Results 1-20 of 6,080 for (in the 'Commons debates' OR in the 'Westminster Hall debates' OR in the 'Lords debates' OR in the 'Northern Ireland Assembly debates') speaker:Norman Baker

Business, Innovation and Skills: First Capital Connect (12 Nov 2009) has video

Norman Baker: The Minister will share my dismay at the grotesque disruption caused to passengers from Brighton to Bedford and elsewhere on the network. The Secretary of State took strong action against London Midland in relation to events that occurred in September, and I welcomed the written statement about that. Can the Minister tell us what action, if any, he intends to take against First Capital...

Oral Answers to Questions — Home Department: Tasers (26 Oct 2009) has video

Norman Baker: What his policy is on the use of Taser guns by police forces; and if he will make a statement.

Oral Answers to Questions — Home Department: Tasers (26 Oct 2009) has video

Norman Baker: The Minister will be aware that Tasers have been implicated in the deaths of more than 300 people in the United States, and that their use varies enormously in the UK with, for example, Tasers having been used 224 times last year in West Yorkshire, as opposed to 345 uses in South Yorkshire. Does he agree that it is important to introduce more sensible controls, and will he limit the use of...

Oral Answers to Questions — Transport: Rail Services (22 Oct 2009) has video

Norman Baker: Is it not symptomatic of the culture and mindset that persists in the railway industry these days that Boxing day, public holidays and Sundays are somehow not regarded as days on which people travel, as they were 50 years ago? When are we going to get the seven-day railway that Network Rail promised us? Is it not time that, instead of thousands of people being shoved on to bus replacement...

Oral Answers to Questions — Transport: Topical Questions (22 Oct 2009) has video

Norman Baker: Two parties!

Nato: Topical Questions (20 Oct 2009)

Norman Baker: The Government are right to expend diplomatic efforts in trying to prevent Iran from gaining nuclear capability, but does the Foreign Secretary understand and accept that one of the issues that the Iranians rightly raise is the Israeli nuclear capability? What is his policy on that and will he encourage Israel to sign the nuclear non-proliferation treaty?

Olympics: Parker Pen Factory, Newhaven (20 Jul 2009) has video

Norman Baker: I rise to propose that the House should debate the matter of the decision to close the Parker Pen Factory, Newhaven. This is a specific and important matter that should be given urgent consideration. The decision to close the factory, taken by the American parent company, Newell Rubbermaid, will result in the loss of 180 jobs. This will have a terrible effect on the population of Newhaven,...

Points of Order (15 Jul 2009)

Norman Baker: On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. I seek to invoke your help to improve ministerial accountability to the House. Paragraph 9.3 of the ministerial code states: "Every effort should be made to avoid leaving significant announcements to the last day before a recess." However, we all know that every single July we have a plethora of 30 or 40 written statements on the last day before we go into...

[John Cummings in the Chair] (14 Jul 2009)

Norman Baker: I agree with all that my right hon. Friend the Member for Gordon (Malcolm Bruce) has just said, so I will not repeat any of it. Instead, let me pick up on the statement by the Secretary of State for Transport on the "Today" programme, which has already been referred to. I want to be very fair about it. The Secretary of State was responding to a press release from National Express; that is...

[John Cummings in the Chair] (14 Jul 2009)

Norman Baker: That is true, of course, but it means more months of uncertainty for people in East Anglia—including people in the Norwich, North area—and for people who live along the line out to Southend and Shoeburyness. Indeed, there is an oddity about this business of whether or not National Express has defaulted. The National Express statement on 1 July made it plain that it had failed in...

[John Cummings in the Chair] (14 Jul 2009)

Norman Baker: I very much hope that the Secretary of State is looking at that issue. Indeed, reading between the lines—I do not know whether or not this is a fair assessment—the officials in the DFT were willing to look at a business arrangement involving a management contract and negotiations with National Express. To be fair to the Ministers, they said no to that. That is how I read the...

Oral Answers to Questions — Communities and Local Government: East Sussex Waste Plan (7 Jul 2009) has video

Norman Baker: What funding his Department has provided to local authorities in connection with the East Sussex local waste plan since that plan was adopted.

Oral Answers to Questions — Communities and Local Government: East Sussex Waste Plan (7 Jul 2009) has video

Norman Baker: I thank the Minister for that answer, but he might also have mentioned the private finance initiative credits provided previously by the Treasury. Does he share my concern that some of the promises from East Sussex county council, especially about its disliked incinerator, have simply not been carried through? For example, it promised that the incinerator could be accessed by rail, but in...

Department for Transport: Road Safety (2 Jul 2009) has video

Norman Baker: May I caution the Minister? I suspect that one of the reasons for the improvement in the nought-to-16 age group figure is that there has been an increase in the use of vehicles to take children to school—partly for social reasons and partly because many parents are concerned about whether it is safe for children to walk to school these days. There may be a false assumption that the...

Department for Transport: Road Safety (2 Jul 2009) has video

Norman Baker: I promise not to report the hon. Gentleman's remarks to the Romanian ambassador, but does he agree that the problem does not involve illegal drugs only and that it is important that any test should take account of prescribed drugs as well?

Department for Transport: Road Safety (2 Jul 2009) has video

Norman Baker: We are debating an important subject, and although this is the fag end of a Thursday afternoon, it is disappointing that only 10 Members are present—including the umpire and two linesmen, if I may use a Wimbledon analogy this week. However, that has allowed the House to experience the undoubted pleasure of hearing two successive Liberal Democrat speakers. I agree with what was said by...

Department for Transport: Road Safety (2 Jul 2009) has video

Norman Baker: I agree, and my colleagues have collected some figures on the continuing breaking of the law. I hope that, as with drink driving over the last 20 or 30 years, such activity will become socially unacceptable and the number of people engaging in it will gradually diminish. The reports of what some people do while driving astonish me, whether it is drying their hair or engaging in something far...

Department for Transport: Road Safety (2 Jul 2009) has video

Norman Baker: There is undoubtedly a case as to how the police are asked to prioritise their time. I do not want to go too far down that track, Madam Deputy Speaker, as this is not a police debate, but any element of the public sector—whether it is the police or local councils—will respond to the target-driven culture that we now have. If those targets are accurately and sensibly chosen, that...

Department for Transport: Road Safety (2 Jul 2009) has video

Norman Baker: I do not advocate the view that people should face only a fine for what is a serious offence, but I think the 0.8 limit is too high, as some individuals can be within the limit yet their driving capacity is still impaired. I also do not think it is sensible policy that if someone is marginally above 0.8 they will face what the hon. Gentleman calls a draconian ban, whereas if they are just...

Department for Transport: Road Safety (2 Jul 2009) has video

Norman Baker: I am sorry about that particular accident, but I do not think I am looking at this with rose-tinted spectacles; there were fewer vehicles then for one thing. Irrespective of whether the past was better, however, I hope that the hon. Gentleman will agree that we need to do better in residential areas and a 20 mph limit may be one way forward. My next point relates to shared streets and other...