Results 1-20 of 1,081 for in the 'Commons debates' OR in the 'Westminster Hall debates' OR in the 'Lords debates' OR in the 'Northern Ireland Assembly debates' speaker:Paul Beresford

Tributes to Baroness Thatcher (10 April 2013)

Paul Beresford: I shall be succinct, as I am surrounded by people anxious to speak. I congratulate the hon. Member for Birmingham, Edgbaston (Ms Stuart). Her last paragraph or so was exactly right and expresses how I have felt for some considerable time. Since I became a councillor in 1979, Margaret Thatcher has been someone we have looked to—not always looked up to, but certainly looked to. My hon....

Children and Families Bill (25 February 2013)

Paul Beresford: I congratulate Ministers and ex-Ministers on this Bill—the way it has proceeded and been put together—and on their willingness to discuss it. Ministers will be aware from the discussion this evening that much of this Second Reading debate has turned into a Committee stage. I do not intend to continue that and will say merely that this broad Bill is about looking after...

Children and Families Bill (25 February 2013)

Paul Beresford: In response to the question by the hon. Member for Newcastle upon Tyne North (Catherine McKinnell), does my hon. Friend agree not only that more money is going into the system but that savings will come from its being streamlined so that the process of adopting children will move faster?

Oral Answers to Questions — Defence: Crime and Courts Bill [Lords] (14 January 2013)

Paul Beresford: This being a lawyers’ Bill, I am tiptoeing in with great caution. I will touch briefly on two issues, the first of which is self-defence. I learned a little about the self-defence issue a few years ago when I observed one of my neighbour’s windows being jemmied open by a gentleman. As he went through the window, I collected him by his heel and brought him back. He and I had a...

Oral Answers to Questions — Defence: Crime and Courts Bill [Lords] (14 January 2013)

Paul Beresford: From the way the Minister is shaking his head, perhaps it will not. The right hon. Member for Wythenshawe and Sale East (Paul Goggins) mentioned CEOP, and I must congratulate him because it was a wonderful invention. It has been very effective and is getting more so. Unlike him, however, I believe that it should be in the NCA. CEOP works nationally and works for the UK internationally,...

Oral Answers to Questions — Attorney-General: Child Abuse Victims (8 January 2013)

Paul Beresford: My hon. Friend is probably aware that a small team is looking into the history of cases of child abuse complaints in Northern Ireland. One member of the team is an ex-senior inspector in the Metropolitan police who explained to me that, looking back at cases from 1920, believe it or not, one stark fact is the astonishing lack of support for victims, including from the Crown Prosecution...

Bill Presented: Committee on Standards (Lay Members) (13 December 2012)

Paul Beresford: My hon. Friend the Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross (John Thurso) has set out the rules that will apply, and a few technicalities have been added by the hon. Member for Wallasey (Ms Eagle) from the Opposition Front Bench. I rise briefly to support the motion more as a member of the Standards and Privileges Committee than of the House of Commons Commission. As motions 4 and 5...

Printed Photo Id Market (13 November 2012)

Paul Beresford: It is a pleasure to be joined again by the Minister of State, Department for Transport, my right hon. Friend the Member for Chelmsford (Mr Burns). I believe this is the second time we have been the last two standing prior to a recess—I apologise, but that is the way it is. I raised this issue on the Floor of the House earlier this year, and lurking in the background is the Minister who...

Suicide (Prevention): Backbench Business — Child Sexual Exploitation (13 November 2012)

Paul Beresford: I add my congratulations to the three musketeers. If we had had this debate 15 or 20 years ago, the number of Members in the Chamber would be half what it is today. There is now an interest and understanding that we did not have previously. My interest in child sexual exploitation began when I did the police parliamentary course 10 or 12 years ago. I spent a day with the paedophile unit at...

Suicide (Prevention): Backbench Business — Child Sexual Exploitation (13 November 2012)

Paul Beresford: Does my hon. Friend agree, from his experience, that the age group of victims goes from 16 to birth, so a considerable proportion of the victims cannot speak out? In the baby P case, we used legislation against witnesses that has since been expanded. We might want to look at that aspect so that those who stand by and watch, and do not speak out, could be brought to book as well.

Suicide (Prevention): Backbench Business — Child Sexual Exploitation (13 November 2012)

Paul Beresford: rose —

Suicide (Prevention): Backbench Business — Child Sexual Exploitation (13 November 2012)

Paul Beresford: My hon. Friend has not mentioned—no one has so far—the fact that legal changes since the Sexual Offences Act 2003, which was crucial, have resulted in a new power, which received bipartisan support, that enables police, those who chase paedophiles on the sex offenders list, and judges to address the crime of grooming.

Business of the House: Backbench Business — House of Commons Administration and Savings Programme (8 November 2012)

Paul Beresford: My hon. Friend has touched on a key point. He says that the dining rooms are not being used. If he comes in here during recess, he will see people who have bought relatively cheap tickets—compared with other buildings they could visit—and are coming through and enjoying themselves. They are not rich people. If he walks a little further, he will also see empty rooms that could be...

Business of the House: Backbench Business — House of Commons Administration and Savings Programme (8 November 2012)

Paul Beresford: The two Chairs have covered the main points and, with the limit on time, I thought I might touch on some aspects of amendment (b)—not to oppose it, but to provide a tiny warning. The package coming forward is a general public sector savings package that is in line with the target. The difference this time is that the report, and the thinking behind it, are being discussed in the...

Business of the House: Backbench Business — House of Commons Administration and Savings Programme (8 November 2012)

Paul Beresford: The hon. Gentleman has just beaten me to POST. The Commission will look at what was said. The Chair of the Finance and Services Committee, my hon. Friend the Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, has already made it clear that he will look closely at that with the Committee, so I will not comment on the details of that particular amendment. I am concerned about amendment (b);...

Free School Meals (Children Over the Age of 16): Standards and Privileges (6 November 2012)

Paul Beresford: Clearly, as a member of the Committee I support the findings and I support the motion. I do not want to go through the report, but I just want to raise an issue that comes from it. The commissioner’s inquiry was in two parts. The first included a measure of co-operation from the Member in question combined with research into retained files. That evidence was sufficient for the Committee...

Oral Answers to Questions — Treasury: Child Abuse Allegations (North Wales) (6 November 2012)

Paul Beresford: Does my right hon. Friend agree that many fresh allegations could come from individuals who have hidden the appalling attacks made on them so many years ago, and who will be reluctant to come forward because that would disturb the life that they have built since? Do such people not need the reassurance and protection that can be provided by CEOP, the police and others if they do come forward?

Business of the House: Growth and Infrastructure Bill (5 November 2012)

Paul Beresford: Will my right hon. Friend accept, from his experience of local government, my experience and that of the Minister, that one of the concerns many of us may have is that for a planning authority and a planning committee to understand what is economically viable will be difficult? There may be a slight flaw and a problem there.

Oral Answers to Questions — Prime Minister: Coroners and Justice (Amendment) (12 September 2012)

Paul Beresford: I beg to move, That leave be given to bring in a Bill to amend section 62 of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 to apply additionally to the possession of prohibited written material about children; to make consequential amendments to the Act; and for connected purposes. Section 62 of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 is entitled “Possession of prohibited images of children”. Such...

Small Charitable Donations Bill (Money): Prisons (Interference with Wireless Telegraphy) Bill (Money) (4 September 2012)

Paul Beresford: I hope that, on second thoughts, the hon. Gentleman will realise that introducing such a facility will reduce the time spent on, for example, searches. There will be savings on one side, which will compensate for the costs on the other.