Cyprus: EU Presidency

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath Excerpts

Wednesday 9th November 2011 Lords Chamber

[Lord Howell of Guildford]

This is the kind of asymmetric situation that is bound to have arisen from the lack of a settlement and the fact that the north is not recognised as a separate state by this country and by many other countries, except Turkey. That is the problem. Somewhere in the future lies a better and happier relationship in which the bi-zonal federal solution for Cyprus is achieved and the whole of Cyprus is represented in the European Union. Somewhere beyond that, perhaps even a satisfactory Turkish relationship with the European Union will also be achieved.

[Lord Hunt of Kings Heath]

My Lords, will the Minister expand a little on the question of potential Turkish accession to the EU? Can he give any prospect of success, given the position that Cyprus is taking?

[Lord Howell of Guildford]

We have always recognised, as I am sure the noble Lord has, that these things are intimately bound up together; and there are dangers. Certainly Turkey has stated that it would freeze further negotiations over the EU unless progress is really made on the Cyprus situation generally and unless issues such as oil and gas and the undersea boundaries can be resolved. So there is always a fragility and a danger that the negotiations between Turkey and the EU will be halted. They have been prolonged for a very long time already, and I am afraid that there are still a number of issues ahead. These things are at risk from the ugly division of Cyprus.

NATO

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath Excerpts

Thursday 16th June 2011 Lords Chamber

[Lord Howell of Guildford]

Perhaps I should be but I am not as concerned as he is because I did not know that they were doing this. If Ministers in the Scottish Parliament think that they can somehow opt out of the collective security on which we all depend, and if any country thinks that it can have a free ride, they will need to think again because in this new world most of the operations in which we will be involved will now be completely interdependent, operating closely with a whole range of allies in different combinations. I am sure that the skills, the fighting spirit and the long traditions of Scotland will be just as much needed in global security as everything else. Perhaps these Ministers should think again.

[Lord Hunt of Kings Heath]

My Lords, while I am sure that the noble Lord is right to point to the contribution of other European countries and the need for them to contribute more, does he not think that we have to look at our own capability? Last year, the Government undertook a very hurried defence review. In the light of the current commitments of our Armed Forces, does not the noble Lord think that another review is required?

[Lord Howell of Guildford]

No, I do not. After 2015 our budget will start expanding again. We are much the largest contributor in the European end of NATO. We are fulfilling our commitments. The operations in which we are involved are completely sustainable, contrary to some remarks we have all read about in the press. We believe that we have the dispositions, the patterns and the plans to meet as far as we can individually the crises of the future. The answer to the noble Lord’s question is no, but these are certainly fluid matters and anything could be coming around the corner. Great events could hit us and we always have to be ready to review the situation.

Trade and Investment

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath Excerpts

Wednesday 9th February 2011 Lords Chamber

[Lord Green of Hurstpierpoint]

I thank my noble friend Lord Lang for that question because it is an important one. Productivity is indeed something of an Achilles’ heel, at least in parts of the British economy, and we need to work at that. It is a complex matter that involves the whole question of the skills base. There is one very interesting fact about exports that is extremely important to this question. Research shows that as small companies get engaged in the international markets, they not only tend to be the more efficient ones, they tend to get more efficient as they do so. In other words, an enhanced trade performance engaging more SMEs in the international markets has the effect of strengthening the backbone of the whole economy. That is an extremely important consideration that leads me to underscore again the very centrality of this trade agenda to the growth strategy for this economy for the next few years.

[Lord Hunt of Kings Heath]

My Lords, perhaps I may follow up the question raised by my noble friend about the pharmaceutical industry, particularly the decision of Pfizer. Is the Minister aware of a Department of Health consultation on value-based pricing, which essentially changes the way in which the health service will compensate the pharmaceutical industry for the cost of drugs?

Under the current system, the PPRS, companies have great flexibility in setting a price within an overall profits cap. The advantage of that is that price sets a benchmark for at least 25 other countries and probably many more than that. That is one of the attractions for the industry of investing in the UK. When I was responsible for the pharmaceutical industry at the Department of Health, the UK had 4 per cent of global turnover in pharmaceuticals and 10 per cent of global R&D investment.

The Department of Health’s concern is to control the cost of pharmaceuticals to the NHS but, frankly, there is a much greater issue: the strength of our pharmaceutical R&D investment. I therefore urge the Minister to make sure that we are looking at pharmaceutical prices from the point of view of UK plc. I should say to the House that I have a number of health interests which are declared in the register.

[Lord Green of Hurstpierpoint]

I thank the noble Lord, Lord Hunt of Kings Heath, for that suggestion. I have to say that, as somebody relatively new to my role, this is not an area with which I am very familiar. However, his idea is very interesting and I am happy to undertake at least to inform myself more about the issues.

I am aware that Britain has been a very attractive site for R&D in the pharmaceutical industry. I think that we are all aware of the way in which the pharmaceutical industry is changing, with an increased tendency for the major companies to look at whether primary R&D is better contracted out to smaller operations. There is a need to think through the implications of that for the strategy of attracting and retaining inward investment in that sector.