Extradition Act 2003

Debate between Baroness Williams of Trafford and Lord Watts

Wednesday 29th June 2022 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Williams of Trafford (Con)]

I say to the noble Baroness that we have in fact refused far more extradition cases to the US than they have to us by quite a large margin.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

When we left the European Union, our relations with Germany stopped. Have we negotiated anything as a replacement?

Enforcement of Lockdown Regulations

Debate between Baroness Williams of Trafford and Lord Watts

Tuesday 18th January 2022 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Williams of Trafford (Con)]

As I said to the noble Baroness in my first Answer, there is going to be more analysis of FPNs issued to different demographic groups. The outcome will be very interesting in all sorts of contexts—social and otherwise. Like her, I look forward to the findings from the analysis. In parallel to that, the HAC has published its report, The Macpherson Report: Twenty-two Years On, which raised the same concerns over disproportionality of FPNs.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

My Lords, when the Prime Minister was holding a series of parties in No. 10, what were the police doing to enforce regulations?

[Baroness Williams of Trafford (Con)]

My Lords, I was not there, I am afraid.

European Arrest Warrant, Europol and Eurojust

Debate between Baroness Williams of Trafford and Lord Watts

Monday 2nd March 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

We obviously want an agreement across all areas of law enforcement co-operation—I cannot hypothecate what the noble Baroness says—because we want to keep our citizens safe.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

My Lords, how will the Government extradite criminals from Germany given that, constitutionally, they are not allowed to do so unless it is within the European Union?

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

My Lords, arrangements will have to be in place that allow the system or the arrangements to take part in that country.

Operation Midland

Debate between Baroness Williams of Trafford and Lord Watts

Monday 3rd February 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

I have explained it many times and I know that I have not convinced this House why. It would be a matter for the police, who are operationally independent of government. It would be up to them if they wanted to carry out an inquiry. As I have said, Operation Conifer has been scrutinised over several layers, and it seemed a very robust and thorough inquiry.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

My Lords, what is the point of having powers if the Government refuse to use them?

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

As I have just explained, the Government would not usually instigate an inquiry in this sort of situation. It would be up to the police to do so, should that be appropriate.

Schools: Free Sanitary Products

Debate between Baroness Williams of Trafford and Lord Watts

Tuesday 21st May 2019 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

I totally agree. Puberty brings with it all sorts of embarrassments and sensitivities. This scheme is an excellent way to avoid any of that. It does not matter where you come from or what your parents’ income is: you will have access to the products you need so that your education will not be held back.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

My Lords, is it not a disgrace that many families now cannot afford to buy these products?

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

It is awful if a family cannot afford to buy these products. In relation to the previous question, asked by the noble Baroness, Lady McIntosh, there are all sorts of issues around puberty and access to products. This scheme cuts across all those issues. Nobody has to be embarrassed because their parents cannot afford to pay—or, indeed, be too embarrassed to ask their parents to buy the products in the first place.

Children: Covert Human Intelligence Sources

Debate between Baroness Williams of Trafford and Lord Watts

Monday 18th March 2019 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

Yes, it does.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

My Lords, is the increase due to the amount of criminals who are now using young people, especially in the drugs-related elements of crime? What are the Government doing to address that problem?

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

My Lords, a number of complex matters are driven by knife crime, by gangs, by county lines and by drugs, and the noble Lord is right to raise the issue. I have gone through the various things we are doing on knife crime—including the Offensive Weapons Bill—and the various aspects of what we are doing to tackle drugs, most notably a public health approach to the issue.

Visas: Certificates of Sponsorship

Debate between Baroness Williams of Trafford and Lord Watts

Thursday 13th September 2018 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

I hope the noble Lord could concede that it is not hostile; it is quite the opposite. There has been a change in how the tier 5 route is implemented when individuals enter the UK, particularly from Ireland. Because there are no routine immigration controls on these routes, the correct form of entry clearance cannot be given and the certificates of sponsorship therefore cannot be activated. It has nothing to do with exit from the EU. Work is well under way to identify a workaround for the tier 5 concession route when entering the UK from Ireland to avoid the requirement to obtain a visa before arrival. I hope that gives the noble Lord some comfort.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

My Lords, the music industry is very concerned about the ability of many artists and bands to move around Europe—if we leave the EU—fairly freely, with little bureaucracy. What will the Government do to make sure those artists are still allowed to ply their trade as they are at present?

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

My Lords, the UK, more than perhaps many countries, absolutely welcomes the creative industries. We want artists to come here and to be able to perform. It is the reason why, as I tell the noble Lord, we are looking at how to work around this issue. It is a result not of border control but of no immigration controls on these routes, and we are therefore trying to work around it. It is nothing to do with Brexit.

Brexit: Europol

Debate between Baroness Williams of Trafford and Lord Watts

Tuesday 11th September 2018 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

I do not think anyone would disagree with the noble Lord. Our ongoing security partnership should protect those shared law-enforcement and criminal justice operational capabilities. He and I have debated on the Data Protection Act, on the specific law-enforcement provisions, and, of course, on national security. It is incredibly important that we continue to co-operate, to the benefit of both the EU and the UK.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

My Lords, the German constitution bans the extradition of people outside the EU. How will the Government get over the problem that, after we have no deal, there will be no extraditions between ourselves and Germany?

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

The noble Lord is absolutely right that there are specific provisions in Germany’s constitution, which we will have to take a practical and pragmatic approach towards as we move forward.

Online Hate Speech

Debate between Baroness Williams of Trafford and Lord Watts

Thursday 15th March 2018 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

There is a clear distinction. Expressing one’s own opinion can offend people; there is a right to offend. However, there is no right to propagate speech that goes to a particular characteristic, whether that be race, religion, disability or sexuality, and promotes hatred against that person.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

My Lords, will the Government consider introducing an education programme for this House so that we can address some of the bigotry that we regularly hear here?

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

I am rather depressed to say to the noble Lord that it is not just here that we hear what I would call religious illiteracy, sometimes going into the area of downright misleading comments; it is within our legislature, the media and online. Through all strands of society, we need to tackle this.

Refugees: Teaching of English

Debate between Baroness Williams of Trafford and Lord Watts

Tuesday 6th February 2018 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

I certainly agree with the noble Baroness that refugees generally should be able to learn English. What I am talking about today is a £10 million fund for resettled refugees, but tuition is available to refugees under arrangements for adult learners as well.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

My Lords—

Immigration: International Students

Debate between Baroness Williams of Trafford and Lord Watts

Tuesday 10th October 2017 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

My noble friend points out precisely why they are included in the migration statistics.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

Are not the figures the Minister gives for the Russell group distorted by the fact that some of those universities have a special visa system?

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

There has been a tier 4 visa pilot—that is possibly what the noble Lord is referring to—and we will evaluate its effectiveness. However, he actually makes a case for the fact that we welcome international students here.

Brexit: Customs and Border Staff

Debate between Baroness Williams of Trafford and Lord Watts

Monday 6th February 2017 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

My Lords, there is more than just the French authorities to consider, although we have worked very hard and in good co-operation with the French. Control of our borders means just that—control of who comes in and who goes out. However, I accept that no system is perfect.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

My Lords, would not the introduction of ID cards be the cheapest way to try to deal with this problem? Would not the Government’s time be better spent looking at the proposals and seeing how effective they would be in introducing controls on our borders?

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

In short, no. We have moved beyond the ID card in terms of the amount of information we have on passenger movement. Technology now has almost negated the need for what the noble Lord talks about, which was quite some time ago.

Islam: Tenet of Abrogation

Debate between Baroness Williams of Trafford and Lord Watts

Monday 12th December 2016 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

I did not hear the last bit of that question because there was a bit of a noise from the House. This House prides itself on the wide range of Questions that can be tabled. We do not police too heavily whether those Questions are always necessarily accurate or reflect the situation. I cannot remember the noble Baroness’s second point. I will leave it there.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

Is there not a real danger of highlighting parts of the Koran, when you could equally make the same points about the Bible? Is it not important that we do not take either of those texts as literal?

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

My Lords, we have seen with all religions how people can interpret parts of them to their own ends. I was talking just this morning about my own Church and how some things in the past have been interpreted not for evil ends but wrongly. It happens with all texts. It is a question of how we as a civilised society deal with that in the round.

Asylum Seekers

Debate between Baroness Williams of Trafford and Lord Watts

Tuesday 1st November 2016 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

My Lords, the Question refers to those who have been granted refugee status, as opposed to those seeking asylum at that point. I think the noble Lord is talking about a different matter.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

My Lords, will the Government make a special effort to help women immigrants and refugees learn English? Women are often isolated by being unable to speak the language.

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

The noble Lord is absolutely right for all the points I made in replying to the noble Lord, Lord Alton. Women are often the bedrock of family life and their children’s future. I think it was earlier in the year that the former Prime Minister announced the setting up of a fund for women to learn English to help them integrate well into British society and to help their children.

Economy: High Street Trade

Debate between Baroness Williams of Trafford and Lord Watts

Tuesday 10th May 2016 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

First, as the noble Baroness will know, local councils will be able to retain 100% of their business rates by 2020. Combined authorities that also have mayors will have the facility to raise or reduce business rates in their combined authority area. I totally concur with the noble Baroness, because I can think of two local authorities in Greater Manchester where the councils have been absolutely at the forefront of that revitalisation of their local high streets.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

My Lords, will the Minister adopt the suggestion of reducing the size of town centres to take into account the fact of online trading and perhaps make some finance available to local authorities to achieve that aim?

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

The noble Lord makes a good point. One of the things that councils observe is that we need more shoppers in our local high streets and not more shops, hence the expansion into some of the excellent food offers in markets now and some of the conversions from office to residential that help to revitalise the footfall in local high streets, particularly in the north of England where I am.

Local Government Pension Scheme

Debate between Baroness Williams of Trafford and Lord Watts

Tuesday 3rd May 2016 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

My noble friend raises an important point because pooling certainly has the potential to make the management of our pension funds more efficient. However, we also have to look at how we can maximise some of the returns for beneficiaries.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

My Lords, can the Minister categorically deny that the Treasury will try to influence these decisions? That is the concern. What will be the Treasury’s role in investment strategy?

Homelessness: Rough Sleeping

Debate between Baroness Williams of Trafford and Lord Watts

Monday 7th March 2016 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

My Lords, the number of rough sleepers was estimated to be 3,569 on a given night last autumn.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

My Lords, this increase in homelessness is a national scandal. Will the Minister set out the target figure for reducing that over the next 12 months?

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

My Lords, as the noble Lord will know, we do not focus particularly on targets but on initiatives that will help reverse some of the trends that we are seeing. Nobody is denying that homelessness and rough sleeping are a problem, which is why we have protected and maintained central and local funding to deal with it, as well as the Homelessness Change programme which I have spoken about.