Baroness Thomas of Walliswood: My Lords, as some of your Lordships will know, I spent 12 years on Surrey County Council, including a number of years as a member, and consequently chairman, of the highways and transport committee. I was among those councillors who particularly enjoyed the work of the committee. I think that its appeal was the practical and concrete evidence of its effectiveness-or not-on the roads,...
Baroness Thomas of Walliswood: My Lords, to what extent has there been a restoration of water supplies, a rebuilding of temporary shelters and so on in the weeks since the earthquake? Does he agree that Chile's ability to cope with emergencies is highly developed? Did the Chileans have any special needs which the British Government have been able to supply?
Baroness Thomas of Walliswood: My Lords, I am sure the Minister is aware that in mining areas in countries such as Ecuador, Guatemala and Peru, women seem more willing to stand up for their rights in respect of water use and so on than men, and often suffer the same kind of nasty penalties for doing so as they have done previously in war-torn situations. What approach have the United Kingdom Government used to encourage...
Baroness Thomas of Walliswood: My Lords, when I tabled this Question, I was not aware of the huge number of initiatives and research projects, relevant to this debate, which have taken place in recent years-at least one of which, the Ofcom study, is part of a continuous project related to how families use the internet and other media. American researchers and academics are conducting similar research into the dangers and...
Baroness Thomas of Walliswood: My Lords, does the Minister have any concerns about the character of the military in Peru, which has only recently come through some years of very heavy criticism of its behaviour? Does he feel that the military is now properly under the control of the civil authorities?
Baroness Thomas of Walliswood: My Lords, I feel quite shamed by that speech. I do not think that I shall be able to do quite as well but I am glad to take part in this debate. Like many people, I have some experience of dementia in that I was the person most closely involved in the care of my mother as she gradually disappeared into the mists of the disease. I recall that one of her most frequent questions was, "Who is...
Baroness Thomas of Walliswood: I am extremely sorry to interrupt the noble Baroness. She is speaking to the amendments—hers is the leading name of the group who have tabled them—but she seems to be ranging over the whole purpose of the Bill and a lot of other things that are not directly connected with her amendments. We had an interesting Second Reading debate for which I was present throughout, and many people made...
Baroness Thomas of Walliswood: My Lords, I am concerned about the apparent lack of a robust complaints system that could be used by patients and their relatives. Can the Minister tell us what has happened in the intervening period since the demise of the local health bodies that used to support patients? What has replaced that external support given to patients when this kind of crisis occurs?
Baroness Thomas of Walliswood: My Lords, this has been a very interesting, if not over long, debate. I thank the two right reverend Prelates—one still active and one retired—and the noble and learned Baroness, Lady Butler Sloss, for their extremely gentle perception of this Bill. Very acute observations were made by all three of them about the details of the Bill, but one felt the fundamental goodwill behind what they...
Baroness Thomas of Walliswood: My Lords, in beginning my summation of this debate—which is impossible—I join all those who have thanked the noble Baroness, Lady Gould, for introducing it. She is indeed an example to us all, someone who has spent years promoting and defending the rights of women, their powers, prowess and ability to get things done. We thank her for her annual contribution to the work of this House. I...
Baroness Thomas of Walliswood: My Lords, I recognise the great service done to the nation by volunteers and the useful route that volunteering presents to people who have been out of work or unable to work for some years and want to get back into the labour market. If I understood the Minister correctly, she seems not to welcome the idea of including protection for volunteers in the equality Bill. Does she have any other...
Baroness Thomas of Walliswood: My Lords, I thank most sincerely the noble Baroness, Lady O'Neill of Bengarve, for introducing this debate. I am grateful to her for giving me a health warning about the single equality Bill, with which I will no doubt be engaged later this year or whenever it appears. She made some extremely interesting and sophisticated statements which, I confess, I shall need to read before I am certain...
Baroness Thomas of Walliswood: My Lords, it is a privilege, and it is rather frightening, to follow that brilliant, humane and thoughtful speech, which was totally different from anything that anyone else has said in the House so far. That is a great recommendation in a debate such as this. I shall concentrate on the equality Bill outlined in the Queen's Speech, a development that in general I value greatly. However, I...
Baroness Thomas of Walliswood: My Lords, the Government have been keen to improve the status of women in terms of their employment and salaries. In the current circumstances, what is happening to the equality, or lack of it, of wages between men and women?
Baroness Thomas of Walliswood: My Lords, in the light of the Government's excellent recent legislation on this matter, which we all support, why do the Government apparently object to the Strasbourg court developing any case law on this matter, which is the normal way in which law can be developed?
Baroness Thomas of Walliswood: My Lords, perhaps the Minister has not been in South Kensington Tube station in recent years. I can tell him that it is chaos on wheels. Platforms are extremely crowded, partly because there are large scaffolding constructions all the way down them, taking up a great deal of room. If we are going to sort it out in time for it to be feasibly used for the Olympics, we have to get cracking much...
Baroness Thomas of Walliswood: My Lords, I apologise to the noble Baroness, Lady Park, for my late arrival; I had a crisis in locating both copies of my speech. I was rescued, not for the first time, by my noble friend Lord Addington and now have a copy. I congratulate the noble Baroness on her speech in introducing this debate. It is seldom that I can say this, but I do not think the noble Baroness said a single word with...
Baroness Thomas of Walliswood: Hear, hear!
Baroness Thomas of Walliswood: asked Her Majesty's Government: What plans they have to develop and implement a sustainable funding strategy for rape crisis centres, similar to those in Scotland.
Baroness Thomas of Walliswood: My Lords, it is always stimulating to listen to the speeches of the noble Baroness, Lady Rendell, whose dedication to the physical well-being of women is well known and highly respected in this House. The subject of today's debate is of real relevance at a time when there is wide general concern at the growing number of people who are overweight and growing evidence of the dangers of obesity...