My Lords, I support not only the amendment but all the words of the noble Earl, Lord Clancarty. In fact, many of the things I was going to say he has already said.
The looted treasure that the likes of Daesh are acquiring is funding terrorism. As we know, the antiquities industry runs on trust, which cannot always be right. As well as the Channel 4 programme that the noble Earl and I both watched, I read a Guardian investigation. Every time its undercover buyer, who is actually an archaeologist of Iraqi origin,
“zones in on something that seems likely to be from an area now controlled by Isis, the dealer … grows vague about the item’s origin”.
Another suggests that a small statue from either Iraq or Syria,
“was bought at an auction. There is never any paperwork”.
This cannot be right.
The amendment seeks to make the antiquities trade and auction houses transparent about the background to the items that they are selling, to contribute to tackling this illegal trade in combating the source of funding for those who bring terror to our shores. I echo what the noble Baroness, Lady Berridge, and the noble Lord, Lord Howarth, have been saying throughout the afternoon about the need for resources for policing. If the amendment is to be successful, there need to be more than three policemen following up on this terrible trade.
5.30 pm