"I join noble Lords in congratulating the noble Lord, Lord Foster, on initiating this debate. We live in an increasingly dangerous world, and the soft power provided by the BBC and the British Council is invaluable. That this Government seem to be increasingly cutting back both the British Council and …..." Lord Dubs - View Speech
"My Lords, I cannot resist commenting on the Minister saying that old legislation prevents the Government doing anything. Surely we can change the legislation. Where there are important historical reasons and an artefact is particularly valuable to a country such as Greece, surely that is so exceptional that we should …..." Lord Dubs - View Speech
"My Lords, if the Government insist on pursuing this policy, what safeguard will there be against a foreign company buying Channel 4 and yet another of our major media becoming owned by people outside this country?..." Lord Dubs - View Speech
"To ask Her Majesty’s Government what recent discussions they have had, if any, with the government of Greece about returning the Parthenon marbles to Athens...." Lord Dubs - View Speech
"My Lords, is the Minister aware that, in the British Museum, there are more than 108,000 Greek artefacts, of which 6,500 are currently on display? More importantly, will he accept that my plea that we should consider returning the marbles is based on the fact that they are a unique …..." Lord Dubs - View Speech
"My Lords, will the Minister confirm that whoever has the post must demonstrate a total and absolute commitment to the highest standards of public service broadcasting? Secondly, can he comment on something that I have heard, which is that for some time now Channel 4 has not been able to …..." Lord Dubs - View Speech
"My Lords, is the Minister aware that there is a great deal of concern about the Government’s stated attitude to the BBC and, indeed, to public service broadcasting generally? Ofcom has been particularly successful to date. Does the Minister agree that it would be a tragedy for the high standards …..." Lord Dubs - View Speech
"My Lords, many other large cities have a hotel tax. One only has to go to New York to see that it is quite a large percentage of what one pays. What about having a hotel tax in some of our cities—particularly London, which is awash with tourists all the …..." Lord Dubs - View Speech
"My Lords, is it not true that the BBC was pretty well bounced into this? It was a decision made by the Treasury and not even DCMS knew about it until the BBC was forced to comply...." Lord Dubs - View Speech