Letter of The Lords 28 November

28 November 2014
Whats Coming Up
Monday: Lord Alderdice will be asking the Government its assessment of the
Report of the All Party Parliamentary Inquiry into Electoral Conduct, and its
recommendations. The report states: The UK should operate a zero tolerance
policy for racism and discrimination, the agencies which deliver, monitor and
safeguard our electoral processes should be models of good practice and set the
standard against which other countries are judged.
Baroness Scott is holding a debate on the role
of the voluntary sector in reducing
emergency re-admissions to hospitals. As part
of the debate Ros will highlight the fact that
The Royal Voluntary Service ran a scheme in
Leicestershire which showed that a package of
support reduced emergency readmissions by
half, from 15% in 60 days to 7.5%.
The House will also begin the Committee stage consideration of

the Modern Slavery Bill, the first legislation of its kind in the
world. The Bill brings together new offences to protect victims
of exploitation and human trafficking. Baroness Hamwee is
leading for the Liberal Democrats on the Bill.
____________________________________
Tuesday: Lord Avebury will ask the Government what representatives it has
made to the government of Kuwait on the issue of the stateless Bidoon who
currently reside in the country.
Lord Ashdown will be speaking during the oral question on the
treatment of Afghan Interpreters. On the World at One last
Thursday Paddy said ordinary soldiers could not have done their
job had it not been for these extraordinary brave men and now
we shamelessly, shamelessly abandon them.
The House will debate the Second Reading of the Small Business, Enterprise and
Employment Bill, this will be the first time the Lords debates the Bill which saw
the Government defeated in the Commons on the issue of pub-ties by Lib Dem
MP Greg Mulholland.
____________________________________
Quote of the Week

We believe that Britain is better
off inside the European Union, even
if there should be some reform of
it, and even if public debate
sometimes belies this position.
Julie Smith (@DrJulieSmith1) starts
her time in the Lords off strongly
with a maiden speech that
highlighted the benefits of the EU
Tweet of the Week
Brain Paddick (@BrianPaddick)

shows why the Lib Dems are the
only party with the principle to
stand up to UKIP
Next weeks bills

Modern Slavery Bill
Committee Stage
Small Business, Enterprise and

Employment Bill
Second Reading
Wednesday: Baroness Barker will lead the debate on the NHS is and the work it
is doing to improve the health of lesbian, bisexual and trans women. This is the
first debate in the history of the House of Lords to consider issues affecting the
health treatment of these women.
____________________________________
Thursday: Lord Dykes will be asking what discussion the Government has held
with Ireland on the UKs justice opt-outs under the Lisbon Treaty.
The House of Lords will take note of the Autumn

Statement and measures being taken to promote
economic growth and support business in the UK.
Lord Wrigglesworth is speaking in the debate.
____________________________________
Friday: In the debate on the role of soft power and non-military options in
conflict prevention. Lord Alderdice, Baroness Falkner & Baroness Miller are all
speaking.
Full schedule here
Lib Dem Lords

in Government
Baroness Garden answered questions on the gender gap on Wednesday. As part of her
answers she highlighted the fact that there are more women in employment than ever
before: with 713,000 more women employed than in 2010.
A new system of shared parental leave will be implemented from April 2015, and almost 2
million families could benefit from a new tax-free child care scheme from autumn 2015,
worth up to 2,000 per child.
____________________________________
Baroness Kramer has announced the winning
bidders for car club funding. Over 50 new vehicles
will now be available across car club demonstration
projects in Derby, Nottingham, Norfolk and West
Yorkshire.
Baroness Northover answered questions on HIV

around the World ahead of Worlds AIDS Day Next
Monday. Lindsay stated that it is estimated that 2.1
million men, women and children became newly
infected with HIV in 2013, which is down from 3.4
million in 2001. It is estimated that 35 million
Susan said: These investments will give the growing people are now living with HIV.
interest in car clubs added momentum. Car clubs cut
congestion, reduce carbon and save people money Lindsay highlighted the importance of womens
while still giving people the freedom and flexibility rights in dealing with the epidemic, saying: the
to use a car when they want to.
infection rate among young women is twice as high
as that for young men, for the very reasons she has
We can now look forward to the winning towns given. It is absolutely fundamental to our approach
and cities providing a practical demonstration of the to address that inequality and try to combat
increasing relevance of car clubs to sustainable violence against women and girls.
transport throughout England.
____________________________________
Lord Wallace of Saltaire was in Istanbul, representing the Foreign and
Commonwealth Office at the annual UK-Turkish Round Table. Turkey is now
one of the European Union's most important partners, both in relations with
Syria, Iraq and Iran, and in relations with Russia. Millions of Syrian refugees
are now living in Turkey.
William spoke at the opening dinner about closer cooperation between EU states and Turkey on Middle East
conflicts, on managing refugees, and in containing the flow of radicalised Europeans travelling through
Turkey to fight for ISIS. He also talked about plans to commemorate the centenary of the Gallipoli campaign
next April. Lib Dem Peer Baroness Hussein-Ece was also a member of the British team for this round table.
____________________________________
Lord Wallace of Tankerness repeated for the Government the Statement on the Smith
Commission into home-rule for Scotland. Jim Wallace, who has been heavily involved
within Government on the Scottish devolution question since the referendum, welcomed
the report and the fulfilment the Government has made of its promise to people in
Scotland to deliver draft legislation on further devolution by Burns night (25th January).
Speaking in the House he said: I know there are those in your Lordships House today who
have the T-Shirt from the Scottish constitutional convention and took part in the Calman
Commission. What was missing from both of those was the engagement of all the political parties in
Scotland. It is therefore significant that this is an agreement in which all five parties represented in the
Scottish parliament were involved.
Last Weeks Business

Making the case for the EU
On Tuesday the House debated the case for the United Kingdoms membership of the European Union. Liberal
Democrat Peers came out in force to defend the EU.
Baroness Smith made her maiden speech in the debate saying: We in the UK need to
persuade our partners in Europe of our strong bilateral contacts across Governments,
parliaments and parties, and we need to persuade people that the UKs membership of the
Union is important. I look forward to working with colleagues in all parts of your Lordships
House to ensure that the case for British membership of the European Union is made, and that
it is made effectively.
Former MEP Baroness Ludford highlighted the murky stance of the Tory party arguing that: we cannot win all
battles in Brussels but we can have a decent chance if we have a voice. The big picture is that the UK has a huge stake
in the EU single market. We must be constructive and engaged in pressing for the opening up and liberalisation.
Lord Rodgers, Lord Maclennan, Lord Taverne, Lord Philips also spoke in the debate promoting the benefits of EU
membership.
Government makes concessions on advertising payday loans to children

The Government, working alongside the Childrens Society, has announced plans
to outlaw the advertising of payday loans to children. Lib Dem Peer Baroness
Jolly spoke on behalf of the government saying: the Government share the
concern that payday lenders advertising can encourage irresponsible borrowing
and cause consumers real harm.
The Government have worked hard on this issue to listen to as many views as possible, both within this House and
beyond.
Treasury Ministers have asked BCAP to broaden the remit of its review, to ensure that it also
considers the appropriateness of its scheduling rules, as well as those around content. BCAP has
agreed to this and will expand its review with a view to publication of its findings, in full, in the new
year.
The Government are determined that children are protected from inappropriate advertising by payday lenders. The
Government have introduced a wide range of reforms to clean up the payday sector and these are already having a
significant impact in protecting consumers.
The Childrens Society released a statement saying: We welcome ministers recognition that the impact of such
advertising on children is a major cause for concern. We will be passing our evidence to the watchdog and will be
pushing for an early decision to ban these ads before the 9pm watershed.
Our research shows that children are routinely being exposed to advertising that makes high-risk, high-cost loans
seem fun or normal. And the majority of British parents support a pre-watershed ban. Children should learn about
borrowing and debt from their school and family not from irresponsible payday loan advertising which encourages
families to fall into problem debt.
On the blog this week:

o
Susan Kramer Confirms 16 Million Funding To Electrify 10 Mile Route Between Oxenholme And
Windermere
Winning Bidders For Car Club Funding Announced By Susan Kramer
Jenny Randerson Welcomes Wales Bill Passing Through House Of Lords
Sally Hamwee: Lords Push For A Stronger Modern Slavery Bill

See all the work that the Liberal Democrat Lords are doing at libdemlords.org.uk
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28 November 2014

The House will also begin the Committee stage consideration of

Quote of the Week

Tweet of the Week

Brain Paddick (@BrianPaddick)

Next weeks bills

Small Business, Enterprise and

The House of Lords will take note of the Autumn

Full schedule here

Lib Dem Lords

Baroness Northover answered questions on HIV

Last Weeks Business

Government makes concessions on advertising payday loans to children

On the blog this week:

Winning Bidders For Car Club Funding Announced By Susan Kramer

Jenny Randerson Welcomes Wales Bill Passing Through House Of Lords

Sally Hamwee: Lords Push For A Stronger Modern Slavery Bill

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