Lord Renfrew of Kaimsthorn: My Lords, as a member of your Lordships Select Committee on Science and Technology, I must begin by thanking the noble Lord, Lord Patel, for his skilful chairmanship. I also thank the committee’s officials and special adviser for their thorough and efficient work. I should also mention that it was the noble Lord, Lord Mair, who encouraged us to pursue this theme and write our report, so it...
Lord Renfrew of Kaimsthorn: My Lords, it was a privilege to serve on your Lordships’ Science and Technology Select Committee under the expert chairmanship of the noble Lord, Lord Patel. At once I should say that, unlike many of the members of the committee, I have no special skill in the life sciences, while others, including the chair, are indeed experts in the field. I add my thanks to the officials of the House who...
Lord Renfrew of Kaimsthorn: My Lords, I rise to support Amendment 66 and, in particular, to indicate my concern that these environmental principles should apply as much to the historic environment—including the built environment—and to the archaeological record as to the natural environment. It may be that—and I think that the noble Countess, Lady Mar, would prefer it—for the sake of clarity, a separate...
Lord Renfrew of Kaimsthorn: My Lords, in welcoming Amendment 28 I note that it supplements Clause 4 in a way that can be considered constructive. Among other things, it would strengthen the position of archaeology and cultural heritage, which are often associated with environmental issues. A new policy statement has been promised, but that would surely be weaker than a statutory approach, which this amendment follows....
Lord Renfrew of Kaimsthorn: Happily, my Lords, a consensus seems to be emerging that we should support the Motion so ably moved by the noble Baroness the Leader of the House, which of course has already been passed in another place. I make it clear that that is certainly my position and I would not support the amendment were it to be moved. I agreed with one point made by the noble Lord, Lord Desai: it is not entirely...
Lord Renfrew of Kaimsthorn: My Lords, this is a welcome and necessary Bill. The need for new housing is generally recognised, freeing up more land is desirable and reducing the time taken to get planning permission is an admirable aim. At the same time, there are natural resources—my noble friend Lord Ridley referred to bats, newts and toads—and cultural and historic resources which are always under threat and which...
Lord Renfrew of Kaimsthorn: My Lords, this is a large and ambitious Bill that many will consider long overdue. At once I should say how helpful it has been that my noble friend Lord Younger and indeed the Minister for Universities and Science have been able to hold meetings to discuss it, along with the new chair of UKRI, Sir John Kingman. I too should declare an interest as a former professor at the University of...
Lord Renfrew of Kaimsthorn: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of whether the current A-level examinations in archaeology and history of art have educational and social value; and what steps, if any, they will take to discourage the relevant examination board from implementing proposals to omit them from the examination curriculum.
Lord Renfrew of Kaimsthorn: Before the Minister sits down, will she clarify just one point? She made a very interesting remark, in that she thought that the amendment proposed by the noble Earl, Lord Clancarty, might infringe the human rights of a former owner of an antiquity or cultural object. Will she clarify a little how she thinks that might be? Would it have infringed the rights of Lord Elgin that his ownership of...
Lord Renfrew of Kaimsthorn: My Lords, I warmly support the amendment in the names of the noble Earl, Lord Clancarty, and his colleagues. It makes a number of really important points. The first point, which he expressed very well, concerns transparency. It is extraordinary that at the moment there is no obligation on a seller at auction to indicate who is selling the object. That is needed at once. We talk of...
Lord Renfrew of Kaimsthorn: My Lords, this amendment has a great deal to commend it. As the noble Lord, Lord Stevenson, has indicated, its intention is not to disrupt the nature of the Bill or to introduce matters that would disrupt its passage or expand it in a way that would unilaterally broaden what it is an international convention. The amendment seems to find a middle way. It proposes an addition to the Bill that...
Lord Renfrew of Kaimsthorn: My Lords, it is a great pleasure to welcome and support the Bill to ratify the 1954 Hague convention and its two protocols, for which the All-Party Parliamentary Archaeology Group has long argued. One may well ask, as the noble Lord, Lord Foster, just did, why it took so long. Successive Governments have been surprisingly slow to ratify the convention, so I would like to express thanks to...
Lord Renfrew of Kaimsthorn: My Lords, I support this amendment in so far as it applies to the university sector and, indeed, to university research. It is the role of universities to employ the best people internationally and it is very important that they should be free to do so without the imposition of a charge which might, one gathers, amount to about £1,000 per researcher. That would have an unfortunate effect on...
Lord Renfrew of Kaimsthorn: To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they expect to publish the review of local government archaeology services by John Howell MP and Lord Redesdale, which was commissioned in October 2013 by the Minister for Culture, Communication and Creative Industries, Mr Ed Vaizey MP; and when they plan to announce their response.
Lord Renfrew of Kaimsthorn: To ask Her Majesty’s Government why they have not yet ratified the 1954 Hague Convention on the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict; and when they plan to do so.
Lord Renfrew of Kaimsthorn: To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they expect to complete and publish the recommendations of their review of the Treasure Act 1996.
Lord Renfrew of Kaimsthorn: My Lords, is not the sacking of historic Nimrud, the great Assyrian capital, as mindless as the bulldozing of ancient Hatra, only 100 kilometres away from Mosul? Is it not ironic that the so-called Islamic State, in its gothic ignorance, is bulldozing one of the earliest centres of Arab civilisation? Will Her Majesty’s Government remind the modern-day, latter-day, Arab nations that their...
Lord Renfrew of Kaimsthorn: My Lords, I certainly support the intention behind the amendment. My noble friend the Minister may well say in his reply that some of these issues are already covered by the Dealing in Cultural Objects (Offences) Act 2003. It is certainly the case that it is illegal to sell in this country cultural objects that were illegally exported from their country of origin after 2003. However, there...
Lord Renfrew of Kaimsthorn: My Lords, this has been a radical debate in the profound sense of getting to the roots of things. We have been talking about the open society and its enemies, and the Government have rightly identified the enemies of the open society as armed terrorists. But who are the friends of the open society? Clearly, we are speaking about free speech and academic freedom. I think that the Government,...
Lord Renfrew of Kaimsthorn: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answer by Lord Gardiner of Kimble on 12 May (HL Deb, col 1650), when they expect there to be parliamentary time to introduce legislation to ratify the 1954 Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict; and what assessment they have made of the damage to cultural property in the recent and continuing armed...