COP 28

Debate between Lord Hamilton of Epsom and Lord Callanan

Wednesday 17th May 2023 Lords Chamber

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

We are committed to phasing out fossil fuels and I outlined in a previous answer the progress we are making. But it is a transition: we have a requirement for fossil fuels during that transition period and have had exchanges about that before. I do not know the details of the declaration that the noble Baroness refers to, but I will certainly have a look at it.

[Lord Hamilton of Epsom (Con)]

My noble friend made reference to our co-operation with other countries. Do they include China and India, which continue to build coal-fired power stations and make the attainment of net zero pretty unlikely?

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

My noble friend makes an important point. We continue to liaise with and talk to those countries, as we do many others. The situation is complicated. While it is true that China continues to expand its coal-fired generation, it has also massively increased use of renewables. In fact, it has the largest offshore wind sector in the world now; it took over our lead on that.

Climate Change: Net Zero Strategy

Debate between Lord Hamilton of Epsom and Lord Callanan

Wednesday 3rd May 2023 Lords Chamber

[Lord Hamilton of Epsom (Con)]

Does my noble friend accept that the chances of reaching global net zero are almost nil as long as the Chinese and Indians go on building coal-fired power stations?

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

I understand the point my noble friend is making. Of course, we continue to engage with China and India about the folly of building new coal-fired power stations. Incidentally, picking up my last example, because the German Government accepted the advice of the Greens and phased out their nuclear power programme, last year 30% of German electricity was met by coal-fired generation. In the UK, it was less than 2% and next year it will be zero.

Horizon Europe: UK Participation

Debate between Lord Hamilton of Epsom and Lord Callanan

Tuesday 31st January 2023 Lords Chamber

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

My Lords, the Government need no convincing about the benefits of association with Horizon Europe. We benefited from it. The UK has eight universities in the top 50 globally; the EU has only six. It is a multifaceted programme; exchanges benefit both sides. We were of the view that association would be a good idea; that is why we entered into the agreement. We still hope that the EU will have second thoughts.

[Lord Hamilton of Epsom (Con)]

My Lords, the noble Viscount, Lord Stansgate, has apologised for asking the same question twice. I will do the same thing and ask why we cannot be associate members of Horizon, like Israel and Tunisia.

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

I think my noble friend has asked that question three times. He gets the same answer every time but he is welcome to ask it again. The point that he makes is very valid. There are 15 countries in addition to the EU that have associated to Horizon, including Israel, Kosovo, Turkey and Tunisia, but, for reasons known only to itself, the EU refuses to continue the agreement.

Prime Minister: Trade Unions

Debate between Lord Hamilton of Epsom and Lord Callanan

Monday 19th December 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

I understand the point that the noble Lord is making but the problem is that, once you make an exception for one group, I imagine that lots of other deserving groups will also want exceptions made for them. Pretty soon, the exception becomes the rule. We are sticking to the position that we asked the pay review bodies to look at the appropriate level of remuneration; they have done so and we have accepted their recommendation.

[Lord Hamilton of Epsom (Con)]

My Lords, is it not true that, in the National Health Service, there are many different grades that nurses can achieve? They can go on doing the same job but be promoted up the grades and get more pay.

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

I am not overly familiar with the pay grades in the National Health Service—perhaps my noble friend Lord Markham could have answered that on the previous Question better than me.

Horizon Europe

Debate between Lord Hamilton of Epsom and Lord Callanan

Thursday 8th September 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

I stand completely by those words: it would be a win-win, and we want to do it. It would be to the benefit of the EU and the UK scientific community, and it is regrettable that the EU is refusing to finalise the agreement that it entered into.

[Lord Hamilton of Epsom (Con)]

My Lords, will my noble friend tell us why we cannot be associate members of the Horizon project, like Israel and Tunisia? Israel is not a member of the EU, and Tunisia is not even a member of the Eurovision Song Contest.

Fire and Rehire

Debate between Lord Hamilton of Epsom and Lord Callanan

Wednesday 15th June 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

We have said that we will deliver when parliamentary time allows, but there are many other ways of delivering what were manifesto commitments than a formal government employment Bill.

[Lord Hamilton of Epsom (Con)]

My noble friend has pointed out that unemployment levels are at an all-time low, but is he not worried about the rising number of those who are not seeking work?

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

That will depend on the individual circumstances of many people. The pandemic resulted in a number of people reassessing their life choices and if they have decided not to go back into the labour market, I am not sure that is something we can implicitly control. But as I said, we have 600,000 more people in work than before the pandemic and one of the lowest unemployment rates in the western world.

Mathematical Sciences

Debate between Lord Hamilton of Epsom and Lord Callanan

Tuesday 8th February 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

Again, the noble Lord raises an important subject. We clearly want to make sure that some of the top mathematicians stay in our universities to educate the next generation of young people. I will certainly take his remarks back to the Department for Education.

[Lord Hamilton of Epsom (Con)]

My Lords, the noble Baroness, Lady Garden of Frognal, says that maths should be fun for women. Can it actually be fun for anybody, even if it is very necessary for everyone?

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

I am sure that maths can be fun for everybody. I am disappointed that my noble friend does not think so.

Net-zero Emissions

Debate between Lord Hamilton of Epsom and Lord Callanan

Tuesday 7th December 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

We are working closely with industry to work up the offers we have to householders, as well as the myriad government schemes targeting mainly low-income families: the £800 million social housing decarbonisation fund, the £950 million home upgrade grants, et cetera. Then, of course, we have the £450 million boiler upgrade scheme launching in April next year to subsidise the installation of heat pumps.

[Lord Hamilton of Epsom (Con)]

My Lords, to follow the question from the noble Lord, Lord Whitty, now that the debate on net zero is maturing and we are talking about the costs of reaching net zero, should we not have a cost-benefit analysis from the Government on how all this is working out?

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

The legislation has, of course, already been passed by this House to make net zero legally binding, but extensive impact and cost-benefit analyses were done at the time.