trying to resist further runways at airports, should we not be doing everything we can to foster direct rail travel from the continent to the UK? When is that problem going to be solved?

[Lord Gardiner of Kimble]

My Lords, we are trying to ensure that all the requirements of the pet scheme are adhered to, because we do not wish to see the arrival of any diseases. That is why our requirements are as exacting as they are, and, as a result, we have remained rabies-free for all these years. Of course, direct travel is part of the modern way of life, and certainly of contacts within Europe. However, as far as the Question is concerned, Eurostar has made its commercial decision, and that is up to it.

Tunisia and European Council

Debate between Lord Gardiner of Kimble and Baroness Ludford

Monday 29th June 2015 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Ludford (LD)]

My Lords—

[Lord Gardiner of Kimble (Con)]

My Lords, we are trying to do this in turns, as we do at Question Time, and it is therefore the turn of the Liberal Democrats.

[Baroness Ludford]

My Lords, will the Leader of the House give us an assurance that we will hear more consistent messaging from the Prime Minister about the purposes of engagement with our EU partners? We have had mixed messages up to now. I was glad to hear the Statement refer to reform as well as renegotiation, but of course those require rather different styles. If we are taking about the reform of the whole EU, which will, of course, get a good degree of support across the EU, as opposed to renegotiation of Britain’s relationship with the EU, which was the language in the Conservative manifesto, is the Prime Minister going to say consistently that his aim is multilateral reform of the EU? If so, he may get more than a few minutes, during what my noble friend called a pit stop, at a future European Council, to be heard on this issue.