S4C
Debate between Lord Sahota and Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay(9 months, 2 weeks ago)
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Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con)
I am afraid I would not be able to provide much of an answer, other than to say “diolch yn fawr”.
Lord Sahota (Lab)
My Lords, the Welsh language received a grant of some £250,000 from the Welsh Government. There are only half a million Welsh language speakers in the UK, so how come other languages such as Polish, Punjabi, Bengali and Gujarati never receive any grant at all, even though they have a much larger number of speakers?
Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con)
My Lords, speaking in minority languages is an important contribution from our broadcasters across the UK. The Government support the Welsh Government’s ambition to reach the target of 1 million people in Wales being able to speak Welsh by 2050, and S4C clearly plays an important part in that. On the broader question of other languages, I look forward to the debates we will be having on the Media Bill about the support our public service broadcasters can give.
Medicines Manufacturing Industry
Debate between Lord Sahota and Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay
Lord Sahota (Lab)
My Lords, it is said that India is the pharmacy of the world. Some 50% of generic drugs are manufactured there. Is it in the interests of the taxpayer for our National Health Service to increase its purchases from India?
Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con)
We want to increase the manufacture of medicines in the UK as well. I have mentioned the importance to our economy and to the creation of jobs, particularly high-skilled jobs, in the UK. As 79% of manufacturing sites and 76% of manufacturing jobs in the UK are outside London and the south-east, there is an important angle there as well to support our work on levelling up. However, these are global challenges, and we want to see global solutions to them.