Results 1-20 of 425 for (in the 'Commons debates' OR in the 'Westminster Hall debates' OR in the 'Lords debates' OR in the 'Northern Ireland Assembly debates') speaker:Desmond Turner

Climate Change (5 Nov 2009) has video

Desmond Turner: I wish that we come back from Copenhagen with a significant agreement, but whatever enthusiasm, skill and energy our delegation demonstrates there—I will be there watching and cheering them on—they cannot do it on their own. That is the nub of the problem. That is not only why we need an international agreement if we are to achieve any success in combating climate change, but why...

Climate Change (5 Nov 2009) has video

Desmond Turner: Well, I find that extremely hard to believe. The resistance to climate change in the US is very strong. I remember the first real redneck I ever met was a senator from Wisconsin. He leaned back in his chair, put his feet on his desk and said, "If it impinges badly on the American economy, there is no way we're gonna ratify Kyoto." The US economy comes first, second, third and fourth as far as...

Closed Circuit Television (Monitoring and Promotion): Clause 2 — General objective (27 Oct 2009) has video

Desmond Turner: The hon. Gentleman is entirely right that we must have coherence. I am not, for one moment, diminishing the role or importance of environmental impact assessments. However, it is unfortunate that some conservationists and animal or marine ecologists are blind to the fact that the most important threat to ecosystems, apart from bad fishing practices, gravel extraction or whatever, is climate...

Closed Circuit Television (Monitoring and Promotion): Clause 2 — General objective (27 Oct 2009) has video

Desmond Turner: I do not believe that there is any problem with the structure. The number of applications in question would not be great, and given the technologies concerned, they would be strategic. If we are to have a gigawatt-scale industry, we have to go through the initial phase up to the first 100 MW or so without impediment. If there is undue impediment, that phase will not happen and we will miss...

Closed Circuit Television (Monitoring and Promotion): Clause 2 — General objective (27 Oct 2009) has video

Desmond Turner: Yes, I am aware of that agreement, and I use it as support for my case, with which it is perfectly consistent. I am fairly sure that the Government will resist my amendments stoutly—Governments generally do—as they are attached to structure that they have in the Bill. I put it to my hon. Friend the Minister, however, that if he has got that wrong—if arrangements are such...

Closed Circuit Television (Monitoring and Promotion): Clause 2 — General objective (27 Oct 2009) has video

Desmond Turner: Other hon. Members have already spelled out what my amendments will do. They are very simple. Their effect is to give the IPC consenting powers over any renewable energy installation with a capacity of more than 1 MW. That might seem like a technical change, but it is much more than that, as I hope to demonstrate. I warmly welcome the Bill. It is crucial to the future management of our seas...

Closed Circuit Television (Monitoring and Promotion): Clause 2 — General objective (27 Oct 2009) has video

Desmond Turner: My hon. Friend has jumped to a point that I was working towards, but I shall turn to it straight away. There is an obvious synergy between the marine conservation of ecosystems and the deployment of renewable energy in those locations. Of course, I am talking only about technologies of machinery with an environmental impact that is totally benign. There are only two at the moment. First,...

Closed Circuit Television (Monitoring and Promotion): Clause 2 — General objective (27 Oct 2009) has video

Desmond Turner: I thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention, but I do not entirely agree, because that is a false conflict. I am talking only about the deployment of machinery that has been demonstrated to have little or no environmental impact in its own right. We should not give the MMO the job of consenting to such deployment, because there is a very real fear that it will not have the engineering...

Oral Answers to Questions — Prime Minister: UK Low Carbon Transition Plan (15 Jul 2009)

Desmond Turner: I am pleased that my right hon. Friend is recognising the potential contribution of wave and tide technology towards our renewables targets, and I am glad that he has made provision for its support. However, that provision does not account for even 50 per cent. of the £405 million provided in the Budget for renewable energy support. Furthermore, on the face of this statement, it does not...

Bill Presented: Marine and Coastal Access Bill [ Lords] (23 Jun 2009)

Desmond Turner: This debate has centred almost entirely on conservation. I do not wish to denigrate its importance: serious conservation measures are long overdue. But what is also long overdue is a sensible regime for making maximum use of our offshore waters as an environmental defence, because that is what they offer us in terms of marine renewable energy. We have a nascent wave and tidal stream power...

Oral Answers to Questions — Work and Pensions: Equality Bill (11 May 2009)

Desmond Turner: I am glad to hear the hon. Gentleman's remarks so far, but I want to correct him on a point of accuracy. The so-called lottery in Brighton was introduced by a Labour council in the face of determined Tory opposition, but the Tories now holding the council have realised its virtues.

Oral Answers to Questions — Work and Pensions: Equality Bill (11 May 2009)

Desmond Turner: When the Bill was published, I really thought that we would be conducting not so much a debate as a mutual appreciation afternoon, but it has turned out quite surprisingly differently in view of what can only be described as the curmudgeonly response from the Conservative Opposition. Given that the Bill is largely a consolidation measure and that hon. Members of all parties agree that there...

Oral Answers to Questions — Work and Pensions: Equality Bill (11 May 2009)

Desmond Turner: I am happy that areas of disagreement can be debated, but that is different from throwing the whole Bill out, which is what the Conservative Opposition are suggesting. That seems to me to be a total negation of what the hon. Lady has just said. By all means let us fight in Committee on all the issues that are worrying, but anyone seriously in favour of equality should back the Bill so that...

Oral Answers to Questions — Work and Pensions: Equality Bill (11 May 2009)

Desmond Turner: I thank my hon. and learned Friend for her helpful response. As she says, it is possible to infer that all such bodies are covered, but it is always good to have things spelt out clearly. Otherwise, members of the profession that she so lately graced will always be trying to find loopholes. Among the new provisions, the socio-economic strand represents a legislative breakthrough. Given that...