Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: My Lords, the House will have noted that the Leader of the House, in answering the questions put by my noble friend Lady Smith, did not answer the specific question of whether or not the Cabinet was aware of, or saw, the SAGE advice for 21 September before the decision was taken to have a lockdown. Perhaps the noble Baroness could answer that now. Perhaps she could also say why the Prime...
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: My Lords, I declare an interest as set out in the register, as chair of the Arab-British Chamber of Commerce. I have chaired a number of webinars with colleagues and friends in the Arab Middle East about what is going to happen by 15 October, and there is a great deal of concern. With the greatest respect to the Minister, he appears to have come to answer this Question with very little...
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: My Lords, I have two questions. When will the first accounts for the new joint department be signed off, as they must be, by the FCO permanent secretary, and published? Secondly, on 19 June, 191 NGOs, think tanks and charities, all working on humanitarian assistance—including of course the current Covid problem—wrote to the Prime Minister protesting about this new arrangement. The...
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: My Lords, the Minister just told the House that HRT has been in short supply for over a year. Why have the Government not taken effective action on this before now?
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: My Lords—
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: Will the noble Baroness be kind enough, after Oral Questions, to revisit the answer she gave a moment or two ago about the health service being “propped up” by immigrant labour? We rely on many immigrant doctors. Many of us have had experience of relying on those immigrant doctors in this country. It was an unfortunate term to use, considering the shortages, the waiting lists and those...
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: My Lords, to return to what is happening in this country, is the Minister satisfied that teachers and school governors in our schools are being properly trained to look out for the signs of what is happening to young women who may be vulnerable to this appalling practice?
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: My Lords, the Minister said that he hopes this will be the basis for taking forward discussions. Has there been any indication whatever from the Palestinians that they are willing to take forward discussions on this basis?
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: My Lords, is the Minister not aware that when she speaks from that Front Bench she speaks for the entire Government, not just for the department for which she works? Anybody speaking in this House as a Minister speaks for the whole Government. The noble Lord, Lord Forsyth, is entirely right: the idea that, although we know what the problem is, there will be no implementation until the spring...
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: My Lords, what I am about to say in no way reflects on the noble Baroness’s good faith. I do not think that anybody in this House has any doubt that she is doing her best. Personally, like my noble friend Lord Winston, I genuinely feel extremely sorry that she has had to deliver such an extraordinary rant to your Lordships. I say very gently to her I am sorry, too, that she was not here for...
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: Did you ask for the advice?
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: My Lords, what direct representations, if any, have Her Majesty’s Government made to the Government of the United States over the forcible separation of children from parents? That is the point of this Question, and it would be helpful if the Minister could tell us what has been said by our Government to theirs on this important humanitarian issue.
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: My Lords, the Minister failed to answer the question that my noble friend Lady Lister asked. She gave evidence of discriminatory practices and the Minister said they could not possibly exist. Will he please look into the allegations that my noble friend made and answer the question? If this is going on, does he believe it is fair? It is a simple question and it deserves a simple answer.
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: My Lords, does the noble Lord agree that one of the most important problems here is the enormous debts that young people are building up through university charges? Our generation did not face such huge debts but the next generation does. As far as I can see that is one of the most important issues. I wonder what the noble Lord thinks about that point.
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: My Lords, the noble Baroness, Lady Neville-Rolfe, consistently made the point—from the Minister’s Benches—that there should be a national policy on how we dispose of plastics. That has been consistently resisted on those Benches and made a matter for local authorities. I do not know whether the Minister does his own weekly shopping, but it is enormously difficult to buy fruit and...
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: My Lords, the noble Baroness, Lady Wheatcroft, asked about NDAs across the whole of government. The Minister, speaking from the Dispatch Box in this House, answers for all of government. He has given us the answer only for his department. Could he answer the noble Baroness’s Question in full and tell us what the numbers are across the whole of government?
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: My Lords, I beg leave to ask a Question of which I have given private notice.
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: My Lords, the Royal College of Radiologists, the British Nuclear Medicine Society and the UK Radiotherapy Board have all stated categorically that Brexit, particularly a no-deal Brexit, will mean delays in the supply of imported radioisotopes, which are so vital to the diagnosis and treatment of cancer patients. I too have read the guidance the Minister referred to, but does she agree that...
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: My Lords, on the question raised by the noble Baroness, Lady Wheatcroft, the Minister assured the House that if all 200,000 small businesses which have not yet registered do so, there is the capacity to deal with that before 29 March. Can he assure the House on the very important point that the noble Baroness raised?