Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe: My Lords, I am grateful to my noble friend Lady Dean for tabling this Unstarred Question. I was present for the debates on the stakeholder pension funds on 24th June and 11th October and I voted against the amendment proposed by the Opposition on that latter date. Those debates were strictly within the confines of stakeholder pensions, but we are having a different debate today. I regret that...
Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe: My Lords, I am one of those who feel that we should not simply express our gratitude to the departed Peers for the services they have given to the country but that we should do whatever we can in tangible terms to help them deal with the difficult transitional period through which they are going. I share the view that we should deal with them as best we can in a civilised fashion. Therefore,...
Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe: My Lords, I believe I am being constructive in my contribution. I have been here since we embarked upon the legislation and I have felt for those people who have been affected by it. I am seeking to ensure that we do our best by them, but, more particularly, that we do our best for the country also. I share the view that we are not necessarily representing the best interests of the people who...
Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe: My Lords, is not another major difference between task forces and non-departmental public bodies--quangos--that, in the main, members of quangos are paid, while those who work on task forces give their services free and gratis?
Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe: My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Lea of Crondall, for introducing the debate and I extend my congratulations to the noble Baroness, Lady Blood, on a marvellous maiden speech. I make my contribution as a simple general secretary of a couple of Civil Service trade unions. My contribution comes from great experience of dealing with the many changes which came at us from many...
Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe: My Lords, Britain is now in a more advantageous position than it was before. However, I wished to make the point that a view was held in many parts of the country--particularly on the side of the Opposition--that a high level of unemployment was inevitable. Even the Labour Party, when it came to power, was cautious about the extent to which it would make the commitment to seek the...
Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe: My Lords, I shall move on. While global competition and markets, along with technological change, are bringing even faster challenges, we should continue to reject the scaremongering that went on for a good many years. I believe that the future of work is a matter of choice and priorities for the Government. Unemployment is not something that is inevitable, nor do we have to endure it if we...
Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe: My Lords, I know I have not been on the best of form today, but when the noble Baroness reads Hansard tomorrow she will see that there was a qualification in my remarks concerning inheritance.
Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe: My Lords, could we also have some quotes of comparisons with what happens in Europe?
Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe: My Lords, will the Minister spell out in a little more detail what benefits we would gain from a declaratory charter?
Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe: My Lords, on the subject of statistics, can my noble friend the Minister advise us just how much youth employment has fallen since the Government came to power? What further plans and ideas are being considered by the Government to ensure that this trend is maintained, especially in the pockets of high unemployment which were mentioned earlier?
Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe: asked Her Majesty's Government: When they will publish good practice guidance on urban design in the planning system.
Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe: My Lords, I welcome this debate on the White Paper. I thank my noble friend the Minister for introducing it in such a fine way. I should like to pick up on the final points made by the noble Viscount, Lord Slim. Not only have we seen a substantial increase in the number of Labour Peers coming into the House but, on the other side of the coin, we have also seen, under the House of Lords Act of...
Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe: I am grateful to the noble Lord for giving way. I am becoming confused. I understood that the noble Lord was moving an amendment for full privatisation. I listened carefully to the noble Lord earlier when he expressed concerns about the documents that have emerged which are on the Internet in relation to the Economic Regulation Group of CAA looking for cuts in capital expenditure and in...
Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe: I shall be brief at this time of night. On behalf of noble Lords on this side of the Committee, I was most grateful to hear those few words of support from the noble Lord, Lord Brabazon. In my previous incarnation as General Secretary of a Civil Service union, I had some experience of dealing with strategic partnerships, and forms of privatisation. Now we have PPPs. Invariably we run into two...
Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe: My Lords, I am very pleased to follow the noble Lord, Lord Clement-Jones. I shall speak in a similar vein. When the Government came to power and picked up the plans from their predecessors, I had no strong feelings for or against the project. The Government decided to go with it, so I felt that it was right that we should seek to make a success of it once we had made that decision. There have...
Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe: asked Her Majesty's Government: When they intend to publish a policy document on electronic records management.
Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe: asked Her Majesty's Government: What is the pattern of military low flying activity in the United Kingdom during the training year 1999-2000.
Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe: asked Her Majesty's Government: When they expect to receive the annual report of the Medicines Commission for 1999 and whether this will be published.
Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe: My Lords, perhaps I may return to the subject of the staff interests in the House. Can my noble friend the Chairman of Committees tell us whether the views of staff have been sought in earlier surveys in order to ascertain what they feel about smoking in the House? If not, will he give an assurance that when we start, to use his phrase, "to get to grips" with this topic again, a survey of...