Results 1-20 of 2,538 for (in the 'Commons debates' OR in the 'Westminster Hall debates' OR in the 'Lords debates' OR in the 'Northern Ireland Assembly debates') speaker:Gerald Howarth

Oral Answers to Questions — Prime Minister: Engagements (11 Nov 2009)

Gerald Howarth: I met Corporal Steven Boote in Aldershot shortly before he deployed with the Royal Military Police, together with two of his colleagues. Yesterday I received an e-mail from one of those colleagues, in which he expressed his devastation at the loss of his colleague Corporal Boote, but also said, "We are winning in the job we are doing out here." Will the Prime Minister please ensure that he...

Bill Presented: Clause 61 — Hatred against persons on grounds of sexual orientation (9 Nov 2009) has video

Gerald Howarth: In the absence of this protection that my hon. and learned Friend and I both support, is it not the case that various examples have been cited by my right hon. Friend the Member for Maidstone and The Weald (Miss Widdecombe) and, I might add, Sir Iqbal Sacranie and the Bishop of Chester, both of whose collars were felt by the police? The public feel intimidated, and there is nothing in the...

Bill Presented: Clause 61 — Hatred against persons on grounds of sexual orientation (9 Nov 2009) has video

Gerald Howarth: Will the Minister give way?

Bill Presented: Clause 61 — Hatred against persons on grounds of sexual orientation (9 Nov 2009) has video

Gerald Howarth: The Minister refers to the religious hatred provision, but she will be aware that it contained a further protection, which she has not mentioned. That is what we seek in the legislation before us—the same protection as that which is in the religious hatred provision.

Oral Answers to Questions — Northern Ireland: Saville Inquiry (4 Nov 2009) has video

Gerald Howarth: May I thank the Secretary of State for agreeing to meet a deputation of soldiers? That was very much appreciated. Will he express to Lord Saville our anger at the expense that he has run up, and at the ultimate discourtesy to this House and to the people involved that he has not yet published the report? Please will he express our anger at his incompetence?

Oral Answers to Questions — Defence: Gray Report (2 Nov 2009) has video

Gerald Howarth: The Government's stewardship of the defence of the realm has suffered two damning indictments in two weeks—the Gray report and also the Haddon-Cave report on the Nimrod. In considering how to respond to the devastating criticism contained in the Bernard Gray report, will the Government ensure that the lessons in the Haddon-Cave report on the Nimrod are also fully learned so that the...

Oral Answers to Questions — Defence: Pre-deployment Training (2 Nov 2009) has video

Gerald Howarth: Is the Minister not aware of the National Audit Office report earlier this year that said that there is "a shortage of appropriate theatre-specific equipment to train on"? I can confirm from my knowledge of the Welsh Guards, who have just returned from theatre to Aldershot, that they did not have sufficient quantities of Mastiff equipment to train on here, with the result that they had to...

Opposition Day — [20th Allotted Day]: Future of the Territorial Army (28 Oct 2009) has video

Gerald Howarth: I must tell the Minister that that is an untruth. The Times printed an untruth. That is not what the shadow Chancellor said.

[Mrs. Joan Humble in the Chair] (27 Oct 2009)

Gerald Howarth: May I put it on the record that QinetiQ is producing the Zephyr, which is an amazing UAV. It holds the world record both for altitude and endurance. To the uninitiated, it looks like a huge Keil Kraft kit, and it is solely powered by solar power. It is a British innovation, and I hope that the Ministry of Defence will continue to back it. I have a vested interest because some of my friends in...

[Mrs. Joan Humble in the Chair] (27 Oct 2009)

Gerald Howarth: If the Minister reads Bernard Gray's report, which the Government suppressed when it was made available in June, he will find that Mr. Gray concluded that about £2 billion could be made available if the Minister ran the Department more efficiently.

Military Vehicles and Aircraft (27 Oct 2009)

Gerald Howarth: I am delighted to follow the hon. Member for Teignbridge (Richard Younger-Ross) and I will pick up some of the points that he made. However, I want, at the outset, to congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Congleton (Ann Winterton) on yet another masterful piece of debating and on bringing intelligence about our armed forces to the Chamber. That intelligence is hugely valuable to us...

Military Vehicles and Aircraft (27 Oct 2009)

Gerald Howarth: I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for making that point, which speaks for itself. It also rubs in the fact that the Prime Minister has failed to show any vestige of understanding for the needs of the armed forces. Despite all that experience in Northern Ireland, where we had a body of knowledge, the Prime Minister, when he was Chancellor of the Exchequer, refused properly to fund the...

Military Vehicles and Aircraft (27 Oct 2009)

Gerald Howarth: I hope that I am my hon. Friend's hon. Friend, but I will happily give way to her.

Military Vehicles and Aircraft (27 Oct 2009)

Gerald Howarth: Yes, some of the helicopters are not adequate, and the Lynx, which my hon. Friend mentioned, is an obvious example. That is why the future Lynx is important, because it will have an upgraded engine and will be able to operate hot and high. However, I have to tell her that the Chinooks and C-47s that are operating in Afghanistan are doing absolutely sterling work. Yes, there is a shortage of...

Military Vehicles and Aircraft (27 Oct 2009)

Gerald Howarth: I think so, but in this case I am going to leap to the defence of the Ministry of Defence, because it was the Treasury and the then Chancellor of the Exchequer who were at fault. The then Chancellor was personally responsible for what happened, and it is only fair to pin the blame on him—he starved the Ministry of Defence of the money that it needed to provide kit that was identified as...

[Mrs. Joan Humble in the Chair] (27 Oct 2009)

Gerald Howarth: Defensive aid suites would have to be put on and would add weight. The Tucano has a payload of 1.5 tonnes, and I think that the Harrier's is about three times that. The defensive aid suite does not deliver payload, it is expensive and adds to the cost, and it renders aircraft more vulnerable as they are slower flying and so on. I have flown the Tucano and the PC-21. I commend the latter to...

Military Vehicles and Aircraft (27 Oct 2009)

Gerald Howarth: The hon. Gentleman has just made a point that I cannot let go without challenge. He suggests that the solution to our budgetary problems might be to engage in more extensive co-operation with our European partners. I gently point out to him that it is that collaboration with our European partners that has resulted in equipment taking an inordinate time to produce and coming in at vastly...

Women and Equality: Equality and Human Rights Commission (22 Oct 2009) has video

Gerald Howarth: What recent discussions she has had with the chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission on the commission's co-ordination of its work on different strands of discrimination.

Women and Equality: Equality and Human Rights Commission (22 Oct 2009) has video

Gerald Howarth: Does the Minister agree with the chairman, Trevor Phillips, when he said that sometimes the best way to frustrate the British National party is for those who feel able to vote Conservative? Surely that is sound advice.

English Libel Law (Parliamentary Proceedings) — [Mr. Roger Gale in the Chair] (21 Oct 2009)

Gerald Howarth: Let me say at the outset that I yield to no one in my enthusiasm and support for parliamentary privilege. It is an absolutely vital tool, which enables all of us in the House to carry out our ancient constitutional duty of addressing the grievances of our constituents. It allows us freely to do that without being intimidated by powerful vested interests of whatever sort—perhaps the...