UK-EU Relations

Lord Bellingham Excerpts

Thursday 13th February 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Twycross (Lab)]

I refer the noble Lord to the independent review of the Windsor Framework, led by my noble friend Lord Murphy, which will report within six months. As somebody with family in Northern Ireland, I am very clear that it is absolutely part of the UK.

[Lord Bellingham (Con)]

My Lords, returning to the questions asked by the noble Baroness, Lady Coffey, and the noble Lord, Lord Jackson, the French President has made it very clear that there can no reset of UK-EU relations unless fisheries are on the table. The Minister said that she would advocate for the rights of UK fishermen. Surely, this is very different from stating that there is going to be no reduction in their rights. Which is it?

[Baroness Twycross (Lab)]

We can split hairs around particular wording, but I am absolutely clear that the UK Government advocates for and supports UK fishing communities, while ensuring that we meet our shared international obligations. I stand by those words. That is the Government’s position.

Social Cohesion and Community during Periods of Change

Lord Bellingham Excerpts

Friday 6th December 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bellingham (Con)]

My Lords, I apologise for my voice, which I lost last week when I had a cold. I am now recovering, but I sound like a diseased animal, and I apologise for that. As I am going to touch on housing, I declare my interest as listed in the Register of Members’ Interests: I chair a small property company that owns agricultural land and rented properties.

I congratulate the most reverend Primate the Archbishop of York on a powerful and compelling speech. It is also a pleasure to follow the noble Lord, Lord Sandhurst, who I got to know when he was chairman of the Bar Council; he always imparts great wisdom. Incidentally, I was also pleased that the noble Lord, Lord Cashman, mentioned the late Baroness Kinnock, who was a remarkable Member of this House. I was privileged enough to be her successor as Minister for Africa in the Foreign Office, in the coalition Government in 2010, and it was an incredibly difficult task to follow someone of her stature.

It is very sad, in many ways, that the other most reverend Primate is not here today. He made an incredibly moving speech yesterday. This was going to be his debate and, on this side of the House, anyway, having spoken to my colleagues here, I can say that the vast majority of us regarded him as a truly remarkable leader of the Church, a true Christian and someone of great principles and stature who was a commanding presence in this House. I can understand why, after the Makin report, he decided that he had to take personal responsibility for the institutional failings of the Church of England, and I am very glad that the most reverend Primate and, indeed, the right reverend Prelate, mentioned the failings of the Church. They were grave failings, although I have to say that, since the Makin report, police officers have come forward to say that there was nothing that the most reverend Primate himself could have done, after he was installed, to make more information available. It is very sad that he was not able to go on his own terms and to maybe have a farewell tour around the diocese and abroad. Many of us on this side of the House—I speak for a number of colleagues—feel that it is sad that the House of Bishops did not show great unity and that there was a breaking of the ranks in this. That was not a particularly compassionate or Christian thing to do to someone who has made a truly remarkable contribution to the Church and to this nation.

I would like to concentrate on housing. As a number of noble Lords have pointed out, including the most reverend Primate the Archbishop of York, social cohesion depends on families being content, having good housing and building neighbourliness. Of course, climate change is important as well, and I congratulate my former colleague, the noble Lord, Lord Sharma, on what was a really important speech. It brought home to this House the exceptional knowledge he has of climate change and the truly remarkable contribution he has made. If I may say so, many Ministers have come and gone in different departments, but very few have made the impact and contribution that he made to the climate change talks. The work he is doing is ongoing, and we are very fortunate to have him among our number in this House.

Just as good housing can lead to good neighbourliness, secure families and social cohesion, bad housing can lead to all sorts of other issues and problems, such as bad physical and mental health, and offender recidivism. Shelter recently published a report pointing out that some 30% of people leaving prison had previously been homeless, and that approximately 40% of them will go on to reoffend. Getting housing right is incredibly important.

I want to touch on three main areas that I think are in crisis. I do not have all the answers, but I want to suggest some solutions and to talk about what the Church itself could do. I have been close to the Church of England both in my former constituency and where I live now, and if one looks at the three sectors of housing, they are all facing different crises.

First, let us look at private sector housing. There is bound to be an immediate observation that there is this feeling of intergenerational unfairness. After all, in the last 20 years, the cost of houses has gone up on average by 200%. Wages in the period from 1996 to 2022 have gone up by 24%, so many young people who aspire to own a home are now finding it incredibly difficult, given that you have to find a deposit of £70,000, on average, in the south-east. So of course, we need new homes.

I want to pick up on a point made in other debates: that somehow there is a crisis, in that there are fewer planners than ever before and not enough planning decisions being taken. The problem is not that; it is that land that has permission is not being built out. That is nearly 1 million units not being built, which is a serious problem that needs addressing.

On private rented housing, which has now overtaken social rented housing, it is incredibly important that we encourage the best landlords. The worst landlords are dreadful, but the best set the highest possible standards. However, when we try to bring up the worst, we must not bring down the best, and that is why I would use incentives. For example, I would look at a landlord’s charter and at making sure there are more regular inspections. Maybe fewer diversity officers among councils and more environmental health officers would help with those inspections.

On social rented housing, I am not in favour of getting rid of the right to buy, which has helped social cohesion. Why can we not have a “one out, one in” system and use those funds to build more housing association houses? That is exactly what some of the best housing associations in East Anglia are doing.

I think I am right in saying—if not, the most reverend Primate will correct me—that the Church of England and the Church Commissioners own 350,000 acres in the dioceses around the country. I will share some examples from Norfolk. In one village, a bit of glebe land of 10 acres sold recently, and the parish were keen to have four or five housing association houses built. In another village, a strip of land of about two acres, next to the church graveyard, was up for sale. Not too far away, a farm belonging to the diocese of about 200 acres was for sale.

Why can the Church of England not set up its own housing association? Let us look back at the great history of the alms houses. I had a look at the Archbishops’ report, Coming Home, which has many pleas for more help for the homeless and those in housing need, but no long-term vision. There is no long-term radical thinking about practical Church initiatives to help with housing. So, my one plea today to the Minister, the most reverend Primate and right reverend Prelates is this: can they look really urgently at setting up housing associations across the different dioceses, where they can use their land to make a real difference to housing in this country?

Horseracing and Bloodstock Industries

Lord Bellingham Excerpts

Monday 29th July 2024 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Twycross (Lab)]

I thank the noble Baroness for her welcome. As she will be aware, the previous Government undertook a review that concluded in April. It is too soon for us to comment on the process or what might emerge from that, but we are keen to work with all parties and explore all the evidence before setting out next steps.

[Lord Bellingham (Con)]

My Lords, further to the two questions just asked by my noble friends, will the Minister reflect on the point regarding Ireland? The discrepancy in the prize money between the UK and Ireland has become very severe, with the result that a number of UK owners are now locating their horses in Ireland. What can be done specifically to address that problem?

[Baroness Twycross (Lab)]

I am aware of the difference between how different countries administer this. As I mentioned in my response to the noble Baroness, Lady Harding, the previous Government undertook a review that concluded only in April. It is too soon for us to comment on that process, but I am very keen to work with all parties and explore all the evidence before setting out next steps.

Global IT Outage

Lord Bellingham Excerpts

Thursday 25th July 2024 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Twycross (Lab)]

I thank my noble friend for that question and for his huge support for me in my previous role as chair of the London Resilience Forum. Although the outage is not assessed to be a security incident or cyberattack, the issues that he raises will be covered in the cybersecurity and resilience Bill included in the King’s Speech. This will strengthen our defences and ensure that more essential digital services than ever before are protected. For example, it will look at expanding the remit of the existing regulation, putting regulators on a stronger footing and increasing the reporting requirements to build a better picture in government of cyber threats.

[Lord Bellingham (Con)]

My Lords, among the companies most adversely affected in this country were airlines. Many thousands of passengers were hugely inconvenienced. How should they be compensated, and should CrowdStrike be held accountable?

[Baroness Twycross (Lab)]

I think we all have huge sympathy for those affected. As the noble Lord rightly says, thousands of people were affected on the day. However, compensation is a matter for the individual operators and subject to consumer rules, which would cover any entitlement to compensation or refunds.