Inclusive Society

Lord McNicol of West Kilbride Excerpts

Wednesday 14th April 2021 Grand Committee

[Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer (LD) [V]]

My Lords, one of the results of the pandemic is that an already very poor literacy rate in schools will have worsened further. Adults with poor literacy skills are more likely to be unemployed or in low-paid jobs and there is a link between low levels of literacy and shorter life expectancy, depression and obesity. Nine million adults in the UK are functionally illiterate.

All my younger working life was involved with the book trade, publishing and bookselling. Books were fundamental to my world, so it came as a shock when, in my 20s, I began to realise just how many adults could not read. For some time, I volunteered for what is now the excellent National Literacy Trust. As I got to know my students, it shocked me just how excluded from normal everyday life they were. Illiteracy equals exclusion.

The underinvestment in our libraries is a national disgrace. Funding for public libraries has fallen so much in a decade, from £1 billion in 2009 to under £750 million 10 years later—so it has fallen by a quarter. Before the Minister blames local government for those cuts, let us remember that central government has cut funding for local government at a lethal rate. Let us also remember that the public libraries Act 1964 requires central government to oversee and improve public library services. The cuts have meant public libraries having a quarter less books to lend, fewer professional staff and fewer libraries.

School libraries are extremely important in getting children interested in books and reading. The Sunday Times recently revealed that 2,000 pupils are set to enter secondary school unable to read properly, so I really welcome the UK Children’s Laureate’s campaign. Cressida Cowell is the Children’s Laureate at the moment, and it was previously Michael Rosen—who is also working on this campaign and, of course, has had very severe Covid—Michael Morpurgo and Jacqueline Wilson. They are all campaigning to get the Government to commit £100 million to restore and refurbish primary school libraries, because literacy is the surest way to build the foundations our children need to develop their knowledge and imagination and to grow a brighter future.

OECD research found that childhood reading ability was a more certain predictor of future success than a family’s socioeconomic status—in other words, it is the key. Children’s literacy is the key to inclusion throughout their life. Literacy is not a cost to the economy or a luxury to be considered when times are good; it is the key to inclusion and a fundamental part of personal achievement and national economic success.

[The Deputy Chairman of Committees (Lord McNicol of West Kilbride) (Lab)]

I am glad that we could make that work. I now call the noble Lord, Lord Jones.

[Lord Jones (Lab) [V]]

My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Lister, and acknowledge her steadfast work on poverty.

Newly Prime Ministerial Mrs May made a heartfelt and sincere reference to those “just getting by” from her lectern in Downing Street. That is a thoughtful phrase, but what of those not getting by? How many are not getting by? How many millions? Where is their inclusivity? When shall they get by? Who shall champion them? One recollects the late Lord Dahrendorf’s haunting phrase, “the underclass”—that is not woke but an accurate description.

More than a generation ago, Matthew Parris, the distinguished Times commentator, holed up in the north-east—classic red wall territory—and tried to live on, I think, £70 per week. It was very grim; he managed—just. Today, those at the fringes of our communities and those in hopelessness need our help. The gap between those of us “just getting by” and those of us enjoying prosperity and luxury has become huge. This is a major challenge to the statecraft of Governments.

The Palace of Westminster has lost status. We, swathed in ermine, supported by servants and surrounded by paintings, carvings, statues, silken wallpapers and gilt, talk most concernedly of social justice, poverty and its antidote: inclusivity. But what action might we engender, especially for youth and for black and Asian citizens, as the noble Baroness, Lady Lister, implied?

[The Deputy Chairman of Committees (Lord McNicol of West Kilbride) (Lab)]

We seem to be getting a bit of feedback from the noble Lord, Lord Jones, so we will carry on to the next speaker, the noble Baroness, Lady Massey of Darwen, and then, because we have time, we will try to come back to the noble Lord for his conclusion. I call the noble Baroness, Lady Massey of Darwen.

[Baroness Massey of Darwen (Lab) [V]]

The noble Baroness, Lady Lister, has secured this very important debate and introduced it forcefully. I shall focus on children, who have been mentioned by several noble Lords. All children must be included and given a voice in any post-pandemic action affecting them, as they should have been during the pandemic. I hope we will learn from the experience of Covid and have the confidence to explore ideas and implement changes where necessary.

I ask the Government to develop and introduce a children’s charter based on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Such a charter could build on what we know and have learned. We have evidence on children to do this, from parliamentary work on children, from the efforts of the former Children’s Commissioner, from the voluntary sector—which is brilliant on children —and from teachers and other people who work with children. An inclusive dialogue on such a charter between all agencies and including children from diverse backgrounds would be a useful and inclusive exercise in itself and could clarify future needs and commitments to our children. Such a charter would be a sign of our commitment to respect and implement the best interests of the child, as set out in the UN convention. Wales has worked on this, and Scotland is doing so.

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child was ratified by the UK Government in 1991, but it is not part of our domestic law. Every five years, our Government are required to report to the UN committee on the progress they have made on implementing the UNCRC. The UN committee responds and our voluntary sector responds, led by the Children’s Rights Alliance for England. It is a useful and critical dialogue. The next one will be in 2022. The last called on the UK to provide better co-ordination of all activities for children across relevant sectors of government and therefore of all structures at national, local and international level to work with children. I strongly support, as others do, the growing enthusiasm for a Cabinet-level Minister for children and for greater co-ordination of services for children at national and local level.

The UNCRC has 45 articles, and I shall highlight but a few. They are all issues we would as parliamentarians believe are important to keep under scrutiny for children. Some we would now wish to enhance as things have changed; for example, concerns about children’s involvement in the internet and other media and some of the dangers, issues of climate change, and issues of aid to children in less developed countries. Other articles of the UNCRC promote the concept of the welfare of the child—that is, all those under 18—as paramount; the right of children to protection from all forms of violence; the right of children to express views on issues relevant to them; the right to a social life; the right to education which develops all talents and abilities, the right to health and learning about health; the right to good adoption practices; the right to family life; the right to support for refugees and immigrants; the right to leisure and play; the right to protection from drugs and other illegal substances; the right to youth justice; the right to benefits through social security, and the right to accurate information from all sources, including the media.

Many of those issues were raised by my noble friend Lady Lister as post-Covid priorities: childcare, fiscal support for children, funding for local authorities, poverty and inequalities. Other noble Lords have also entered this debate on children. 

This very well-respected convention, the UNCRC, could be a basis to work from. How better to create an inclusive society than to involve children, parents, local communities, politicians, the new commissioner for children in England and other commissioners and all those who work with children in developing a charter for children? I believe that this will be a vibrant, exciting and powerful initiative. I believe there is an appetite for developing such a charter and the talent and imagination to do so. How will the Government respond?

[The Deputy Chairman of Committees (Lord McNicol of West Kilbride) (Lab)]

We appear to have identified the problem with the feedback affecting the noble Lord, Lord Jones, so we will try him again.

[Lord Jones (Lab) [V]]

Mr Tony Blair’s foundational mantra is the place to start: education, education, education—especially north of Greater London. Surely we can fashion, in the 2020s, a skills and apprenticeship programme that properly meets the needs of youth and nation. Prince Bismarck did quite some time ago, so why not have an all-party collaboration to fashion the first national living wage? The minimum wage has been a trailblazer, not least in my own homeland, the lovely land of Wales.

I believe that sport can be a positive for inclusivity. I have met Mr Muhammad Ali and I have watched Sir Viv Richards strike an imperious ton at Old Trafford—and has not Red Devil Mr Rashford kicked open the 10 Downing Street door for the inclusivity of vacational meals for our youngsters? Those are role models indeed. Dame Ellen navigated the oceans, steely-armed Rachael won the Grand National, and a feisty young woman from Britain won and gained Olympic gold.

To conclude, surely a boost to sports provision in northern townships would engender more inclusivity, an alternative to broken glass, empty tubes and spent syringes. Northern Astroturf can rival the playing fields of Eton College.

[The Deputy Chairman of Committees (Lord McNicol of West Kilbride) (Lab)]

Thank you, Lord Jones—that was well worth waiting for. I call the next speaker, the noble Lord, Lord Roberts, who will be followed by the noble Lord, Lord Haskel.

[Lord Roberts of Llandudno (LD) [V]]

Another voice, and this time a loud one, from Wales. What I see from here is the terrible toll that the pandemic has taken on the human family. So many millions have died and so many millions are in terrible straits, but there are one or two positive things as well. I hope that we have learned to avoid some of the mistakes made this time round. If we face a similar challenge, we might be better equipped to meet it. However, there are also positive lessons that could continue. As my noble friend Lord Thurso mentioned, where would we be without virtual communication? Our Parliament would be silent, nobody could continue with their legislation, our councils would have come to a halt, and our churches would not be able to have their Zoom services. Without this new device, for many of us—without Zoom services, and so on—we would be in a world of silence.

Families who have been unable to touch or hug each other have been able to talk together and see each other. I am so grateful, and I am hopeful that being able to see each other virtually will continue, enlarge and strengthen, so that if we ever have another pandemic of this sort, we will know much better how to tackle it. I have friends from Sydney and Toronto, as well as from many places in the United Kingdom, who now do not have to travel to committee meetings but can tackle them from home. A hybrid solution in the future could well be a positive consequence of this pandemic. We will be able to see each other, to travel the world. Is it time that we thought about preparation—although I hope that it is never needed—and prepared people to use this to the utmost in any other similar situation? We must use every possible means to prepare and instruct.

[The Deputy Chairman of Committees (Lord McNicol of West Kilbride) (Lab)]

The noble Lord, Lord Sikka, has withdrawn.