Baroness Howells of St Davids: My Lords, I, too, thank the noble Lord, Lord Addington, for raising this debate. His opening speech and that of the noble Baroness, Lady Heyhoe Flint, were enlightening. What I am about to say about the merits of sport in schools will take a different turn. On Monday night, I attended an awards evening hosted by Tessa Sanderson's foundation. Tessa is a gold medallist. The foundation, in...
Baroness Howells of St Davids: My Lords, since the closure of the CRE, what steps have been taken to assist the police in dealing with the institutional racism that was clearly declared in the Scarman report?
Baroness Howells of St Davids: My Lords, I, too, am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Giddens, for the opportunity to contribute to this important debate. First, I declare an interest as chancellor of the University of Bedfordshire. Many noble Lords have already touched upon causes for concern about government policies and their impact on universities. I wish to concentrate on two particular aspects central to the White...
Baroness Howells of St Davids: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to mark the International Year for People of African Descent.
Baroness Howells of St Davids: I thank the Minister for his reply. Since 1959, the UN has designated 53 international years in order to draw attention to major issues and to encourage international action to address concerns which have global importance and ramifications. Will the Minister say how many of those years have been ignored in the UK? The UN declaration said that the international year must become a milestone in...
Baroness Howells of St Davids: My Lords, I decided today to bring to the attention of the House excerpts from the correspondence that I received from people who in the early days were invited by the British Government to come to Britain and serve in the National Health Service. They have taken the trouble-although most of them have retired-to write to me and ask if I would bring to the attention of the House the fact that...
Baroness Howells of St Davids: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many teachers are of Black or Caribbean ethnic origin; and whether they have any plans to increase the numbers of such teachers.
Baroness Howells of St Davids: My Lords, in recognition of the number of speakers, I think it would be helpful if I just list the concerns of the black community about the Education Bill and home in on my particular concerns. There is a lack of explicit reference to race inequality issues in the Bill and in the White Papers published so far by the coalition Government since May 2010, and well as a lack of reference in...
Baroness Howells of St Davids: My Lords, I too am grateful to the noble Baroness, Lady Benjamin, for introducing this debate and for giving such a thoughtful and thorough lead into it. The topic has generated much discussion in the British Caribbean community and has led to a certain amount of feeling that it is being put upon. I will try to explain, but before doing so, I draw attention to two Members of this House who...
Baroness Howells of St Davids: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether British students studying abroad will continue to be eligible for student loans.
Baroness Howells of St Davids: To ask Her Majesty's Government what mechanisms are in place for ensuring the repayment of student loans made to British students who subsequently accept jobs overseas.
Baroness Howells of St Davids: My Lords, as chancellor of the University of Bedfordshire, I should like to give some figures which I hope will help. International students contribute £75 million per year to the local economy-money which we all agree is needed in Luton. They contribute £5 billion to the UK economy, which in turn generates wealth and jobs, and is equivalent in income terms to that contributed by a major...
Baroness Howells of St Davids: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will review the issuing of Community Treatment Orders to asylum seekers and black and minority ethnic people.
Baroness Howells of St Davids: My Lords, I thank the House for allowing me to speak in the gap. After listening to the very interesting speech given by the noble Lord, Lord Thomas of Gresford, and the very informed debate that has followed, I should like, at the risk of sounding ridiculous, to address a somewhat naïve question to the House. Is it not the moment in time to bring back sin-yes, sin? No matter whether one is...
Baroness Howells of St Davids: My Lords, having studied the Bill before us-thankfully, it is very short-I saw little that took into account community cohesion. It appears to say that academies are the answer to all the problems in our school community and that those who are not satisfied should set up their own schools, give local authorities the brush-off and go their own way. I sincerely hope that my understanding is not...
Baroness Howells of St Davids: To ask Her Majesty's Government what are their plans for adhering to the ruling of the European Court of Human Rights on the police's power to stop and search under the Terrorism Act 2000.
Baroness Howells of St Davids: I thank my noble and learned friend for her very interesting reply, but I am sure that she is aware that the removal from the statute book of the outdated Vagrancy Act was the result of the adverse effect that it had on young black males, some as young as seven. It caused a great problem to this country. In reintroducing the measure under Section 44 of the Terrorism Act, the Government gave...
Baroness Howells of St Davids: My Lords, not so long ago during the hurricanes in the Caribbean there was only one ship at a time in the ocean there. Although the noble Lord, Lord West, did his best, that ship had to leave unfinished business in Grenada, where it first happened; it had to go on to other islands. We were promised then that there would always be more than one ship available should any disaster like this...
Baroness Howells of St Davids: My Lords, it is heart-warming to hear mention of the Commonwealth. I draw the attention of the House to the fact that the Queen still represents some Caribbean islands and that many people represent Her Majesty in those islands. I have a particular interest because my sister was the first native-born Grenadian to represent Her Majesty and she did so for six years. I hope that, this time,...
Baroness Howells of St Davids: My Lords, I am aware that I am in danger of bowling a googly tonight by what I have to say, because the current legal framework is not without deficiencies, omissions and anomalies. I am also aware that introducing nine major pieces of legislation, 100 statutory instruments and 2,500 pages of guidance over a period of over 40 years is not the best method of achieving a coherent legislative...
