Lord Marlesford: My Lords, we must consider carefully the extent to which the legitimate functions of the media in a free society may be compromised by requiring journalists to disclose their sources of information. Good government has maximum transparency, subject to national security. Our amendment seeks to maintain at least the present level of such transparency. I refer the Minister to Chapter 3 of the...
Lord Marlesford: My Lords, I declare an interest in Hong Kong that goes back to 1961, when I first went to work there. Does my noble friend agree that one lesson that applies to China and the USA is that, in any civilised nation state, the exercise of authority needs both the support and consent of the people? Does he also agree that China must be well aware that it was fortunate to inherit from Britain the...
Lord Marlesford: My Lords, in supporting this Bill, I start by adding to the shower of congratulations that the Prime Minister has received on his brilliance as a negotiator. I couple his name with that of Ursula von der Leyen; I hope she may one day be Chancellor of Germany, but, of course, it is crucial that she continues in her present post for several more years. I was a reluctant, although convinced,...
Lord Marlesford: Does the Minister recognise the challenging fact that the flow of economic migrants will continue until the standard of living of the country they are trying to reach is no longer sufficiently above that of the country they have left to make the risks and costs of the journey worthwhile? Does she further agree that the prospects of such a potential dilution of quality of life in the UK would...
Lord Marlesford: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the data collected, and (2) calculations made, by the Nuclear New Build Generation Company of the lifecycle CO2 emissions of the proposed Sizewell C nuclear power project.
Lord Marlesford: To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with Nuclear New Build Generation Company and EDF Energy about the possibility of using the site at Wylfa Newydd to construct EPR nuclear reactors (1) instead of, or (2) in addition to, the site at Sizewell C; and what was the outcome of those discussions.
Lord Marlesford: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to publish the Lifecycle Assessment of the Carbon Footprint of the proposed Hinkley Point C (HPC) project report, referenced in the Hinkley Point C application for Development Consent, on which Nuclear New Build Generation Company’s estimate of the level of emissions from Hinkley Point C is based.
Lord Marlesford: My Lords, I echo the apprehension of the noble Lord, Lord Hain. We have sent only some 300 of our elite soldiers to fight against the Islamist terrorists in Mali. We must remember that it took more than three years and massive military support to subdue the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq when it sprang into action in April 2014. We must also remember that the French have been battling...
Lord Marlesford: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to their Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution, published on 18 November, what criteria they intend to use to assess the value for money of potential large-scale new nuclear projects.
Lord Marlesford: To ask Her Majesty's Government when they intend to appoint advisors to assist in assessing the value for money of the proposed Sizewell C nuclear project.
Lord Marlesford: My Lords, I want to make a point on Amendment 77 on journalistic sources, in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Whitaker. As I mentioned to my noble friend last week, Parliament already has an effective equivalent to judicial review. I referred to the Economist case of 1975, when the House of Commons Committee of Privileges imposed a personal penalty on the editor and a journalist—who...
Lord Marlesford: My Lords, what taxpayers will really want is a list of the Covid contracts that went wrong, either because the goods and services were not delivered or because they were not up to standard. They will want to know, in each case, the value of the contract, the amount of public money paid to the contractor, the amount reclaimed by the Government because of failure and the amount recovered for...
Lord Marlesford: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to take a direct financial stake in the Sizewell C nuclear power project; and if so, whether any decision to do so would need to occur after the conclusion of the planning process.
Lord Marlesford: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential for delay in the consideration of the planning application for the Sizewell C nuclear power project as a result of changes made to submitted proposals by EDF Energy.
Lord Marlesford: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to use the Regulated Asset Base model for the financing of the proposed Sizewell C nuclear power station; and what assessment they have made of the impact of those plans on total Government borrowing.
Lord Marlesford: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the appointment of Ibrahim Mounir to the role of Acting General Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood; and what assessment they have made of any threat posed by his presence (1) to national security, and (2) to their international relations.
Lord Marlesford: My Lords, I want to focus on one aspect of the economic consequences of this lockdown: youth unemployment, or, to be more precise, the outlook for the young people who will be leaving full-time education next summer. There will be about 200,000 of them; it would be a terrible tragedy if a significant number of them can find no job to go to. I believe that HMG have as great an obligation to...
Lord Marlesford: My Lords, although HMG must retain the right to allow—indeed, facilitate—the entry of any individual into the UK, following the point made by the noble Lord, Lord Green, can my noble friend confirm that the Government will not seek to move out of the UK the process for assessing the asylum claims of those who have not yet entered the UK? To do so, even if it started only in France, would...
Lord Marlesford: Can you hear me?
Lord Marlesford: I cannot hear a word.