Results 1-20 of 343 for (in the 'Commons debates' OR in the 'Westminster Hall debates' OR in the 'Lords debates' OR in the 'Northern Ireland Assembly debates') speaker:Jim Dowd

[Janet Anderson in the Chair] — NHS Next Stage Review (14 May 2009)

Jim Dowd: Before my right hon. Friend gets too far away from the spelling of polyclinic, I am sure that he will recall that, when we were looking for a definition of polyclinic during our inquiry, someone offered the idea that it is where one goes when one is as sick as a parrot.

[Janet Anderson in the Chair] — NHS Next Stage Review (14 May 2009)

Jim Dowd: There is a good story to be told about GP-led health centres. I have seen, as I am sure other hon. Members have, that where they have been established, the increase in availability of other GPs has acted almost as a competitive spur. Part of the problem is that the evaluation of the five original centres in London has not even been designed yet. The Government are being a bit tardy. They...

[Janet Anderson in the Chair] — NHS Next Stage Review (14 May 2009)

Jim Dowd: Your generosity and understanding are legendary, Mrs. Anderson, and I apologise to hon. Members—I was misled. The hon. Member for Wyre Forest (Dr. Taylor) is not only the health spokesman for his party, but the leader of his party. He is with us today, as is the hon. Member for Romsey (Sandra Gidley). I thought that you were just calling members of the Committee and, in my naturally...

[Janet Anderson in the Chair] — NHS Next Stage Review (14 May 2009)

Jim Dowd: Of course—if you can't beat 'em, join 'em! The Government need to demonstrate more openness and flexibility. The one crucial element to the changes engineered in the health service was taking the public with us. Public confidence can be established, but I am pretty certain that there is none at the moment.

[Janet Anderson in the Chair] — NHS Next Stage Review (14 May 2009)

Jim Dowd: While my right hon. Friend is on the subject of GP-led health centres, or polyclinics, as they are known—I do not know whether he will refer to this later in his speech—the Committee welcomed in some measure the establishment of what he has just described. However, it also expressed concern at the uniform—some would say doctrinaire— attitude of the Department of Health...

Food Labelling Regulations (Amendment): New Clause 4 — Disability living allowance for blind claimants (17 Mar 2009) has video

Jim Dowd: He will.

Prayers: Statutory Redundancy Pay (Amendment) Bill (13 Mar 2009) has video

Jim Dowd: On that point, I would assert that the person whom the hon. Gentleman has described would be the least likely to rely solely on statutory redundancy payments, and it is those at the lower end of the earnings scale who will be most likely to be entitled only to statutory redundancy arrangements if and when they lose their jobs. The higher up the pay bands one goes, the less likely it becomes...

Points of Order: Summer Adjournment (22 Jul 2008) has video

Jim Dowd: I am taken aback at being called so early in the debate; like most Members, I am used to sitting here for a few hours before speaking. However, I am pleased and grateful to you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, for calling me. As is traditional on these occasions, I want to mention issues affecting my constituency. I shall mention two matters, both of which I have raised in the past, although events have...

Orders of the Day: Food Products (Marketing to Children) Bill (25 Apr 2008) has video

Jim Dowd: We should make it plain that the Food and Drink Federation is not an impartial academic centre, but the mouthpiece of the very companies that the hon. Gentleman mentions, such as Mars, Nestlé and Kellogg's. He says that people will come to a conclusion on whether GDAs or traffic lights are easier to understand, but how does he respond to the work of the Consumers Association and the Food...

Orders of the Day: Food Products (Marketing to Children) Bill (25 Apr 2008) has video

Jim Dowd: Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

Orders of the Day: Food Products (Marketing to Children) Bill (25 Apr 2008) has video

Jim Dowd: The hon. Gentleman mentioned McDonald's. The hon. Member for Christchurch (Mr. Chope) has vacated his seat temporarily, but the fact is that McDonald's is sponsor of the International Olympic Committee; that is where the McDonald's sponsorship comes in. It does not come into the issue of the London Olympics. I realise that if the House were to spend its time correcting the hon. Member for...

Orders of the Day: Food Products (Marketing to Children) Bill (25 Apr 2008) has video

Jim Dowd: I congratulate my hon. Friend on his success in the ballot and on introducing the Bill. In response to the hon. Member for Bromsgrove (Miss Kirkbride), I point out that when the hon. Member for West Chelmsford (Mr. Burns) and I served on the Select Committee on Health some half a dozen years ago or so, we conducted an inquiry on obesity. I am sure that the hon. Gentleman remembers it well,...

Orders of the Day: Food Products (Marketing to Children) Bill (25 Apr 2008) has video

Jim Dowd: On that point, does my hon. Friend agree that food processors, and food processors alone, are resisting traffic-light front-of-pack food labelling? Instead, they go in for the spurious and reprehensible guideline daily amount scheme, which the public do not understand, as they do not want the public to understand exactly how much saturated fat, sugar and salt is in their products.

Prayers (25 Apr 2008) has video

Jim Dowd: I beg to move, That the House do sit in private.

Orders of the Day: Private Equity (Transfer of Undertakings and Protection of Employment) Bill (7 Mar 2008) has video

Jim Dowd: The hon. Gentleman has been speaking for well over half an hour. I, for one, do not dispute the importance of the private equity or the venture capital industry in this country. He says that he does not want the Bill to damage those industries. In response to an intervention from my hon. Friend the Member for Manchester, Central (Tony Lloyd), he said that he would be coming on to the Bill's...

Oral Answers to Questions — Health: Christmas Adjournment (18 Dec 2007)

Jim Dowd: I am delighted to have the opportunity to raise a couple of matters of particular concern to my constituents, although they have wider implications across south London. If I have time, I will refer to a third matter. Earlier this year, I secured an Adjournment debate on the future of Network Rail services into London Bridge station following the welcome and long overdue extension of the East...

Petitions: Crown Post Offices (24 Jul 2007)

Jim Dowd: I commiserate with my hon. Friend the Member for Stockton, South (Ms Taylor) on being drawn last in this long series of petitions. The petition is on behalf of more than 500 constituents and other users of the Forest Hill, London SE23 Crown post office and concerns Post Office plans to merge with WH Smith. I am aware that the scheme is being implemented across the country, and that many...

Opposition Day — [11th Allotted Day]: Armed Conflict (Parliamentary Approval) (15 May 2007)

Jim Dowd: Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

Orders of the Day: Sri Lanka (2 May 2007)

Jim Dowd: The hon. Gentleman has justifiably spent much of his speech criticising the LTTE and many of the outrages that it has perpetrated. The human rights record across the island of Sri Lanka is among the worst in the world. While he did say, in concluding his remarks, that all parties must recognise their responsibility, there was little in his speech that referred to some of the mistakes, not to...

Business of the House: 2012 Olympics (15 Mar 2007)

Jim Dowd: I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for her assurances about the position of London council tax payers. However, there is a concomitant concern that a loss of other resources might occur. We shall have to return to that issue over time. Will she give me an assurance that in the search for private sector partners—especially sponsors—to fund the games, regard will be given to...