Lord Mackay of Clashfern: My Lords, I listened with a certain amount of concern to what the noble Lord, Lord Hain, said about the difficulties of securing an agreement on this matter. I am glad to say that, so far as this Bill is concerned, we assume that there will be an agreement on the fisheries matter. The principles and the legal situation are fairly clear; it is a question of reaching an agreement, for a change....
Lord Mackay of Clashfern: My Lords, this amendment is of considerable importance. It seeks to set aside all the other objectives as less important, and it is apparent to me that at least some of them are essential. To set them aside would bring an imbalance to the situation, which is very strange—particularly since the objective is described as something that does “not compromise”. It is negative, it is to not...
Lord Mackay of Clashfern: My Lords, this proposal’s reference to “the United Kingdom” requires consideration, given the matters that arise in connection to it from devolution. It is true that fisheries are devolved, and so in respect of rights of the United Kingdom and fish, these will be devolved. It is therefore quite important that the role of the devolved Administrations is kept in view, as is recognised in...
Lord Mackay of Clashfern: My Lords, will my noble friend commend the example of the organiser of the justified and peaceful protests in Glasgow Green, in his efforts to protect innocent protesters from the dangers of the virus? He tried his best to ensure that they were at proper distances apart. Secondly, it is not for the Government alone to deal with this; it is a question for all the organisations in our country...
Lord Mackay of Clashfern: My Lords, the essence of this proposal was rejected by the Northern Ireland Executive. Why seek to overrule the Executive when they are now happily active again?
Lord Mackay of Clashfern: My Lords, the Act referred to in the Bill is dated 1982, which shows that we are concerned with the time when I was Lord Advocate and before devolution. I remember it lucidly. It fell to the Lord Advocate to deal, inter alia, with the Scottish position and what the detail involved. I strongly oppose the group of amendments in the name of the noble and learned Lord, Lord Falconer of Thoroton....
Lord Mackay of Clashfern: My Lords, I have always understood that the Isle of Man is different and that special provision therefore needs to be made for it, particularly at its request. Long ago, when I was Lord Advocate, I was called to defend an action of the UK Government, which had imposed restrictions on fishing in the waters surrounding the Isle of Man that were different from the common fisheries policy. I was...
Lord Mackay of Clashfern: My Lords, my noble friend who proposed these amendments has been well known to me as a very clear, well-informed campaigner for many years in a number of different situations. I am also very conscious of the tremendous pain that is felt by a family who have lost a loved one in circumstances where they are unable to come to closure because they do not have the body of their loved one....
Lord Mackay of Clashfern: My Lords, I am strongly in favour of this instrument, as I am of the Act on which it is based. I first realised the importance of transplantation early on in its development. A very close friend of ours developed kidney failure and required constant dialysis. It then became possible for him to have a transplant. He had a twin brother who was willing to give his kidney. He was operated on in...
Lord Mackay of Clashfern: My Lords, the Census Act 1920 provided a framework for a census of questions on stated subjects, with an obligation to answer, subject to a penalty. It provided for the authority for a particular census to be an Order in Council, of which this is one, with supporting regulations, including a census form. More recently, as has been mentioned, that Act was amended by statutes which provided for...
Lord Mackay of Clashfern: My Lords, I thank the most reverend Primate the Archbishop of York for his service and wish him and his well-esteemed lady a retirement—not necessarily from campaigning, but from his office—as long and happy as it is well deserved. After the French Revolution, equality became a very prominent issue. In a sermon, Reverend Robert Shirra, a minister in Kirkcaldy, Scotland, examined a number...
Lord Mackay of Clashfern: My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Watson, has raised an important point, but I hope that local authorities looking after the precious children in their care will continue to act so far as possible in the best interests of the children in accordance with the Children Act as it is. Have the Government given special attention to the position of foster parents, who often have children of their own?...
Lord Mackay of Clashfern: I would like to say first how impressed I am by the work of the Department for Work and Pensions, which has the responsibility for meeting the needs of the most needy people in our country. Also, can the Minister tell me the effects of the present restrictions on the criminal and civil courts in our country?
Lord Mackay of Clashfern: My Lords, any decisions on relaxing the present restrictions and on research into treatments and vaccines are very difficult and therefore liable to give rise to differences of opinion, even among scientists and doctors. Will the Government do all in their power to reach agreement with the devolved Administrations on any decision on these subjects? Today, the Scottish Government published...
Lord Mackay of Clashfern: My Lords, I would very much like to hear the Minister explain the legal basis on which this matter rests, in view of the issues that have been raised in relation to Western Sahara. The issues raised are quite important, but at the moment I do not see exactly what the answer in which the Foreign Office will be confident is. I am willing to agree that I may be utterly wrong and that the noble...
Lord Mackay of Clashfern: My Lord, perhaps it is as well that I should speak to my amendments, in view of the fact that my noble friend has done it already. These amendments are an attempt to deal with the point that the noble Lord, Lord Cameron of Dillington, referred to earlier. Amendments 57 and 58 which I have put forward—my noble friend Lady McIntosh of Pickering has also signed up to the first one—would...
Lord Mackay of Clashfern: My Lords, I see the need for something like the amendment tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Cameron, but I find it difficult to believe that any public authority will necessarily have the power to “exercise its functions in order to achieve the fisheries objectives.” Is an authority supposed to cover all of them, part of them, or what? I cannot see how that can work, where there are...
Lord Mackay of Clashfern: My Lords, I put my name to the amendment of my noble friend Lord Farmer with the view that, if it is easy to produce those results, it might be quite wise to do so. So far as the amendment of my noble friend Lord McColl of Dulwich is concerned, I noticed that he said that the Bill was intended to remove an obstacle to divorce, but I do not really think that that is a fair way to describe it....
Lord Mackay of Clashfern: My Lords, I very much support Amendment 20, which the noble Baroness, Lady Deech, spoke to. Not very long ago, I got a fairly impassioned letter from a gentleman I knew who had recently been involved in a divorce. He said that one of the great difficulties in approaching that, which he found by no means easy, was that it was not easy to find out what was likely to happen in relation to...
Lord Mackay of Clashfern: My Lords, of course it is a matter of judgment. I had to do the judgment some time ago. The other angle which has to be taken into account is that when the divorce proceedings are finished, parties are apt to lose interest in their responsibilities under the marriage that has been terminated. I have seen that as a matter of fact from time to time. For example, fathers who desert find it very...
