Kerry McCarthy
MP for Bristol East · Labour · United Kingdom
“We see that in four main ways: physical risks, including floods, wildfires, droughts and storms; transition risks as economies move away from high-carbon industries; nature-related risks affecting food production and natural resources; and systemic risks, where shocks spread rapidly across sectors and markets.”
“The glaciers of the third pole function as Asia’s water tower, feeding major river systems that support nearly 2 billion people. When rising temperatures accelerate glacial melt, the consequences extend far beyond the mountains.”
“Following the heatwaves and wildfires across Europe this summer and the destruction caused by the glacier collapse and catastrophic flooding in Nepal and Tibet, the message is becoming impossible to ignore: the consequences of climate change and environmental degradation are real, not some distant future threat.”
“Personally, I cannot see that Rosebank is compatible with meeting our climate objectives, but I recognise that the process should be followed. Green Alliance has reported that the gas being wasted in the North sea would be enough to heat 570,000 homes.”
“I too worked in the financial markets, although I think I have done a better job of hiding it in my 21 years in Parliament. I was more on the debt market side. In fact, I am so old that I was part of the salvage operation for Barings bank when it went under. That brings me to the right hon. Gentleman’s point about regulation.”
“My hon. Friend will not be surprised to hear that I very much agree with the point that he just made. We have some excellent, innovative businesses in Bristol that came up through the Science Creates innovation hubs and attracted private capital.”
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“Although the conduct of the election this month was an improvement on previous years and there seems to have been a smooth and peaceful transition of power, there were nevertheless reports of intimidation and harassment during the campaign, and reports that the new Government will investigate an alleged coup plot. It will be helpful if the Minister could provide his assessment of reports on efforts to investigate voter intimidation, and on the prospects for free and fair parliamentary elections later this year. I believe that those elections will be held in late May or June, so there is not much time to ensure that that happens. We hope that the new President will be able to put Sri Lanka firmly on the path towards peace and democracy.”
“Will the Foreign Office and the Leader of the House, who is still responsible for the PSVI, pursue that initiative with the new President as soon as possible? Will the Minister for Europe also update us on the FCO’s work with the Home Office, following the previous Foreign Secretary’s assurances last June that he would investigate claims that failed Tamil asylum seekers who were returned to Sri Lanka by the Home Office had been subjected to torture and sexual violence? I know that this is not the Foreign Office’s direct responsibility, but I hope that he is able to assure us that the election result will not lead to automatic assumptions by the Home Office that Tamils are now safe to return to Sri Lanka.”
“I also hope the Minister is able to update us today on discussions relating not only to the UN investigation, but to compliance with Human Rights Council resolution 25/1 more generally, and to agreeing the outstanding requests for visits by UN special procedures mandate holders. As my hon. Friend the Member for Mitcham and Morden mentioned, it is notable that President Rajapaksa repeatedly refused to sign up to the Foreign Office’s preventing sexual violence initiative, despite the efforts of the Prime Minister and the previous Foreign Secretary to persuade him to do so. These are very early days, of course, but do the Government think that the new President will be any more receptive?”
“The new President must take positive steps to safeguard freedom of expression, to deliver justice regarding the enforced disappearances, to end the arbitrary arrests, to ensure that freedom of religion is respected and to ensure that Tamil and Muslim minorities are protected. Demilitarisation will also be key, especially in the north. As my hon. Friend the Member for Mitcham and Morden said, the President’s decision to replace the governor of the northern province with a civilian has been taken as a positive signal of intent and an indication that he is listening to the Tamil National Alliance. I hope that will continue.”
“His commitments to end nepotism and corruption, to restore the independence of the judiciary and to repeal the 18th amendment are welcome. It is also crucial that he seeks to work with the Tamil community and to repay the faith it invested in him during the election. For Tamils it is about not just the UN investigation, but addressing the injustices that they have suffered since 2011 and the publication of the LLRC report. As the high commissioner’s September update to the Human Rights Council noted, the Rajapaksa Government proscribed a number of Tamil diaspora groups as terrorist organisations.”
“I absolutely agree, and there is nothing I can add. The hon. Gentleman makes his point very powerfully. The fact that such precautions and safeguards are necessary highlights the fact that our concerns about Sri Lanka should not be confined to what happened during the civil war. This is not something under which we can draw a line. As successive Human Rights Council resolutions have documented, there were ongoing concerns about human rights, democracy and the rule of law in Sri Lanka that President Rajapaksa failed to address. Indeed, in many ways, his conduct exacerbated those issues. The new President’s pledges during the election campaign to correct those concerns were a significant factor in his success.”
“I am pleased with what the Minister has to say about the visit to Sri Lanka by the Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the right hon. Member for East Devon (Mr Swire), particularly that he is going to the north. The Minister may be coming on to this, but when will we hear about the right hon. Gentleman’s visit? Will he be able to write to MPs or give a written ministerial statement?”
“The moment has slightly passed, but when my hon. Friend was listing the projects she has visited I was going to remind her that we also went together to Pakistan after the dreadful earthquake there and saw the relief efforts and the work DFID was doing.”
“I agree that it is important that the issue is mainstreamed, as it ought to be across all Departments in the UK, but that does not mean that there is no need for a lead Department on climate change in the UK. In the same way, I believe that a stand-alone sustainable development goal on climate change would help to focus minds, keep the issue firmly on the agenda and ensure that we do not drop the ball on what is a very important issue.”
“Yesterday, I met seven of the eight ambassadors and chargés d’affaires from central American countries and last week I met the high commissioner from the Maldives. Those countries see the impact of climate change on their lives on a daily basis. The Maldives might no longer exist if we do not meet the 2° target. That is why what happens in Paris at the end of the year is so important. I have asked the Secretary of State at International Development questions about the Government’s commitment to a stand-alone climate change goal. I admit that I am still slightly confused. I have heard from other people that we will probably accept all 17 goals. However, in her response to me, the Secretary of State suggested that she would prefer to see sustainability mainstreamed across the post-2015 framework.”
“Goal 10 is about linking human development with the future of the planet. As has been said, we cannot eradicate poverty unless we tackle climate change. It has an impact in many ways. It affects whether a country can produce enough food to feed its people and whether people can move beyond subsistence farming to being able to make a living from farming. It affects the water supply. For example, we can look at the impact that climate change and glacial melt are having on the mountainous areas of Nepal and Tibet, which are sometimes described as the third pole because they make up the third biggest ice mass after the Arctic and Antarctic. It causes natural disasters that range from droughts to floods and that include typhoons, tropical storms and landslides due to soil degradation.”
“Globally, the blue water footprint for the agricultural production of food waste is about 250 km 3 , which is more than 38 times the blue water footprint of USA households. That brings me to goal 9, which is that, “All people enjoy a sustainable, healthy and resilient environment”, and goal 10, which is that, “The world is on track to avoid dangerous climate change and is less vulnerable to its impacts”. The targets that are attached to goal 9 are admirable: “Reduce ecosystem degradation and biodiversity loss… Manage natural resources that are essential for people’s basic needs within their natural limits… Embed sustainable consumption and production in national policies and practice.” Again, those goals apply not just to developing countries, but to the UK. There is much that we could do and need to do to meet those targets.”
“There is enough food, but it does not get to the people who need it. We have obesity on the one hand, and starvation and malnutrition on the other. According to the UN, more than a third of the food that is produced—about 1.3 billion tonnes—ends up being wasted. That is a scandal. The food that is wasted, according to Tristram Stuart’s excellent book of 2009, “Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal”, is enough to feed 3 billion people. That would still leave enough surplus for countries to provide their populations with 130% of their nutritional requirements. The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation estimates that every year the production of food that is wasted generates 3.3 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases and uses up to 1.4 billion hectares of land, which is 28% of the world’s agricultural area.”
“Goal 2, on hunger, has among its targets that the world should ensure that “food systems are stable, sustainable and produce enough nutritious food for all”, and that “all people can access and consume adequate, affordable and nutritious food.” Given that the sustainable development goals, unlike the MDGs, will apply to developing and developed countries, I am keen not only for such targets to be implemented in the developing world, but for them to be addressed in the UK, where food poverty is very much an issue and there are real concerns about child malnutrition. There are also concerns about food distribution. The International Development Committee produced an excellent report on food security. We produce more than enough calories to feed a world population of 9 billion, which we are estimated to reach by 2050.”
“I am very pleased that Labour has called this debate to highlight a particularly momentous year for international development, with the launch of the sustainable development goals and the climate change talks in Paris in December. Much was achieved under the previous development framework of the millennium development goals, but much more of course needs to be done. In the time available, I want to concentrate on a few of the goals.”
“Can the Minister tell the House how much the Chancellor spent on legal fees alone in that failed legal challenge? Was that not a huge waste of money when the priority should have been to help those people most in need?”
“The report showed that about a quarter of a million people last year used food banks because of benefit sanctions. I have a constituent who showed me evidence that he applied for hundreds of jobs, but, because he applied for one by handing in a CV in person rather than through the website, he was sanctioned for three months without money. Does the Secretary of State agree that that is completely outrageous?”
“In answer to my earlier question, the right hon. Gentleman talked about the number of food banks under the last Labour Government. In the last year of that Government, there were 41,000 food bank users, but the number is now nearly 1 million a year—a figure that just before Christmas he referred to as “tiny”. What do we have to do to get him to accept that food bank use and the scandal of food poverty in this country are his responsibility and that he needs to do more about them?”
“I am pleased to hear the Minister acknowledge that the present service on the First Great Western line is not good enough. As she will know as a south-west MP, one of the biggest issues is capacity. I know that new rolling stock is to be introduced, but will that be enough to address the terrible overcrowding issues, which I am sure her constituents have raised with her, as mine have with me?”
“5. If he will review the effectiveness of the procedure for tabling money resolutions for private Members’ Bills; and if he will make a statement.”
“It is six months since the House voted to back the excellent Bill promoted by my hon. Friend the Member for Eltham (Clive Efford) which would reverse the worst aspects NHS privatisation, yet the Government have failed to bring forward the necessary motion for it to proceed to Committee. Will the Leader of the House listen to the will of the House and the British public, and ensure that it is respected by acting so that the Bill can now proceed to Committee?”
“The Home Secretary has repeatedly said that the decision on the new chairman will be made by the end of January, which is next week on Saturday. She has also said that there is quite a short list, that she wants to consult on that shortlist with survivors, and that once the appointment is made due diligence needs to be carried out. Is she confident that all that can be done next week without the risk of yet another farce and another chairman who is not acceptable to the survivors?”
“Earlier this week, I tabled a question to the Prime Minister to ask about the work of his special representative on preventing sexual violence in conflict, particularly in relation to the changing situation in Sri Lanka. I have just had a letter from No. 10 telling me that my question has been transferred to the Foreign Office. I am not sure whether that means that the special representative, who is a truly admirable man, now reports to the Foreign Secretary. Will the Leader of the House advise me on what mechanisms are available to Members wishing to have a discussion with the special representative on his important work?”
“Before I came in, I was speaking to my hon. Friend the Member for Alyn and Deeside (Mark Tami), who would have liked to be here but who has a meeting and sends his apologies. When reading the testimonies from the MPS Society UK, I was struck by how significant a difference the drug makes to children’s energy levels. Obviously, clinical trials and other formal assessments are important, but the personal testimonies from the families about the changes that they have seen in the children and how much energy the drug gives them are far more compelling than any scientific assessment could be. Does the hon. Gentleman agree that listening to the families is important?”
“I am sure we all hope that President Sirisena’s election marks a new era for Sri Lanka. Following on from the question from my hon. Friend the Member for Darlington (Jenny Chapman), does the Minister agree that if the President is to gain the trust of the international community, he must now demonstrate his support for the UN inquiry? From the Minister’s initial conversations, does he believe that the new Administration will fully co-operate with the UN and will fully commit to securing truth and justice for the Sri Lankan people?”
“Just before Christmas, the Department announced plans to downgrade highly popular skills-based qualifications on developing personal effectiveness and to use section 96 powers to revoke approval for such qualifications. As ASDAN, based in my constituency, told me on Friday, it is difficult to imagine more contradictory policy making. Those qualifications were aimed exactly at what the Secretary of State is talking about, so why is she planning to downgrade them?”
“Why is there a need for a sunset clause? I do not understand why we feel that everything will have been solved in 10 years. Would it not be better to leave it open-ended and repeal the legislation in 10 years’ time if we feel that the situation has been dealt with? I would hope that in 10 years’ time we will have moved to a democratically elected House of Lords.”
“To conclude, given the vulnerability of patients who currently rely on specialised commissioning, I hope that the Minister will work with organisations such as the Cystic Fibrosis Trust and other members of the Specialised Healthcare Alliance, and give due consideration to their call to maintain mandatory national service standards.”
“Just how will co-commissioning work for a condition such as CF without undermining the key principles of the existing nationally commissioned service—avoidance of duplication, the consistent standard of care and facilities across the country, and a joined-up approach to future treatments? If cystic fibrosis is co-commissioned, what aspects of the service would be commissioned nationally and which would be commissioned locally? Is the Minister at all concerned that local CCGs may not have the expertise to commission aspects of care for a condition as complex as cystic fibrosis?”
“It has also been highlighting the issue of national access to drug therapy, which will become increasingly important if, as we hope, new drugs are developed. The trust warns that, without the necessary national approach, we will see worrying postcode lotteries, and that “overstretched clinical commissioning groups may not be able to support the level of service required in specialist centres, complete with integrated patient pathways and multidisciplinary expertise.” I want to end by asking the Minister a number of questions. He may not be able to reply to them today, but I would be grateful if he could pick them up in writing. Given that CF care is provided by a single, multidisciplinary team, funded by a year-of-care tariff, what would co-commissioning look like for cystic fibrosis services?”
“Given the proposal to incentivise CCGs to reduce spending on specialised services, the trust is concerned that a move to co-commissioning is “a veiled attempt at cost-cutting”. The Cystic Fibrosis Trust argues that the current arrangements have delivered economies of scale through the focus on fewer, larger units; that they facilitate clear accountability in commissioning; and that they provide, together with the clinical reference group, the potential for continuous improvement and innovation. They also ensure consistency and equity of access across the country, something that again, is very much missing from the organ transplant system, and the trust has been campaigning for some time for a national lung transplant allocation system.”
“It used to be that they did not survive into adulthood, so the issue of paying prescription charges did not come up, whereas now, their life expectancy is much longer, although it is still very much a serious illness. When I visited Bristol Royal infirmary to look at its unit last year, it was clear that capacity and managing its bed allocation was becoming a bigger problem because there are more patients around. Arguably, that means that specialised commissioning will become increasingly important. The Cystic Fibrosis Trust is concerned that a move towards co-commissioning, rather than expanding the availability of specialised units, will be a retrograde step for the care and treatment of CF.”
“In recognition of the different needs of patient groups at different ages, NHS England has two service specifications for CF—one for adults and one for children to ensure that the services meet their needs. I want to talk briefly about the concerns that the Cystic Fibrosis Trust raised with me about the consequences of co-commissioning. Specialised services, such as Bristol’s, are becoming increasingly important as the life expectancy for people with CF increases and as patient numbers expand. It used to be very much a childhood illness, which is why the issue of people with cystic fibrosis having to pay prescription charges is an anomaly.”
“Patient care includes physiotherapy, nutrition, antibiotics and, often, a long wait on the lung transplant list, which is something that I have raised in the Commons before. Cystic fibrosis patients need a dedicated team of specialist consultants, nurses, dieticians, physiotherapists, pharmacists, social workers and psychologists. Their susceptibility to cross-infection also means that they need to avoid other cystic fibrosis patients, so it is particularly difficult to provide services for them. I have spoken before about how invaluable it is for cystic fibrosis patients to have a dedicated service, and we are very fortunate in Bristol to have the Bristol Adult Cystic Fibrosis Centre, and also a special paediatric unit at Bristol children’s hospital.”
“I was in the Chamber for the start of the debate on contaminated blood. We heard some very sad stories about haemophiliacs contracting hepatitis C and HIV/AIDS as a result of receiving infected blood. Haemophiliacs are another group who benefit from these services, as indeed do people with HIV/AIDS. I particularly want to raise some points today on behalf of the Cystic Fibrosis Trust, which, as the Minister will know, does excellent work. It has already been mentioned by the hon. Member for Colchester (Sir Bob Russell). Cystic fibrosis is not among the rarest of conditions; it is actually the most common life-threatening, inherited disease and affects over 10,000 people in the UK. However, it is very complex, and because of the associated conditions that go with it, it requires very much a co-ordinated holistic approach.”
“I congratulate you on your knighthood, Sir David, and I also congratulate you on West Ham’s success. I tend to follow West Ham, as my little nephew, Oliver, is a great fan, but as I gather you are next up against Bristol City, I am afraid that this is one occasion when I am not allowed to express support. I am pleased to follow my colleagues in speaking on this issue. I know that my hon. Friend the Member for Blaydon (Mr Anderson) has had to leave for the debate in the main Chamber, but I want to mention briefly the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign. It has spoken to me many times about the need for the national commissioning of specialised services, so it is obviously concerned that that may be under threat. I have a constituent with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, so I am pleased that my hon. Friend brought up the issue of access to Translarna.”
“I visited the cystic fibrosis unit at Bristol, and one of the key problems for people from remoter, rural areas is accessing the ongoing support, or even the drugs, that they need. In the cities there may be a concentration of patients with the same illness or a unit that specialises in treating it, and one of my concerns about co-commissioning is that a CF patient somewhere in Devon or Cornwall will have very few other patients nearby. The problems that such patients already have with being remote from the hospitals that treat them will be exacerbated if there is a local element.”
“3. What discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the effect on musicians and other creative professionals of EU proposals to change the way VAT is charged on digital services.”
“I thank the Minister for that response and for agreeing to reinstate the question after his officials tried to transfer it to the Treasury. That was very kind of him. As he will know, musicians are very concerned that they will end up having to fill out quarterly VAT returns for very small sources of income. If they sell their music through iTunes or Bandcamp, they will perhaps do the administration for them, but it is a real issue if musicians have to handle it themselves. I urge the Minister to take part in those discussions with the Treasury and ensure that the voices of musicians and other people in the creative sector are heard.”
“Channel 4 has just launched its 360° charter, which is making a real commitment to improving diversity, to the extent that executives will lose their bonuses if they do not meet the targets. What is the Secretary of State doing to ensure that other companies follow suit?”
“Bristol’s fairness commission reported last year and described Bristol as a “tale of two cities,” with some areas facing “persistent deprivation.” When the Government entered power, they refused to implement clause 1 of the Equality Act 2010, the socio-economic duty, which would have placed a duty on all public bodies to have awareness of the effect of economic inequality on their policies. Will the Government reconsider that, because it is an issue that they have completely overlooked?”
“The Electoral Commission has written to political blogs, including the excellent “LabourList”, to warn them about complying with the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act 2014 and telling them that what they do could be interpreted as regulated campaign activity. May we have an urgent debate to ensure that blogs are not prevented from reporting and commenting on the election campaign as they see fit, just as the mainstream print media will be able to do?”
“I congratulate my hon. Friend and other Members involved in producing this excellent report. One of my constituents affected, Councillor Bill Payne, has praised the report. On her point about the piecemeal nature of the support available, I must say that I was really struck by that when I read the report. It is difficult enough to deal with the health care system and the welfare system without the additional burden of bureaucracy, and it seems that some of the organisations involved are not very good at responding to people’s needs, so I agree that that needs to be addressed urgently.”
“T10. At Southmead hospital in Bristol, just 81% of patients are seen within four hours and the number of blocked beds is three times the national average. At Bristol Royal infirmary it is double the national average. What is the Secretary of State doing specifically to help hospitals in the Bristol area?”
“As my hon. Friend the Member for Newport West (Paul Flynn) mentioned, the French company AREVA, which is part of the NMP consortium, also has a very big interest in Hinkley Point. I know that the sites are very different, but will the Secretary of State use this opportunity to give assurances that the challenges and risks talked about today have been fully addressed at Hinkley Point?”
“I had exactly the same experience, albeit not with Foo Fighters. I was trying to get tickets for the Jesus and Mary Chain recently, and there seemed to be a lot of sites advertising the tickets as being available. Those sites lure us in, but eventually we get transferred to other sites. By that time, we have wasted a huge amount of time and end up buying the more expensive tickets. Sometimes we try to hunt for the original tickets, but I suspect that that offer no longer exists by that stage.”
“Labour believes that the right time and place to take decisions on the future role, shape and capabilities of the UK’s armed forces will be in the next strategic defence and security review, which will take place in the next Parliament. We were concerned that the last SDSR was very much a Treasury-led exercise. It left the country with an aircraft carrier without any aircraft or maritime patrol capabilities. It is imperative that the next SDSR is strategically led and fiscally responsible. It cannot be just a Treasury-led exercise. Its fundamental starting point should be what we want our armed forces to do. I wish to allow the Minister at least a couple of minutes to speak, so I will conclude on that point.”
“The UK already exceeds the 2% target for defence expenditure. At the moment, we are one of the very few countries that meets its target. Obviously, it was on the agenda at the NATO summit in Cardiff, at which the allies agreed to aim to move towards the existing NATO guidelines of spending 2% of GDP within a decade. They also agreed that those countries that were already spending the minimum of 2% would aim to continue to do so. That is the international framework. The matter is now back on the political agenda after the global economic crisis slightly knocked it off course, with many countries being forced to make defence cuts.”
“I thank the Secretary of State for that response. He will know that for every £1 that employers pay above the minimum wage to lift workers to the living wage, the Treasury reaps 49p in reduced benefits and increased tax revenues. Why will his Department not consider using that increased revenue to incentivise businesses to pay the living wage for the first 12 months, as Labour is proposing with its make work pay contracts?”
“T8. In the debate on food banks just before Christmas, the Minister for Civil Society kept saying that the reasons for food bank use were complex and overlapping. He would not go beyond that. Will he join me in condemning the Tory councillor who said that the only people who use food banks are those with drug, alcohol and mental health problems, and will he acknowledge that the top two reasons for food bank use are due to the failings of this Government’s welfare system?”