Baroness Bryan of Partick: My Lords, the Dunlop review was completed before the United Kingdom Internal Market Act, so it may already be out of date. The chairs of the Scottish Affairs, Welsh Affairs and Northern Ireland Affairs Committees are as much in the dark as the rest of us. Can the Minister explain how Michael Gove can already be implementing the Dunlop recommendations when he has not even shared the report...
Baroness Bryan of Partick: My Lords, it is a privilege, if not somewhat intimidating, to follow my noble friend Lady Kennedy of The Shaws. But it does give me the confidence to believe that some of the points I am making are probably accurate and worthy of consideration. We have been told that the purpose of the Bill is to bring the operation of CHIS out of the shadows and put existing practice on a clear and...
Baroness Bryan of Partick: My Lords, will the Minister confirm that the Government’s defence priorities include cyber and space projects, and that they continue to recognise, as they said in the 2018 defence review, that security challenges involve non-state actors, migration, pandemics and environmental pressures? How will the Trident programme fit their own priorities or help to tackle any of those threats?
Baroness Bryan of Partick: My Lords, it is a real pleasure to take part in this debate. I am sorry that my noble friend Lord Dubs will not be joining us, but I am speaking before my noble friend Lord Judd—they have both spent many decades of their lives fighting for civil liberties. They will remember, I am sure, Maria Fyfe, who entered Parliament in 1987 and did so much over the years to champion women’s...
Baroness Bryan of Partick: My Lords, it is an honour to follow the speakers before me, who have such a range of experience. Many excellent amendments to the Bill have been proposed. Some are probing, looking for a response that might help to clarify the Government’s intentions. Others could serve to safeguard individuals who might be recruited as undercover operatives or those who might be affected by their actions....
Baroness Bryan of Partick: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether The Dunlop Review into UK Government Union capability, announced on 4 July 2019, took evidence from the devolved administrations.
Baroness Bryan of Partick: To ask Her Majesty's Government when they estimate that they will conclude their consideration of the recommendations of The Dunlop Review into UK Government Union capability, first announced on 4 July 2019; and when they plan to publish (1) that review, and (2) their conclusions.
Baroness Bryan of Partick: My Lords, in the short time available I will concentrate on Clause 2, which details the authorities able to authorise criminal conduct. The list of bodies included will probably surprise many people, as the justification for the Bill is usually given in terms of serious organised crime and terrorism, and the reason given for why there is no prior authorisation is the imminent danger and...
Baroness Bryan of Partick: Does the Minister agree with Douglas Ross, Leader of the Scottish Conservatives, that “we need to deliver formal representation for our nations and regions” in a reformed House of Lords? Does he think that such a step would help to strengthen relationships within the United Kingdom?
Baroness Bryan of Partick: My Lords, I congratulate my noble friend Lady Hayman of Ullock and the noble Lord, Lord Sarfraz, on their maiden speeches of excellent quality. It is really good to have two younger Members join us. I must also congratulate the Government on doing so much to bring about harmony. They have managed to unite so many speakers in this Chamber and all but one of the parties in the Scottish...
Baroness Bryan of Partick: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the advice by the World Health Organization that people over 60 should be treated as vulnerable to COVID-19, what plans they have to support people in this age group during the COVID-19 pandemic who must work because they do not have access to a pension.
Baroness Bryan of Partick: I thank the Minister for her reply. Is she aware that healthy life expectancy for women in Glasgow is 58 years and six months, but many women in poor health have to continue to work because they still have years to wait for their state pension? Some 80% of key workers in education, health and social care are women, and these occupational groups are among those at the highest risk of Covid-19....
Baroness Bryan of Partick: My Lords, on the possibility of awarding this contract within the UK, hopes have been raised and dashed countless times over the past few years. Does the Minister agree that the UK’s post-Covid industrial recovery strategy must weigh up the benefits of enabling some 6,500 skilled jobs in the shipbuilding industry against the long-term damage to people, local industries and the wider economy...
Baroness Bryan of Partick: My Lords, I add my congratulations to both maiden speeches made today. The Bill, along with legislation on agriculture, fisheries and the environment, and tomorrow’s Bill on the UK internal market, is throwing up questions about the UK’s constitutional settlement that will have to be addressed, not least for the people of Northern Ireland, who must feel they are being used as bargaining...
Baroness Bryan of Partick: The Cameron Conservative Government showed their lack of commitment to the Green Investment Bank when they took the short-sighted step of privatising it and then mishandling the sale. Could the Minister outline in what ways a second green investment bank will be more effective and, importantly, how its success will be evaluated?
Baroness Bryan of Partick: Michael Gove said yesterday that devolution gives us the best of both worlds: local decision-making and strength and security with our fellow citizens. Over the past 20 years, Scotland and Wales have had accountability with their First Ministers via elected Members. Does the Minister agree that the regions of England are entitled to the same rights?
Baroness Bryan of Partick: My Lords, there is so much to be said about this excellent report, but I shall quote one devastating sentence on mesh implants, where it raises the question “whether the modification of a device so that it required less skill to insert should have been the preferred option rather than improving the surgical skill base.” Does the Minister agree that there is an urgent need for a robust...
Baroness Bryan of Partick: My Lords, I ask this question on behalf of some of the women campaigners. The report states: “The removal of transobturator tape is technical and complex surgery and there are very few surgeons in the UK capable of undertaking this”. While this remains the case, will the Minister consider banning these mesh tapes until women can be sure that any post-operative problems can be fully and...
Baroness Bryan of Partick: I speak in support of Amendment 66, in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Wigley. If the UK had not been in the EU in 1997 when it started along the road to devolution, it would have been obliged to give more thought to the relationship between the four nations. As it was, EU regulations ensured common standards across a range of areas so that while agriculture was a devolved power in Scotland,...
Baroness Bryan of Partick: Can the Minister give an assurance that the Government will continue to deliver sustainable national funding for women’s refuges beyond the Covid-19 crisis, so that there will be no repeat of the situation in 2019, when some services were just days away from having to close their doors before additional funding was announced?