EU Council

Debate between Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale and Lord Strathclyde

Monday 17th December 2012 Lords Chamber

[Lord Strathclyde]

My Lords, I do not have the immediate answer to that question. It raises all sorts of questions about the relationship between bank branches in the United Kingdom and their parent companies in the EU, most notably those headquartered in eurozone areas. I am not sure if there is a definite answer at this stage, but if there is I will let the noble Baroness know.

[Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale]

My Lords, I was disappointed the Prime Minister chose to be so negative and parochial in his Statement today about what is actually quite a positive statement on the common security and defence policy in the conclusions of the European Council meeting. The European Council meeting talked about enhancing and strengthening the common security and defence policy—one that was begun under a Conservative Government in the UK and has been maintained under Governments of all colours since.

I was also a bit disappointed that the conclusions, in talking, rightly, about the comprehensive approach to security, did not mention development alongside the importance of crisis management and stabilisation. I wonder if, in the discussions that will take place over the next 12 months, the UK Government will ensure that the important role of development alongside diplomacy and defence is recognised as we work towards refreshing this CSDP in December 2013.

Leveson Inquiry

Debate between Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale and Lord Strathclyde

Thursday 29th November 2012 Lords Chamber

[Lord Strathclyde]

My Lords, I very much welcome what my noble friend said about the press welcoming this report as much as we do. It is for the press to come up with a very firm timetable for how quickly they will put this into effect. The issue of Ofcom is one that we will discuss over the next few weeks.

[Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale]

My Lords, I discovered towards the end of the Leveson inquiry that my daughter’s mobile phone had been hacked 10 years ago. Her intimate conversations were used in a story published in the News of the World and other publications. Will the Government and the leaders of all parties bear in mind that it is not just those in the public eye but the families of those in the public eye, including the wider families—the brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, mothers and fathers—who suffer from press intrusion even though they have never volunteered to be in public life. Will the Government also consider, in the discussions that are about to take place about the importance of the media outwith London, the culture of the media across the whole of the United Kingdom, particularly in Scotland and Northern Ireland, where the national media operate in just as influential a way as they do in London for the rest of the UK?

[Lord Strathclyde]

My Lords, I agree entirely with what the noble Lord said. He is also right about the rest of the United Kingdom, and we shall need to take into account the devolved Administrations to make sure that they are fully on board with some of these changes.

Scotland: Referendum

Debate between Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale and Lord Strathclyde

Monday 15th October 2012 Lords Chamber

[Lord Strathclyde]

My Lords, under this legislation, the referendum must take place by the end of 2014—I think that essentially it is understood that it should be in the autumn of 2014—so there is plenty of time to go. Some people will find that hard to put up with; some people will find it reasonable that we should have plenty of time to discuss these important issues. As for the question, the Electoral Commission is not binding on the Scottish Parliament. The Scottish Parliament must ultimately approve the question. The point that I was trying to make is that if there was a leading question with which the Electoral Commission disagreed—its report will be made available to the Scottish Parliament—I suspect that there would be a political price to pay for that.

[Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale]

I welcomed the intervention of the Prime Minister earlier this year because I felt that many outstanding questions had to be addressed. One was the proposed date of the referendum. On that, to secure this agreement, the Government have capitulated. The two years that is now proposed for debate on this referendum could do untold damage, and not only to the Scottish economy—it could affect the British recovery as well. That has been a mistake. On the other side, it is positive that we have now secured agreement that there will be a legally binding referendum. The Scottish Government did not want a legally binding referendum; they wanted a softer option of an advisory referendum and we have stopped that. That is to be welcomed.

On the rules of that referendum, there are serious questions to be answered. Frankly, I am astonished that we have in front of us today the Section 30 order that could be passed by this House and the other House but not the draft referendum Bill that that Section 30 order will enable. In the months since the Prime Minister’s statement in January, I always expected that there would be the Section 30 order at the end of this process and that at the same time the draft referendum Bill on which that Section 30 order was based and on which the agreement had been reached would be published. I am disappointed that that is not in front of us today and I urge the Government to think seriously about pressing the Scottish Government to publish that referendum Bill in advance of the deliberations of this House rather than afterwards.

[Lord Strathclyde]

My Lords, the referendum process is now legally watertight. The draft Section 30 order will provide the Scottish Parliament with the confidence to legislate for an independence referendum if it is passed by both Houses of Parliament.

As to the question of the Bill, there is no Bill before us. We have not seen a draft Bill. We wait to see what the Scottish Government publish. They have not yet published the answers to their consultation process. We would hope to see that soon. The noble Lord started by saying that two years is a long time to wait. We cannot force the Scottish Parliament to publish their draft Bill. We have had this negotiation, we have a time limit and I think that the months will pass by very quickly.

Scotland: Referendum

Debate between Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale and Lord Strathclyde

Monday 31st October 2011 Lords Chamber

[Lord Strathclyde]

My Lords, I cannot confirm to my noble friend Lord Forsyth that the First Minister of Scotland has been threatening UK government Minsters. If it were true, however, that he would seek to frustrate a referendum in Scotland that had been legally and rightly established by the Westminster Parliament, it would be the most extraordinary event. Surely the first person who should whoop for joy if there were to be a referendum on the issue of separation in Scotland should be the First Minister.

[Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale]

Can the Government confirm whether they have conducted any research into the year-on-year implications for jobs in Scotland of investment decisions that might be affected by the prospect of a referendum and the prospect of independence? The First Minister talks of an independence referendum perhaps in 2015, with no certain date or timescale. Will the Government consider making representations to ensure that the uncertainty that that creates is minimised by bringing forward the date to as soon as possible?

[Lord Strathclyde]

The noble Lord brings a lot of experience to this whole subject. I am glad to say that my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Scotland himself has laid six—there could be many more—questions to the First Minister for Scotland on the whole issue of what independence means, so that we can have the clarity that I alluded to in the first Answer.

NATO Summit

Debate between Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale and Lord Strathclyde

Monday 22nd November 2010 Lords Chamber

[Lord Strathclyde]

In the first instance, my Lords, it will be NATO, supported by its key members. My noble friend is right in mentioning all the countries that have a direct interest, including the people of Afghanistan itself. As I said in response to an earlier question, we have all been clear, including the Afghanistan Government, that members of the Taliban and many other groups who want to talk, to play a part in government and to be part of the process of reconciliation are the ones who need to renounce violence, reject al-Qaeda and support the constitutional framework. It is in all our interests that that should be so.

[Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale]

My Lords, I welcome the reference in the Statement to failing states. Is there any further information that the Minister can provide on the discussions that took place with reference to the importance of failing states to NATO’s overall security position? Might action to help rebuild and reconstruct failing states be one of those areas where there could be more detailed co-operation in future between the European Union and NATO? Was that issue discussed at the summit, or might it be part of the discussions that will lead up to the Foreign Ministers’ meeting in April?

[Lord Strathclyde]

My Lords, I am sure that, on closer examination of the final communiqué, I would be able to find some reference to the subject of failing states. I know that that is an important issue for the noble Lord, and he is right to raise it. That was not the primary purpose of the summit, though; as we have been discussing over the past few minutes, that was to deal with the issue of the new strategic concept and with Afghanistan as well as rebasing the relationship with Russia. Just because these issues were not of primary importance, however, does not mean that they are not in themselves important. NATO is as keen as the rest of us to sort out these problems.

European Council

Debate between Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale and Lord Strathclyde

Tuesday 2nd November 2010 Lords Chamber

[Lord Strathclyde]

My Lords, my noble friend is right that certain considerations were discussed at the passage of the Lisbon treaty. Indeed, as a party, we rather opposed the setting up of the External Action Service. However, it is a fact that it is being set up. The noble Baroness, Lady Ashton, is in charge. It needs to be supported. As part of our general opposition to increase in expenditure, we have made several points about the EU budget. I am not aware that we have specifically raised the EAS annual budget, which will be £5.8 billion—a substantial amount of money. However, we hope that as it is rolled out it will be to the benefit of not just the European Commission but the member states of the European Union.

[Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale]

My Lords, there is a connection between the first and second parts of the Prime Minister’s Statement. While any genuine attempt to reduce waste and inefficiency in the European Union’s institutions will be welcomed by all of us, can the Government guarantee that the work of the European Union in development activity, peacebuilding and peacekeeping—which will contribute to our security as well as that of the developing world—will not be affected by the decisions that were made last week in Brussels?

[Lord Strathclyde]

My Lords, I think I can give the noble Lord that assurance. He knows that the Government have given an absolute priority to meeting the target of spending 0.7 per cent of gross national income on overseas aid by 2013. We remain committed to that. We wish to work closely with our European partners so that they also achieve that target. Therefore, I see no reason why there should be any slippage in that aim.