Personal Protective Equipment: Accounting

Debate between Lord Hannan of Kingsclere and Lord Kamall

Wednesday 2nd February 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Kamall (Con)]

I thank the noble Lord, Lord Alton, for his persistence in asking a number of questions. I think all noble Lords appreciate that we want to recognise the huge suffering of the Uighurs in China, and that we should not do anything that can be seen to support it. I would also like to correct the noble Lord, Lord Alton: it was not the fraud squad; it was the Department of Health and Social Care’s anti-fraud unit, which has been investigating these contracts throughout the pandemic. But I will speak to my noble friend Earl Howe and check when the answer will be available. The normal process is to make sure it is available before the next session of Committee.

[Lord Hannan of Kingsclere (Con)]

My Lords, what lessons are to be drawn from the difference between the fiasco of PPE procurement and the world-beating success of vaccine procurement? The first was left in the hands of the usual administrative state, that of PHE and NHS procurement; the second was deliberately lifted out of the hands of bureaucracy and placed in those of an individual from the private sector. Would the Minister like to extrapolate or infer from that distinction?

[Lord Kamall (Con)]

It is important to recognise that, throughout the pandemic, people were in a state of panic and there were people dying every day. What we saw was the coming together of the state and the private sector, working in partnership in the best possible way. The vaccines started in university research but were then commercialised and exported by the private sector. People who stayed at home during lockdown were served by Uber and Deliveroo—hard-working people were serving us. This was the best of the public and private sectors, working together for the best of the British.

Cancer Drugs: Licensing and Approval

Debate between Lord Hannan of Kingsclere and Lord Kamall

Monday 8th November 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Kamall (Con)]

The noble Baroness raises an important point, especially given that health is devolved to the devolved Administrations. As much as possible, we work England-wide, but we also ensure that we co-ordinate UK-wide and that Ministers and officials regularly meet with those from the devolved Administrations.

[Lord Hannan of Kingsclere (Con)]

My Lords, some of the territories in the world which have the cheapest, safest and widest choice of medicines do not have their own regulators. Instead, they automatically recognise the decision made by globally acknowledged licensers. Does my noble friend agree that one way of addressing the question of expedition that the noble Lord, Lord Hunt of Kings Heath, and others raised would be for global Britain to work for the consumer as well as the drugs companies and to recognise automatically drugs licensed by the FDA, the European Medicines Agency and other equivalent bodies?

[Lord Kamall (Con)]

I thank my noble friend, who has been an advocate for free trade, for his question. Sometimes in the conversation about recognition, there is a debate between harmonisation and mutual recognition but also unilateral recognition. One of the concerns often raised when looking at unilateral recognition is that negotiators feel that, sadly, they are losing a bargaining chip. The other thing to recognise is that one country’s standard is often another country’s non-tariff barrier. MHRA is the UK regulator and I have been told that it thinks it important that we have our own arrangements in place for the regulation of medicines.

Drugs: Black Review

Debate between Lord Hannan of Kingsclere and Lord Kamall

Tuesday 19th October 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Kamall (Con)]

The Government have committed to giving a full response to Dame Carol Black’s review by the end of the year and have already taken action. Since part 1 of her review, the Government have announced £148 million of investment to tackle drugs misuse, supply and county-lines activity. That also includes £80 million for drug treatment and recovery services.

[Lord Hannan of Kingsclere (Con)]

My Lords, will my noble friend the Minister consider the third option, not mentioned by my noble friend Lord Moylan; namely, a partial decriminalisation? The evidence from those European countries and US states that have pursued this course is that not only does it relieve pressure on the police, the criminal justice system and the taxpayer but it leads to a decline in the number of drugs-related deaths. I appreciate that this is a complex issue and that there are strong views on all sides, so perhaps my noble friend the Minister will consider a temporary experimental change in the laws, as Parliament did over changing our time zone, where we lift the restrictions for a year, and then at the end of that we have a vote.

[Lord Kamall (Con)]

I thank my noble friend for reminding us of the third option—or the third way, as some might say. It is really important that we consider all views, and I have read, over the years, many arguments in favour of liberalisation. At the same time, however, I have also read many criticisms from drug treatment charities, saying that it is not as simple as that. At this point, the Government are not committed to any trials on the basis suggested.