Results 1-20 of 2,137 for (in the 'Commons debates' OR in the 'Westminster Hall debates' OR in the 'Lords debates' OR in the 'Northern Ireland Assembly debates') speaker:Alan Milburn

Bill Presented: Social Mobility and the Professions (11 Jun 2009) has video

Alan Milburn: It is always a great pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Havant (Mr. Willetts). At some points in his speech, his insight and knowledge were in danger of creating a progressive consensus in the House; then, however, he lapsed into criticism rather deeper than I would have expected from him. It is also a great pleasure to follow the Minister, whom I congratulate on her appointment to an...

Bill Presented: Social Mobility and the Professions (11 Jun 2009) has video

Alan Milburn: The hon. Gentleman is on to a very important point. One thing that I am absolutely convinced about, not just from anecdotal evidence but from academic evidence, is that the problem is not that young people do not have aspirations, it is that they are blocked in fulfilling them. It is not that the country does not have talent—to coin a phrase, Britain's got talent. It's got lots of...

Bill Presented: Social Mobility and the Professions (11 Jun 2009) has video

Alan Milburn: When I compare my kids' experiences and life chances with those of my childhood, it shows that we are living in a different world. It is amazing, and something to cherish about modern society that, by and large, there are fantastic opportunities for more and more people. We live in a world of opportunity. Notwithstanding the problems of economic recession, we live in a world of greater plenty...

Bill Presented: Social Mobility and the Professions (11 Jun 2009) has video

Alan Milburn: Oh happy days! Yes, I do, and I also well remember my hon. Friend's championing of Peninsula's cause. She knows that Sir John Tooke, who does a fantastic job at Peninsula, is one of the panel members. It is not only one of the most progressive but one of the best medical schools in the country—I should have said "and", not "but" in that sentence. It is one of the best because it is one...

Bill Presented: Social Mobility and the Professions (11 Jun 2009) has video

Alan Milburn: It is important in these debates to ensure that the emphasis is on all groups and not just on some. However, we also have to recognise that different people from different backgrounds have different starting points in life. There is no equality of life chances at the beginning of life, and public policy will quite rightly want to intervene to ensure that life chances are made available...

Bill Presented: Social Mobility and the Professions (11 Jun 2009) has video

Alan Milburn: Yes, I have a feeling it will be coming my hon. Friend's way. I guess that we knew that, although it is just a guess. That is the point, I suppose. I guess that we had a hunch about it, and we have some rudimentary data, but they are pretty rudimentary. This is an issue of accountability for public sector bodies, including the BBC, to consider. They are funded from the public purse—from...

Bill Presented: Social Mobility and the Professions (11 Jun 2009) has video

Alan Milburn: That is a slightly more contentious point. Is it time for my hon. Friend to leave? We know that when universities broaden their base for recruitment, it does not lower levels of achievement. Figures from the Higher Education Funding Council show that students from state schools, once they get into university, perform at the same level as—or at a higher level than—students from...

Bill Presented: Social Mobility and the Professions (11 Jun 2009) has video

Alan Milburn: The hon. Gentleman raises a very important point, but what is his view on the solution that the panel received in evidence? There has been a huge growth in the number of apprenticeships, and we can argue about whether that is right or wrong, but opening up such opportunities to a mix of in-college and on-the-job training seems to be a broadly good thing. There is, none the less, a...

Bill Presented: Social Mobility and the Professions (11 Jun 2009) has video

Alan Milburn: I am grateful not to be told what to do by my hon. Friend. If it helps the hon. Member for Havant (Mr. Willetts) and the House, I can say that the intention is to publish our report in mid-July. It is for the Government to decide whether they want the House to consider it. As it is an independent report from a ferociously independent panel, representing all parties and none, I cannot speak...

Amendment of the Law: Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation (18 Mar 2008)

Alan Milburn: It is a great pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Taunton (Mr. Browne), who let himself down slightly at the end, but made what was a very good speech that indicated that the "Orange Book" tendency is alive and well and thriving inside the Liberal Democrats. I will leave it to his hon. Friends to judge whether that is a good or bad thing. It is also a great pleasure to follow my right...

Amendment of the Law: Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation (18 Mar 2008)

Alan Milburn: I should say two things to the hon. Gentleman. First, that is a good question to put not only to Labour Members but to his Conservative Front-Bench colleagues—let us remember that the Conservative party also made a non-dom proposal. Secondly, as we seek to maintain economic prosperity and stability in the future, it is important that our policy formulation on not only regulation but...

Amendment of the Law: Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation (18 Mar 2008)

Alan Milburn: Of course it is right that we help business. The hon. Gentleman was talking about manufacturing in particular, and I have no problem with that. The best way to help manufacturing is not artificially protecting it. We learnt a lot of lessons during the 1970s and 1980s, when Governments tended to develop a pretty poor record of picking winners, but people could be certain that losers developed...

Amendment of the Law: Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation (18 Mar 2008)

Alan Milburn: Of course we need more social housing, and the Chief Secretary, when she was Minister for Housing, will have argued strongly with the Treasury for more money for housing. Now she is in a position to put her wallet where her heart is, and I am sure that she will tell us later that she is going to do that.

Amendment of the Law: Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation (18 Mar 2008)

Alan Milburn: As my right hon. Friend suggests, I will be at risk of being handbagged if I continue. Many people want to fulfil their aspirations to own their home. The idea that they have to be able to pay 100 per cent. of the cost is unrealistic for many people, which is why we must have flexibility in how these shared ownership schemes work. To put the issue in perspective, the Government spent...

[Mr. Eric Illsley in the Chair] — Social Mobility (26 Jun 2007)

Alan Milburn: I am very taken by the hon. Gentleman's remarks about the sad inevitability with which children who are born into poverty will stay in poverty. Does he agree, however, that the eradication of child poverty is one of the vital stepping stones on the way towards a more socially mobile society and breaking the cycle of disadvantage and inevitability? Will he clarify his party's position on that?...

[Mr. Eric Illsley in the Chair] — Social Mobility (26 Jun 2007)

Alan Milburn: Actually, I can envisage that down the line; my point was that I cannot envisage it today. We have got to be a bit careful on this whole issue. People often say that mobility has stagnated and that it has not got any better, but as I pointed out, and as the Sutton trust report yesterday pointed out, to measure whether social mobility is advancing or retreating takes many decades. What we must...

[Mr. Eric Illsley in the Chair] — Social Mobility (26 Jun 2007)

Alan Milburn: A Government of all the talents.

[Mr. Eric Illsley in the Chair] — Social Mobility (26 Jun 2007)

Alan Milburn: It is, as always, a huge pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr. Illsley. I am extremely grateful to you, and particularly to the Speaker, for this opportunity to debate an issue that goes to the heart of what a modern Britain should look like. The issue of social mobility, by which I mean the ability of children to advance relative to their parents, seems to have become more and more...

[Mr. Eric Illsley in the Chair] — Social Mobility (26 Jun 2007)

Alan Milburn: There might be a division of opinion on that point on the Conservative Benches. All those Conservative Members have argued that social mobility should be the cornerstone, if that is not too factional a word, for modern Conservative thinking inside the Conservative party. I welcome all that, and if we are genuinely about to forge a modern progressive consensus on the issue, that is also to be...

[Mr. Eric Illsley in the Chair] — Social Mobility (26 Jun 2007)

Alan Milburn: I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his comments; he takes a keen interest in debates of this nature. I have said elsewhere that regrettably, and perhaps rather shamefully for modern society, I cannot envisage a child growing up today as I did—on a reasonably disadvantaged council estate—ending up in the Cabinet 20 years hence; I shall come to the reasons why in a moment. That is...