World Bank: Selection Process for President

Debate between Lord Wallace of Saltaire and Lord Bates

Thursday 28th February 2019 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bates]

Our key representative serving on the executive board is Richard Montgomery, our executive director. I am in regular contact with him, and he makes a great contribution in this area. Of course, the application process is still under way: it is open until 14 March, so other candidates may come forward and we will evaluate them, as we have before.

[Lord Wallace of Saltaire (LD)]

My Lords, what will Her Majesty’s Government do if the United States continues to nominate a candidate who, according to many people—including, I suspect, some within the British Government—does not meet the criteria for the post?

[Lord Bates]

That is the process that is under way at the moment. The only formal candidate to have been nominated currently—Under-Secretary Malpass—is in London today to meet the UK Governor of the World Bank, the Secretary of State for International Development. She is making very clear the importance we attach to the World Bank’s commitments, particularly in relation to climate change.

Yemen

Debate between Lord Wallace of Saltaire and Lord Bates

Tuesday 24th April 2018 Lords Chamber

[Lord Wallace of Saltaire (LD)]

My Lords, I am conscious that an already poor humanitarian situation has been exacerbated by the conflict, and by the blockade. Can the Minister tell us a little bit about the blockade of the ports which US and Saudi ships have been involved in, and how far that now has been lifted?

Can he also tell us about the consultations we are having with the Emiratis who, after all, alongside the Saudis, are major players in every single way in Yemen? I received a note from the UAE embassy in London about the humanitarian assistance to Yemen the other day. Clearly, they have major local responsibility, so can he assure us that we are working as closely with them and criticising when we think it is necessary?

[Lord Bates]

I shall respond by giving a bit more information. Yemen imports 90% of its food and almost all its fuel. The level of imports remains insufficient. The UK has been responding to this by sending DfID experts and funding experts, particularly to Djibouti, to help to speed up the process of verification of shipping. As a result, over the past year the level of shipping that has been cleared to enter Yemeni ports has increased from 8% to around 70%—around tenfold—and we welcome that. We are funding to the extent of £1.3 million the UN verification inspection mechanism. These are all very important steps to ensure that urgent humanitarian support gets in.

Business: Exports

Debate between Lord Wallace of Saltaire and Lord Bates

Thursday 6th July 2017 Lords Chamber

[Lord Wallace of Saltaire (LD)]

My Lords, given the statements by a number of ambassadors from the United Arab Emirates that they may be asking their trading partners to choose whether they wish to trade with Qatar or with the rest of the GCC, do the British Government yet have a position on whether they will focus on future trade with Qatar, from which we take a third of our liquid gas imports, or with the rest of the GCC, with which we have, happily, a very substantial trade surplus?

[Lord Bates]

We do not recognise that we will be in a position where we will have to choose. We recognise that these are very important trading partners. The Secretary of State for International Trade was in the Gulf recently and announced an increase in the export finance available for companies exporting into that region. Again, we recognise that that needs to be built on peace and stability, and we very much hope that the situation will be resolved as soon as possible.