Northern Ireland (Ministerial Appointment Functions) Regulations 2023
Lord Haskel Excerpts(7 months, 3 weeks ago)
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The Deputy Chairman of Committees (Lord Haskel) (Lab)
My Lords, in view of the fact that we finished rather quickly, the Committee is adjourned for five minutes.
Flags (Northern Ireland) (Amendment) Regulations 2021
Lord Haskel Excerpts(2 years, 3 months ago)
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Baroness Foster of Oxton (Con)
My Lords, I was not intending to speak in this debate, but I will say the following. A flag shows a nation state; the union flag represents all the countries in the United Kingdom. They also have separate flags, as when we watch football at Wembley, if we are good enough to get there. We had this debate for many years over the European flag, which was never a flag but an emblem, because it did not represent a single sovereign state.
I do not want to make things difficult. I am all for making sure that people are inclusive and that we recognise people wherever they come from. I have many friends in the Republic of Ireland and my family came from Northern Ireland, which I suppose was part of the republic of Ireland a long time ago. While I acknowledge that we are communautaire, as we used to say in the European Union, and recognise these things —we want peace and we want people to collaborate—this is a sensitive issue. I will be grateful for my noble friend the Minister’s remarks at the Dispatch Box.
The Deputy Chairman of Committees (Lord Haskel) (Lab)
My Lords, the noble Baroness, Lady Harris of Richmond, is taking part remotely. I invite the noble Baroness to speak.
Baroness Harris of Richmond (LD) [V]
My Lords, I apologise on behalf of my noble friend Lady Suttie, who is on a British Council delegation to Moscow which was delayed for a year. She has asked me to speak on her behalf. The New Decade, New Approach commitment aligned the flying of flags on designated days from government buildings in Northern Ireland with the rest of the UK, as we have heard, with regard to the Belfast agreement. The Northern Ireland Assembly was consulted about the draft proposals and agreed them.
Bringing them up to date, following the sad death of His Royal Highness Prince Philip, who had visited Northern Ireland 56 times, the draft instrument removes the need to fly the flag on his birthday, Her Majesty’s wedding day or any other day on which a designated member of the Royal Family dies. I am grateful to the Minister for laying that out. It stipulates that the union flag will be flown on the proclamation of a new monarch. The Liberal Democrats support the draft flags regulations.
Roads: Motorists and Cyclists
Lord Haskel Excerpts(12 years, 1 month ago)
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Lord Haskel
My Lords, as the noble Lord, Lord Glentoran, told us, the way to encourage cycling is to make it safer. One way of making it safer is to provide separate road space for motorists and cyclists. Frequently, however, that is impossible. Cyclists and motorists have to share the road. Certainly the Highway Code should apply to all road users, but in practice that does not always happen. When I was knocked off my bike by a car turning left from the outside lane, the driver's explanation was simply that cars have priority over bikes. That attitude simply discourages cycling by making it less safe.
When I ride on the continent, in any country apart from Portugal and the Republic of Ireland, I feel safer. In all those countries the presumption in law is that if there is a collision between a motor vehicle and a bicycle, the driver of the motor vehicle is at fault. That makes sense because figures from the TRL indicate that in serious and slight crashes that injure cyclists over the age of 25, drivers are far more likely to be deemed solely liable than the cyclists. This is simply a measure to protect the more vulnerable road user and make the road users who are protected more aware of the dangers that they pose to cyclists. As a letter in Saturday’s Guardian from Dr KJ Eames pointed out, this is fair as a presumption can have its validity tested against evidence if it should be necessary. There is no doubt that this simple measure would improve the rate of cycling here.
Urban design can also change the balance of responsibilities. Have noble Lords been to Exhibition Road in South Kensington recently? It has been converted into a shared walking, cycling and driving area. There is a 20 miles per hour speed limit, and although walkers and cyclists must still give way to motorists, it has become a far more pleasant area, with more space because there is no car parking, there are no traffic islands and traffic is much reduced. I am sure that many people will want their suburban areas changed to shared-use zones of this kind, where the traffic is more strictly controlled, cyclists and pedestrians have more freedom and there is more open space.
The noble Lord, Lord Glentoran, is right: there is a lot of work to be done in rebalancing the legal responsibility of motorists and cyclists on the roads, but all as part of an effort to encourage cycling. What will the Government do about that?
House of Lords Reform Bill [HL]
Lord Haskel Excerpts(12 years, 6 months ago)
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Lord Steel of Aikwood
My Lords, we have had a very good humoured debate throughout the day. It began perhaps a little fractiously in the morning but—
The Deputy Chairman of Committees (Lord Haskel)
Before the noble Lord responds, I have to call Amendment 143 as an amendment to Amendment 142.
The Earl of Caithness
My Lords, in order to allow the noble Lord, Lord Steel, to speak, I am not going to move Amendments 143 to Amendments 161 inclusive because they are amendments to Amendment 142 which I am going to withdraw for the reasons I have said. I had to move it to get on the record my apology to the House.
The Deputy Chairman of Committees
I am sorry. Can I say that Amendments 143 to 161 are not moved?
Viscount Astor
I quite understand my noble friend but I would just point out to him that in the Marshalled List, which is prepared by the Clerks, Amendment 163 is there. It is then followed by the amendment of Clause 19 and it then goes on to Amendments 1, 2 and 3. Is the noble Lord saying that we will have to postpone dealing with Amendment 163 until the end of the session today?
The Deputy Chairman of Committees
It may be helpful if I tell noble Lords that Amendment 163 is in the wrong place and that it should come at the very end.
The Earl of Caithness
No, my Lords, with respect to the Chairman, we are debating Amendment 142 at the moment and the noble Lord, Lord Steel, is on his feet. I have yet to speak on it again.
Lord Shutt of Greetland
My Lords, let me just try something without being partial, because it is up to the House what it does. There is half an hour. Your Lordships may remember that on 20 July we were debating the Localism Bill, a government Bill. During a wonderful period between about 7.30 pm and 8 pm, everybody agreed to withdraw amendments and leave it until Report. Many different people were involved who were concerned with several different amendments. That decision was taken; it was left to Report, and Report on the Bill has now concluded. That would be a way forward, if that is what the House wishes, but it is in the hands of the House whether it wishes to do something like that or to proceed with several amendments and, perhaps, not get too far today.
The Earl of Caithness
I am slightly confused. I do not know whether the Deputy Chairman of Committees has called Amendment 1. He certainly did not call any Peer to speak to Amendment 1, so I do not know whether we are in limbo land or debating an amendment.
The Deputy Chairman of Committees (Lord Haskel)
I was obliged to call Amendment 1 but it was obvious that the Government Chief Whip wanted to say something, so I called it and then invited him to speak. If it is the wish of the Committee I shall call Amendment 1and the noble Earl, Lord Caithness.
Amendment 1
Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton
My Lords, I beg to move that the Question on Amendment 2 be now put.
Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton
Oh, Amendment 3. It says Amendment 2 on the annunciator.
Lord Trefgarne
I fear that the Deputy Chairman has got it wrong. The noble Baroness has moved that the Question be now put. That is a debatable Motion and there is a Standing Order that has to be read out first.
Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton
My Lords, I believe that the Motion that the Question be now put is not debatable.
The Deputy Chairman of Committees
I am instructed by order of the House to say that the Motion that the Question be now put is considered to be the most exceptional procedure and the House will not accept it save in circumstances where it is felt to be the only means of ensuring the proper conduct of business in the House. Further, if a Lord who seeks to move it persists in his intention, the practice of the House is that the Question on the Motion is put without debate. The Question is that the Question be now put.
International Women's Day
Lord Haskel Excerpts(13 years, 1 month ago)
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Lord Haskel
My Lords, I add my congratulations to my noble friend on opening the debate, which she has done for more years than I care to remember. She commands such respect and affection that the other Labour Peers appointed with her, all two of us, have always supported her in this debate on International Women's Day.
In the early days, we discussed challenges such as the barriers to women in the caring professions, now reinvented as the big society. As others have reminded us, today we have a report on the barriers that women face on getting onto the boards of the FTSE 100 companies. That illustrates the progress made in our expectations of women, but also confirms that many barriers remain. But is that all that women really need or want in the world of business? Surely, it is also important that women should be where the action is, playing their part as executives in a business rather than as the token directors on the board.
The boards of our major companies are important in today's world, but tomorrow's world of business is rapidly emerging. Surely that is where we want our best brains and those special skills that women bring—skills about which my noble friend Lord Sugar and the noble Baroness, Lady Stowell, spoke. New business models are springing up everywhere in finance and in searching and using the internet. There are new business models incorporating climate change, new science, and the so-called experience economy. I hope that the Minister agrees with me that that is where women must be to play their full roles.
Other speakers have shown that in today's world there are special dangers for women. When women joined the armed services they were not expected to fight on the front line, but in today's conflict who knows where the front line is? As a result, we are slowly learning of the extra bravery shown by women in our Armed Forces.
As others have said, sexual violence itself has become a tool of war. Women reporters must also show this extra bravery. The noble Lord, Lord Black, told us how women reporters encounter special abuse, especially when things are in turmoil. Among all the excitement, who noticed that a woman CBS reporter was sexually assaulted in Cairo? You cannot just leave this to men. It is equally important to report the impact of revolution and change on the lives of women as on the lives of men.
As my noble friend Lady Gould said, the Labour Government recognised the special dangers and barriers that women face because of their gender. Do the new Government recognise and acknowledge these barriers, and will they continue the good work of the previous Government?