Baroness Sharp of Guildford: My Lords, I am finishing. We need to explore different initiatives and we need to go forward from here.
Baroness Sharp of Guildford: My Lords, I join others in congratulating the right reverend Prelate on his maiden speech, which I found wise and thought-provoking. I look forward to further contributions that he will make to debates in this House. I should like too to congratulate the noble Baroness, Lady Perry, and thank her for initiating this important debate. She made an excellent introductory speech, in which she...
Baroness Sharp of Guildford: My Lords, from these Benches I wish to begin by giving a broad welcome to the Bill. We believe that the provision of a comprehensive framework for post-16 education and training is long overdue. We welcome the width and the depth of consultation that has taken place in its preparation and we are particularly appreciative of the degree to which the Minister has dealt separately with the Welsh...
Baroness Sharp of Guildford: My Lords, in winding up the debate from these Benches I begin by declaring an interest. Until the end of September I was employed by the University of Sussex and I remain a member of the Association of University Teachers. The debate today initiated by my noble friend Lord Jenkins has been very stimulating and has ranged far and wide. We have discussed student finance, tuition fees, access...
Baroness Sharp of Guildford: My Lords, I am sorry. I have reached my final point. I believe that the Government are trying to reconcile the irreconcilable. They have four different objectives: to expand access; at the same time, to maintain the traditional high standards in teaching and scholarship; to play a prominent role in leading edge research and technology; and to put no more money into the system. I believe that...
Baroness Sharp of Guildford: My Lords, I join others in paying tribute to the noble Lord, Lord St. John of Bletso, for initiating this debate on our report--I was a member of the committee which put together the report; to our chairman Lord Grenfell; to our Clerk, Dr Hopkins, who was of enormous assistance to us; and to our specialist adviser, Jackie Gower. As other noble Lords have made clear, the report is timely. When...
Baroness Sharp of Guildford: My Lords, given that the Minister has rightly pointed out that part of the problem springs from tax evasion in relation to German investments, can he say what efforts the Government are making to put pressure on the German, Swiss and Luxembourg Governments to move away from their strict banking secrecy laws? Furthermore, what are the Government doing about money laundering in some of the tax...
Baroness Sharp of Guildford: My Lords, it is with great pleasure that I rise to congratulate the noble Baroness, Lady Wilkins, on her excellent maiden speech. She has had a distinguished career as a campaigner for disability rights. She has worked for some time for the National Centre for Independent Living, about which she spoke in her maiden speech and about which we had an interesting exchange at Question Time earlier...
Baroness Sharp of Guildford: My Lords, given that it has been established that bees can fly up to five miles in any direction, can the Minister say what, if any, developments there have been in the arrangements over the margin of cultivation between GM trials and organic crops?