Lord Archer of Sandwell: My Lords, can my noble friend confirm that the role of China in the human rights situation is wholly deplorable? It arrests refugees from North Korea, and imprisons them or returns them to face torture or, possibly, death. It even imprisons international humanitarian workers. Can it be made clear to China that if, as appears, it wants to earn the respect the international community, it must...
Lord Archer of Sandwell: My Lords, I fully endorse the tribute paid by my noble friend to the noble Baroness, Lady Cox. Has it been explained to the SPDC that its proposal for a convention as a first step towards an inclusive democracy is not likely to achieve its objective when its principal opponents are excluded from the convention? The position is not improved by its insistence that the president should have...
Lord Archer of Sandwell: My Lords, has my noble friend noticed the paragraph in the annual report that refers to the overloading of the Human Rights Commission's agenda with topics that have very little to do with human rights, at a time when the commission is desperately short of resources? Does she agree, for example, that toxic waste, however important as a topic, does not really belong on the Human Rights...
Lord Archer of Sandwell: My Lords, what is there left for me to say? I once participated in a philosophy seminar when the proposition under discussion was that you cannot expect to be disappointed because it entails that you did not expect to achieve your objective; and if you do not expect to achieve your objective, you cannot be disappointed when you do not achieve it. I am grateful to my noble friend for that full...
Lord Archer of Sandwell: moved Amendment No. 247: Page 404, line 13, column 2, leave out "Section 42"
Lord Archer of Sandwell: My Lords, I had not previously participated in the debates on the Bill for reasons with which I will not weary your Lordships. Now I venture to intervene on what may appear a small point but it is a matter of principle and it can occasion real distress. I should apologise for not having raised this issue earlier in the Bill's proceedings but I was not able to attend at the relevant time. I...
Lord Archer of Sandwell: My Lords, at the risk of introducing a discouraging note will my noble friend agree that there is little point in holding a referendum on self-determination for the South unless the people are in a position to make an informed choice? Will she confirm that education has been systematically withheld from the South; that information has been censored; and that whole areas have been terrorised...
Lord Archer of Sandwell: My Lords, does my noble friend recollect that, prior to her very welcome translation, the House was assured from the Front Bench on more than one occasion that a regime change formed no part of the Government's purpose because that would not be a lawful justification for military action, although admittedly it was implied that if that were an unintended consequence of the invasion the...
Lord Archer of Sandwell: My Lords, while accepting the need to ensure value for money, has my noble friend grasped that the cases which solicitors will hesitate to accept will be the more complicated ones because they will not be able to do justice to those under the new regime? Will that not be likely to lead to the more complicated cases falling to the non-profit-making organisations; and does my noble friend...
Lord Archer of Sandwell: My Lords, will my noble and learned friend confirm that the Intelligence and Security Committee is now conducting an investigation into this matter? Would it not be sensible to await the outcome?
Lord Archer of Sandwell: I thank my noble friend for giving way. I wish to question two points that she has just made. First, my noble friend said that there would not be a sufficient listenership to justify the award of a licence to a religious broadcaster. But is that not a matter that should be assessed on the strength of the evidence, if and when an application is made? My noble friend also made a separate point;...
Lord Archer of Sandwell: I did not intervene at Second Reading and I have spared your Lordships any previous intervention in the course of your Lordships' debates on the Bill. Noble Lords may find that to be a matter of relief rather than blame. The matter is not a subject on which I pretend to have any expertise, nor even any familiarity with the vocabulary that is used. I begin with a declaration of interest. I am...
Lord Archer of Sandwell: Sometimes, those who are on the side of the angels miss a trick. Even if someone has written to Mr Abdelfattah Amor—I agree that it would be a good idea, and I am glad that the noble Lord has suggested it—we do not know at the moment what his response will be. No doubt, we can all wait, and, in due course, we will see. There is another aspect that raises another issue of justice and human...
Lord Archer of Sandwell: My Lords, with regard to the reports that have come through, can my noble friend say whether, when the UN Commission on Human Rights terminated the mandate of the rapporteur, account was taken of the practice of inflicting 100 lashes on women—including 14 year-old girls—for committing adultery, without any action against the men responsible? Does my noble friend consider that there is a...
Lord Archer of Sandwell: My Lords, I congratulate the noble Baroness on her excellent work on behalf of interfaith understanding. Although recognising the sheer professionalism of the national police force in promoting the rule of law, does the Minister agree that the trouble is confined to particular localities and that in central Sulawesi the police appear to have an unhealthy relationship with violent extremists?...
Lord Archer of Sandwell: My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Goodhart, is to be congratulated on securing this opportunity to discuss the implications of the present situation in international law. In our more general debates, various contributors pursue different themes and any specific theme such as international law tends to disappear in the general cacophony. This is our opportunity to debate our differences. I have...
Lord Archer of Sandwell: asked Her Majesty's Government: What pay increase the Armed Forces' Pay Review Body has recommended for all regular and reserve Defence Medical Services medical and dental officers.
Lord Archer of Sandwell: asked the Leader of the House: Whether he will consider new procedures for voting in Divisions in the House.
Lord Archer of Sandwell: My Lords, while I thank my noble and learned friend for that encouraging invitation, would he agree with my arithmetic that on 4th February we conducted seven successive Divisions at an average of 19 minutes per Division? That is a total of two and a quarter hours for something that could have been achieved by other means in 15 minutes. Does he agree that if our predecessors long ago had...
Lord Archer of Sandwell: My Lords, did my right honourable friend and the Prime Minister seize the opportunity to clarify the attitude of the regime to the fatwa against Salman Rushdie? Did Mr Kharrazi confirm that the regime is now opposed to the organising of murder in the territory of other countries?