Results 1-20 of 864 for (in the 'Commons debates' OR in the 'Westminster Hall debates' OR in the 'Lords debates' OR in the 'Northern Ireland Assembly debates') speaker:Colin Breed

[Mr. Bill Olner in the Chair] — Financial Services Regulation (10 Nov 2009)

Colin Breed: I congratulate the right hon. Member for Wells (Mr. Heathcoat-Amory) on securing this important and timely debate. It is rather disappointing that so few hon. Members are here. Perhaps the matter should be discussed on the Floor of the House at some stage because, as the right hon. Gentleman pointed out, the ramifications of what is being proposed will probably affect every man, woman and...

Oral Answers to Questions — Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Topical Questions (29 Oct 2009) has video

Colin Breed: The Secretary of State will be aware that the new grocery suppliers code will cover the relationships between suppliers and the supermarkets and first-tier suppliers. What conversations has he had with his counterparts in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills to ensure that the ombudsman's remit and the code can be extended so that farmers will not be subjected to excessive cost...

Economic Recovery: Public Accounts (22 Oct 2009) has video

Colin Breed: It depends on whether the life of the existing hulls can be extended, which is a possibility. If there is an undertaking to obtain new hulls, then yes, the time line is quite tight, but many of us believe that the existing ones are perfectly satisfactory for at least another four years, which would offer that period of time for further reflection.

Economic Recovery: Public Accounts (22 Oct 2009) has video

Colin Breed: I am sure that the hon. Gentleman's analysis is shared by us all, but does he agree that part of the problem is that face-to-face meetings have almost been abolished, due to the use of IT, so people cannot sit down and go through their details with someone? When people are trying to sort out their tax credits, they have to go through up to four different offices, never speaking to the same...

Economic Recovery: Public Accounts (22 Oct 2009) has video

Colin Breed: It would be very difficult for the Chair of the Public Accounts Committee, the hon. Member for Gainsborough (Mr. Leigh), to thank himself, so may I thank him on behalf of all of us? We are deeply appreciative of the work that he has done in the eight years—he will be there a few more months yet—on the Committee. He has raised its profile considerably in the public mind, used the...

Economic Recovery: Public Accounts (22 Oct 2009) has video

Colin Breed: We are not in favour of renewing it, but the decision does not need to be taken now. We have at least another four years before we have to make the final decisions. In those four years, all sorts of things could happen, such as proliferation in states such as Iran, a greater sorting-out of the technology and a better understanding of the alternatives and their costs. I do not think that the...

Economic Recovery: Public Accounts (22 Oct 2009) has video

Colin Breed: I am only too aware of that. Even in my constituency, the very small firms that can be light on their feet, which are often set up by people who come out of the military to set up their business on retirement—experienced technicians with enormous experience and the qualifications to undertake some of this work—find it difficult to engage with the large firms on the contracts. One...

Opposition Day — [17th Allotted Day]: NHS Dentistry (14 Oct 2009) has video

Colin Breed: I am pleased that so many areas of this country have had their access to dentistry improved, but that improvement has not been the experience of people in Cornwall, particularly those in South-East Cornwall, who for more than the past 10 years have seen a declining service in NHS dentistry. More and more dentists have retired and not been replaced, and many have left to go into private...

Parliamentary Elections (Recall and Primaries): New Clause 12 — Application of construction contracts legislation (13 Oct 2009) has video

Colin Breed: A number of smaller firms sometimes find that they are working perfectly satisfactorily and are then hit by a large bad debt. Their security of payment has completely gone. They then have to lay off people who have been working jolly hard, because something further up the line has been visited upon them and they do not have the capacity to sustain it. We will lose a lot of jobs in the...

Parliamentary Elections (Recall and Primaries): New Clause 12 — Application of construction contracts legislation (13 Oct 2009) has video

Colin Breed: One problem banks now have is the provision of much needed cash flow support through overdrafts and loans. Because of the weaknesses in the system, there is a feeling that if they support small firms they could end up being owed an awful lot of money by a failed company.

Oral Answers to Questions — Health: Topical Questions (13 Oct 2009) has video

Colin Breed: During the summer recess another NHS dentist in my constituency left the NHS and went private. The provision of NHS dentistry is getting worse year by year in Cornwall generally. When are the Government going to do something about it?

Water Charges (12 Oct 2009) has video

Colin Breed: Is my hon. Friend aware that that lack of communication continues today? My constituent George Sale and others have pointed out to me that they appear suddenly to have been given standing charges for both water and sewerage. There seems to have been no communication about those charges; they were simply added to the bills.

Royal Assent (21 Jul 2009)

Colin Breed: I am pleased to have an opportunity to raise what is an important and urgent issue in my constituency. The House has often debated, and dealt with questions about, Zimbabwe and the difficulties experienced in that country. Some 12 years ago my local church, Saltash Wesley Methodist church, established a twinning arrangement with a church in Mbare, a suburb of Harare. During the first few...

[Mr. David Amess in the Chair] — Israeli Settlements (21 Jul 2009)

Colin Breed: I, too, will observe the time. I am grateful to the hon. Member for Wolverhampton, South-West (Rob Marris) for securing the debate. No one can go to the occupied territories for long without history rearing its head in some way. Of course, we get different versions and views of history. A quotation in a letter of February 1914, from Israel's first Foreign Minister—and its second Prime...

Business, Innovation and Skills: Vehicle Scrappage Scheme (16 Jul 2009) has video

Colin Breed: How much funding has been disbursed under the vehicle scrappage scheme to date.

Business, Innovation and Skills: Vehicle Scrappage Scheme (16 Jul 2009) has video

Colin Breed: I thank the Minister for that response. May I also draw his attention to a slight discrepancy in the rules regarding cars that were first registered in Northern Ireland on or before 31 August 1999. My constituents, Andrew and Rachael Budd, found that although Ford, Renault and Citroen would gladly scrap their vehicle, Vauxhall and Peugeot said that they would not. Therefore, there are...

Care Homes (Domestic Pets): Clause 91 — HMRC Charter (8 Jul 2009)

Colin Breed: for raising specifically the issue of what the charter should cover, as the charter is an important aspect of this Bill. The Minister will recall that the Government announced a consultation on a taxpayers charter last year and we were given a ministerial statement on the matter. During the Report stage of last year's Finance Bill, my Liberal Democrat colleagues and I tabled a new clause...

Parliamentary Commissions of Inquiry: New Clause 3 — Office of Tax Simplification (7 Jul 2009)

Colin Breed: Is the crux of the matter not simplification but fairness? In an attempt to try to make things fairer for people, there are necessarily some complexities. I, for one, would much prefer to have a fairer tax system, even if that made it mildly more complex. When people look at their tax paperwork, they often compare what tax they are paying with that paid by other groups. While complexity can...

Parliamentary Commissions of Inquiry: New Clause 8 — Transfers of trade to obtain terminal loss relief (7 Jul 2009)

Colin Breed: I fully agree with the thrust of the hon. Gentleman's argument, but he might be aware that the Select Committee on the Treasury received certain information from Barclays bank about its tax avoidance schemes. The schemes that it developed are extremely complex, and it took them to HMRC and got the staff there to look at them and basically approve them, because it did not have the resources...

Oral Answers to Questions — Communities and Local Government: Regional Spatial Strategies (7 Jul 2009) has video

Colin Breed: What recent representations he has received on the timetable for further reviews of regional spatial strategies.