Domestic Ivory Market

Patrick Grady Excerpts

Monday 6th February 2017 Westminster Hall

[Patrick Grady (Glasgow North) (SNP)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mrs Main.

I thank the Petitions Committee for bringing the debate forward and I congratulate the hon. Member for Thornbury and Yate (Luke Hall) on one of the shorter speeches so far, which nevertheless comprehensively introduced the topic. These Monday evening e-petition debates often have a box office quality about them and clearly attract the interest of our constituents and the public, so I wonder, as a member of the Procedure Committee, whether we should look at ways to get some debates on the more important and well-subscribed issues into the main Chamber, as well as here in Westminster Hall.

One hundred and twenty-seven of my constituents signed the petition that we are discussing today, and several of them made a point of requesting that I participate in the debate. I was keen to do so in any event, because I wish to focus on DFID funding, which has been mentioned a number of times already, and the global impact of the ivory trade, which the petition mentions specifically.

I want to pick up on one thing first. The hon. Member for Hertsmere (Oliver Dowden), who is no longer in his place, made a rather obtuse intervention about climate change. I am not entirely sure what he was getting at. To try to pretend that these issues are not interrelated is to misunderstand the situation. Climate change was described by Lord Stern as the “biggest market failure” of modern history, and it affects elephant populations just as much as human populations—in fact, perhaps doubly so, because people may well be driven to poach elephants if they cannot find sustainable livelihoods for themselves. If, because of climate change, people are displaced from their land or cannot grow crops to feed themselves and their families, they will look for other means of generating an income. To pretend that the debate about tackling climate change and the debate about protecting biodiversity and elephant populations are mutually exclusive is to misunderstand the nature of the debate as a whole.

The main conversation has been about the importance of a ban on the domestic ivory trade and how that will affect the broader illegal trade around the world, prevent money laundering, and so on. As other Members have said, we have to tackle both supply and demand. We can play a role in developing countries by using the expertise that we have here in the United Kingdom. The Government of course have a responsibility here; sustainable development goal 15 commits all the parties that are signed up to it to protect ecosystems and halt biodiversity loss, so there is a global agenda in play even as we discuss the domestic market. As I said, one of the best ways of doing that is to ensure that poaching is not the most lucrative option for people who live in otherwise pretty desperate and poor circumstances. Any initiatives and support that help people to diversify their incomes, pursue genuine economic development and education opportunities, and all the rest of it, ought to be welcomed.

There has been some discussion about DFID funding, and I think that has been conflated a little with aid. The 0.7% budget is welcome, and I hope that the Minister will restate this Government’s commitment to that in this and future spending rounds, as other Ministers have when I pressed them to. Although I would like as much of that money as possible to be spent by DFID, if the Government insist on spending some of it through other Departments, tackling the ivory trade seems a pretty worthwhile use of that additional or alternative spending. It is certainly a much better alternative to some of the securitisation that we have seen and some of the commercial investments that have been discussed elsewhere. I note that an initiative to tackle poaching already exists in Malawi. That was announced at the various conferences that we have heard about, and the UK Army is involved in it. It would be interesting to know whether that will be classified as overseas development assistance.

Some aid money and UK expertise have been used in counter-terrorism initiatives. I wonder whether some of the approaches that have been used to disrupt Daesh and other terrorists—tackling cyber-communications, shutting down illegal bank accounts and so on—could be used to disrupt poachers and traders in the illegal wildlife and ivory trades, who use many of the same techniques. Perhaps that expertise can be used to take forward some of these goals, too. The hon. Member for Ynys Môn (Albert Owen) made a point about the conditionality that is sometimes attached to aid, and that is also worth considering, especially if money goes to Governments rather than international development organisations.

Finally, there has been discussion about the antiquities and antiques markets. It is important to draw a distinction between antiques and antiquities. I do not think anyone suggests that incredibly valuable and historic pieces such as the Lewis chessmen should be covered by a ban. Most of those things are priceless and will not be traded or sold in any meaningful way. We welcome the fact that the British Museum has permanently loaned the chessmen back to an exhibition in Lewis and the Western Isles. That is where the distinction between a total ban and a near-total ban comes in. It is important to learn lessons from other parts of the world—particularly the United States. The idea of defining an antique as something that is more than 100 years old, which would mean that the date changed year on year, is well worth exploring. The UK Government ought to consult as widely and as soon as possible. They must explore all options, ensure that all the lobby groups and everyone who has provided briefings have their views heard, and take the best advice possible.

Another reason for preserving antiques and antiquities is that our interpretation of them may change over time. Intricate and beautiful works of art may have been created in a time of ignorance or less understanding about the damage that was being done to the planet. We should remember that, which may help us get to the point where it is perhaps not the elephant itself but the successful campaign to save the elephant that is legendary.