Results 1-20 of 1,251 for speaker:Lord Mandelson

Economy: Growth — Question for Short Debate (6 December 2012)

Lord Mandelson: My Lords, I warmly congratulate the noble Lord on securing this debate and on his report as a whole. It will not surprise him that I strongly agree with the bulk of it. When I returned to the Government when the financial crisis struck in 2008, my eyes had been opened by my continental experience to what most other sensible Governments do in placing their weight behind the growth of new...

Leveson Inquiry — Statement (29 November 2012)

Lord Mandelson: My Lords, the Prime Minister said at the beginning of his Statement that above all we should put the interests of the victims first. I am afraid that in his response to Leveson he is doing the very opposite of that: he is putting politics and the perceived power of certain sections of the press before the interests of the victims. Let us be honest, he is not the first Prime Minister to be in...

EU: Recent Developments — Motion to Take Note (16 February 2012)

Lord Mandelson: My Lords, I do not know whether the noble Lord, Lord Lamont, is more canary or Cassandra. I could take up many of his observations, but I shall not. Nor shall I dwell on current events in Greece, although I do think they illustrate the risk of becoming too fixated on austerity out of fear of market sentiment. Nor am I going to dwell on the events of December's European Council meeting. I am...

European Council — Statement (12 December 2011)

Lord Mandelson: My Lords, people will differ in their view about whether the Government's negotiating position last week was tenable or realistic. Will the Government reflect on the utterly shambolic way in which they prepared their position and sought support for their proposals at the summit last week? Why were the Government's proposals only shared with the legal service of the Council literally the day...

European Union Bill: Committee (2nd Day) (Continued) (26 April 2011)

Lord Mandelson: My Lords, I do not want to detain your Lordships so near to the dinner break; I shall make only three observations in relation to Clause 3 and whether it should stand part of the Bill. What we have seen during the course of this debate is a series of false assumptions and non sequiturs advanced to justify the Bill, and in particular this clause, which the Government are bringing forward. My...

European Union Bill: Committee (2nd Day) (Continued) (26 April 2011)

Lord Mandelson: If I may persist, I am not going to make very extensive remarks and we have heard a lot from the noble Lord. On the basis of my first observation there is really no need for this Bill. Secondly, if there were a move by one or more member states or institutions in the European Union to secure the transfer of more powers to the EU, the Government would not win their case or prevail against this...

Finance: Hostile Takeover Bids — Question (26 April 2011)

Lord Mandelson: My Lords, does the noble Baroness recall that it was I who first tasked the Takeover Panel to look into these matters in the wake of the Cadbury takeover? While it was never my or the Government's intention to introduce or apply a nationality test in the case of foreign takeovers, I was conscious of the potential sensitivity and possible conflict of interest in the energy sector. What would...

Postal Services Bill: Second Reading (Continued) (16 February 2011)

Lord Mandelson: It is a woman.

Postal Services Bill: Second Reading (Continued) (16 February 2011)

Lord Mandelson: My Lords, first, I extend my welcome to the noble Lord, Lord Empey. I knew him well. We worked closely together when I was Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. Judging by his maiden speech this afternoon, I believe he will make a very distinctive contribution to this House. I am also looking forward to the maiden speech of the noble Lord, Lord Dobbs. I was just talking to him outside the...

Postal Services Bill: Second Reading (Continued) (16 February 2011)

Lord Mandelson: I rather regret that my noble friend used the word Luddite in relation to the employees of the Royal Mail. I did not use that term, and I very much regret that it should be so misapplied, as he has misapplied it, to the overwhelming mass of employees of the Royal Mail who know that they need to embrace change but, I fear, did not and do not have the leadership of the union to enable them to...

Further Education: Funding — Question (25 March 2010)

Lord Mandelson: My Lords, the decisions that have been taken in this area have, of course, been based on rigorous analysis of how to maintain a strong skills system that helps to get people into work, not least for adult learners, while finding the necessary efficiencies required to reduce the deficit. The Government are confident that we will continue to sustain a strong base of adult education in further...

Further Education: Funding — Question (25 March 2010)

Lord Mandelson: My Lords, the Government have a strong record of investment in further education and skills. The core investment remains high, at unprecedented levels. Despite efficiency savings, more funds than ever are going into post-16 education and training for this next financial year, including, I am glad to say, £8.2 billion for 16-to-18 learning and £3.5 billion for adult training places....

Further Education: Funding — Question (25 March 2010)

Lord Mandelson: No, my Lords, I am not denying that there will be an effect. All I am saying is that the modest reductions that we are proposing, in line with our commitment to reduce the deficit over the coming four years, require belt-tightening of this sort across the public sector. I cannot exempt FE colleges or adult learning courses from that, but this has to be seen in the context of the colossal...

Further Education: Funding — Question (25 March 2010)

Lord Mandelson: My Lords, the Government always insist on the value of training and adult skills for future jobs and growth and I underline that again today. Since 1997, we have expanded apprenticeships from 65,000 starts, which we inherited from the previous Government, to 240,000 starts in 2008-09, with the number rising since then. We are funding more apprenticeships than ever before in our country. In...

Further Education: Funding — Question (25 March 2010)

Lord Mandelson: My Lords, it is true that I have been serving a long and recurrent apprenticeship for my current role. That is why, among other reasons, I am firmly committed to apprenticeship training for others. However, the figures that the noble Lord quotes about economically inactive people mask the fact that a rather large number of them are in full-time training and education, even though they may be...

Manufacturing — Question (25 March 2010)

Lord Mandelson: The Government are fully committed to a strong future for British manufacturing, leading the world in new technologies and the transition to low carbon. We have earmarked almost £1 billion in investment to build key manufacturing capabilities in coming years, helping to turn UK research strengths in innovative technologies into commercial manufacturing opportunities.

Manufacturing — Question (25 March 2010)

Lord Mandelson: My Lords, the noble Lord must have been listening to a different Budget yesterday. If I can simply point out to him that the British manufacturing sector did not in fact contract in absolute terms during the course of the last decade- before the recession that is-its output in both value and volume has remained stable despite the fiercest possible competition. China now defines the global...

Manufacturing — Question (25 March 2010)

Lord Mandelson: I do not know anyone who supports a unilateral imposition of a levy on British banks, apart of course from the Leader of her Majesty's Opposition-although I notice that by the end of the day, following his speech on Saturday, even he is becoming decidedly wobbly on the issue.

Manufacturing — Question (25 March 2010)

Lord Mandelson: We are committed in principle to the strategy and adopting the measures recommended by the Space Innovation and Growth Team, which is why on Monday at the conference I announced government funding for the new International Space Innovation Centre at Harwell in Oxfordshire. We will be following up with other measures. If he does not mind my slightly correcting his pronunciation, it was...

Manufacturing — Question (25 March 2010)

Lord Mandelson: My Lords, the Government's record is much better than that operating in the private sector. Since I challenged my central government colleagues to reduce their payment to a 10-day limit, most of them have successfully adopted that and are now operating it. The problem really lies in the private sector where there are many large companies which simply treat the companies that are supplying...