Baroness Nye: My Lords, I should like begin by thanking your Lordships for the generous and warm-hearted welcome which I have received from all sides of the House. The staff have done their utmost to help me settle in, and I am very grateful indeed for the kindness that was shown to my family on the day that I was introduced. I should particularly like to thank my sponsors, my noble friends Lady Kinnock...
Baroness Nye: My Lords, this Bill is in two parts so it is perhaps fitting that Second Reading should end up being in two parts as well. Last night's debate contained many thoughtful contributions and I found myself agreeing with a great deal of what was said from all sides of the House. I was a little concerned that supporters of the Bill had decided not to speak, but I am relieved that the noble Lord,...
Baroness Nye: I support my noble friend Lady McDonagh. I have worked with my noble friend over many years. On matters of organisation I always follow her lead because she has great expertise in this area. It has not always been the case on, perhaps, politics or personalities over that period, but this is not the place. When I spoke at Second Reading, I started by saying that I thought there was a consensus...
Baroness Nye: The Minister was answering a point that I made in my speech. I should like him to help me a little more. What I said was that once the Liberal Democrats' figure was not there, you had the figure of 585, which the Conservative Party had gone to the election with. They must have done a calculation about how equal they wanted their votes to be. I can't do the maths-it is too late for me to do...
Baroness Nye: I support the noble Lord's amendment. I told him that I would do so and I had not intended to speak in the debate, but a few points arose from his speech that I want to take up. He said that the Member of Parliament campaigned at the election to keep the Isle of Wight as a single constituency, but the same candidate must also have campaigned at the election to have a 10 per cent reduction in...
Baroness Nye: To ask Her Majesty's Government what workforce modelling projections have been undertaken to ensure robust midwifery workforce planning is in place.
Baroness Nye: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether an analysis has been undertaken to assess the impact of the trend towards part-time working among midwives.
Baroness Nye: To ask Her Majesty's Government what work is being undertaken to develop more flexible career frameworks for midwives.
Baroness Nye: To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress is being made to fulfil the commitment to increase the number of midwives by 3,000 in England.
Baroness Nye: My Lords, I would like to speak to Amendment 75ZB and move back on to the amendments, which I think some on that side of the House were slightly straying from. I was born in Brixton-hence my title Baroness Nye, of Lambeth-but I strayed north of the river at one point, where I had a very nice time as I got married and had three rather lovely children. So there are advantages to both sides....
Baroness Nye: To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they are taking to address the concerns in the National Audit Office report on Delivering the Free Entitlement to Education for Three- and Four Year-olds about the wide variations in take-up between local authorities. To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they are taking to ensure that families of three- and four-year-olds from the most...
Baroness Nye: To ask Her Majesty's Government what foreign visits were made by Foreign and Commonwealth Office Ministers from 11 May 2010 to 31 September 2010, and from 1 July 2011 to 31 January 2012.
Baroness Nye: My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Baroness, Lady Verma, for introducing the debate and for her acknowledgement of the work of the previous Labour Government. I also thank my noble friend Lady Thornton for reminding us of the parlous state of women's representation in Parliament. Every member of the Labour Party to whom I have ever spoken has always said that there should be more women MPs,...
Baroness Nye: My Lords, I, too, welcome the increase in the number of women on boards, but does the Minister agree that the voluntary code needs to be reviewed, as the evidence suggests that while the 30% target for female applicants on the long list is being met, these women do not make it on to the shortlist? Surely the code should be extended to include targets for the shortlist as well.
Baroness Nye: My Lords, I, too, thank my noble friend Lady Healy for initiating this important debate. As the noble Lord, Lord Bates, said, there is consensus on all Benches; we all want a reduction in crime, a reduction in reoffending, and we want it to go hand in hand with a just system of punishment. This, as all Governments have found, is a very tall order. When Ken Clarke launched his "rehabilitation...
Baroness Nye: My Lords, I, too, am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Lexden, for initiating this important debate. As he and other noble Lords have so clearly stated, criminalisation of homosexuality violates international law. It denies rights to privacy, equality and dignity and has a negative impact on HIV/AIDS prevention, as the noble Lords, Lord Fowler and Lord Rea, so powerfully argued. The figures...
Baroness Nye: My Lords, have the Government pressed the Burmese Government to allow the High Commission for Human Rights to set up an office in Burma? It would not only provide technical assistance to the Government and civil society groups during this transitional period but also be able to monitor not only the awful situation of the Rohingya but the dreadful rapes of ethnic Kachin and Shan women by the...
Baroness Nye: To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the Government of Burma regarding dialogue with the Kachin Independence Organisation.
Baroness Nye: To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the Government of Burma about allowing international humanitarian access to internally displaced Kachin people.
Baroness Nye: To ask Her Majesty's Government what aid they are providing to assist local community groups in Kachin in helping internally displaced people.
