Lord Merlyn-Rees: My Lords, the noble Lord mentioned bipartisanship. Full praise should be given to the late Lord Whitelaw who started the process from 1972 onwards. We all learned from him and the process has gone on ever since. He should not be forgotten. The noble Lord also referred to the question of whether it was a religious battle in Northern Ireland. When I was Secretary of State for Northern Ireland I...
Lord Merlyn-Rees: My Lords, whose responsibility is it now to make sure that the list of undesirables that is carried by immigration officers is up to date?
Lord Merlyn-Rees: My Lords, has the UN prosecutor the power himself to apply for extradition or does it have to come from government to government?
Lord Merlyn-Rees: My Lords, will my noble friend provide comparable figures for all the countries of the European Union so that we can see to what degree there is a common problem? Does he agree that the suggestion made by the noble Lord in his Question will appeal very much to Herr Haider of Austria?
Lord Merlyn-Rees: My Lords, I declare that I attended a grammar school; I met my wife at a grammar school; I taught in a grammar school--an excellent school which was vastly superior to the private schools littered around the place; and that my children went to a grammar school. From all that, I learned one thing: that to decide the future of a child at 11 is wrong. Selection at 11 transforms children's...
Lord Merlyn-Rees: My Lords, does the Eurofighter meet the operational requirements of the RAF in the light of the war in Kosovo?
Lord Merlyn-Rees: My Lords, during the first 10 years of the 30-year problem in Northern Ireland, the Army were in charge of security; the RUC was swamped. From 1978, and increasingly, the Chief Constable and the RUC have been in charge of security. Given the announcement made by my noble friend about the role of the two prominent figures from outside the country, what role will the Chief Constable play? Will...
Lord Merlyn-Rees: My Lords, am I right in recalling that the decision on matters of this nature is not one for government or for the Cabinet but is ultimately a matter for the Attorney-General, acting in his independent role and taking into account the public interest?
Lord Merlyn-Rees: asked Her Majesty's Government: How they intend to meet expenditure relating to payment of claims following judgment against the UK in the Factortame case.
Lord Merlyn-Rees: My Lords, can I ask the Minister about something that happened in Brussels? Apparently 450 British citizens were "deported" from Brussels by the Belgian Army, the Belgian air force and the police. Not all of them were involved in violence. They are now back in this country. They cannot travel back to Belgium. Do they have a right of appeal? We hear constantly that we work together with our...
Lord Merlyn-Rees: asked Her Majesty's Government: Whether they will reverse the decision to reduce the allowance paid to gardeners in the Commonwealth war cemeteries in European countries.
Lord Merlyn-Rees: My Lords, is the Minister aware that the standards in the cemeteries which are looked after by the commission in all parts of the world are to its credit? To those who have members of their family or old comrades buried there it matters a great deal. I am interested in this independent report. I am not sure why one needs an independent report; I should have thought it could be independent in...
Lord Merlyn-Rees: My Lords, as another noble Lord who has a personal interest in these matters, I ask my noble friend what it means when he says that the FSA will watch matters. It will watch and do what? How can it intervene, and under what conditions?
Lord Merlyn-Rees: My Lords, what is the nature of the joint activities announced today between the armed forces of the United States of America and Israel in southern Israel? Given the timing, is there any connection whatever between what is taking place in Israel and the coalition forces for Iraq?
Lord Merlyn-Rees: My Lords, I, too, commend the noble Lord, Lord Gordon, on having the ingenuity to raise this debate. It is the House of Lords at its best. On other occasions when we imitate the other place, we are not very good. Debates of this nature are very good and worth listening to. I commend the Government for publishing a White Paper which is their response to a new communications environment. I...
Lord Merlyn-Rees: My Lords, will the close historical relationship between the Met Office and the RAF be affected by this change?
Lord Merlyn-Rees: My Lords, who is now responsible for the clean coal research that used to be carried out by the Gas Corporation?
Lord Merlyn-Rees: asked Her Majesty's Government: When they intend to appoint a Judicial Appointments Commissioner to oversee judicial appointments in Northern Ireland.
Lord Merlyn-Rees: My Lords, is not the difficulty at the heart of the Question as put that, as my noble and learned friend said, the Provisional IRA is a proscribed organisation, with all the implications that that has for the raising of money, but Sinn Fein is not? Indeed, a number of members of Sinn Fein have been elected to the other place, and a large number are Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly....
Lord Merlyn-Rees: asked Her Majesty's Government: What implications the terms of UN Security Council Resolution 1373 on terrorism have for their policy in respect of arms exports.
