"My Lords, we continue to believe that the assessment of all export licence applications on a case-by-case basis against the consolidated EU and national arms export licensing criteria is the right approach. In the light of the rapidly changing events in Libya and north Africa, we acted to revoke licences …..." Lord Green of Hurstpierpoint - View Speech
"My Lords, I think the whole House shares the instinct that lies behind the noble Lord’s questions. It is absolutely imperative that we conduct our defence and security sales business on the basis of high standards and under strict controls. Those controls are in place, but we always need to …..." Lord Green of Hurstpierpoint - View Speech
"I thank the noble Lord, Lord Judd, for that question. It is important to keep a balance. Every country has a right to self-defence. We live in an imperfect world; if it were a perfect world we would have no need of defence industries, needless to say. It is clearly …..." Lord Green of Hurstpierpoint - View Speech
"I thank my noble friend but, as I said earlier, we believe that the right approach to defence goods is a case-by-case one. There are legitimate uses of many defence products and services. Some we do not market or manufacture in compliance with international restrictions, but in general the right …..." Lord Green of Hurstpierpoint - View Speech
"I thank my noble and learned friend for the question. The point is not whether it could do any harm but the fact that there is real concern about whether it could do any good as it is effectively unenforceable. We do not want any distraction from the important focus …..." Lord Green of Hurstpierpoint - View Speech
"I thank my noble friend. This is clearly a very difficult position. The situation is evolving from day to day. It is tragic; civilians are being killed and the outcome is unclear. The right thing for Her Majesty’s Government to do is to work with the international community to try …..." Lord Green of Hurstpierpoint - View Speech
"My Lords, with the leave of the House, I shall now repeat a Statement made in another place by my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills.
"I thank the noble Lord, Lord Young of Norwood Green, for those comments and for his recognition that there is a great deal of common ground on what it takes to enhance British trade performance and to ensure that we remain an attractive place for inward investment. We all recognise …..." Lord Green of Hurstpierpoint - View Speech
"I thank my noble friend Lord Razzall for his comments. I absolutely agree with his first point about the practicalities. As I said, this is a marathon, not a sprint. One of the reasons why that is true is that the production of a White Paper is not the culmination …..." Lord Green of Hurstpierpoint - View Speech
"I thank my noble friend Lord Lang for that question because it is an important one. Productivity is indeed something of an Achilles’ heel, at least in parts of the British economy, and we need to work at that. It is a complex matter that involves the whole question of …..." Lord Green of Hurstpierpoint - View Speech