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Donate to our crowdfunderLord Chalfont: My Lords, can the noble and learned Lord assure the House that in assessing these bids no distinction will be made between VIPs and ordinary people?
Lord Chalfont: My Lords, I hope that I may have the indulgence of the House to say a few words before the noble Lord, Lord Clement-Jones, addresses noble Lords from the Liberal Democrat Benches. I have much appreciated the opportunity to be present at this debate this evening. I had not expected to attend. I confess that I am here only in the wake of the debate on the international situation that took place...
Lord Chalfont: My Lords, before this all becomes too serious, is the Minister aware that my experience on the rugby field leads me to believe that the English are not an especially violent race? When I was playing in a match at Twickenham many, many years ago, an English forward was lying on the field after an especially untidy scrum when a Welsh wing forward came up and kicked him vigorously in the head....
Lord Chalfont: My Lords, will the Minister agree and, if so, will she underline in the interests of clarity for everyone concerned that our nuclear deterrent now consists entirely of Trident submarines? We have no other nuclear delivery systems. Will she agree that to remove the warheads from those missiles would make the whole Trident system incredible and virtually useless?
Lord Chalfont: My Lords, I follow other noble Lords in thanking my noble friend Lord Weatherill for introducing a debate which has already proved to be remarkably thoughtful and, certainly as far as I am concerned, informative about the situation in Pakistan. There has been, perhaps less predictably, a high degree of unanimity about the attitude that Her Majesty's Government should take, with one notable...
Lord Chalfont: My Lords, can the Minister tell the House whether the implementation of this initiative will require any additional British troops and, if so, how many? What will be the cost? Are there any implications for the already serious over-stretch of the British Armed Forces?
Lord Chalfont: My Lords, in the light of some of the Minister's responses, can she say whether Her Majesty's Government now regard Article 2 of the United Nations Charter, especially that part which deals with non-interference in the affairs of other states, to be non-operative?
Lord Chalfont: My Lords, does the Minister accept that many people will be pleased that she takes the view that, because we are not party to the treaty, we have no position in it? Will the noble Baroness confirm that while the United States can deploy a ballistic missile defence system even under the present ABM system, it wants an amendment to the treaty in order to construct a better one? Would not that...
Lord Chalfont: My Lords--
Lord Chalfont: My Lords, in view of the preceding question, does not the noble Baroness agree that, rather than waiting to see whether the Austrian Government do everything right, it might be better to wait to see whether they do anything wrong, which so far they have not done? Furthermore, in response to a question on proportional representation, the noble Baroness said that it is up to each country to...
Lord Chalfont: My Lords, does the noble Baroness agree that this is not entirely a matter of operational requirements but of a possible conflict between the authority of a commanding officer and the rights of a soldier or a junior under the Human Rights Act? The noble and gallant Lord's question is a very simple one. The noble Baroness ought to be able to look into the future to that extent. If the...
Lord Chalfont: asked Her Majesty's Government: What are the rules governing the flying of the Union flag at British embassies.
Lord Chalfont: My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness for that comprehensive and entirely satisfactory reply. Is she aware of a recent broadcast report of the flag not flying over the embassy in Brussels and the embassy, when asked for an explanation, allegedly producing a number of fanciful excuses or reasons, including one to the effect that it would offend our European partners? Will the noble Baroness...
Lord Chalfont: My Lords, is the noble Baroness aware that I am delighted to see that, like so many other noble Lords, she is florally celebrating the day of our patron saint? Does she recall that yesterday the Secretary of State for Wales, at a luncheon in his honour, said that the test for a devolved assembly was whether it brought benefit to the people it was meant to serve? Is there any evidence that...
Lord Chalfont: My Lords, I am especially grateful to my noble and gallant friend Lord Bramall for introducing this debate with such force and eloquence. Even as we speak, the Public Accounts Committee in another place is examining a recent report on defence procurement by the National Audit Office. This debate gives me the opportunity to return to a subject on which I have spoken many times in your...
Lord Chalfont: My Lords, the Minister says that we had a choice of turning away or intervening. That is accepted by, I think, all noble Lords. The next question is: how do we do that? Does the noble Baroness agree with the implication of the question asked by the noble Lord, Lord Jenkins, that what we did might have been done rather better?
Lord Chalfont: My Lords, does the Minister agree that matters might be clarified if the Government stopped denying that this is a European army? Does she further agree that if the force ever had to go into action--and a large force is being allocated for the purpose--it would require a commander-in-chief who would need a staff, intelligence, logistics, air support and, in certain circumstances, naval...
Lord Chalfont: My Lords, perhaps the noble Baroness will allow me to return momentarily to the question of Austria. In his interesting intervention, the noble Lord, Lord Rodgers of Quarry Bank, said that he hoped we should not get into the habit of interfering in the internal economic arrangements of other countries. I should like to add that I hope we shall not interfere too much in the internal political...
Lord Chalfont: My Lords, can the Minister say whether, when communicating with the present Clansman system, operators have to engage in a manual encryption system to send secure messages? If so, can she assure the House that Bowman will be fully digitised and capable of encrypting digitally as well as in other respects?
Lord Chalfont: My Lords, is it not the case that a number of countries which have not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty or ratified it are constructing nuclear capabilities, testing nuclear weapons and producing the means to deliver them by ballistic missiles? Is it not pointless to talk about a nuclear weapons convention while that is the case?