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Address in Reply to Her Majesty's Most Gracious Speech

My Lords, I offer my congratulations to the noble Viscount, Lord Simon, on so bravely overcoming such an untimely asthma attack and giving us the benefit of his thoughts. We know that the gracious Speech is an opportunity for the Government of the day to set out their legislative programme. I would have hoped that, after all the trailing of their ambitions at the election, the Speech would have been characterised by some big ideas. Anything that smacked of that was left nearly until the end, when we reached subjects such as the prevention of terrorism, peace in the Middle East and partnership between Europe and the United States. Like my noble friend Lady Byford I find it revealing that climate change is mentioned only in the context of the presidency of the G8, although it is a major issue in its own right. But that tenor of the gracious Speech in some ways seems to echo something of the level of the general election campaign, which for some reason did not do much to inspire the voters. Was that some reflection that here we have an electorate that, however much some may abhor the idea, is still looking for a purpose as noted by Dean Acheson more than 40 years ago, who commented that Britain had lost an empire but had yet to find a role? When one looks at the ideas being promoted at this time, a major one is the promotion of a concept of freedom based on massive consumption. It should not be a surprise to find that there are large areas of the world where this is not considered particularly attractive, especially when there is not a great deal available to consume. There must be a question for our political leaders as to whether individuals could be asked to consider a concept of a freedom related to frugality. It is a concept that can be taken to extremes in some religions, but I would maintain that that is no good reason for its consideration to be disqualified. We have occasional glimpses of such thinking, and perhaps it should give us some reassurance to know that the Government's approach to the issue is not going to be confined to their campaign against obesity. But joking apart, I have a sense that there are a great many young people whose thinking is moving in that direction. Most of us can feel some sympathy for them in that they may not want it to apply to themselves instantly, but it makes a considerable amount of sense when they have to consider finite resources, pollution, global warming and so on. In the previous Session the Government gave us a wonderfully ambitious target of 20 per cent for reduction in our greenhouse gas emissions. Having achieved a 9.6 per cent reduction two years ago the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics for 2003 show a 1.6 per cent increase. The fact that the Government only last year had to go back on their National Allocation Plan application because of an underestimate of the base levels of the power-generating sector has meant that we are no longer seen in world terms as the leaders and drivers of that policy. Will the Minister tell the House if the Government have identified any plans to put us back on track to achieve their target? If the Government achieve their aim there will be no need for Britain to enter the market for carbon credits. But will the Minister tell the House if he is aware of the number of countries in the European Union that are currently putting aside funds to finance the purchase of carbon credits in case their industries cannot meet the target that has been set for them? That could be an issue of some importance as it could act to penalise some of our own industries as they work to meet their own targets. So will the Government give it some consideration to see if any action on their part is needed? The Kyoto treaty is now a reality. I understand that the World Bank has recently held a conference on carbon trading in Cologne. Europe has set up its own carbon emissions trading structure, but it now appears to have been expanded enabling it to tackle trading worldwide. There is now an executive board with a secretariat, known as CDM, situated in Bonn which, for those whose savings are certified, can issue the carbon certificates for sale and an international transaction log, which is administered in Denmark. Other countries are claiming their role in the action. Given the expertise that exists in the financial markets in London there should be an opportunity for the City to become one of the foremost centres for this trade. Do the Government have any plans to take a role in helping to establish that? Following the concerns expressed by the noble Countess, Lady Mar, about animal health, I declare an interest as a livestock farmer. A major review of agriculture and veterinary research establishments is taking place in Scotland. The institutions in Scotland carry out some of the most significant animal health research in the world on matters such as TSE and TB, but there is a fear that there is not enough co-ordination and a possible duplication of administration. Many such institutes rely on funding from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, at levels up to 20 per cent of their expenditure. Given what they do and the need for the eradication of a number of animal diseases, I hope that an increase in efficiency will not lead to a reduction in frontline funding. One has to ask whether there is scope for a similar review in England of the work carried out by the Institute for Animal Health in Pirbright and the Veterinary Laboratories Agency. Do the Government consider that they currently have sufficient funds to carry out the tasks required of them? What can be done to make them more effective? Other European countries are taking a serious approach to eradicating diseases in their livestock, about some of which this country has not even started to think. We have had an unfortunate recent history of widespread BSE and foot and mouth. Let us hope that we can still rescue our reputation as a source of healthy livestock for the world.