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Vol. 755 Thursday No. 23 10 July 2014 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES (HANSARD) HOUSE OF LORDS OFFICIAL REPORT ORDER OF BUSINESS Questions European Commission: UK Member ..........................................................................269 NHS: Hospital Waiting Times.....................................................................................271 NHS: District Nurses ...................................................................................................274 Arts: Lottery Funding ..................................................................................................276 Business of the House Timing of Debates.........................................................................................................279 Communications Data and Interception Statement........................................................................................................................279 BBC World Service and British Council Motion to Take Note....................................................................................................291 Legal Systems: Rule of Law Motion to Take Note....................................................................................................329 Grand Committee Infrastructure Bill Committee (3rd Day)............................................................................................GC 155 Written Statements......................................................................................................WS 25 Written Answers ...........................................................................................................WA 63 £4·00 Lords wishing to be supplied with these Daily Reports should give notice to this effect to the Printed Paper Office. 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The first time a Member speaks to a new piece of parliamentary business, the following abbreviations are used to show their party affiliation: Abbreviation Party/Group CB Cross Bench Con Conservative Con Ind Conservative Independent DUP Democratic Unionist Party GP Green Party Ind Lab Independent Labour Ind LD Independent Liberal Democrat Ind SD Independent Social Democrat Lab Labour Lab Ind Labour Independent LD Liberal Democrat LD Ind Liberal Democrat Independent Non-afl Non-affiliated PC Plaid Cymru UKIP UK Independence Party UUP Ulster Unionist Party No party affiliation is given for Members serving the House in a formal capacity, the Lords spiritual, Members on leave of absence or Members who are otherwise disqualified from sitting in the House. © Parliamentary Copyright House of Lords 2014, this publication may be reproduced under the terms of the Open Parliament licence, which is published at www.parliament.uk/site-information/copyright/. 269 European Commission: UK Member[10 JULY 2014] European Commission: UK Member 270 Baroness Warsi: The noble Lord will be aware that House of Lords a number of privy counsellors have served as Commissioners and they have managed to serve incredibly Thursday, 10 July 2014. well. 11 am Lord Tomlinson (Lab): Does the noble Baroness Prayers—read by the Lord Bishop of Truro. agree that one of the qualities that our Commissioner will need is a capacity to ignore the personal vendetta European Commission: UK Member that has been run by the Prime Minister against Mr Jean- Question Claude Juncker and to learn how to get on with him as the distribution of portfolios, which is of major 11.06 am importance to this country, will partly be the responsibility of Mr Juncker? Asked by Lord Dykes To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they Baroness Warsi: I take real issue with what the expect to announce the name of the next United noble Lord has said. I try not to bring party politics to Kingdom member of the European Commission. this Dispatch Box but it is important that, when the Prime Minister of this country takes a principled The Senior Minister of State, Department for Communities stance on an important matter—a matter on which his and Local Government & Foreign and Commonwealth party agreed—we should stop the sniping and get Office (Baroness Warsi) (Con): My Lords, as set out in behind him. the treaties, Commission portfolios will be allocated by the Commission President Designate to those nominated Lord Cormack (Con): My Lords, would there not by member states and agreed by common accord in the be much relief all round if Mr Clegg were asked to go Council. We expect the European Parliament to confirm to Brussels? Mr Juncker’s appointment as President Designate on 15 July. The Commission as a whole will then be confirmed by the European Parliament in the autumn. Baroness Warsi: Mr Clegg is an incredibly effective Deputy Prime Minister and a Cabinet colleague for Lord Dykes (LD): With the wise reminder last week whom I have great respect. If he were to take on that of the noble Lord, Lord Kinnock, should not HMG role, I know that he would be deeply missed at Cabinet. deliberately and carefully make sure that they choose an ideal candidate on this occasion, because of the Lord Bach (Lab): My Lords, if I were Prime Minister, urgent matters in hand for the European Commissioner? I would want to avoid a by-election. Does the noble The candidate should be an articulate, international, Baroness agree? sagacious, knowledgeable person—maybe female again, like her predecessor—someone who actually likes the Baroness Warsi: The important thing is that we European Union and working with people and who make sure that we appoint a good Commissioner who likes foreigners and speaks foreign languages. As that does a good job in Europe. All the other factors are would of course narrow down the field if it is a secondary. Conservative nominee, what about a Liberal Democrat one? We are the only party that stood up for Europe at the last election. Lord Deben (Con): Does my noble friend accept that there are some serious matters at stake here? At Baroness Warsi: Possibly even from Yorkshire, my the heart of the Question—which has a lot of persiflage Lords. As to the serious part of my noble friend’s round it, if I may say so to my noble friend—is the fact question, we need to make sure that our Commissioner is that we need somebody who will go to Brussels and candidate understands the changing role of the European do the job properly, which means doing their best for Union, the need for reform and the fact that the the whole of the European Community, and who will Commissioner has to act in a way that benefits member have the confidence of people throughout the country. states and the European Union as a whole. I can It should not be somebody who goes to Brussels with assure my noble friend, and indeed the House, that the predetermined views and an unwillingness to work Prime Minister has a line-up of very strong candidates. with our colleagues in the European Union. Lord Pearson of Rannoch (UKIP): My Lords, are Baroness Warsi: My noble friend makes an important the Government aware that our new Commissioner point. However, I think he would accept that at the will have to swear sole allegiance to the European recent European elections, not just in the United Kingdom Union, ignoring our national interest? but across the European Union, the citizens of the member states sent out a very clear signal about the Lord Richard (Lab): Not true. kind of Europe they want, and it is important that Commissioners reflect that in their work. Lord Pearson of Rannoch: Actually it is true; it is in the treaties. Does that not rule out privy counsellors, Lord Kinnock (Lab): I have listened to the noble who have taken an oath of sole allegiance to the Baroness over recent weeks on this issue. May I say to Queen? her— 271 European Commission: UK Member[LORDS] NHS: Hospital Waiting Times 272 Noble Lords: Question! by that test, will the Minister comment on this morning’s statistics from NHS England which showed that over Lord Kinnock: I said “May I say to her”—there the past year the number of patients waiting six months seems to be some difficulty with the English language or longer for treatment have gone up by 20%? Does on the other side of the House. The noble Baroness that not show that the Prime Minister has failed his has demonstrated a full understanding of the real own test? nature of the role of the Commissioner and the way in which the reform agenda has to be promulgated and Earl Howe: My Lords, I do not believe that that is a effectively developed in the European Commission fair comment. In the past four years, since the Government and, indeed, she