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G8: 2008 Summit

My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness for repeating the Statement. She deserves a medal for her endurance. It is clear from contemplating the menus published in the press that a good time was had by all and, after his strictures about food being wasted in our fridges, I hope that the Prime Minister took a doggy-bag with him. But there is a serious point in all this because we should thank the Japanese people for their exquisite courtesy and hospitality, and whose firm friendship we appreciate so much. Equally, however, I wonder if it is tolerable in the present state of the world that any Government should feel the need to spend £283 million to enable a few selected political leaders to meet. Have we not drifted too far from the original intention of an informal gathering of world leaders to enable them to exchange ideas informally and away from the glare of events? Should we not perhaps go back to something like that? There are already enough gala events on the international merry-go-round with pre-cooked communiqués to justify far more informality. Turning to some of the outcomes, I congratulate the Prime Minister on at long last getting Zimbabwe to the top of the G8 agenda. The communiqué says that the G8 does not now recognise the legitimacy of the Zimbabwe Government. Does that mean that the defeated presidential candidate, Mr Mugabe, will no longer be addressed as ““President”” by the UK Government? There is talk of an arms embargo, but is not even that a little late after Mr Mugabe’s arsenal, despite the stand of South African trade unionists, was replenished with Chinese arms? There is also some talk of travel restrictions. If she is able to, can the noble Baroness expand on what these will mean? How many members of the murderous Mugabe clique will now be targeted, and what will be done about the weakness of the UN in allowing Mr Mugabe to attend UN gatherings? Can we be assured that there will be no repeat of the recent shaming events at the Food and Agricultural Organisation conference in Rome? Will there be a UN commission to investigate human rights abuses in Zimbabwe, because talk is poor medicine for that country’s woes? Another southern African country cries for action, and it has waited too long for justice. On Africa more widely, I ask about the vital issue of access to HIV and AIDS treatment. Last year, when Mr Blair was Prime Minister, he said that the G8 had reiterated, "““its commitment to delivering universal access to HIV/AIDS treatment by 2010””.—[Official Report, Commons, 11/6/07; col. 514.]" Yet now, with just two years to go, the G8 says that it is merely ““working towards the goal”” of universal access. Has this vital goal been diluted, because it does not sound to me like a very concrete proposal? No interim targets have been set in the fight against HIV/AIDS, and if one looks at the statements on climate change, one sees that the details are, as is often the case with Mr Brown, not as impressive as the headlines. The emissions target is for ““global emissions””, not G8 emissions, and it is not clear what the figure for developed countries will be. The target is 42 years away and there are no clear interim targets. The declaration issued by the wider group of economies on Wednesday includes no specific figures at all, so progress since last year has been painfully slow. Did the Prime Minister take the opportunity to explain his policy on motoring, and whether he has yet been able to retract his assurances that the majority of drivers in the United Kingdom would be unaffected by the increase in vehicle excise duty? On the world economy, I welcome a reassertion of the importance of globalisation and the breaking down of trade barriers. A renewed commitment is given to the Doha negotiations, but what specific progress can we expect, and when? Is not the unedifying public spat between President Sarkozy and Commissioner Mandelson a matter of some concern? It is worrying if a representative of one of the prime protectionist bodies in world trade is taken to task for being too open. Did the Prime Minister have a bilateral discussion with the President of France to take this up with him, and did he tell him to lay off his friend the commissioner? What conclusions were drawn on oil prices, given the Prime Minister’s discussions with the Russian President, and on food prices? Do the Government have a view on oil prices? Do they now believe that they will go up or down over the next quarter, and what steps have been taken to reduce food prices? Do the Government believe that there will be a reduction in the year ahead? Do not the Government now regret their negotiating error in giving up Britain’s EU rebate before securing reform of the protectionist CAP? France and the United States are cutting taxes to boost people’s living standards, but Britain has no such freedom. Thanks to the Government’s policies we now have the biggest budget deficit not only of G8 countries but of all the 55 large economies except Hungary, Egypt and Pakistan. I doubt that the Prime Minister gave the G8 leaders a lecture over the sushi about no more boom and bust. Finally, the G8 expressed concern about Iran’s nuclear non-compliance and called on the Iranian Government to act in a more responsible and constructive manner, particularly in the Middle East, Iraq and Afghanistan. How do the Government now assess the responsibility and constructiveness of the salvos of long-range missiles fired off by Iran in the aftermath of the G8? In view of its threats to respond against coalition forces in the event of something that none of us wants to see—a strike by a foreign power on Iranian nuclear facilities—how do the Government assess any potential threat in the coming months? At the summit there was unquestionably a lot of talk, which has led to a lot of conclusions. It remains to be seen whether any of this will result in action or benefit to the world, or whether any good at all will come out of it.