Lord Clement-Jones (LD)

My Lords, I strongly support Amendments 15, 16 and 19, tabled by the noble Baroness, Lady Gerada, which I have signed, and which she spoke to so convincingly. These Benches also support Amendment 17 in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Forbes, and signed by my noble friend Lord Shipley, and Amendment 20 in the name of the noble Earl, Lord Howe. As I said at Second Reading, I am the former chair of the council of Queen Mary University of London and now, for my sins, an honorary professor. Amendments 15, 16 and 19 seek to correct a category error in the Bill: namely, the classification of students holding a UK primary medical qualification from a UK public university as “international”, solely because their classroom is in Malta. I am sure the noble Lord, Lord Forbes, will say the same in respect of Malaysia. The Minister has argued that these students lack “clinical familiarity” with the NHS, but that does not withstand scrutiny. These students follow the exact same curriculum as their peers in London, as the noble Baroness said. The Bill prioritises EEA nations, because it seems that our trade deal requires us to recognise “comparable” qualifications. It is legally incoherent to accept a “comparable” qualification from Liechtenstein while rejecting an “identical” and “affiliated” qualification from Malta. We are treating a formal UK affiliate worse than a trade partner. These students sit the UK medical licensing assessment and they are taught by UK-trained consultants. As I said at Second Reading, it is a manifest absurdity that, under this Bill, a graduate from Liechtenstein with no UK degree and no UK training is prioritised over a Queen Mary student who holds a UK degree and is specifically prepared for our health service. I strongly endorse the point made by the noble Baroness, Lady Gerada, regarding our free trade agreements. We are in an absurd position whereby a treaty obligation forces us to prioritise these “comparable” qualifications. This is not workforce planning; it is a diplomatic and regulatory own goal. As the noble Baroness explained, Amendment 19 offers a simple solution by adding Malta to the priority list. This honours the mutual recognition agreement held between the UK and Malta since 2009—an agreement the Department of Health explicitly renewed in 2024. Amendments 15, 16 and 17 offer a broader solution based on the qualification. If a student holds a UK degree from a UK-registered institution and passes identical UK assessments, they should be treated as a UK graduate. The Minister fears displacement of domestic talent, yet the majority of these Maltese trainees are contractually obliged to return to Malta after their training. They are what can be described as a circulatory workforce: one that supports the NHS during their training years, without permanently blocking the consultant pipeline. They are the ideal workforce partner. As stated by the noble Baroness, Lady Gerada, Maltese surgeons have been licensed by our royal colleges since the 1830s. This is not a new or risky pipeline; it is a two-century year-old bond that the Bill carelessly severs. Furthermore, we support Amendment 20 in the name of the noble Earl, Lord Howe, regarding people who qualify in the British Islands but who have trained abroad. We are all on the same page in advocating for these well-qualified students, who should be eligible to have the same priority in obtaining training jobs as those currently set out in the Bill. We have received heartbreaking correspondence from British nationals studying in eastern Europe, often because of the cap on places here, who intend to return to the NHS. One correspondent highlighted that we allow British dentists to return without these barriers. Why do we treat our future doctors differently?