Lord Acton: asked Her Majesty's Government: Further to the Written Statement by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 24 June (WS 921—3) stating that "a cross-departmental Criminal Justice Women's Unit has been established with a senior civil servant appointed to head up the unit", (a) what grade is the senior civil servant, and (b) whether the appointment is full time.
Lord Acton: My Lords, I add my compliments to those offered by the noble Baroness, Lady Williams of Crosby, and my noble friend Lady Jay of Paddington, to my noble friend, who has proved such a great asset in regard to Zimbabwe since he came to this House and to government. He pointed out how crucial SADC is in the present situation. I have already described him as a great asset; I cannot do better than...
Lord Acton: My Lords, like the noble Viscount, Lord Falkland, I declare an interest in that I have type 2 diabetes, as no doubt do many other noble Lords. Is my noble friend aware that I am terrified of blood and machines? However, when I started testing, I persevered, and like the noble Viscount I now find blood testing an invaluable guide. This morning, my test was high. I realised that I had eaten too...
Lord Acton: Boiled, my Lords.
Lord Acton: My Lords, following my noble friend's comments on SADC observers, is it British policy to back as strongly as possible the diplomatic efforts of the more positive SADC countries?
Lord Acton: asked Her Majesty's Government: What evidence is available to support the use of home testing of blood sugar for type 2 diabetes.
Lord Acton: My Lords, is my noble friend aware that my great-great-great-grandfather, Sir John Acton, the Bourbon Prime Minister of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, married his niece with the benefit of papal dispensation, and that their grandson was the first Lord Acton, who was a Liberal and not a Bourbon, and of whom the noble Lord, Lord McNally, thoroughly approves? From what has been discussed so...
Lord Acton: My Lords, further to the question of the noble Earl, Lord Onslow, with whom I by no means always agree, surely a stage of illness from cancer comes when the Government would not send people back.
Lord Acton: asked Her Majesty's Government: What is their estimate of the number of people who died in the conflict in Iraq in February 2008.
Lord Acton: asked Her Majesty's Government: What is their estimate of how many people died in the conflict in Iraq in January 2008.
Lord Acton: My Lords, is my noble friend aware that the noble Lord, Lord Waddington, spoke of the "depths of Iowa"? As an honorary citizen of Iowa, I am horrified at such an expression. Iowa has nothing but joys.
Lord Acton: asked Her Majesty's Government: In January (a) how many Iraqi refugees they estimate each day returned from Syria to Iraq; and (b) how many Iraqi refugees they estimate each day left Iraq for Syria.
Lord Acton: My Lords, my noble friend mentioned a current figure of 130 casinos. Can he say how much money each year is gambled in those casinos and how much the Government estimate would be gambled per year in the 16 casinos he mentioned today?
Lord Acton: My Lords, Lady Darcy de Knayth's mother and my mother were step-sisters, so she was my step-first cousin. I think she was the first person ever to be referred to as a "kinswoman" in this House. She did not know the meaning of the word "self-pity". When the appalling car crash happened in 1964 when her husband was killed and she suffered the most dreadful injuries—she had three little...
Lord Acton: My Lords, is not the noble Lord, Lord Thomas of Gresford, mildly out of order in referring to the noble Baroness, Lady Walmsley, as his "noble friend"? My impression historically is that she is his noble kinsman. That is slightly out of date; I may be wrong, but perhaps she is his noble kinswoman.
Lord Acton: asked Her Majesty's Government: Further to their response to recommendation 8 of the report by Baroness Corston entitled Review of Women with Particular Vulnerabilities in the Criminal Justice System (Cm 7261), whether the senior civil servant who will head the new cross-departmental women's justice unit will do that job full-time.
Lord Acton: My Lords, before my noble friend sits down, I asked him three specific questions. Would he be good enough to write me three specific letters?
Lord Acton: My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Ramsbotham, with his vast experience, for introducing this debate. In 1972, my former wife, Judith Garfield Todd, was imprisoned in colonial Rhodesia by the Smith regime. There was no question of a charge or a trial, and she went on hunger strike. She was taken to another prison, where she was force fed. Then she was put under house arrest. Judith was in...
Lord Acton: My Lords, my noble friend mentioned the sum of £15 million for 2007 for 2 million refugees and 2.2 million internally displaced people. If my maths are correct, that works out at just under £4 a head. Can we look to a rather more generous settlement than £4 a head for refugees and internally displaced people in 2008?
Lord Acton: My Lords, is my noble friend aware that, in all the years that I have listened to questions and debates on FGM, his statement today is the most welcome? I congratulate him on it.
