HL Deb 29 October 1992 vol 539 cc1203-4

Lord Orr-Ewing asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether the Department of the Environment is still funding the so called Kipper project, which advertised in The Voice of 14th July for a black, lesbian manager, claiming that this post was funded by the department.

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of the Environment (Lord Strathclyde)

My Lords, the Department of the Environment's grant offer to the Kipper project to fund a rehousing and resettlement manager post was suspended on 16th July and remains so.

Lord Orr-Ewing

My Lords, is my noble friend aware that good news is rather seldom announced these days? It is very welcome. However, will he confirm that this rather offensive advertisement, which is probably highly illegal, is not to be subsidised henceforward by taxpayers? Will he make his wise judgment known to other government departments so that they are not led astray down the same path?

Lord Strathclyde

My Lords, I accept my noble friend's congratulations and certainly accede to his request to pass on the information to other government departments.

Lord Hailsham of Saint Marylebone

My Lords, will my noble friend let us into the secret and tell us what the so-called Kipper project was? Was the black lesbian manager to be smoke cured or was she chemically dyed?

Lord Strathclyde

My Lords, the Kipper project is a housing project in the East End of London which specialises in finding permanent accommodation for young homeless people.

Lord McIntosh of Haringey

My Lords, am I alone in finding this tone of questioning rather nauseating? Will the Minister accept that the Kipper project has been going since 1974 without complaint and that it provides a valuable service, financed by the Tower Hamlets Council (which, incidentally, is controlled by the Liberal Democrats)? Will he also confirm that it is continuing its work and that the word to use is not "was" but "is"?

Lord Strathclyde

My Lords, what the Government found offensive is not what the Kipper project does, which is entirely commendable and which, as the noble Lord said, has been continuing since 1974. What we found objectionable was that the project felt that only a black lesbian could do a job which the Government believe could be done by anybody.

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