Extract from Business
Questions (Commons)
(Harrow East) (Con):
Among many other things, yesterday was National Gujarat Day in
India. I was privileged to be at the Indian high commission last
night as we joined celebrating not only what is going on in the
economic powerhouse of India but the contribution of the Gujarati
people in the UK and across the world. Wherever Gujaratis have
made their home, education, entrepreneurship and family life have
improved, as has law-abiding behaviour. Will my right hon. Friend
make time for us to debate the contribution made by Gujaratis to
the United Kingdom, especially given that only in the past few
days we have held excellent debates about the contributions made
by Jains and Sikhs? It is time to celebrate what those in the
Gujarati community have done for this country since they chose to
make it their home.
: My hon. Friend
makes an excellent proposal, and I agree that the Gujarati
community has made a significant contribution to the United
Kingdom. I pay tribute to him for raising that issue on behalf of
his constituents. He might wish to seek a debate in Westminster
Hall so that all hon. Members can share their experiences.
Extract from Commons
debate on World Immunisation Week
(Bristol West)
(Lab):...In the 1970s, when I was nine, I went
to India for the very first time. Just
like the right hon. Member for North East Bedfordshire, who
described his experience with his dad, I can still remember the
pain and discomfort of the vaccinations. I can also remember much
more clearly the impact of seeing someone with elephantiasis when
I reached India, and of meeting a relative who had
been affected by one of the deadly diseases, which she had
survived but which had left her permanently disabled, that I had
been vaccinated against. It was a really visceral experience of
the connection between the discomfort and pain of the vaccination
and the consequences of not having access to that vaccination. It
was also a real-life experience of inequality—the fact that I had
received that vaccination because I was a UK citizen, and the
people whom I met in India at that time were not getting
those vaccinations. The experience transformed me and my
understanding of what vaccinations did. Obviously I was a child
so I was transformed from being a child without information to
being a child with a really strong sense of the importance of
vaccination. As an adult, I have been left with a real passion
about the value of vaccinations, particularly in the way that
they eradicate inequality as well as disease...
...As people who travel to different countries, it also
behoves us all to ensure that we are not being complacent when we
travel. I know how easy that is. I have relatives
in India who I like to visit on a fairly
regular basis, and it is important for us adults to make a little
note-to-self to check that our vaccinations are up to date...
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Extracts from Lords
debate on Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions
(Lab):...Carbon
emissions are made by all countries. The top emitters are China at
30%, the United States at 15%, the EU 28 at
10%, India at 7% and Russia at 5%.
Two-thirds of global emissions therefore come from the top five
emitters. I fully accept that, looked at per capita, by emission
intensity or in terms of cumulative emissions, the order changes,
but not fundamentally. It is clear that the large emitters will
need to reduce substantially to affect the global situation...
(Con):...Thirdly, however well we do here, our climate
fate will be decided in Asia and the US, and in China
and India in particular. I think that the
noble Lord, , and others have recognised
that. In 2018, emissions grew by 4.7% in China and 6.3%
in India. In the US, by far the biggest per
capita emitter of all, they grew last year by 2.5%, having fallen
in earlier years because of the shift from coal to shale gas...
(Con):...In setting the scene for this debate, the noble
Lord, , called on the Government to
reduce greenhouse gas emissions and respond to the challenge of
climate change. My noble friend Lord Deben referred to the role of
the Paris Agreement and how to achieve what was agreed there
through today’s report from the Committee on Climate Change. The
noble Lord, , is absolutely right to
press for greater international commitments to match what has been
achieved by the UK and Europe. I am pleased that he singled out the
fact that India and China are the enemies of
climate change prevention and that there are climate change deniers
in the US...
(Con):...I shall say
just a couple of things. First, on growth promotion and trade, the
issue is that only now are some countries beginning to recognise
that they have to stop antibiotic use in growth promotion and its
widespread prophylactic use in animals. That happened in Europe in
2006, but it happened in 2017 in America for growth promotion and
only now are the Indian Government bringing forward
proposals in this respect. There is an international aspect that we
need to work on...
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