Drugs Policy

Lord Crickhowell Excerpts

Monday 21st November 2016 Lords Chamber

[Lord Crickhowell (Con)]

My Lords, first, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Meacher, for giving us the opportunity to debate this important subject and for her clear and comprehensive introduction.

I go to Mexico every year and have done so for many years. Perhaps that is why I have come to believe that the so-called war on drugs has been a catastrophic mistake. It has led in Mexico and elsewhere in the Americas to vicious gang warfare, murder, violence against officials, corruption and the accumulation of vast wealth by those involved, and it has done little to reduce the consumption of drugs worldwide. That is one reason why I have been a warm supporter of the APPG for Drug Policy Reform and its demand for evidence-based action.

We are holding this debate at a time when a rapidly growing number of countries are moving to a much wider legalisation of cannabis consumption than we are discussing this evening. During the recent United States elections, there were referendums that added four new states to the 24 that had already decided to legalise marijuana consumption. In this country, a committee in the other place has recommended that cannabis should be legalised. Its report refers to the UK’s “dark ages” drugs policy. We are arguing tonight for the legalisation of only medical cannabis, and this debate comes a few days after the British Medical Journal urged doctors to push for legalisation, stating that doctors have “ethical responsibilities” to campaign for change.

We have already heard of the hugely important change in UN policy and that at the United Nations General Assembly Special Session held in April, both the US and the UN leadership rejected a moralistic and prohibitionist approach and called for all the proposed changes contained in the admirable report of the all-party group.

I add only one other thought. There is a great deal of evidence that, despite the present tight regulatory system, a great many people are using cannabis to relieve pain and to treat their own particular illnesses, and they are doing so in the knowledge that they are breaking the law. The noble Baroness referred to that. My daughter, Sophie Sabbage, in her book The Cancer Whisperer, describes a similar situation among those suffering from cancer who have not been fortunate, as I have been, to have their cancer cured by amazing surgery. She refers to treatments she has had in Mexico, reinforcing the orthodox treatments she had in this country. She writes that,

“it is so damn difficult, and in some cases impossible, to access those cancer protocols here in the UK … Interestingly I am now plugged into a semi-underground network through which I have been able to access some treatments in the UK, but it isn’t easy, I have met fully qualified GPs as well as highly experienced health practitioners who have to fly under the radar in order to provide these services”.

I am sure the same thing is happening with cannabis. We need the Government to move to a regime where it is not necessary to fly under the radar.

Taxi and Private Car Hire Market

Lord Crickhowell Excerpts

Tuesday 20th October 2015 Lords Chamber

[Lord Crickhowell (Con)]

My Lords, in asking to intervene in the gap, I must congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Bradshaw, on raising the issue, my noble friend Lord Borwick on an admirable summary of the problems and merits of the situation and the noble Baroness, Lady Randerson, on emphasising the flood of private hire vehicles that are entering London. I am entirely in favour of competition. I say to my noble friend Lord Callanan that I do not entirely agree with the TfL consultation. I do, however, think that there is a need for a re-examination of the regulatory system.

I started the day by going to a funeral in Wales, employing my admirable minicab service locally which picks me up at my house. I know what it is—I know that it is secure and well managed and has proper insurance. I travelled back to the House in a black cab. I therefore have nothing against competition. However, there are real issues, a number of which have been emphasised today. There is a flood of drivers coming in. We know very little about the driving ability of many of them, and I think that that is a matter of concern and interest. There are real issues about insurance—insurance not just of vehicles but the adequacy of insurance for the passengers and for third parties. I have heard of cases where, because the insurance was not adequate, the private hire drivers have actually run away from the scene of an accident. Such an incident, I am told, happened in Trafalgar Square only last weekend and caused a security alarm.

There is the issue of knowledge. I am not entirely a believer in the perfection of the sat-nav. The lovely driver who drove me this morning had his sat-nav on, but he wisely followed my instructions for the route to Paddington, and it was a great deal shorter and more direct than if he had followed the sat-nav direction. There has got to be some knowledge if we are to get best value for customers. There is also a real issue about moral standards and the lack of knowledge of what is involved. My noble friend Lord Borwick made some important points about wheelchair access.

My conclusion is that certainly regulation needs amending. I am not arguing in favour of the TfL recommendations. I do not think I know enough about them. We do, however, need some kind of regulation to deal with this situation. It should certainly embrace the contribution that major technology can give—yes, of course—but we need adequate safeguards so that passengers are not exploited by companies that, after all, are managed from outside this country. Any challenge to individuals is promptly referred to the head office in the United States, and, as we have heard, taxis apparently get paid in Holland. I am not sure that that provides a really secure basis for people using cabs in this country, so I think we need revised regulation. I hope that my noble friend the Minister will be able to tell us that the Government are giving very proper consideration to this important issue.

Davies Commission Report

Lord Crickhowell Excerpts

Wednesday 1st July 2015 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon]

The Government will return to the issue of the expansion of capacity across London and the south-east, but as I have said, our decision, which will be put forward in the autumn, will reflect on ensuring the competitiveness of UK plc and the importance of regional connectivity.

[Lord Crickhowell (Con)]

My Lords, I declare an interest in that, 30 years ago, I was rash enough to buy a house in Battersea—a considerable distance from Heathrow—where the noise is excessive, even today. I have one specific question. If this goes ahead, it is proposed that there should be a legal limit on night flights so that they cannot arrive before 6 am. At present they fly though my bedroom window, so to speak, at 4 am every day because the airlines pay the necessary penalty to do so. During the long time before we go through this long process, why can we not legislate to put a legal ban on night flights straightaway?

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon]

My noble friend is quite right to point out that there are current obligations, which will continue until October 2017, but I take his point about the penalties that are paid, and I will take that back to the department.

Queen’s Speech

Lord Crickhowell Excerpts

Tuesday 2nd June 2015 Lords Chamber

[Lord Crickhowell (Con)]

My Lords, on energy security, there was an odd juxtaposition in the gracious Speech which said:

“Measures will be introduced to secure energy security and to control immigration”.

I wish I was more confident that the Government will achieve either objective.

The new Secretary of State will need great skills if she is to extract her department’s policies from the quagmire that has embraced them for far too long. My initial optimism was shaken by reading her blog which appeared on the day of the State Opening. It contained the controversial assertion that the UK,

“is one of the most energy secure countries in the world”.

She argued that healthy margins had been achieved last winter; that the capacity market would ensure that future peak electricity demand would be met; and that,

“we are investing in new Energy infrastructure, new nuclear and renewables, as well as exploring from shale gas”.

A blunt statement of reality would have provided a sounder foundation for the actions that are now needed. The report of the Science and Technology Committee, which was referred to by my noble friend Lord Ridley, on the resilience of the electricity system tells us that around one-fifth of the generation capacity available in 2011 is expected to close by 2020. The report comments:

“Closure of old power stations, combined with insufficient investment in new electricity generation capacity, has resulted in the capacity margin being squeezed ... By October 2014, following a series of power station outages, National Grid reported that the capacity margin for winter 2014/15 would fall to 4.1%”.

It is true that by putting in place short-term measures the capacity margin has been increased. However, the cost and sustainability of those short-term measures is a factor that has to be considered.

The Government are relying on two mechanisms created by the Energy Act 2013: contracts for difference and the capacity market. Contracts for difference are designed to stimulate investment in renewables, carbon capture and storage, and nuclear. The capacity market is designed to offer all providers a steady, predictable revenue stream, in return for which they must produce energy when needed or face penalties. I shall say something later about the problems that are already apparent.

On page 16 of the immensely authoritative report by the House’s Economic Affairs Committee, The Economic Impact on UK Energy Policy of Shale Gas and Oil, in evidence Professor Helm said that,

“by 2015 or 2016, the capacity margin in this country will be very close to zero; in fact, I have done some numbers which suggests that it might be below zero. What is going to fill the gap”?

The committee concluded:

“There is a growing risk of power cuts in the UK as the margin of electricity generating capacity over peak demand shrinks”.

My noble friend Lord Ridley told us about the recently announced closures of coal-fired generating capacity. In just three years our total coal-fired capacity will have fallen from 24 gigawatts to 15 gigawatts. Like Professor Helm, I ask what is going to fill the gap. I wish it was nuclear. In 2011, when I was a member of the Science and Technology Committee, we produced a report on nuclear research and development capabilities and said:

“Some experts suggest that 12 GW of energy generation is the minimum contribution that nuclear could make … up to 2050. However, the weight of evidence indicates that significantly higher contribution … is likely to be required”.

In 2013 the Government published their Long-term Nuclear Energy Strategy, stating:

“The Government believes that nuclear energy has an important role to play in delivering our long term objective of a secure, low carbon, affordable, energy future”.

But here we are in mid-2015 with little prospect of new nuclear stations making a contribution until well after 2020. The coalition Government tried to negotiate a deal with EDF and its partners to build a new station at Hinkley Point. My noble friend Lord Ridley suggested that it was a disastrous selection of the wrong company with the wrong technology. On the original timetable, we would be expecting completion in a couple of years. As it is, no deal has been signed and every so-called deadline has been passed. It seems that private investors are unwilling to take on the risks, even with the guarantees offered by CFDs.

If we are to get a nuclear programme under way, it may be that the Government have to be a major player, as other countries have found, and as was the case with Britain’s original and successful nuclear programme. Ministers talk about the importance of infrastructure investment. Is there any infrastructure investment more important than that which will secure long-term energy security, and is there any action likely to be more effective in meeting the fears and objectives of the noble Lord, Lord Layard, than an effective nuclear programme? These are issues about which Ministers should be thinking pretty hard.

I pose another question. Energy and climate change policies are funded through levies on consumer bills. Some of those levies are managed under the levy control framework and a cap which DECC has agreed with the Treasury. It will rise to £7.6 billion in 2020-21. Analysts suggest that DECC has significantly underestimated the cost of the existing policies. If these analyses are right, DECC may have fully committed the budget available under the levy control framework right out to 2020, leaving nothing available for anything else. The Secretary of State will need to take urgent steps to address this situation and to change some of those policies along the lines suggested by my noble friend Lord Wakeham.

The Economic Affairs Committee has pointed out that substantial volumes of gas will still be needed over several decades for home heating and as a back-up supply for the power sector when supplies from renewable sources such as wind and solar are inevitably intermittent. Even if gas-fired power generation is replaced over time by renewables and nuclear, and that may be a very long time,

“gas is likely to remain the main source of heat in the UK’s economy”.

That is why shale gas is so important.

The new energy Bill announced in the gracious Speech may give a boost to the UK oil and gas offshore industry, but it will be introduced against a background of declining North Sea oil and gas output, down by almost 40% since 2010. As the Economic Affairs Committee observed, the industry response remains uncertain. It also concluded that the development of shale gas in the UK on a significant scale would provide substantial benefits. The depressing thing is that once again we seem to be firmly stuck in a quagmire. There is a great deal of talk and not much effective action. The Economic Affairs Committee concluded that the regulatory framework was dauntingly complex:

“Unless the Government act to streamline the system so that regulation is effective as well as rigorous, the UK will be unable to take full advantage of the economic opportunities offered by shale gas ... The Government must take decisive measures to quicken the pace of exploration and development of the UK’s shale gas resource”.

It listed the measures that are needed. I have seen little evidence so far that decisive measures have been taken. We will want to know very early in this Parliament that they are now being taken. If we do not see drilling starting in the near future, it will be unforgiveable, and I fear that the nation will pay a heavy price.

Finally, I trust that the welcome proposals on wind farms will be discussed fully with the Welsh Assembly so that large wind farms are not just pushed into the beautiful parts of Wales. Welsh people will want locally taken decisions just as much as the English.