Letter of the Lords

Welcome to the latest edition of Letter of the Lords - the weekly newsletter aimed at shining a light into the work the party's peers are doing in the second chamber. Why not let us know what you think? Email the newsletter on lordsmedia@libdems.org.uk. And that's also the address to give to friends, colleagues and loved ones to sign up too. Plus don't forget to keep up to date with the blog at libdemlords.org.uk and follow us on Twitter at @LibDemLords.

IN THE CHAMBER

A long afternoon and evening for peers on Monday as they debated "recent developments in the European Union" - not a subject likely to provoke a quick, quiet exchange of views and then a nodding of heads. Two Bills were before the house - one allowing the UK to ratify Croatia's EU membership and another providing approval of three draft EU decisions. But it was on the very nature of the UK's role in Europe that Lords were most engaged.

Baroness Falkner of Margravine used her speech to pour cold water on those Eurosceptics who, she said, "genuinely believe that we should leave the EU, and that the consequences will merely place us alongside Norway or Switzerland". These people, she said, "are not just naive, they are simply deluded. To posit an equivalence with Norway, which rides on its massive $600bn sovereign wealth fund, which protect a population the size of Scotland, is simply not to understand the challenges that this country faces".

Lord Roper referred to French President Francoise Hollande's remarks last week about an "a la carte Europe" not being an option for the UK. "The idea that the United Kingdom could bargain such repatriation against our support for the constitutional changes needed for full economic and monetary union and putative political union is not plausible," he told peers. "The other members would follow the precedent of last December and proceed with a treaty among themselves."

Lord Taverne argued against those who want to opt out of EU-wide policing initiatives, pointing out that the police themselves are unanimously opposed. He said: "Serious crime has increasingly become a cross-border activity and can be dealt with effectively only by cross-border policing, Europe-wide, not just through bilateral national cooperation. That is surely so obvious that it is unarguable."

And Lord Alderdice warned that a "perceived democratic deficit" in the EU was still an obstacle which pro-Europeans needed to challenge.

Even the establishment of a directly-elected European Parliament had not addressed it, he said. "Apart from in Northern Ireland, where the three MEPs are particularly well-known largely because of their non-European Parliament activities, MEPs in the United Kingdom do not have the kind of profile that enables local constituents to feel that they can identify with their Member," he told peers. "Those of us who are pro-European have to acknowledge that we have failed to develop a European identity that is powerful enough to inspire people and draw them away from narrow nationalism."

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"I wonder whether the noble Lord and other noble Lords bank with HSBC. I have done so for the past 30 years. Last week I was rather surprised to be asked by bank staff to show them my passport and a utility bill. I am not sure whether noble Lords realise but we are all politically exposed persons in regulator-speak; some of us may be more so than others. But honestly, is this not mindless box-ticking? Do they really need to check our passports to know the difference between a British baron and a Mexican drugs baron?" Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay voices his displeasure at being treated like a potential South American gangster.

TWEET OF THE WEEK

"Photo on front page of Evening Standard of Queen & Cabinet: 27 men, all white, 5 women, 1 ethnic minority. Depressingly unrepresentative." Baroness Hussein-Ece (@meralhece) despairs at the pale, male faces as the Queen poses with her Cabinet before attending her first-ever meeting.

Lord Avebury's Private Member's Bill on gypsies' and travellers' caravan sites this week passed the House of Lords. The Caravan Sites Bill makes provision to secure the establishment of caravan sites by local authorities in England for the use of gypsies and travellers. Back in 1968, as MP for Orpington, Eric Lubbock - as he was then - introduced the original Caravan Sites Bill, which put a duty on councils to provide sites and led to the creation of the 350 which now exist. Lord Avebury's latest Bill will now go to the Commons for consideration.

Lord Tope told peers that councils should learn from each other how best to save cash after Communities Secretary Eric Pickles announced reductions in individual grants ranging from 3% to 8.8%. Mr Pickles said he had published a booklet, 50 Ways to Save, setting out ways for councils to save money. But Lord Tope, a councillor in the London borough of Sutton, told peers that "local authorities would be better advised to learn from each others' good practice than to take any notice at all of the Secretary of State's 50 top tips from the TaxPayers' Alliance".

Lord Chidgey asked the Government what plans it had to help develop a democratic, unified Mali, a country currently in the grip of a humanitarian and security crisis. A confidential UN report this week warned that some 400,000 more people could be made homeless in Mali if West African armies tried to oust Islamists from their northern stronghold. Armed groups, some linked to al-Qaeda, took control of northern Mali in April. Speaking for the Government, Lord Wallace of Saltaire said: "Reinstating a unified Mali is not entirely easy. Mali armed forces as they currently exist are small, weak and underequipped."

And Lord Addington used a debate on active lifestyles to decry a sports coaching culture in which "we put far more emphasis on whether results have been recorded than on how well the pupils played and how their skills can be developed in later life". He told peers: "Are we going to encourage people to make pitches available? Then, for instance, there are places such as parks where these skills can be used casually. An informal kick-about every week is infinitely better than one organised game once a month."

WHAT'S COMING UP

TUESDAY

Most peers will be settling down for a full Christmas dinner with turkey, sprouts, pigs in blankets and all the trimmings. You probably will too. Have a very happy Christmas and the newsletter will return on January 11.

Follow the Lib Dem Lords on Twitter @LibDemLords, contact the newsletter at lordsmedia@libdems.org.uk and see the blog at libdemlords.org.uk.