Queen’s Speech

Lord Wallace of Tankerness Excerpts

Wednesday 18th May 2016 Lords Chamber

[Lord Wallace of Tankerness (LD)]

My Lords, I echo the proposer and seconder of the humble Address, and the noble Baroness, Lady Smith, in paying tribute to Her Majesty. As she came to Parliament today to deliver her gracious Speech she did so with dignity and showed yet again the service that has been the hallmark of her reign.

I also congratulate the noble Lord, Lord King, and the noble Baroness, Lady Goldie, on their excellent speeches in proposing and seconding, and I defer to the noble Baroness in saying “a” humble Address—I was a Scottish primary pupil as well. The noble Lord, Lord King, and I overlapped in the House of Commons. He has dedicated his life to public service, in the military and in politics. The noble Baroness, Lady Smith, listed all the Secretary of State roles that he held, which is probably more than I have had Liberal Democrat spokesmanships. He has been a genuine public servant in so many different ways.

The noble Lord found fame at the hands—or perhaps the fingers—of his noble friend the noble Baroness, Lady Trumpington. It was also perhaps ironic that the noble Lord, who in a debate readily confessed to not knowing what WhatsApp was, became an internet sensation by making such a confession.

He also told us about jiggery-pokery in Bridgwater in the 1870s, which proves that parties exceeding their expenses limits in West Country constituencies is nothing new. He recently spoke in the House on investigatory powers with his experience as a former Northern Ireland Secretary and a former Defence Secretary. I am sure that there will be many more exchanges when the Investigatory Powers Bill comes to your Lordships’ House. I can confidently predict that this House will give that Bill the most fulsome scrutiny.

The noble Baroness, Lady Goldie, and I have known each other for many years. We entered the new Scottish Parliament together at the very beginning, in May 1999. I would call her a noble friend across the political divide. She was right, as, indeed, were others, in congratulating Ruth Davidson on the remarkable result she achieved in the recent Scottish elections. It has perhaps not always been the case that the Conservative Party in Scotland has taken such a hard-line attitude against the SNP, as the noble Baroness herself revealed. In the run-up to the referendum in 2014, reflecting on the period of minority SNP government between 2007 and 2011, she said:

“The bottom line is that when Alex Salmond needed the Tories he couldn’t get enough of our help”.

Some things change. I also remember that when the noble Baroness was elected leader of the Scottish Conservative Party she promised to crack down on disloyalty and disobedience. It may be that she will be invited to soirées at No. 10 to give some helpful advice to the Prime Minister.

The noble Baroness, being a Scot like myself and others, will be familiar with the old Scottish saying, “Cauld kale het up”—which means cold kale warmed up again. Perhaps she was reflecting on that when she listened to the words of the gracious Speech today, because much of what we heard today had already been announced. Only one year into a Conservative majority Government, there is a sense that perhaps they are starting to run out of steam. Or it may be, as the noble Baroness, Lady Smith, suggested, that having this Queen’s Speech ahead of the referendum means that they cannot really reveal as much as they were wishing to reveal. It may be that, like an iceberg, there is still quite a lot that we cannot see and that the phrase:

“Other measures will be laid before you”,

has more potential than it usually has when those words are spoken.

I believe that the measures we have heard today demonstrate a lack of ambition. I find it deeply disappointing, because we on these Benches are ambitious for our country and we will shortly be facing the biggest decision that the United Kingdom has faced in generations. In case we had not heard it on Radio 4’s “Today” programme, the gracious Speech reminded us that the Government will hold a referendum on membership of the European Union. Whether to remain in or to leave the European Union is a fundamental decision that we have to make. There has rightly been much focus—including from the noble Lord, Lord King—on the economic arguments for and against, but for me and many of my colleagues on these Benches there is a more fundamental question to be answered as to what kind of country we want the United Kingdom to be. What sort of country do we want our children and grandchildren to live in? What is the international legacy that we want to leave for future generations?

Make no mistake, the decision on 23 June is not so much about the here and now as about the impact on our children and on our children’s children. Will Britain be the sort of country that resists change to meet the challenges of the 21st century, or will we be citizens of an adaptable country that can thrive, innovate and lead in an open, global economy? Do we credibly think that the only way we can protect our security against existing threats is by standing alone, or do we believe that we will make ourselves safer by standing together with our neighbours and sharing our response with countries that are our friends, that share our values and that also face these threats?

Just over 70 years ago we were at war with our European neighbours. Today we sit at the same table with them, working together for a better future for us all. The European Union is, indeed, the world’s most successful peace project. Our generation has enjoyed that peace; surely we must bequeath that to future generations. I want our children and grandchildren to grow up in a society that shares security, shares political values and shares social standards with our European neighbours, rather than running the risk of returning to mutual hostility. I want future generations to grow up in a confident Britain that pursues prosperity and peace in co-operation with our European neighbours.

It is not just in our relationship with our European colleagues that we on these Benches want to see an optimistic and confident United Kingdom, but also within our nation. Liberal Democrats have always been optimistic—we have often had cause to be—and we are eager to improve the lives of our children and grandchildren, and for everyone to have their opportunity to succeed. That is why we believe that we should be looking to the future. Yet so often in the last 12 months the Conservatives have allowed short-term political interest to triumph over the longer-term interests of the country and the opportunities of the next generation. Today we see that the country’s challenges on education, housing, investment, skills and the environment are either ignored or offered nothing more than empty rhetoric.

A responsible Government should be fighting to address the challenges yet to come, not fixating on tomorrow’s headlines or reliving the battles of the past. The future is full of exciting opportunities as technology changes the way we work and live. We believe that education is the key to equipping future generations with what they need to embrace the challenges of the future. It is the key to freedom and opportunity. That is why we must create an education system that enables the next generation to reach its full potential.

We note the promises in the gracious Speech on education, but in their first year in office the Conservatives have set back progress on education. Teachers are demoralised and school budgets are stretched to breaking point. Children are missing out rather than being given the confidence, creativity and practical skills to meet the challenges of a future economy. So warm words alone will not be enough. That is why we call for an education charter to enshrine the importance of giving every child a decent education. Every child surely deserves a great start in life and we are determined to make sure that the education system finds and nurtures the best in everyone. This is essential in order to break down the unfair divisions in our society and to ensure a productive, competitive economy.

In recent days, we have seen organisations such as the CBI and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales express concerns that the Government are taking their eye off the ball, thinking about the short-term rather than the long-term future of this country. That is why we need a plan for a changing 21st-century economy. The Government promise a right to access high-speed broadband, but we want to see a future economy Bill to support ambitious investment in new fibre-optic broadband, housing and rail infrastructure, setting out a long-term industrial strategy and giving real support for new technology so that United Kingdom businesses are at the forefront of new ways of working.

I welcome the emphasis placed on education in prison. Education should indeed be at the heart of the prison system, giving prisoners the skills to lead a productive life on release. However, prisoners also need help with mental health issues and drug and alcohol abuse, and meaningful support in preparing them for release. This can be achieved only if we increase staffing and cut overcrowding. Our prison system is in crisis, so just making some structural changes will be no more effective than rearranging the proverbial deckchairs on the “Titanic”. We need extra resources and a commitment to make sure that prisons work as places of rehabilitation.

I am perhaps most disappointed by the Government’s failure to recognise that education can also be fundamental in tackling fear and division in society. That is why we believe that the counter-extremism Bill is at best ill-judged. I rather suspect that defining “extremism” will take up at least a day in Committee in your Lordships’ House, then no doubt many days in court as lawyers debate what we actually meant by the definition at which we ultimately arrived. At worst, the Bill could serve to create more division, alienation and stigmatisation. By educating children together, we break down divisions within society, promote community relations and counter prejudice. Alongside this, Liberal Democrats believe that a global responsibilities Bill would have ensured that the United Kingdom played its part in tackling the challenges of an ever-shrinking world. As part of this, we would strengthen our commitment to human rights rather than make the dangerous move this Government are making in scrapping everything and starting from scratch.

The gracious Speech talks about “proposals”. That is not quite a Bill; we are not quite sure where they are. Perhaps we will get some clarification in the speech of the noble Baroness, Lady Stowell, or in the days ahead. However, we again see the Prime Minister putting what he believes to be his party’s interests before the interests of the country, trying to placate a hostile Cabinet rather than protecting or standing up for our Human Rights Act—legislation which has ensured justice for the victims of domestic violence, and that disabled people are protected and children are guarded against abuse.

If there has been a delay and we are getting only proposals, it may be because there is some doubt or uncertainty around the Cabinet table. As my right honourable friend the Member for Orkney and Shetland observed last month in another place:

“The Home Secretary tells us that she wants to remain in the European Union but leave the convention; the Under-Secretary of State for Justice wants to leave the European Union but remain in the convention; and the Lord Chancellor wants to leave the European Union, stay in the convention, but ignore the jurisprudence of the Court. Thank goodness we do not have the instability of a coalition Government any more”.—[Official Report, Commons, 26/4/16; col. 1291.]

I leave the noble Baroness the Leader of the House with a small piece of advice, if I may. We note the reference in the gracious Speech to the primacy of the Commons. That is of course right, but let us not confuse the primacy of the Commons over the Lords with the important issue of the legislature standing up to the Executive and holding it to account.

Last year at this time, I suggested that we would do well to reflect on the strength of the mandate of a Government who secured less than 37% of the popular vote on a turnout of 66%, should they seek to drive through ill-thought-through legislation without robust scrutiny and the proper checks and balances this House provides. On more than one occasion in the previous Session, the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee produced a report excoriating the shortcomings of Bills. I echo the noble Baroness, Lady Smith, in expressing thanks and appreciation to noble Lords—Ministers—who have been willing to engage, to listen and compromise, and to try to find a way forward.

However, it was also notable that, in the latter stages of the previous Session, notwithstanding deep concerns in your Lordships’ House and after hours of detailed scrutiny, Ministers often steadfastly refused to budge on a host of issues. These were not matters that challenged manifesto commitments; rather, they were amendments to ensure that those commitments were delivered in a fair and proportionate manner. I hope the noble Baroness, Lady Stowell, and her colleagues will reflect on this and that she will indicate what the Government’s response will be to the report of the noble Lord, Lord Strathclyde, which has not exactly been welcomed by three of your Lordships’ committees that have now reported on it. It would serve Ministers well to listen to their colleagues in both Houses when concerns are expressed about the legislative programme, to show a willingness to negotiate in order to reach sensible compromises and, indeed, to heed the warning this week from a report by the Institute for Government that:

“The Government must be smarter about how it manages its business in Parliament”.