Baroness Parminter: My Lords, from these Benches we have heard the arguments made by those who argue for the exclusion of all animals with great sympathy. We think that both noble Baronesses, Lady Bennett and Lady Jones of Whitchurch, made good points. Their arguments around the concerns that the public have are extremely well made. I merely add one other reason why their case is strong, which has not been...
Baroness Parminter: My Lords, I add my support to the noble Baroness, Lady Worthington. There is disunity in Horsham tonight: I disagree strongly with the noble Lord, Lord Maude of Horsham. I went to school in Horsham and was on the council there. However, I take a different view from the noble Lord about the role of procurement. He talks about procurement’s sole purpose being good value. He went on to say...
Baroness Parminter: I will be very brief, as I do not want to prolong the discussion. In Committee, the Government made it clear that they would seriously consider the use of the national procurement policy statement as a vehicle to deliver the value-driven approach and support environmental and climate goals. The noble Lord, Lord True, said that they would reflect on that. Well, there has been no reflection....
Baroness Parminter: My Lords, the Minister refers to the power of the Office for Environmental Protection. This week, the OEP said that the retained EU law Bill should include a provision that no legislation should be revoked without an equivalent or enhanced level of protection. Do the Government agree?
Baroness Parminter: My Lords, I rise to speak from the Lib Dem Benches. Sadly, my noble friend Lady Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville is in hospital today, but she hopes to be back fighting the good fight in Committee. These Benches are not anti-science. Although the noble Lord, Lord Lilley, is not in his place, I was surprised but delighted that he knows so much about Lib Dem policy to confirm that we are not...
Baroness Parminter: To ask His Majesty’s Government, further to their commitment in Greening finance: A roadmap to sustainable investing, published on 1 October 2021, to consult on the “UK Green Taxonomy” in the first quarter of 2022, what plans they have to publish the draft taxonomy.
Baroness Parminter: I thank the Minister for her reply. As she will know, many firms really support the transition to net zero, but this will not be achieved without clear direction from government. The Government’s independent green taxonomy advisory group told them last month that they had to send a “rapid market signal”, or we risked falling further behind Europe, which launched its taxonomy in 2020. So...
Baroness Parminter: My Lords, the Government’s own net-zero strategy is underpinned by six principles, one of which is to motivate and build public acceptance for major change. While the Minister cites the energy-saving website, I challenge him to produce any other examples from this Government of trying to give consumers the advice that they need about heating their homes, as the noble Lord, Lord Deben, said,...
Baroness Parminter: To ask His Majesty's Government when they will publish the final Environmental Principles Policy Statement.
Baroness Parminter: To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to engage business, civil society and land management stakeholders in the preparation of the first annual environmental improvement plan under the Environment Act 2021.
Baroness Parminter: My Lords, it is always a pleasure to follow the noble Lord, Lord Lilley. We have listened carefully to him throughout our proceedings. I find that, in politics, it is not worth always talking to people you agree with. In our committee, we listened carefully and based our conclusions on the evidence. That is the role of a Select Committee in the House of Lords. The evidence is clear. The noble...
Draft Environmental Principles Policy Statement – Baroness Parminter.
Baroness Parminter: My Lords, the Minister in his opening remarks referred to commitments to the highest standards at home as well as abroad. What plans do the Government have to comprehensively ban the sale of pets as prizes in England?
Baroness Parminter: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to publish in full the recommendations at a species level from the Joint Nature Conservation Committee arising from the 7th Quinquennial Review of Schedules 5 and 8 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, submitted to Ministers on 19 April.
Baroness Parminter: My Lords, I will speak briefly. I associate myself entirely with the remarks of my noble friend Lady Young. I welcome the fact that the Government have set very clear net-zero targets. I hope that they will do similarly for nature targets in the near future, as the Environment Act requires. As my noble friend said, it would be an own goal if the Government were not to take the opportunities...
Baroness Parminter: My Lords, it would be hard to argue that this Queen’s Speech has sufficient urgency to deal with the climate crisis and the nature crisis that we are facing. We need to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by 50% within the next decade and we are among the most nature-depleted countries in the world. That is not to say there are not things in this Queen’s Speech that we welcome. It is...
Baroness Parminter: My Lords, I declare an interest in that I have a daughter currently in a private eating disorder facility out-of-area, which the NHS is paying for—for which I am extremely grateful. Given the increasing numbers of people suffering from eating disorders, both children and young people and adults, what hope can the Minister give families like mine that in future their young people and family...
Baroness Parminter: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they plan to take to deliver on their commitment in the Net Zero Strategy to enable people to make informed choices about (1) the goods and products they buy, and (2) services they use, through exploring how products could be labelled with their (a) emission intensity, and (b) environmental impact.
Baroness Parminter: To ask Her Majesty's Government when they intend to publish their plan for autism research, as outlined in the National strategy for autistic children, young people and adults, published on 22 July 2021.