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G8: 2008 Summit

My Lords, I am grateful to both noble Lords for the advice they have given me throughout their comments. I agree with the noble Lord, Lord Strathclyde, that on behalf of this Government we should thank the Japanese Prime Minister for his hospitality. Whatever may have been written in the press, it is important to recognise the effort that nations put in to ensure that these occasions achieve the best that they can. The noble Lord, Lord Strathclyde, questioned the cost of such events, but both noble Lords questioned their relevance. My view is that we need all the different kinds of events: the informal bilaterals, the telephone conversations, the informal talks among world leaders in the margins of meetings, and the formal sessions. Speaking more humbly, I have not even been a spear carrier at these events but I have, as noble Lords know, attended the Peru summit on behalf of the Prime Minister and the European Union Justice and Home Affairs Council. There was never a meeting that I went to, and sometimes I went tired and reluctant, where I did not benefit from the ability to talk face-to-face to someone—often a meeting that took place spontaneously, but which achieved a great deal. We have to make sure that the context in which world leaders are able to discuss issues together is an important one. Events in individual nations prevent leaders, Ministers and politicians doing many things, and without these scheduled meetings it would be much more difficult. I am sure that noble Lords opposite, some of whom played eminent roles when they were in government, will well remember the difficulties of trying to find the time to have this kind of discussion and debate. The point is well made, none the less, that one always has to look at these events in that context. Institutional reform is one of the issues that the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary have said is important. The IMF needs to become that early warning device. I know that that area was discussed, and it is something the Prime Minister feels strongly that we need to consider. I am grateful for the congratulations that were given on getting Zimbabwe to the top of the G8 agenda. We await what will happen in New York. In the Statement I described 14 named people who are part of that inner cabal of the Mugabe ““Government””, as it were, on whom we are looking to impose travel and financial sanctions. That will be done, as I said, through a forensic assessment of these people’s bank accounts and so on. I say to the noble Lord, Lord McNally, that the Prime Minister and the other G8 leaders had a frank discussion with President Mbeke at the G8 Africa Outreach session on the first day of the summit. I am sure that many of the points that have been raised today, at Question Time and elsewhere were raised with President Mbeke. We understand the position that noble Lords hold on that. With regard to access to HIV treatment, the deadline is 2010, which is not very far away. The tenor of what I was trying to put across in the Statement was that my right honourable friend the Prime Minister was keen to turn dates and rather nebulous commitments into action plans that gave not only interim goals, where that was appropriate, but also the action plans to support them from each country. He will continue to push for that. We cannot deal with climate change without working together with all the major global economies. That is being done partly through the Gleneagles dialogue and the Major Economies Meeting. It is important for the G8 to act as a group but within the context of recognising the importance of working together. All these international organisations—the European Union, the G8 and the UN—have a part to play in trying to keep the pressure on ourselves and each other, as well as in finding ways to implement the changes that will be needed. With regard to the Doha round, my money is on Commissioner Mandelson. It is important that we continue to put pressure on trying to reach agreement. Without repeating everything I said in the Statement, I hope noble Lords will be assured of our commitment to trying to find a solution to break the deadlock that has been with us for some considerable time. There was not a formal bilateral between the Prime Minister and President Sarkozy, but they discussed trade in the margins. The French President has said that he is committed to successful World Trade Organisation talks. We now have to look to what can be achieved in the WTO, but in the firm knowledge that this country will be pushing hard to ensure that we reach the best possible agreement. With regard to the link between food production, climate change and poverty, it is important that we recognise that the poorest who are hit hardest by climate change are often hit hardest when they are trying to sustain food crops. We need to consider what food the world has to grow in order to feed all our people. It is important that the Global Partnership for Agriculture and Food, which is not yet in detail but has set itself the vision to bring everyone together to work out precisely how we do that, is an important step in so doing. We continue to impress on the Iranian Government the need for transparency in all its nuclear activities. I agree with the noble Lord, Lord McNally, on the importance of the continuing dialogue with Russia. The meeting between the Prime Minister and the Russian President was important. The discussion was helpful, in that everything that could be raised was raised, but I agree that there need to be ongoing dialogues.