Results 1-20 of 5,213 for (in the 'Commons debates' OR in the 'Westminster Hall debates' OR in the 'Lords debates' OR in the 'Northern Ireland Assembly debates') speaker:Michael Meacher

Olympics: Energy National Policy Statements (9 Nov 2009) has video

Michael Meacher: As French, Finnish and UK regulators have all recently agreed that the current control systems for the evolutionary EPR reactor are to be subject to architectural change—in other words, the reactor is still being designed— how can the Government possibly sanction the justification of nuclear plant before reactor design is finally decided? Is that not a classic case of putting the...

Oral Answers to Questions — Treasury: Banking Reform (3 Nov 2009) has video

Michael Meacher: Given that this latest danegeld to the banks will cost an extra £40 billion—in addition to the £50 billion already spent on bailing them out—why is my right hon. Friend so enamoured of this busted, out-of-control, casino-market model of banking which costs the taxpayer such gargantuan sums? Why does he not instead remutualise the three spin-offs, especially Northern...

Opposition Day — [19th allotted day]: Climate Change (Political Response) (21 Oct 2009) has video

Michael Meacher: The Liberal Democrat motion deals with climate change leadership, but I think that by any standards the Government's record in this area is pretty good. The UK is the first country in the world to set up rolling carbon budgets, and to have set a carbon emission reduction target of 80 per cent. by 2050. The Government are the first to have set up a prestigious and independent Climate Change...

Opposition Day — [18th Allotted Day]: Economic Recovery and Welfare (19 Oct 2009)

Michael Meacher: This must be one of the most remarkable run-ups to an election in recent history. We have the biggest crisis in British politics alongside questions about how to handle a deep and continuing recession, what caused it and how to prevent any recurrence. Yet, most people believe that the policies that are obviously required are still not being pursued or even debated. As we all know, the country...

Opposition Day — [18th Allotted Day]: Economic Recovery and Welfare (19 Oct 2009)

Michael Meacher: As the right hon. Gentleman knows very well, a crisis of global proportions developed almost overnight as a result of the error that was made in September 2008 with the dismemberment of Lehman Brothers. Credit should be given to the Prime Minister, who came forward with a plan that other world leaders and world economists have agreed was necessary. That is why that happened, and I think that...

Opposition Day — [18th Allotted Day]: Economic Recovery and Welfare (19 Oct 2009)

Michael Meacher: I will; this is the second and last time that I will do so.

Opposition Day — [18th Allotted Day]: Economic Recovery and Welfare (19 Oct 2009)

Michael Meacher: I think that the hon. Gentleman might be overstating the contribution of the City of London; many people do. The value of the capital gains tax and corporation tax revenues from the banks is about £25 billion. That is a lot of money, but, set against total Government revenue, it is relatively small. Furthermore, if the consequences of supporting and underwriting the banks when the bust...

Opposition Day — [18th Allotted Day]: Economic Recovery and Welfare (19 Oct 2009)

Michael Meacher: No, I will not, because I would be cutting into my own time. Much as I respect the hon. Gentleman, I prefer, now that I have the floor, to keep it. There are two ways of tackling the deficit, which is, of course, reducing Government revenues through rising unemployment and increasing Government expenditure through social benefits, including the so-called automatic stabilisers. Those...

Opposition Day — [18th Allotted Day]: Economic Recovery and Welfare (19 Oct 2009) has video

Michael Meacher: rose—

Opposition Day — [18th Allotted Day]: Economic Recovery and Welfare (19 Oct 2009) has video

Michael Meacher: rose—

Opposition Day — [18th Allotted Day]: Economic Recovery and Welfare (19 Oct 2009) has video

Michael Meacher: Let me return the right hon. and learned Gentleman to the most important thing he said—that a future Tory Government would engage in early cuts as soon as possible and that those would be big cuts. Is he aware that the President of the Japanese Government tried exactly that against the background of a precarious recovery at the end of the 1990s, only to precipitate a deeper slump? Is he...

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

Michael Meacher: I want briefly to offer a slightly different perspective on this war, although I agree with a great deal of what has been said. Everyone recognises the courage and enormous skill demonstrated by our armed forces in fighting what is clearly a difficult and dangerous war in Afghanistan. I endorse that, as—I am sure—does every Member of this House, but I do not think that that should...

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

Michael Meacher: I take the points made by my hon. Friend. I was going to present some of those figures myself, but whatever the exact figures, the real point is about changing the perception of the Afghan population about western involvement in their country. The figures that I have are that civilian deaths at the hand of NATO forces have risen to more than 4,000 since 2006. In the past year alone, they have...

Oral Answers to Questions — Prime Minister: UK Low Carbon Transition Plan (15 Jul 2009)

Michael Meacher: How does my right hon. Friend justify offering the airline industry a virtual exemption from the disciplines that will apply to almost all other industrial sectors? According to projections, by 2050 the rise in aircraft emissions is expected to negate the cuts made in all other industrial sectors. Surely this cuckoo-in-the-nest protection of one highly polluting industry is simply no longer...

Oral Answers to Questions — Prime Minister: Reforming Financial Markets (8 Jul 2009)

Michael Meacher: As two of the main causes of the economic breakdown and the credit crunch were the mass-proliferation of toxic credit derivatives and the gross recklessness of the investment arms of the banks, does my right hon. Friend not think it necessary to prohibit, or at least require official approval of, potentially risky derivatives? Given the eye-watering cost of bailing out the banks, how can he...

Parliamentary Commissions of Inquiry: New Clause 8 — Transfers of trade to obtain terminal loss relief (7 Jul 2009)

Michael Meacher: My right hon. Friend mentions the code of conduct that has just been published. Does he really believe that a voluntary code of conduct is going to be adequate to deal with the shark pool that is involved in City tax avoidance? Has he looked at the Australian anti-avoidance principle, which has worked for years? I am not aware that it has any significant disadvantages but, if it has, will he...

Parliamentary Commissions of Inquiry: New Clause 8 — Transfers of trade to obtain terminal loss relief (7 Jul 2009)

Michael Meacher: I want to make one very brief central point, and it relates to what the hon. Member for Dundee, East (Stewart Hosie) has just been saying. My right hon. Friend the Financial Secretary has explained that new clause 8 is necessary to block yet another loophole that would open up yet another lucrative tax avoidance mechanism, and I am absolutely sure that he is right. What is significant is...