Lord Varley: My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Fowler, for introducing the debate. Everyone who has spoken so far is an expert in their field. The noble Lord, Lord Fowler, is a former Secretary of State. The noble Lord, Lord Freeman, still has day-to-day experience in the pensions industry and the noble Lord, Lord Oakeshott, has vast experience of occupational pension schemes as a fund...
Lord Varley: I did not, my Lords. There was a bit of a row, but nothing like there is now. There was nothing like we see now in the press, where someone called Wheatcroft regularly writes about these issues. She was not writing at the time about these issues in the pages of The Times. However, I am ready to concede that there has been a significant deterioration of the stock market, and that the tax...
Lord Varley: My Lords, would my noble friend like to comment on something that applies equally to men and women annuitants, namely, the application of the Inland Revenue rules, which at present on the one hand prevent the annuity contract being honoured and on the other deny to the Treasury millions of pounds in revenue? My noble friend has a quizzical look on her face, but those are the facts. If she...
Lord Varley: My Lords, coming in to bat at number 22, or whatever, in a list such as this--
Lord Varley: My noble friend is number 29. I am sure that he will slog a few around when he gets in. Coming in at this stage reminds me of what was reported as having been said by a noble Lord many years ago in a debate with as many speakers as this. He said: "Everything has been said in this debate that needs to be said, but it has not been said by me". I do not intend to follow the line of the National...
Lord Varley: My Lords, who resigned over that project? Whose head were they calling for? Who did they pillory? Who did they hound? Nobody. They simply decided that when the Dome came along they would hound my noble and learned friend Lord Falconer. Those are the facts.
Lord Varley: My Lords, if they had wanted to abandon it, they could have done so. But the noble Baroness would have been the first person charging up and down the country saying that it had been abandoned. That is my belief. Others would have done so also. They would not have dared not to support the Deputy Prime Minister at the time. I wonder whether the noble Baroness sat on one of those Cabinet...
Lord Varley: My Lords, I join my noble friend Lord Blease and the noble Baroness, Lady McFarlane, in thanking the noble Lord, Lord Walker of Worcester, for initiating this important debate. The noble Lord, Lord Walker, referred to his time in the House of Commons. When he was Secretary of State for Trade and Industry and I was his shadow, we often crossed swords over the Dispatch Box. Similarly, when I...
Lord Varley: My Lords, I shall remind my noble friend of what he has just said when the industry has gone. As sure as night follows day, unless something is done pretty quickly, this industry will go.
Lord Varley: My Lords, it is always a great pleasure to speak after the noble Lord, Lord Haslam, in debates of this kind. His comments were certainly interesting and the points he made about the world situation were devastating. I was particularly interested in his comments about the Falkland Islands and his visit there. I was the chairman of the Falkland Islands Company for about five years. Along with...
Lord Varley: My Lords, I beg my noble friend's pardon. I shall show the photograph to my noble friend Lord McIntosh of Haringey at the end of the debate. The local authorities which cover the area are doing what they can to create what they euphemistically call a "growth zone", but they lack the financial incentives and the money to do it at the pace that is required. A few months ago the Deputy Prime...