Viscount Bridgeman: My Lords, I, too, join other noble Lords in thanking the noble Lord, Lord Dubs, for initiating this important debate. If my reply is on the short side, it is only because I share so much of the sentiments articulated by the noble Lord and the noble Baroness, Lady Falkner. This is a very sensitive and sometimes distressing area of the criminal justice system, but that is all the more reason...
Viscount Bridgeman: My Lords, following my noble friend's question, are the Government fully aware of the real crisis in the voluntary sector, where many people, particularly those volunteering, are refusing to undertake any work with children because of the onerous and time-consuming need for a CRB check?
Viscount Bridgeman: My Lords, in view of the concern expressed by the noble Baroness about privacy, will the Government withdraw their plans for a communications data Bill to set up a database logging every private phone call and e-mail? There has been enormous opposition to the idea, including that from the Information Commissioner.
Viscount Bridgeman: My Lords, can the Minister advise the House how many prosecutions and convictions have been made for the offence of photography contrary to Section 1 of the Official Secrets Act 1911?
Viscount Bridgeman: My Lords, Part 10 of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 prevents foreign criminals liable to deportation becoming eligible for the right to remain in the UK, due to the impossibility of sending them home. How many persons are affected under that part, globally and in respect of Sudanese nationals?
Viscount Bridgeman: My Lords, I thank my noble friend Lord Sheikh for initiating this timely debate and for saying that the Government have concentrated too much attention on the ID card issue at the expense of tackling identity fraud. The clarion call of this debate is to draw attention to the progress that still needs to be made. My noble friend rightly drew attention to the serious nature of the problem. As...
Viscount Bridgeman: My Lords, is the Minister aware that my right honourable friend David Cameron has announced that a future Conservative Government will ensure stable three-year funding for settlements for rape crisis centres, thus avoiding the year-on-year funding crises? He said: "This would give these vitally important public services the certainty and stability they need to help victims of rape". Will...
Viscount Bridgeman: My Lords, we are right in the middle of the festival season and the Edinburgh festival, the largest of them all, will soon be upon us. In view of the question put by the noble Lord, Lord Clement-Jones, can the Minister assure the House that festivals will be specifically exempted from the new regulations?
Viscount Bridgeman: My Lords, I am grateful to the Minister for his comprehensive explanation, but the fact that his considerable powers of persuasion and analysis have been so tested with the whole question of charging is revealing in relation to the complications that the regulations present. None of us is under any illusion about the seriousness of the problem of alcohol-related disorder, but the history of...
Viscount Bridgeman: My Lords, I remind the Minister that my right honourable friend David Davis has written to the Cabinet Secretary giving formal notice that an incoming Conservative Government would scrap the identity card scheme. In the light of that and the long-standing convention that no Parliament can bind a successor Parliament, what provision, if any, has been made in the relevant contractual...
Viscount Bridgeman: My Lords, I am sure that my noble friend Lord Onslow will be grateful for the Minister's offer to consider the points raised in his amendment.
Viscount Bridgeman: moved Amendment No. 115BA: Schedule 25, page 269, line 33, leave out paragraph 14 On Question, amendment agreed to.
Viscount Bridgeman: moved Amendment No. 115LA: Schedule 27, page 295, line 40, leave out paragraph 8 On Question, amendment agreed to.
Viscount Bridgeman: My Lords, I declare an interest as a former chairman of an independent hospice that is wholly contracted to a number of primary care trusts. I echo the remarks of the noble Baroness, Lady Finlay, about hospices, which need to provide particularly sensitive care. Taking up the point made by the noble Lord, Lord Thomas, a heavy security presence would be quite inappropriate in institutions of...
Viscount Bridgeman: My Lords, the noble Lord understates the massive leadership he gave during the passage of the NERC Bill to secure the control of mechanical vehicles on rights of way.
Viscount Bridgeman: My Lords, I, too, am most grateful to my noble friend Lord Renton for initiating this debate. He, like other noble Lords who have spoken, has hands-on experience in the structure and management of AONBs. My noble friend Lord Marlesford reminded us just how overcrowded this island is. It is the most densely populated country in Europe, with the exception of Belgium, and that is without the...
Viscount Bridgeman: My Lords, I, too, thank my noble friend Lady Trumpington for initiating this debate. I certainly echo the words of the noble Lord, Lord Dear, on her apposite and deserved remarks about Crimestoppers. In following the noble Lord, I am once again aware of how fortunate this House is in having the benefit of the advice and experience of senior police officers such as him and the noble Lord, Lord...
Viscount Bridgeman: My Lords, despite the long queues at some airports, on which the Minister has sought to reassure us, we know that in many cases women and children who have been trafficked here are habitually clearing immigration control with no trouble. Will the Government follow Conservative policy and introduce separate interviews for women and children travelling with men who are not members of their...
Viscount Bridgeman: My Lords, has the Minister taken into account the Spanish experience, where presumed consent is built into the legal system? It is very seldom used, family consent is almost always obtained and there is a very low family refusal rate. The net result is that three times as many organs are available in Spain as in the United Kingdom.
Viscount Bridgeman: My Lords, does the Lord President understand that asking members of Select Committees to advise the Government risks compromising those Members' duty to speak out against the Government when they feel that that is necessary?
