Lord Watson of Wyre Forest: My Lords, I seek a little more clarity on timelines. Do the Government have a deadline by which remediation must be complete? If they do, what is it? If they do not, does the Minister think it is sensible to set one?
Lord Watson of Wyre Forest: Can the Minister say if there is an intention in government to seek recompense for the taxpayer from the people who are responsible for this crisis?
Lord Watson of Wyre Forest: Since there is time, and on this very important point, is the department monitoring the rise in insurance premiums in these properties to allow Ministers to make appropriate policy decisions, and should the ABI not honour its commitments?
Lord Watson of Wyre Forest: My Lords, in 2018 the Government shelved the second part of the Leveson inquiry—which had wisely been initiated by the former Prime Minister, the noble Lord, Lord Cameron —which was to examine the criminal nexus between rogue police officers and journalists. Since then, we have had the Henriques report, the Casey review and now the Angiolini review. How confident is the Minister today...
Lord Watson of Wyre Forest: My Lords, in 2018 the Government shelved the second part of the Leveson inquiry—which had wisely been initiated by the former Prime Minister, the noble Lord, Lord Cameron —which was to examine the criminal nexus between rogue police officers and journalists. Since then, we have had the Henriques report, the Casey review and now the Angiolini review. How confident is the Minister today...
Lord Watson of Wyre Forest: My Lords, I hope the Minister is reassured by the support on all sides of the House. He has got a clear message that appeasement never works. When he looks forward to the long term, what representations have been made to the Treasury on the future of the defence budget?
Lord Watson of Wyre Forest: My Lords, it is reassuring to see all sides of the House with shared purpose in holding the Putin regime to account, but of course it is not just the death of poor Mr Navalny that we mourn. There have been extrajudicial killings on UK soil too. It is not just Russia that we fear; the Government have had to warn China about the intimidation of UK citizens, while the Canadians have accused...
Lord Watson of Wyre Forest: My Lords, I thank all contributors to today’s debate. I thought it was both interesting and thoughtful and set the terms of future discussions that we will be having in the years ahead in this House. In particular, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Rosenfield, for his considered contribution and welcome him to the House. Like him, I felt very nostalgic when he described working at No. 10. I have...
Lord Watson of Wyre Forest: My Lords, I draw attention to my entries in the register, particularly for UK Music and Windward Global. This Motion would not be debated in the legislative assemblies of the major economies: not in Germany or the USA, nor France, Japan, China, South Korea, nor any other developed nation on earth. Why? Because as the manufacturing trade group Make UK says, the United Kingdom is unique among...
Lord Watson of Wyre Forest: We will be the only advanced nation unable to make steel, in a time of global turmoil and uncertainty. This would represent criminal negligence. I note the announcement that Tata will close the two blast furnaces at Port Talbot in a few months and install an electric arc furnace, which would cut productive capacity. This is mindless vandalism to our manufacturing base. The salt in the wounds...
Lord Watson of Wyre Forest: My Lords, does the Minister believe that consolidating pension funds will lead to an increase or a reduction in the fees paid by pension savers?
Lord Watson of Wyre Forest: My Lords, I wish the Minister a happy new year. Given the increased frequency and impact of flooding, how confident is he that current assumptions on infrastructure adaptation and resilience are accurate? Will he take a personal interest in proposed flood defences for the people of Wyre Forest in Worcestershire? The good people of Bewdley were promised defences by the then Prime Minister...
Lord Watson of Wyre Forest: My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow the noble Baroness’s passionate contribution. I commend my noble friend for initiating this important debate. It calls for us to answer three things: we need to highlight the importance of music to education, identify existing shortcomings, and propose actionable solutions. I offer these remarks as the non-executive chair of UK Music, to which I draw...
Lord Watson of Wyre Forest: To ask His Majesty’s Government what steps they have taken to aid and support the women of Afghanistan since the departure of United Kingdom armed forces.
Lord Watson of Wyre Forest: I thank the Minister for that Answer. However, the Taliban have targeted women and girls by using decrees which place severe restrictions on freedom of movement, expression and association, prohibitions on virtually all forms of employment and bans on secondary and higher education, as well as permitting arbitrary arrests and violations of the rights of liberty. Taken together, that is...
Lord Watson of Wyre Forest: My Lords, in the rather stressful five years that I spent as deputy leader of the Labour Party, I enriched myself and maintained an equilibrium by reading the works of some of the world’s great technologists. I was struck by two very powerful ideas, which is why I congratulate and thank the noble Lord, Lord Ravensdale, on this very important debate today. The first is the idea that,...
Lord Watson of Wyre Forest: To ask His Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to support nuclear test veterans.
Lord Watson of Wyre Forest: I thank the Minister for the great progress being made, but I raise the issue of veterans who have been given conflicting statements on the availability of blood and urine sample records. In 2018 the MoD acknowledged its inability to locate that information, yet in 2022 the Atomic Weapons Establishment confirmed possession of a limited number of test results. However, in March a Minister...
Lord Watson of Wyre Forest: My Lords, it is over 20 years since the coroner recorded a verdict of death by industrial disease in the case of England striker and West Bromwich Albion legend Jeff Astle. That campaign has taken two decades for the Astle family; I am sure the Minister would congratulate them. This welcome guidance is testament to the campaign that they have run to convince parliamentarians in all Houses...
Lord Watson of Wyre Forest: My Lords, just last week we heard that the Met Police may be failing to identify serial killers, in the wake of the appalling case of Stephen Port. The report identified five key failings: lack of training; poor supervision; unacceptable record-keeping; confusing policies; and inadequate intelligence procedures. How are the Government urgently supporting the Met to fix this?