Infected Blood Inquiry
Lord Turnberg Excerpts(2 weeks, 4 days ago)
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Earl Howe (Con)
My Lords, I fully recognise the point that the noble Baroness has just made. My right honourable friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office is preparing to engage with members of the infected and affected communities at the beginning of May in a succession of meetings. Further than that, we agree that it is critical for those infected and affected to have a role in the infected blood compensation authority itself. We intend to utilise the provision for committees and sub-committees to make sure that the community is represented on these groups. It is right that the exact committees and board make-up is defined once the shadow body is established, with the input of the infected blood community. The message I would give is that we want to work collaboratively with stakeholders to achieve the right outcome.
Lord Turnberg (Lab)
My Lords, this has been an unimaginable tragedy, and we must move to compensate those who have been affected by it as quickly and as well as we can. One part of it is worth thinking about, which is trying to ascribe malign intent to those who were involved in giving this product in the hope that it would stop the bleeding and potential death of children. That was the intent in using factor 8 at the time. It had tragic consequences and many mistakes were made, but we must not assume malign intent on the part of the people involved.
Earl Howe (Con)
The noble Lord makes a very good point. For me to comment further would be wrong. What we need to do is wait for Sir Brian Langstaff’s final report on 20 May, which should, we expect, reveal some of the underlying facts that the noble Lord alluded to.
Action Against Houthi Maritime Attacks
Lord Turnberg Excerpts(3 months, 2 weeks ago)
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Lord True (Con)
My Lords, I do not wish a comment on the postures or action taken by other friendly nations. I again remind my noble friend that there is, not just through Operation Prosperity Guardian but through the United Nations, a very strong, broad coalition of nations, which are using diplomacy and all their efforts to try to bring this situation to an end. It is true that the economic impact of attacks could be severe if there were ongoing disruption and ships continued to divert around. There would be delays and additional fuel, insurance and shipping costs. But these are commercial decisions for people making shipments as to the course that they take. Our effort is to try to make the Red Sea a safe place for them to send their ships and the brave merchant seamen who trek the waters of the world every day.
Lord Turnberg (Lab)
My Lords, it is difficult to understand what advantage there is to be gained by the Houthis in sending their missiles into the Red Sea. The idea that it might be in support of their friends in Hamas does not seem to hold too much water. It is much more clearly the result of Iran’s sponsorship. Influencing Iran’s behaviour is extremely difficult, as we have heard from many noble Lords. One way is by encouraging in some way, perhaps surreptitiously, the poor people of Iran, who are rising up and suffering under the regime of the ayatollahs. What efforts have been made to utilise that approach?
Lord True (Con)
My Lords, that is a little beyond the scope of the question, and I would not like to comment or speculate on anything in that region. What I will do is agree profoundly with the noble Lord that this is a regime that governs in the name of God but acts in a way that seems to be in defiance of the great moral principles of the ages. Ultimately, it will be judged by its own people and by history.
Syria: UK Military Action
Lord Turnberg Excerpts(8 years, 5 months ago)
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Lord Turnberg (Lab)
My Lords, to bomb or not to bomb; that is not the question. The real questions are, how we defeat Daesh when we know bombing alone will not do it, and what our plan is for Syria as and when Daesh is removed. Bombing has an effect, of course, but Daesh has a strong territorial base, and its ability to survive aerial attacks by the major powers lends it a sense of invincibility that adds to its attraction for vulnerable youngsters. It is winning a battle for hearts and minds.
It is inevitable that we will need boots on the ground; the question is, who should be wearing those boots. We have a heady mix of participants, with conflicting aims: Russia is supporting Assad against the rebels, although recently also against Daesh, while the US is supporting the rebels against Assad. I would love to have listened to the conversations between Putin and Obama in Vienna and Paris recently. Can the noble Earl tell us whether he has any insights into how they resolved their differences? Turkey is opposed to the Syrian regime, but at the same time is attacking the Kurds, when the Kurds are the best local fighting force against Daesh. Saudi Arabia is distracted in Yemen, and the Gulf states are standing back. On the ground in Syria we have this mixed bag of groups, often with conflicting aims.
We may ask whether Assad should be considered an ally, at least for the time being, and how far we should rely on Iran to play a role. We know that Iran’s intention is to create a strong Shia arc across Syria and into a completely dysfunctional Lebanon, in hock to the terrorists of Hezbollah. Iran and its proxies threaten Jordan and Israel, both strong supporters of the West and both of which feel very threatened. Incidentally, there is this strange idea floating about that all the problems of the Middle East are somehow due to Israel’s inability to reach agreement with the Palestinians —the Saudi ambassador said as much in the Times today. Does anyone really believe that if Israel did not exist, all would be sweetness and light with Daesh? That hardly seems credible.
What is to be done? Yes, let us bomb Daesh, but who can we get to do what is needed on the ground? America and Germany are now sending in some personnel, but local efforts will inevitably be needed. The Kurds in the north, with about 25,000 men, are a vital resource, and if we can get the Turks off their backs they will be invaluable. Have the Government exerted any pressure on Turkey to lay off the Kurds and give them some autonomy? Among the other militant factions, there are some more moderate rebel groups that could be taken into a coalition against Daesh. Considerable effort would be required to support, co-ordinate and train these forces, and it is here that we could play an important role. What efforts are we making with the Americans to do just that? This is obviously a strategy that we have to pursue, but I fear that at the end of the day, if we are serious about removing Daesh, we may well have to see NATO playing a more active role on the ground.
Finally, we have to be able to offer the anti-Assad forces a slice of the Syrian cake. It seems inevitable to me that, post-Daesh, Syria will not exist as it has done up to now. How will it be carved up? Will it be a sort of federation of states, some run by successors to the rebel forces? Will Assad continue to rule a subset of Syria or will he be removed? How far will Russia go to sustain him? How do we prevent Iran taking over, with all its support for terrorist groups? These are the thorny issues we will need to resolve soon, rather than leaving them until after the conflict with Daesh is over. We cannot have a post-Iraq situation again.
Gaza Strip: Rafah Crossing
Lord Turnberg Excerpts(8 years, 10 months ago)
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The Earl of Courtown
The noble Baroness is quite right concerning accountability: there must be a robust process of accountability given the heavy civilian death toll. That includes acts committed by Hamas and other militant groups too. We are pressing Israel to demonstrate accountability for its actions during this conflict. The noble Baroness also mentioned war crimes. Both sides of the conflict have put themselves into a position where perhaps war crimes have taken place. We of course need to keep a careful watch on this matter.
Lord Turnberg (Lab)
My Lords, is the noble Earl aware that while Egypt is busily destroying homes on its border with Gaza to try to prevent the smuggling of arms to Hamas, Israel is allowing through the Erez crossing more than 500 trucks—with 15,000 tonnes of goods, including medical aid, benzene and building materials—every day? Is he further aware that while Egypt has stopped the passage of anyone through the crossing into Egypt, 1,200 people a day are coming across into Israel for medical care or business purposes? Should we be pressing Egypt to do the same?
The Earl of Courtown
The noble Lord makes a good point about approaches to the problems in this area. We are concerned by the restrictions at the Rafah crossing and are urging the Egyptians to show maximum flexibility in reopening it. We are also calling on Israel to fulfil its obligation by lifting its restrictions in order to ease the suffering of ordinary Palestinians and to allow the Gaza economy to grow.
Alcohol Consumption
Lord Turnberg Excerpts(9 years, 3 months ago)
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Baroness Jolly
We should all be concerned about the alcoholic effects as well. Currently, not all wine bottles have calorific labelling, although there is labelling that relates to anxiety about pregnant women, but I will have to come back to Peers on that.
Lord Turnberg (Lab)
My Lords, is the Minister aware that whenever the price of alcohol goes up—above the level of inflation—the incidence of deaths from liver disease goes down? Will the Government consider increasing taxation on alcohol to take it above the level of inflation so that we will see a reduction in liver disease?
Baroness Jolly
The noble Lord is right. Alcohol consumption has fallen, as has the number of alcohol-related deaths, due to the increase in taxation on alcohol by this Government and possibly previous Governments. Nevertheless, harmful effects such as liver disease, as well as social impacts linked to alcohol, such as crime and domestic violence, remain much too high.