Results 1-20 of 1,904 for speaker:Mrs Helen Liddell

Budget Resolutions — Amendment of the Law (16 Mar 2005)

Mrs Helen Liddell: I am grateful for the opportunity to speak in the debate. Like the right hon. Member for North-West Cambridgeshire (Sir Brian Mawhinney) and others, this will probably be the last time that I shall speak in the House. I am sorry that the right hon. Gentleman is not in his place. I do not blame him for going for a cup of tea because we have heard the speeches of the hon. Members for Arundel...

Budget Resolutions — Amendment of the Law (16 Mar 2005)

Mrs Helen Liddell: I thank my hon. Friend very much indeed. He has been a great friend for many years, although I am not sure whether I like the fact that he referred to 35 years. I am getting to the stage where I prefer to lie about my age just as much as I lie about my height. I commend the Budget to the House. I am privileged to have played a part in some of the Government's successes. There have been...

Budget Resolutions — Amendment of the Law (16 Mar 2005)

Mrs Helen Liddell: The hon. Gentleman is contradicting himself. One reason for the increase in receipts is the improving performance of the economy, which is forecast to continue for some time. I think that he has been rather churlish, and I am surprised that someone with his experience should reach such conclusions.

Budget Resolutions — Amendment of the Law (16 Mar 2005)

Mrs Helen Liddell: Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

Budget Resolutions — Amendment of the Law (16 Mar 2005)

Mrs Helen Liddell: The hon. Gentleman is being very generous in giving way. I seem to remember that when he was in government and I was in opposition criticising his Administration for their attitude to borrowing, they were borrowing for failure. However, the point that the Chancellor is making is that we are borrowing to invest.

Budget Resolutions — Amendment of the Law (16 Mar 2005)

Mrs Helen Liddell: The hon. Gentleman's memory is rather selective. He seems to have forgotten that the beginning of the phase-out of ACT began under the previous Government. When he referred to the disincentives to saving in private sector pension schemes, he failed to recollect the scandal of personal pensions mis-selling, which adversely affected the public's perception of how such schemes operate.

Oral Answers to Questions — Scotland: Economic Strategy (8 Feb 2005)

Mrs Helen Liddell: Does my right hon. Friend agree that it is strange that those who purport to speak for Scotland spend their time talking it down? Rather, they should recognise the extent to which men and women in both the public and the private sector have succeeded in building a Scotland that can look forward to the future with confidence. Those who talk down Scotland talk down Scotland's people.

Orders of the Day — Mental Capacity Bill: New Clause 1 — Excluded decisions (14 Dec 2004)

Mrs Helen Liddell: I am grateful to my hon. Friend for giving way and I hope to give him an opportunity to cut to the chase. The letter that we have received this afternoon from His Grace Archbishop Smith clearly responds to several commitments that the Lord Chancellor has made. It would greatly assist those of us who are in some doubt about whether to support new clauses 1 and 2 if my hon. Friend gave us the...

Coal Health Claims (26 Oct 2004)

Mrs Helen Liddell: My hon. Friend makes an important point. One dimension that has changed in relation to coal health claims is the intervention of claims-handling companies and rogue solicitors' firms that see these claims as a dripping roast. I postulate that the number of claims, which at 570,000 is six times higher than was expected at the beginning, may be a consequence of claims-handling companies and so...

Iraq (20 Jul 2004)

Mrs Helen Liddell: Members have done a lot of rewriting of history this afternoon, and none more so than the Leader of the Opposition. Regrettably, he is not in his place. Leadership is about courage, conscience and consistency. What we saw from him this afternoon was opportunism driven by panic. We saw him denying the judgment of his two predecessors, one of whom spoke most eloquently, and we saw him insult...

Iraq (20 Jul 2004)

Mrs Helen Liddell: I reject the first part of what the hon. Gentleman has said. Resolution 1441 was, in itself, clear and unambiguous in the responsibilities that it placed on Saddam Hussein. I wholeheartedly agree with the second part, however. I believe that those who oppose the action taken in relation to Iraq must answer for what the consequences would have been for the United Nations had we yet again...

Iraq (20 Jul 2004)

Mrs Helen Liddell: The alleged deterrence had gone on for some 12 years. When would a line be drawn? When would we say that enough was enough? The right hon. Member for Berwick-upon-Tweed (Mr. Beith) said that the Prime Minister was undoubtedly doing a deal with President Bush. Let me draw his attention to what the Prime Minister said on 24 February 1998: "We should never forget that if we do not stop Saddam...

Oral Answers to Questions — Prime Minister: Engagements (12 May 2004)

Mrs Helen Liddell: You will be aware, Mr. Speaker, that 10 years ago today my constituency lost a much-admired Member of Parliament, and this nation lost a great leader. John Smith was a decent man committed to social justice. Does the Prime Minister recall that a few months before John's death, he laid out his priorities for a Labour Government? Those were the restoration and improvement of the national health...

Orders of the Day — Energy Bill [Lords] (10 May 2004)

Mrs Helen Liddell: I am grateful to you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, for calling me at this early stage, given that I have already had two name-checks this evening. I reckon that I was one of the longest-serving Energy Ministers in this Administration. May I say to my hon. Friend the Member for Doncaster, North (Mr. Hughes) that I never regarded the job as a hobby, especially not when I was trying to save the pits in...

Orders of the Day — Energy Bill [Lords] (10 May 2004)

Mrs Helen Liddell: Obviously I have scared my hon. Friend. The hon. Member for Hazel Grove (Mr. Stunell) said that Energy Ministers have often had other responsibilities, but he got it wrong about me, because I was the Minister for Energy and Competitiveness in Europe. There is a perfectly logical reason for that: energy policy is about competitiveness. I am surprised to hear Opposition Members talk with...

Orders of the Day — Energy Bill [Lords] (10 May 2004)

Mrs Helen Liddell: I believe that there is an important job for Ofgem in that respect, as there is for every Member of Parliament. Our constituents need to be alert to the fact that switching energy suppliers can produce cheaper bills at the end of the month. Particularly with pensioners and those on pre-payment meters, I always make the point that it is now possible to shop around for cheaper energy. I always...

Orders of the Day — Energy Bill [Lords] (10 May 2004)

Mrs Helen Liddell: I know exactly where my hon. Friend is coming from and I take his point, but that does not necessarily mean that future generation will have that degree of inflexibility and high cost. My hon. Friend is a great champion of the coal industry. We should look further into the economics of clean coal technology as well. My hon. Friend the Member for Ochil made a valid point about combined heat...

Orders of the Day — Energy Bill [Lords] (10 May 2004)

Mrs Helen Liddell: I take my hon. Friend's point and I congratulate the Government on their vision in recognising that there are great opportunities. One of the side-effects of the management of our nuclear liabilities has been completely to alter the picture for British Nuclear Fuels. I note that when the decommissioning plans were announced, the chief executive of BNFL talked about opportunities for the new...

Iraq: Security/Mistreatment Allegations (10 May 2004)

Mrs Helen Liddell: My right hon. Friend will be aware that the morale of the families of serving troops will be badly affected by the allegations, and that will not have been helped by the opportunism of some Opposition Members. Will he confirm that UK troops are given training and are aware of their obligations under the Geneva convention and of their other international responsibilities, and that every...

Orders of the Day — Scottish Parliament (Constituencies) Bill: Schedule 1 — Substitution of Schedule 1 to the Scotland Act 1998 (4 May 2004)

Mrs Helen Liddell: My hon. Friend can always think of a good Lanarkshire expression. Certainly, if I were running a ménage, I would not invite the Scottish Conservatives to join it.