Results 1-20 of 2,841 for (in the 'Commons debates' OR in the 'Westminster Hall debates' OR in the 'Lords debates' OR in the 'Northern Ireland Assembly debates') speaker:William Hague

Nato: Afghanistan (20 Oct 2009)

William Hague: Perhaps anticipating what the Foreign Secretary intends to say in topical questions, may I, on behalf of the Opposition, join in the welcome for the announcement by President Karzai that he accepts the need for a second round, which in the absence of a national unity Government in Afghanistan must be the best way forward? Building on earlier questions, will the Foreign Secretary expand on...

Nato: Afghanistan (20 Oct 2009)

William Hague: On another matter regarding Afghanistan, the Prime Minister announced last week 500 additional troops for Afghanistan but set out burden sharing across the coalition as one of the conditions for that. Can the Foreign Secretary enlighten us further about that condition? If the United States is the only substantial extra contributor alongside the United Kingdom, will he consider that condition...

Nato: Topical Questions (20 Oct 2009)

William Hague: On that, it is a great pity that the Labour party broke an election promise that it made to the people of this country at the last election. However, I am sure that the Foreign Secretary will join me in welcoming today's visit to Sarajevo by Carl Bildt and the US deputy Secretary of State. Does the right hon. Gentleman agree that, given the situation in Bosnia and what has happened in that...

Oral Answers to Questions — Children, Schools and Families: Libya (12 Oct 2009) has video

William Hague: We are grateful to the Foreign Secretary for making a statement and we of course concur with his remarks about the horrors of the Lockerbie bombing and about the 25th anniversary of the Brighton bombing, the memory of which means a great deal to all of us in the House, but particularly to those of us in the Conservative party. In other respects, we will differ with the Foreign Secretary's...

Bills Presented: Afghanistan and Pakistan (16 Jul 2009) has video

William Hague: Since we last held a debate about Afghanistan, on 5 February, 41 British soldiers have lost their lives on operations there, and, as the House will recall, three of those recently killed were just 18-years-old. It is fitting for us to remember today, as the Foreign Secretary did in his speech, their sacrifices and their families, and to pay tribute to their selfless courage. My hon. Friend...

Bills Presented: Afghanistan and Pakistan (16 Jul 2009) has video

William Hague: If the Afghan Government were functioning as we wanted them to, with the widespread consent and support of Afghan people throughout the country, and, if the writ of the Government of Pakistan ran properly through all its territory, we would be in a stronger position with regard to the problem that the hon. Gentleman raises. However, there is a fundamental disagreement about the issue, and I...

Bills Presented: Afghanistan and Pakistan (16 Jul 2009) has video

William Hague: I give way to the right hon. Gentleman, the former Defence Secretary.

Bills Presented: Afghanistan and Pakistan (16 Jul 2009) has video

William Hague: That is an accurate reflection of our objectives, but the hon. Member for Newport, West (Paul Flynn) was also right to point out that we have not achieved them yet. I agree with the hon. Gentleman on that, so the issue before us is how we go on to achieve them. My right hon. Friend the Leader—

Bills Presented: Afghanistan and Pakistan (16 Jul 2009) has video

William Hague: I am trying to make the progress that you called for, Mr. Deputy Speaker, but I shall give way to the hon. Lady.

Bills Presented: Afghanistan and Pakistan (16 Jul 2009) has video

William Hague: That is an important point—it is indeed a NATO operation. As has been shown in this debate, many of us would like some other NATO members to make a bigger military contribution; all parties in the House have called for that for years. The hon. Lady is right about that. I want to finish the point about proper assessment and the benchmarking of progress. In his statement in April, the...

Bills Presented: Afghanistan and Pakistan (16 Jul 2009) has video

William Hague: That illustrates the point, in a way. Clearly, the Prime Minister is not going to spend his entire day, on a day-to-day basis, consumed by these matters, but there should be a Minister in the Government who does spend his or her time in that way. Of course this requires Ministers to work together, but it also requires a clear sense of ownership of the strategy and the problem, and that is not...

Bills Presented: Afghanistan and Pakistan (16 Jul 2009) has video

William Hague: I do not think it is impossible for us to succeed. If the hon. Gentleman is asking whether I think it is possible that we could succeed on the basis of the objectives that I have been talking about and that the Foreign Secretary clearly shares, on behalf of the Government, I do think that. I do not write off the possibility of success. However, it requires not only the necessary resources but...

Bills Presented: Afghanistan and Pakistan (16 Jul 2009) has video

William Hague: I will give way one more time and then try to finish.

Bills Presented: Afghanistan and Pakistan (16 Jul 2009) has video

William Hague: As my hon. Friend will have gathered, I have a great deal of sympathy with that point. A situation such as this requires the regular sharing of all assessments, thoughts and knowledge by the senior Ministers involved—I did not know that that happened only once a month; if that is true, it should be far more often—and a particular Minister who is responsible for the day-to-day...

Bills Presented: Afghanistan and Pakistan (16 Jul 2009) has video

William Hague: I will not give away to the hon. Gentleman again, if he will forgive me, because other Members wish to speak. It is not as though this problem had not been noticed for a long time. My hon. Friend the Member for Woodspring, from within days of becoming shadow Secretary of State for Defence in December 2005, has been going on and on about the problem. He said on 15 December that year that the...

Oral Answers to Questions — Prime Minister: Elderly People (Long-term Care) (8 Jul 2009) has video

William Hague: On behalf of the Opposition, may I also send our condolences to the families of the six people, including a three-week-old baby and two other children, who died in such tragic circumstances in Camberwell, in the right hon. and learned Lady's constituency, on Friday evening? That event was deeply distressing to her constituents and the whole country. I join the right hon. and learned Lady, of...

Oral Answers to Questions — Prime Minister: Elderly People (Long-term Care) (8 Jul 2009) has video

William Hague: We all recognise that it is important to do more, and we will hold the Government to the commitments that the right hon. and learned Lady has made. Moving on to Government policy more broadly, will she put into plain English for everyone the Prime Minister's assertion last week that "total spending will continue to rise, and it will be a zero per cent. rise in 2013"?—[ Official Report,...

Oral Answers to Questions — Prime Minister: Elderly People (Long-term Care) (8 Jul 2009) has video

William Hague: Perhaps the Leader of the House could spend 100 per cent. of the next minute trying to answer the question she was asked about what the Prime Minister meant by a "zero per cent. rise". Is it not now clear that every single word of the assertion that he made last week is wrong—that total spending will not rise, and there will not even be a "zero per cent. rise", as he bizarrely called...

Oral Answers to Questions — Prime Minister: Elderly People (Long-term Care) (8 Jul 2009) has video

William Hague: There is no need to talk about the figures in five years' time as the Government's figures show that capital spending will fall from £44 billion this year—and fall every year—to £22 billion in four years. Is it not an indisputable fact that capital spending is being halved?

Oral Answers to Questions — Prime Minister: Elderly People (Long-term Care) (8 Jul 2009) has video

William Hague: The Leader of the House's statement "We are not cutting capital spending", when the Government's figures show it declining from £44 billion to £22 billion, is exactly the sort of statement that damages the credibility of politics and the Government. It is no wonder that they are abandoning their numeracy strategy when Ministers will not admit that 22 is half of 44. Is the right hon....