Results 1-20 of 53 for in the 'Commons debates' OR in the 'Westminster Hall debates' OR in the 'Lords debates' OR in the 'Northern Ireland Assembly debates' speaker:Baroness Bakewell
- Care Bill [HL]: Second Reading (21 May 2013)
Baroness Bakewell: My Lords, there is no doubt that this is indeed a momentous Bill. It will affect the lives of many who are already old, and the many millions whom medical progress and judicious lifestyles will bring to a multiplicity of years. It attempts to deal with what is not simply an immediate domestic crisis, although of course it is that. It is about a change in human society on a Darwinian scale:...
- Asylum Seekers — Question (20 May 2013)
Baroness Bakewell: The noble Earl will know that when women seek asylum following often violent sexual abuse in their country of origin, they are most likely to have their application accepted on appeal, so while they hang around without any income, many of them become destitute. How does he propose resolving that problem?
- UK: Ageing Population — Question (19 March 2013)
Baroness Bakewell: My Lords, when I was appointed the voice of older people in 2009, these issues were already well appreciated. It is now 2013. This is an excellent report from the House committee, which everyone recognises, but I am afraid that it joins many other reports on my shelf that have been published since 2009. Will the noble Earl please tell me why he thinks change is so slow?
- Broadband: Communications Committee Report: Motion to Take Note (18 March 2013)
Baroness Bakewell: My Lords, this is a wonderful report and I endorse all its findings. I am very proud to sit on the committee that produced it and I commend the noble Lord, Lord Inglewood, for his wonderful chairmanship. I wish to add just a few points as I am not on the speakers list. We think that we are in the middle of a revolution but we might just be at the start of it. It is important that we endorse...
- Libraries: Closures — Question (11 February 2013)
Baroness Bakewell: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to limit the ongoing closure of public libraries across the country.
- Libraries: Closures — Question (11 February 2013)
Baroness Bakewell: I thank the Minister for that Answer. Good news is always welcome, however meagre, but the bad news is coming in torrents. Three hundred and twenty-six libraries are under threat, have closed or have left council control since April last year. Newcastle is planning to close 10 out of 18 libraries and Liverpool 10 out of 19. Given the disproportionately heavy cuts to local authority funding in...
- Defamation Bill: Report (5 February 2013)
Baroness Bakewell: My Lords, in speaking to Amendments 6, 7 and 9, I declare an interest. I am a member of PEN, the defender of writers' rights, and have been briefed by it in the matter of public interest defence. However, I speak as a journalist of some four decades experience, schooled in what were at the time the exacting standards of BBC journalistic behaviour. If that sounds rather smug or perhaps even...
- Health: Hearing Loss — Question (17 December 2012)
Baroness Bakewell: My Lords, the Minister referred to the screening authority, which recommends screening for many different ailments. Is he aware that screening notification, which goes out to all eligible citizens, stops at the age of 70 whereas it is necessary to be screened for many of these ailments after 70? Indeed, when you are over 70 you need reminding more often than when you are younger.
- Violence Against Women — Question for Short Debate (29 November 2012)
Baroness Bakewell: My Lords, I add my thanks to the noble Baroness, Lady Jenkin, for bringing forward this debate and I thank all the other speakers for such an informed session. In recent days I have read many thousands of words about the initiatives that people are taking and I am really impressed. There are initiatives from the Home Office, from Europe, from the police and from the UN. I read that 125...
- BBC: World Service — Question (27 November 2012)
Baroness Bakewell: My Lords-
- BBC: World Service — Question (27 November 2012)
Baroness Bakewell: My Lords-
- Alcohol: Pricing — Question (29 October 2012)
Baroness Bakewell: To ask Her Majesty's Government, in the light of the recent Panorama programme about the scale of alcohol-related illness among the over-65s, when they will make a decision regarding plans for a minimum price per unit of alcohol.
- Alcohol: Pricing — Question (29 October 2012)
Baroness Bakewell: My Lords, I thank the Minister for that Answer. I should declare an interest. I was the journalist who made the "Panorama" programme. Last week, there was an indication that the plans to announce the minimum pricing of alcohol were being delayed and considerable concern about that was expressed by, among others, the BMA. Will the Minister press the Government to move urgently on this matter...
- Defamation Bill — Second Reading (9 October 2012)
Baroness Bakewell: My Lords, this is indeed a momentous and welcome Bill, which has long been needed. Our libel law is out of date and recognised by many to have a chilling effect on free speech, not merely in this country but around the world. It has encouraged the phenomenon known as libel tourism and prompted legislation in the United States to protect American citizens from being sued in the UK. The UN...
- Schools: Copyright Exemption — Question (12 July 2012)
Baroness Bakewell: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact on authors of a copyright exemption for schools; and whether they plan to put in place any safeguards to protect authors' incomes.
- Schools: Copyright Exemption — Question (12 July 2012)
Baroness Bakewell: I thank the Minister for that Answer. I understand that the situation is still fluid and that decisions have not yet been made. That is why it is important to raise the issue at this time because in the autumn there will be a substantial opening up of the UK's copyright exemption regime that is estimated to cost the writers of this country something like £12 million. Are the Government...
- Care and Support — Statement (11 July 2012)
Baroness Bakewell: Can I draw the Minister's attention to the characteristics of the very old? Time speeds up when you are old. Christmas comes round more regularly and the years pass faster. Coupled with that is increased anxiety about what those years will bring. The timescale of these matters that concern funding have a particular poignancy for people who have only a few years of life left. I urge the...
- Libraries — Question (14 June 2012)
Baroness Bakewell: My Lords, are the Government aware that there are 250 literary festivals in this country and that the numbers are increasing? There is an appetite among people and children for more books than they can afford. How is the declared ambition for improved literacy among children to be achieved if libraries are closing?
- Care Homes — Question (28 May 2012)
Baroness Bakewell: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have for making sure that care home ownership delivers consistent and long-term care.
- Care Homes — Question (28 May 2012)
Baroness Bakewell: I thank the noble Earl for that Answer, but it does not quite meet the background that has arisen since 30 April, when the private equity firm Terra Firma acquired Four Seasons Health Care, which is the largest elderly care provider in the UK. Given that equity firms often favour a short-term business plan model, and in the light of the collapse of Southern Cross, would the Government...