Results 1-20 of 924 for (in the 'Commons debates' OR in the 'Westminster Hall debates' OR in the 'Lords debates' OR in the 'Northern Ireland Assembly debates') speaker:Richard Burden

[Mr.Greg Pope in the Chair] — Arms Export Controls (5 Nov 2009)

Richard Burden: I do not expect the Minister to know the answer to this question now, but perhaps he could write to us after the debate; I do not know the answer to it. In relation to the Saar Corvettes, were they used off Lebanon in the Lebanon war, and were any checks done as to whether they were used off Lebanon?

[Mr.Greg Pope in the Chair] — Arms Export Controls (5 Nov 2009)

Richard Burden: I, too, welcome this debate and endorse the report that we are discussing. I will focus on one issue, but before I mention that, I want to put on record my endorsement of what my hon. Friend the Member for Kingswood (Roger Berry) said and the themes of his speech. He made important points about extraterritoriality, re-export, brokers and the need for a register of UK brokers. One of his most...

[Mr.Greg Pope in the Chair] — Arms Export Controls (5 Nov 2009)

Richard Burden: My hon. Friend is right. It would be trying your patience, Mr. Pope, and going beyond the remit of this debate if we spent too long discussing what has gone on for many years. The Committees on Arms Export Controls raised concerns before Operation Cast Lead, and the predecessor Committee, the Quadripartite Committee, has raised concerns about UK policy and practice on arms exports to Israel....

MG Rover (3 Nov 2009)

Richard Burden: I am grateful for the opportunity to raise with the Minister the results of the investigation into the affairs of Phoenix Venture Holdings Group, MG Rover Group and 33 other companies. I am pleased to be joined by my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Hall Green (Steve McCabe), who has taken a close interest in the issue, and I know that many other hon. Members with constituencies in...

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

Richard Burden: Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

Business, Innovation and Skills: Automotive Assistance Scheme (16 Jul 2009) has video

Richard Burden: I endorse what my right hon. Friend says about the automotive assistance scheme being about long-term investment in green technologies, and so on. However, that does not necessarily mean that the process of approving the money needs to be long term. There needs to be greater dispatch in bringing things to a conclusion, particularly where strategically important companies are involved that are...

"the Spirit of Humanity" (13 Jul 2009)

Richard Burden: Has my hon. Friend been convinced by Israel's explanations?

Prevention and Suppression of Terrorism: UK Manufacturing (9 Jul 2009) has video

Richard Burden: I welcome a great deal of what my right hon. Friend the Minister for Business, Innovation and Skills said in introducing the debate. If the hon. Member for Weston-super-Mare (John Penrose) will forgive me, I do not think I will be using his recipes in relation to manufacturing. Those of us who come from the west midlands know how badly the manufacturing sector is being hit by the current...

Business of the House (9 Jul 2009) has video

Richard Burden: Will my right hon. and learned Friend reflect, with her colleagues, on the mechanisms to be used to inform the House and me, the constituency MP, when it is known how the Serious Fraud Office intends to proceed with the MG Rover inquiry? Will she confirm today that it remains the Government's intention to publish the inquiry report as soon as possible, and that the Government will do...

Business of the House: Swine Flu Update (2 Jul 2009) has video

Richard Burden: My right hon. Friend will know that Birmingham is one of the areas most extensively affected by swine flu. May I endorse what he and others have said about expressing thanks to all the NHS staff who have worked so hard over the period? On Monday this week, another south Birmingham MP and I met South Birmingham primary care trust to talk about the situation in south Birmingham. I understand...

Oral Answers to Questions — Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Middle East (30 Jun 2009) has video

Richard Burden: My right hon. Friend has been very clear about the Government's position on Israeli settlements. President Obama, in his Cairo address, made it clear that Israeli settlements on the west bank have to stop. On 26 June, the G8 too was entirely clear that Israeli settlements on the west bank have to stop, but they are still carrying on, so perhaps the key question is: what can the international...

[Mr. Martin Caton in the Chair] — Middle East (24 Jun 2009)

Richard Burden: My hon. Friend makes an important point about human rights affecting the ability to trade. I presume that he takes the same view of all countries in the middle east, particularly Israel. As I understand it, Government policy on the EU-Israel association agreement is that it provides a framework for encouraging progress on human rights. If that is the case for Israel, it should also be the...

[Mr. Martin Caton in the Chair] — Middle East (24 Jun 2009)

Richard Burden: The hon. Lady is right to say that repatriation of some Iraqi refugees will be the right option, but the point that I was trying to make and the issue that we need to tackle as an international community—this is certainly the view of a number of the Iraqi refugees themselves—is that a programme for resettlement elsewhere may be the long-term solution for a number of those...

[Mr. Martin Caton in the Chair] — Middle East (24 Jun 2009)

Richard Burden: I had not intended to speak other than to intervene in the debate, Mr. Caton, but perhaps I could ask my hon. Friend the Minister to comment on just a couple of points. I congratulate the hon. Member for West Suffolk (Mr. Spring) and also put on the record that this year was a first for some years in that an official Inter-Parliamentary Union delegation from this Parliament to Syria took...

[Mr. Martin Caton in the Chair] — Middle East (24 Jun 2009)

Richard Burden: May I take the hon. Gentleman back to the question of the Golan, which he mentioned earlier? He referred to the Golan heights. We all refer to the area as that, but in so doing, we minimise its importance. It is an 1,800 sq km plateau, where the rainfall is higher than in Damascus. It is of great strategic significance. There are more than 346,000 displaced persons from the Golan, but that is...

Oral Answers to Questions — Prime Minister: Constitutional Renewal (10 Jun 2009) has video

Richard Burden: May I welcome the wide-ranging statement that my right hon. Friend has made today? I should like to say a word or two about electoral systems. Does he agree that the statement addresses unfinished business from our 1997 manifesto? We have different options if we want to ensure effective Government, voter choice and a link between MP and constituency, and if we want to ensure that votes cast...

White Disadvantaged Pupils (Birmingham) (19 May 2009)

Richard Burden: On the point about the national challenge, does my hon. Friend agree that it is important that local authorities should modify their departmental funding streams to ensure that different areas of policy merge together in the right way? The point I am getting at is that if a major regeneration scheme is going on where there is a national challenge school it should not be impossible to get the...

White Disadvantaged Pupils (Birmingham) (19 May 2009)

Richard Burden: When people talk about Birmingham, they often refer to its diversity. Diversity means many things, but I am in no doubt that Birmingham's ethnic, cultural and religious diversity are great strengths in so many ways. If we are to address both the opportunities and challenges that diversity brings, we must understand the diversity of diversity. The ethnic mix of my part of Birmingham—an...

Oral Answers to Questions — Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform: Topical Questions (7 May 2009) has video

Richard Burden: Although I strongly agree with what my hon. Friend said earlier about the importance of not trying to conduct detailed negotiations with Jaguar Land Rover through the media, will he reflect on some of the principles involved? The first is that if large amounts of taxpayers' money is to be devoted to reducing the risks for other investors or giving them guarantees, it is reasonable to have...

Oral Answers to Questions — Prime Minister: Engagements (29 Apr 2009) has video

Richard Burden: Eight hundred employees of the LDV van-maker in Birmingham, together with thousands more in dealerships and suppliers, face new worries today with the announcement that the company has applied to go into administration in a week or so. Will my right hon. Friend assure me that the Government will do everything that they can, proactively as well as reactively, to secure a viable owner for the...