Immigration

Debate between Lord Campbell-Savours and Earl Attlee

Tuesday 7th January 2014 Lords Chamber

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, I assure the House that Her Majesty’s Government do have a policy of adhering to treaty obligations. That is why we are very happy with the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the EU, and with the free movement of those peoples, from 1 January.

[Lord Campbell-Savours (Lab)]

My Lords—

--- Later in debate ---

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, the noble Lord is right—but, equally, we must close the loopholes and avoid the abuse of low-cost labour from eastern Europe.

[Lord Campbell-Savours]

My Lords, if what the noble Lord, Lord Hannay, said about the seven-year accession arrangements was correct, why do Mr Cameron and government Ministers go on television and accuse the previous Labour Government of acting irresponsibly?

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, it is important to make sure that we have transitional arrangements for future accessions that work properly and do not have undesirable effects, especially when the acceding state has a lower GDP per capita than the rest of the community.

Cyclists: Safety

Debate between Lord Campbell-Savours and Earl Attlee

Wednesday 3rd July 2013 Lords Chamber

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, my noble friend has asked me quite a lot of detailed questions and I think it would be better if I wrote to him. I agree that HGVs are a disproportionate problem. HGVs do not have any more accidents with cycles than do cars. However, when they do have an accident, the result is generally much more serious. It is quite right that we pay special attention to HGVs.

[Lord Campbell-Savours]

My Lords, the use of mobile phones by motorists is illegal, because it is unsafe. Surely the use of audio headgear by cyclists is equally unsafe and should be made illegal?

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, I agree with the noble Lord that it is extremely unwise to cover one’s ears when riding a cycle, because you cannot hear traffic approaching or someone sounding their horn. I am not sure that it is necessary to make it illegal.

Mid Staffordshire Foundation Trust Inquiry

Debate between Lord Campbell-Savours and Earl Attlee

Wednesday 6th February 2013 Lords Chamber

[Lord Campbell-Savours]

My Lords, will the Minister make it clear that brief interventions are required? Otherwise not everyone will be heard.

[Earl Attlee]

The noble Lord has taken the words out of my mouth.

Railways: Fares

Debate between Lord Campbell-Savours and Earl Attlee

Thursday 31st January 2013 Lords Chamber

[Earl Attlee]

My noble friend makes an important point. The Government recognise that, for those starting their employment career, being able to travel economically to work is important. My noble friend will be aware that a fares review is currently under way, looking at all aspects of the fares structure.

[Lord Campbell-Savours]

My Lords, fares payable on the day of travel are invariably far more expensive than advance travel tickets. On what basis are the European comparisons that the Minister referred to being made: the former or the latter?

[Earl Attlee]

The noble Lord asks a good question. Just walking up to Euston and buying a ticket is very expensive, and we do not compare well with our continental partners. However, when we look at advanced purchases, we compare quite well. One day, I wanted to go to the NEC to visit the motor show and I could not afford the walk-on fare; it was too expensive for me.

Railways: Franchises

Debate between Lord Campbell-Savours and Earl Attlee

Wednesday 10th October 2012 Lords Chamber

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, if we need a more fundamental review of the structure of the rail industry, and in particular franchising, I am sure that the Brown review will suggest that. I redraw the House’s attention to what Professor Begg said over the weekend.

[Lord Campbell-Savours]

The noble Earl is deliberately avoiding answering the question that is being asked by my Front Bench, which is a question that I tried to ask yesterday. Were Theresa Villiers and Justine Greening informed by civil servants, prior to the appointment of Mr McLoughlin as Transport Secretary, of discrepancies in the calculations concerned with these bids? The answer is simply yes, they were aware, or no, they were not.

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, that matter is to be determined by the Laidlaw inquiry.

Railways: Franchises

Debate between Lord Campbell-Savours and Earl Attlee

Tuesday 9th October 2012 Lords Chamber

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, that was a good try. We will have to see what the reports come out with.

[Lord Campbell-Savours]

My Lords—

[Lord Butler of Brockwell]

My Lords, the chairman of the Public Accounts Committee has pointed out that since 2006 there have been eight separate Secretaries of State—more than one a year—and since 2001 there have been six different Permanent Secretaries at the department. In view of that, are the Government surprised when things go wrong in a department?

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, if that is the cause of the problem, I am sure that Sam Laidlaw will identify it.

[Lord Campbell-Savours]

My Lords, if I were to table—

Vehicles: Insurance

Debate between Lord Campbell-Savours and Earl Attlee

Wednesday 4th July 2012 Lords Chamber

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, as I gently pointed out to my noble friend Lady Oppenheim-Barnes, the problem with an insurance disc is that the insurance may have been cancelled due to non-payment. What is the use of having an insurance disc that can be cancelled?

[Lord Campbell-Savours]

The Minister has not answered the question he was asked. If it works abroad, why can it not work here?

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, I suggested very good reasons as to why it would not work.

Southern Cross Care Homes

Debate between Lord Campbell-Savours and Earl Attlee

Tuesday 12th July 2011 Lords Chamber

[Lord Campbell-Savours]

My Lords—

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, I am very sorry, but we are out of time.

Railways: Light Rail Vehicles

Debate between Lord Campbell-Savours and Earl Attlee

Thursday 3rd March 2011 Lords Chamber

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, I am aware of the pacer vehicles and I agree with much of what my noble friend says.

[Lord Campbell-Savours]

My Lords, would Mr Parry not do well to reflect on what happened to the light rail plant in Workington, which was closed effectively in the 1980s due to reductions in public expenditure?

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, I was not in Parliament in the 1980s.

Airports: Heathrow

Debate between Lord Campbell-Savours and Earl Attlee

Monday 31st January 2011 Lords Chamber

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, I listened with great care to what the noble Lord said today and last week. The Civil Aviation Authority is taking forward work to understand more fully the impact of disruption on passengers to help to inform a decision on whether regulatory change is needed to balance the cost of disruption to passengers and business against the cost of dealing with severe weather.

[Lord Campbell-Savours]

My Lords, if the owners have no money, surely ownership is very relevant.

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, it is not relevant. Heathrow experienced 16 centimetres of snow in one hour. It does not matter who owns it; the airport will come to a stop in those circumstances.

Roads: Charging

Debate between Lord Campbell-Savours and Earl Attlee

Thursday 18th November 2010 Lords Chamber

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, on the noble Lord's substantive point, we are anxious to avoid making the mistakes of the previous Government, who spent £60 million of public money on a satellite lorry road-user charging scheme that achieved absolutely nothing.

[Lord Campbell-Savours]

Why is the tachography option more expensive—which is what the noble Earl said—when all it would require would be an entry reading and an exit reading to provide a calculation based on a multiplication of the cost per mile?

[Earl Attlee]

The noble Lord is quite right: it is an option that we are looking at very carefully. However, he will also be aware that it is quite easy to interfere with the operation of the tachograph—for instance, by placing a large magnet on the transducer or an illegal switch in the electrical circuitry.