Results 1-20 of 2,580 for in the 'Commons debates' OR in the 'Westminster Hall debates' OR in the 'Lords debates' OR in the 'Northern Ireland Assembly debates' speaker:Elfyn Llwyd

Oral Answers to Questions — Wales: Housing Benefit (15 May 2013)

Elfyn Llwyd: Today, 10 brave families will be applying to the High Court to declare the immoral bedroom tax unlawful. They are parents of disabled children and, in many instances, are disabled themselves. Will the Minister update the House on what steps his Government are taking to exempt those families from this immoral, unjust and unworkable tax that, according to an all-party report in March, will not...

Oral Answers to Questions — Wales: Housing Benefit (15 May 2013)

Elfyn Llwyd: I hear what the Minister says, but I would like him to respond to recent research conducted by BBC Wales, which revealed that there are approximately 28,000 individuals in Wales living in social housing that is considered to be under-occupied, with 400 one-bedroom homes available for them to move to. What will happen about that disconnect, or does he not care?

Oral Answers to Questions — Treasury: Operation Herrick (14 May 2013)

Elfyn Llwyd: May I associate myself with the earlier expressions of condolence? As one who voted against the incursion into Afghanistan, I am obviously pleased that the deployment is drawing to a close. As the Secretary of State knows, history shows that periods of draw-down are especially dangerous. There will be an increased risk of people suffering from conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder...

Home Affairs (9 May 2013)

Elfyn Llwyd: It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for South Northamptonshire (Andrea Leadsom). I did not agree with everything she said, but her remarks about banking structures were made with great authority and knowledge, I am sure—and the word “oligopoly” will serve us all well when we do crosswords. Some comment has been made about how the Queen’s Speech was not widely...

Home Affairs (9 May 2013)

Elfyn Llwyd: That is absolutely right. The Government’s proposal will quite obviously mean that the client will have no choice. It will lead to a paralegal system, with people coming out of the conurbations to try to deal with tens of cases in one day, taking notes roughly and then reporting back, and then eventually somebody will turn up for the trial or whatever. That concerns me greatly. The...

Home Affairs (9 May 2013)

Elfyn Llwyd: Perhaps not. Much of the debate on immigration is dictated by the drumbeat of the United Kingdom Independence party. Why should we spend hours discussing this issue, just because Farage and his bunch think that they are on a roll? There was one council election in Wales last week. It was on Ynys Môn—Anglesey—and UKIP stood in every ward. It did not take a single seat,...

Home Affairs (9 May 2013)

Elfyn Llwyd: I heard the hon. Lady make that point in her speech, and I did not agree with everything that she said. That was one of the points that I was unsure about, and I am equally unsure about it now. We must look at the issue carefully, but we need to detoxify the debate. We need to forget about UKIP, the Daily Mail and the Daily Express, and get stuck in and have a sensible, cool-headed, factually...

Home Affairs (9 May 2013)

Elfyn Llwyd: If the hon. Lady had listened, she would have heard me say that I agree with the hon. Member for South Northamptonshire on this issue. I am not saying we should forget about it—[Interruption.] No, I am not. I understand that money is short, and I did not say that at all. The hon. Member for Ealing Central and Acton (Angie Bray) has completely misunderstood what I have said, but I do...

Home Affairs (9 May 2013)

Elfyn Llwyd: I often respect the views of the hon. Gentleman, and I hope that we debate issues in a constructive manner when we meet on the Justice Committee. Yes, of course there are people in the voluntary sector who can do this work, but I am concerned that many of those smaller entities will be unable to carry the capital risk, and that most of the work will go to G4S, to Serco and to all the rest of...

Home Affairs (9 May 2013)

Elfyn Llwyd: rose—

Home Affairs (9 May 2013)

Elfyn Llwyd: I accept what you say, Madam Deputy Speaker, and you have probably saved me from having to answer the right hon. Gentleman’s question. As I do not have time to deal with that particular query, let me say that the dangerous dogs Bill is welcome, but that we must scrutinise it very carefully. Other measures in the Queen’s Speech are clearly welcome, too, but as always, the devil is...

Home Affairs (9 May 2013)

Elfyn Llwyd: In looking at the problem of dangerous dogs, can we be more careful this time round, because the last time we attempted this performance, it was a bit of a fiasco and we ended up with bad legislation? The right hon. Lady is right to highlight this issue as a pressing need, but we need to be very careful about how we frame this legislation.

Business of the House: Rehabilitation of Offenders (9 May 2013)

Elfyn Llwyd: Can I be helpful to the Secretary of State? The cohort who have been reoffending badly are those who have been in jail for a short period. Why not extend the duties of professional probation officers to deal with them? That would be one simple answer. As I have asked the Secretary of State before, what happens when the untrained privateer wants to breach the offender? Who then makes the...

Business of the House (9 May 2013)

Elfyn Llwyd: May I draw the House’s attention to early-day motion 36, which stands in my name and the names of other Members? [That this House deplores the Government’s intention to award legal aid franchises to a limited number of contractors, effectively abolishing a client’s right to choose their legal representation; notes that this will reduce the quality of legal representation to...

Upland Sheep Farmers (23 April 2013)

Elfyn Llwyd: I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on bringing this matter to the Floor of the House. Given the 22% fall in lamb prices last year and the fact that, as he rightly points out, this year’s unseasonal snowfall has made the situation acute, is there not a duty on the processors and the large retailers to pay a fair price for this produce?

Oral Answers to Questions — Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Topical Questions (23 April 2013)

Elfyn Llwyd: Recently, the Prime Minister made the very eccentric contention that North Korean missiles could reach the shores of the UK, apparently in an attempt to bolster support for Trident’s renewal. Is it not time to scrap the Trident renewal, save £100 billion, spend it on public services and avoid hitting the vulnerable in society?

Finance (No. 2) Bill: Part 2 — Devolution of Wales Long Haul Rates of Duty (18 April 2013)

Elfyn Llwyd: How closely has the hon. Lady monitored the views of Welsh Members on this issue? The right hon. Member for Neath (Mr Hain), the former Secretary of State for Wales, said: “Given the Secretary of State’s admission that this measure could be included in a Finance Bill, it could be in the Finance Bill”— this one— “in a few months’ time. Then we could...

Finance (No. 2) Bill: Part 2 — Devolution of Wales Long Haul Rates of Duty (18 April 2013)

Elfyn Llwyd: My hon. Friend is making a powerful case. Is it not strange that no Welsh Labour Members are present to debate air passenger duty, given that the Labour First Minister of Wales has spent many millions of pounds of Welsh money on buying an airport in Cardiff?

Oral Answers to Questions — Justice: Women Offenders (19 March 2013)

Elfyn Llwyd: These excellent centres are facing problems financially, as the Minister appreciates. She will also appreciate that on a cost-benefit analysis, short-term expenditure will pay dividends; it will keep women out of the prison estate, without further costs for children in care and so on. Ultimately it is a great investment.

Oral Answers to Questions — Communities and Local Government: Crime and Courts Bill [Lords] (Programme) ((No. 3) (18 March 2013)

Elfyn Llwyd: I appreciate everything that has been said by the hon. Member for Kettering (Mr Hollobone) and I support the amendment tabled by the hon. Member for Wellingborough (Mr Bone). When the Leader of the House made an announcement last week about rescheduling the business for today, naively, given my 21 years’ experience, I presumed that a good part of the crime and courts work would be...