India: Cereals Export Ban
Debate between Lord Singh of Wimbledon and Lord Grimstone of Boscobel(2 years, 7 months ago)
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Lord Grimstone of Boscobel (Con)
My Lords, working together is obviously extremely important in a situation such as this. I will read the report to which the noble Lord refers and take it up.
Lord Singh of Wimbledon (CB)
My Lords, the situation regarding the export of wheat from India reminds me of the Bengal famine of the 1940s, when grain was being exported to Britain, thereby causing the famine. In these circumstances, with the heatwave and their diminishing supply, is it not totally wrong to expect, or put pressure on, the Indian Government to supply grain?
Lord Grimstone of Boscobel (Con)
My Lords, as I said earlier, only a very small amount indeed of Indian wheat comes to the UK. Indeed, the majority of production of wheat in India contributes to the domestic market. India produced 109 million tonnes of wheat last year, and of that no less than 90 million was consumed domestically.
Agreement on Climate Change, Trade and Sustainability
Debate between Lord Singh of Wimbledon and Lord Grimstone of Boscobel(3 years, 11 months ago)
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Lord Grimstone of Boscobel (Con)
My Lords, as this matter is now entirely within our competence, we absolutely intend to use our freedom to be one of the leading countries in the world in this area and, hopefully, set an example that other countries may follow.
Lord Singh of Wimbledon (CB) [V]
My Lords, the initiative on climate change, led by a group of smaller countries, is timely and commendable. Does the Minister agree that the UK is well placed to lead on turning sentiment into reality by pressing for trade and development policies bound tightly to agreed global constraints, in order to protect the environment, which sustains us all?
Lord Grimstone of Boscobel (Con)
My Lords, the noble Lord is completely right to make this point. We want our generation to be the first to leave the world in a better state than we found it. Working on agreements such as this is an important component of that.