NHS, Armed Forces and Civil Service Staff: Public Meetings
Debate between Baroness Goldie and Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent(4 days, 17 hours ago)
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Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Lab)
My noble friend makes a very important point. We are living in an age of disinformation and there is a responsibility on all of us to make sure that there are clear communication channels, especially when we talk about issues pertaining to policy that has been made by politicians. I also think it is incredibly important when we are trying to return to a politics of service and re-establish the use of the Nolan principles, which is why they have been added to the Ministerial Code, that it is politicians who are held accountable for policy decisions and challenged by the media.
Baroness Goldie (Con)
My Lords, I was present at the recent conference to which the Minister refers. The Chief of the General Staff did indeed give a welcome and full address and took questions, but another representative of the MoD made it explicitly clear that he was unable to speak publicly and we were all asked to honour that undertaking and not repeat his remarks publicly. Going back to the Minister’s observation about the need for a grid, there is a marked difference between a grid and censorship. There is a concern that the Government are slightly straying over the line and, frankly, treating some of our senior public officials like Pavlov’s poodles.
Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Lab)
My Lords, before I joined your Lordships’ House, I ran an organisation called Index on Censorship. We should be very careful about the use of that word and how it applies here, versus the political dissidents I used to represent. The noble Baroness talks about something that everybody in this Chamber has participated in—a Chatham House rules discussion. On the point she raised about the RUSI Land Warfare Conference, it was completely appropriate that the head of the British Army led the discussion. She will also be aware that this is a cyclical news story that appears regularly. After all, in 2020 the former Defence Secretary Ben Wallace was accused of gagging his head of the Navy.
Armed Forces Recruitment
Debate between Baroness Goldie and Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent
Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Lab)
Just for my noble friend: HMS “Glasgow”, a new Type 26 will officially enter the Royal Navy tomorrow.
On the specifics of his question, I will have to revert on some details but let me be very clear on how we are recruiting and ensuring that people can come through, especially engineers. We are looking at each pinch point individually, and for tri-service air engineers we have offered a £30,000 incentive.
Baroness Goldie (Con)
My Lords, there is an urgent need not only to increase the number of people recruited into our Armed Forces but to ensure they are better allocated to roles appropriate to their skills. Serco will, I understand, lead a consortium of six delivery partners—TEAM Serco. How do the Government and Serco propose to monitor progress by the individual team members to ensure the aggregate objective of increased numbers of personnel and better alignment of skills is achieved?
Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Lab)
I thank the noble Baroness. At the heart of the contract is making sure there is one clear oversight to ensure of where we have missing skills. So, if a recruit says, “I want to be a chef in the Navy”, but we actually have too many vacancies for chefs in the RAF, we will actively encourage them to consider the RAF. Although this is candidate centred, we will for the first time be able to have an assessment of where our gaps are across the whole of the Armed Forces. If Serco fails, there are financial penalties.
Democracy and Unelected Strong Leaders
Debate between Baroness Goldie and Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent
Baroness Goldie (Con)
My Lords, I declare an interest in that I once wrote an essay, and obtained high marks, on the subject of enlightened despotism—I wrote it in the first person. Can we not take some comfort from the inference within the Question that apparently four out of five people within this age group prefer democracy? I offer the Minister an encouraging example. During the independence referendum in Scotland, I saw levels of engagement from young people that I had never seen before. They were passionate and well-informed, but I also observe that they were dealing with people who were people, whatever side of the argument they were on. Does the Minister agree that all parties have a duty in public life to try to behave less like automatons and more like human beings?
Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Lab)
It would be an interesting experience for many in your Lordships’ House if the noble Baroness had the opportunity to be a despot. I could not agree more: it can occasionally feel like the concept of personality and humanity in our politics is missing, and definitely for those in communities—
Council of the Nations and Regions
Debate between Baroness Goldie and Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent(7 months, 1 week ago)
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Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Lab)
The Deputy Prime Minister chaired the first leaders’ council on 24 October, where she vowed to forge a new relationship based on honesty and respect between central and local government, helping drive economic growth and improving lives. The leaders’ council brought together Ministers and local leaders to tackle shared problems. The Deputy Prime Minister has also written to all areas with a devolution deal to invite them to come forward with a proposal. New mayors established through this deal will be eligible to attend the Council of the Nations and Regions.
Baroness Goldie (Con)
My Lords, this council appears to have rendered obsolete the Prime Minister and Heads of Devolved Governments Council. Does the Minister really feel that is an appropriate sign of respect to send to the First Ministers of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland?
Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Lab)
I assure the noble Baroness that that is not the case. Before the first full meeting on 11 October of the Council of the Nations and Regions—which, to remind the House, was a manifesto commitment—the Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland and the First Ministers of all devolved Governments had a multilateral meeting with the Prime Minister, which would fulfil tier 1 of the IGR requirements. With the greatest respect to noble Lords opposite, that was the first time such a meeting had happened since 2022.