Brexit: Agriculture

Debate between Lord Anderson of Swansea and Lord Gardiner of Kimble

Monday 14th January 2019 Lords Chamber

[Lord Gardiner of Kimble]

My Lords, I repeat that the draft Brexit withdrawal agreement will ensure there are no hard barriers on the day we leave the European Union. I agree with all the farming unions. That is what the Government are working on: to get a deal that ensures frictionless and tariff-less trade. If it were to come to no deal, clearly there would have to be discussions about how these matters could be managed. But there is no doubt about it: a no-deal scenario will cause turbulence in the short term for food producers and for farmers.

[Lord Anderson of Swansea (Lab)]

In his list of concerns, the noble Lord failed to mention one key concern of farmers: the ability to continue to recruit people from the European Union to work on our farms after Brexit. How does the Minister allay those fears?

[Lord Gardiner of Kimble]

My Lords, there are of course other priorities and issues for both the Government and the farming unions. I agree that it is important that there is access to labour. Such matters are being considered across government; we recognise their importance not only for the farm labour force but for vets and others. The advance of agritech will in the longer term make a significant difference to the way in which we all farm.

Plastic: Recycling

Debate between Lord Anderson of Swansea and Lord Gardiner of Kimble

Wednesday 7th February 2018 Lords Chamber

[Lord Anderson of Swansea (Lab)]

My Lords, there has been a common theme among Conservative spokespersons to criticise the performance of the Welsh Assembly Government, and they have recently had to apologise for that. Is this not an area where perhaps those same Conservative spokespersons should be asked to praise the Welsh Assembly Government, who are pioneers in this field? The Government have been rather tardy in following them, so there has been a great loss during the years that the Government failed to follow the lead of the Welsh Assembly Government.

[Lord Gardiner of Kimble]

My Lords, I am a unionist and therefore, wherever things are going well, wherever it is in the country, I am delighted. I have looked into this. In Wales a lot of the recycling percentage—it comes down to weight—is down to the fact that it has done far more food and garden waste recycling. That is why it has a higher recycling rate: 58% compared with 44.9% in England. I am very pleased that there is success in Wales on that. We certainly want to improve that, but there are plenty of local authorities in England with recycling rates of over 60% and I congratulate all local authorities that are recycling, whether it is plastic, food or other materials.

Eurostar: Passengers with Pets

Debate between Lord Anderson of Swansea and Lord Gardiner of Kimble

Tuesday 30th June 2015 Lords Chamber

[Lord Gardiner of Kimble]

My Lords, we will not tolerate any illegal passage, whether under the pet scheme or under the Balai directive for sale or rehoming. I think that the noble Countess may have in mind the recent report from the Dogs Trust which resulted in the Chief Veterinary Officer writing to authorities in Lithuania and Hungary, among other countries, reminding them of their duty to ensure that pet passports are completed correctly and that the welfare of dogs intended for sale is safeguarded.

[Lord Anderson of Swansea (Lab)]

My Lords, now that the Government have either sold off, or will shortly sell off, their shares in Eurostar—the family silver—why should Eurostar pay any attention to what the Government have to say?

[Lord Gardiner of Kimble]

My Lords, Eurostar is a commercial operator. As far as I know, it is trading successfully, and I am very happy if it continues to trade in the private sector.

Battle of Waterloo: 200th Anniversary

Debate between Lord Anderson of Swansea and Lord Gardiner of Kimble

Monday 12th January 2015 Lords Chamber

[Lord Gardiner of Kimble]

My Lords, I entirely agree with the sentiments that my noble friend expresses. Indeed, Waterloo secured peace in Europe for nearly 50 years. Men and women from all parts of the United Kingdom have made the ultimate sacrifice in the cause of freedom over the past 200 years. We rightly commemorate them; we are as united now as we have been before in the cause of freedom and tolerance.

[Lord Anderson of Swansea (Lab)]

My Lords, for Blücher should we not read Merkel, and recognise that one suitable way of commemorating this is to recognise that we have a national interest in keeping in close touch with our German allies and partners?

[Lord Gardiner of Kimble]

My Lords, it is undoubtedly the case that we should be in touch and work with all our partners on current affairs, but it is of interest in relation to Waterloo that a number of Länder are commemorating the Battle of Waterloo. The noble Lord mentioned Germany. Hanover, Brunswick, Berlin, Hamburg and Wiesbaden are all commemorating the battle.

European Union (Referendum) Bill

Debate between Lord Anderson of Swansea and Lord Gardiner of Kimble

Friday 24th January 2014 Lords Chamber

[Lord Gardiner of Kimble (Con)]

My Lords, it may be helpful if I read from the brief, which suggests that, if Amendment 28 is agreed to, we cannot call Amendments 31 to 39 inclusive because of pre-emption. That is the reason why we are moving to Amendment 40.

[Lord Anderson of Swansea]

Confusion now has sown its masterpiece. I do not understand on what basis my amendment was pre-empted, and, on a matter of courtesy, no one has told me that this was so. We have not debated these matters which, in my judgment, are important. That is why I limited my speech on the report in relation to alternatives to a very brief statement so that I could develop my points in relation to Amendments 33 to 39.

[Lord Gardiner of Kimble]

My Lords, I apologise but my understanding is that the relevant text in the Bill has been removed. Amendments 31 to 39 have fallen, as it were, because of the pre-emption. That provision has gone.

--- Later in debate ---

[Lord Anderson of Swansea]

That sounds fairly plausible, but it is the time of day when even plausibility might not be such. We are probably at the point, dare I say, when one might consider drawing stumps. After all, it has been a fairly long day in the field.

[Lord Gardiner of Kimble]

My Lords, I rather think that the noble Lord, Lord Foulkes, was already wanting to speak on the group beginning Amendment 40 and that your Lordships would rather like to hear from the noble Lord.