Results 1-20 of 4,499 for in the 'Commons debates' OR in the 'Westminster Hall debates' OR in the 'Lords debates' OR in the 'Northern Ireland Assembly debates' speaker:Vincent Cable
- Workers’ Rights (10 May 2013)
Vincent Cable: I congratulate the hon. Member for Harlow (Robert Halfon) on securing this Adjournment debate and on the very passionate and lucid way in which he set out his case. He has been an assiduous constituency MP when faced with a major closure and a lot of personal hurt. I very much admired how he presented his case and how he brought together the local community—the trade unions and the...
- Jobs and Business (10 May 2013)
Vincent Cable: rose—
- Jobs and Business (10 May 2013)
Vincent Cable: Instead of looking for information in IMF reports, perhaps the shadow Business Secretary should look at some of the business before the House. I do not know whether he is aware that we made a written ministerial statement a few weeks ago explaining exactly where we were with the business bank. At the moment it is marketing its first tranche of funding. We have a substantial team in BIS of...
- Jobs and Business (10 May 2013)
Vincent Cable: As the hon. Gentleman may at some future stage in history occupy this role—he is obviously preparing for it—let me clarify one thing. Is he at all familiar with state aid rules? If so, he will know that under the rules of the European Union, it is necessary to obtain approval before a bank can operate fully in the competitive market of the European Union. That is why 2014 has been...
- Jobs and Business (10 May 2013)
Vincent Cable: indicated dissent.
- Jobs and Business (10 May 2013)
Vincent Cable: I am delighted to be able to introduce the section of the debate on the Queen’s Speech that relates to economic matters, particularly jobs and business. We will be talking primarily about Bills dealing with national insurance reductions for companies, consumer protection, and the protection of intellectual property, particularly design, as well as some of the carry-over Bills that will...
- Jobs and Business (10 May 2013)
Vincent Cable: That is an extraordinarily naive question in the wake of the phenomenal financial crash that we have had. I do not know whether the hon. Gentleman is familiar with the economic literature, but the econometric data suggest that after the banking crash that Britain experienced we should have lost about 50% of our GDP. We have done well to avert that. We face a difficult set of circumstances. It...
- Jobs and Business (10 May 2013)
Vincent Cable: The vast majority are in full-time work. The figures show that quite clearly. It is better to be in part-time work than out of work. I hope that there will be some recognition of that.
- Jobs and Business (10 May 2013)
Vincent Cable: I have said that the cuts in capital spending have been too deep. The Chancellor has acknowledged that and changes were made in the autumn statement and the Budget. The hon. Gentleman seems to forget that the decision to slash capital budgets by half was made by the outgoing Labour Government in 2010.
- Jobs and Business (10 May 2013)
Vincent Cable: There is no such activity in Britain. There were cases of people working without pay and my colleague, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, intervened to stop that practice operating on the back of the benefits system. We acknowledge that there is one category of people among whom unemployment is worryingly high: young people. The Leader of the Opposition focused on that issue. About...
- Jobs and Business (10 May 2013)
Vincent Cable: It is not complacent to acknowledge the extent to which we have serious problems, which is where I started, or to compare the country with economies that are suffering similar problems. For those who are rightly focused on unemployment among young people, the simple truth is that long-term youth unemployment rose by 40% in the boom years when the Labour party was in power. Labour Members are...
- Jobs and Business (10 May 2013)
Vincent Cable: I will finish my point and then take the intervention. The Leader of the Opposition pointed to the apparently low level of enforcement of the minimum wage and the limited number of prosecutions. That worried me at the time, so I checked the history. I discovered that in the last four years of the Labour Government, the number of prosecutions under this flagship policy was two a year. We have...
- Jobs and Business (10 May 2013)
Vincent Cable: I am sure that the trade unions play a part in bringing this matter to the attention of the authorities. Every complaint is investigated. Some come from the trade unions and I welcome the role that they play.
- Jobs and Business (10 May 2013)
Vincent Cable: The hon. Gentleman makes the same point I was making. The Government are pursuing that matter through the civil courts and there are substantial penalties. It is an HMRC task, but I take the point that we should perhaps make the message more easily available. Employers should not get away with the idea that they should ignore this. Let me say a bit about a difficult area of policy in which...
- Jobs and Business (10 May 2013)
Vincent Cable: I spend a good deal of time discussing that issue with the Home Office, and I will come on to students in a moment as they are a crucial category. In order to clear the decks for an honest discussion of this problem, we must confront the reality that some of the facts, or factoids, used in this context are deeply unhelpful. All parties and commentators use the concept of net immigration as a...
- Jobs and Business (10 May 2013)
Vincent Cable: That should not be the case, and the Prime Minister has gone out of his way—as he did on a recent visit to India—to make it clear that we welcome valid, legal overseas student visitors to the UK. That is our policy and we are encouraging it.
- Jobs and Business (10 May 2013)
Vincent Cable: That is true and the core of the policy. There is no cap on legal immigration for students, not just for universities but also properly accredited colleges. There is also a right to work subsequently in graduate-level employment, and I hope that information will be made more widely available. The second crucial group of people are those with key skills. The Government exempt inter-company...
- Jobs and Business (10 May 2013)
Vincent Cable: Yes, I do. It is, of course, important to train people in the UK where possible, and one of the drivers behind the apprenticeship programme is that of ensuring we build up our scandalously neglected skills base. Where there are genuine vacancies, it is important that people are able to move freely. If the hon. Lady is able to bring cases to my Department, we will try to work with the Home...
- Jobs and Business (10 May 2013)
Vincent Cable: That is essentially the point I am trying to make. Perhaps the hon. Gentleman can communicate his message to the shadow Home Secretary, who has a slightly different take on those things. My essential point is that there are positives, and we need to stress them in the current atmosphere. However, we also need to provide reassurance, which is what the Government are seeking to do in two main...
- Jobs and Business (10 May 2013)
Vincent Cable: The hon. Gentleman is right that myth-busting is an important part of what we need to do. However, in order to deal with myth-busting, we must also deal with genuine abuses. I hope he understands that. I am grateful for his first comment—I am trying to lower the temperature of the debate and to get us to deal with fact rather than myth. I am trying to have a proper balance that...