Results 1-20 of 2,579 for (in the 'Commons debates' OR in the 'Westminster Hall debates' OR in the 'Lords debates' OR in the 'Northern Ireland Assembly debates') speaker:Chris Mullin

Outlawries Bill: Debate on the Address — [1st Day] (18 Nov 2009)

Chris Mullin: Was not the real problem the fact that both the main parties bought in to the myth of light-touch regulation? Indeed, the hon. Member for Tatton (Mr. Osborne) was still making speeches about the need for more light-touch regulation long after it ceased to be fashionable.

Farm Animal Welfare (3 Nov 2009)

Chris Mullin: My hon. Friend makes a powerful case for the direction of travel that the Government have taken over the years. May I ask him to address the question of compulsion versus voluntary codes? That was one of the main points that I was trying to make.

Farm Animal Welfare (3 Nov 2009)

Chris Mullin: Is not the evidence so far that voluntary measures do not really work? I mentioned the fact that, so far, only 40 of 468 local authorities have gone cage-free. Good though that is, it is very slow progress. I come back to the evaluation to which, I think, my hon. Friend speedily referred. That evaluation by Deloitte—if that is what he was referring to—said that "Take up of the...

Farm Animal Welfare (3 Nov 2009)

Chris Mullin: The hon. Gentleman is making a perfectly reasonable point, but I urge him not to be too hard on the measure that his Government introduced many years ago. It is just possible that it was one of the things that forced the generally somnambulant EU into trying to ban tethers across the region, although I appreciate that it is taking a frustratingly long time to introduce the ban.

Farm Animal Welfare (3 Nov 2009)

Chris Mullin: I intend to highlight the importance of public sector food procurement and the role it has to play in improving animal welfare standards for meat and poultry in the United Kingdom and abroad. I will concentrate on one key area of public procurement—eggs—although the argument could equally apply to pork or any one of a number of factory farmed products. I call on the Government to...

Farm Animal Welfare (3 Nov 2009)

Chris Mullin: Yes, I agree. I will touch on some of those points later.

Farm Animal Welfare (3 Nov 2009)

Chris Mullin: Yes, I am in general agreement with the hon. Gentleman on that. However, price is not the only consideration. I have always believed that we have to take into account the consequences of our actions. As all those hon. Members who have taken an interest in factory farming know, it involves some disgusting practices that many farmers deeply regret; in fact, many farmers feel forced into...

Farm Animal Welfare (3 Nov 2009)

Chris Mullin: It certainly is because, as we know, McDonald's is ruthlessly moved by the power of the market, and where it goes the public sector should surely be able to follow. Last year, concern about the link between intensive farming and the emergence of virulent forms of flu, including swine flu from pigs, has increased pressure on meat and poultry producers to examine the conditions in which their...

Farm Animal Welfare (3 Nov 2009)

Chris Mullin: I absolutely accept that, and I touched on it in my response to the hon. Member for Westbury (Dr. Murrison). Perhaps I should also have said that consumers are entitled to much better information about where their meat comes from, which requires proper labelling. It has not been possible to calculate the exact percentage of caged eggs purchased in the public sector, but it is a matter of...

Farm Animal Welfare (3 Nov 2009)

Chris Mullin: Yes. That is a reasonable, desirable and achievable goal, given the necessary political will. More than £2 billion of taxpayers' money is spent on public sector food each year. The average British taxpayer forks out approximately £70 a year on food purchased, prepared and served in the public sector. Numerous benefits can be achieved by introducing mandatory health and...

Business of the House (22 Oct 2009) has video

Chris Mullin: Does my right hon. and learned Friend agree that if we care about the low esteem in which our profession is held, one easy win would be to put an end to the 82-day annual recess and sit in September, as we once agreed to do? Will she arrange an early debate on the subject so that we can get the excuses out of the way as early as possible?

Nato: Royal Mail (20 Oct 2009)

Chris Mullin: Further to that point, I am glad to note what the Minister says about the Government's intentions, but is he aware that there is an underlying fear among postal workers that the long-term objective of management is to privatise and casualise the industry? Can he say anything to allay the fears of the work force on that point?

Oral Answers to Questions — Defence: Afghanistan (13 Jul 2009) has video

Chris Mullin: May I put it to my right hon. Friend that, tragic though all the deaths are, and although we must do as much as we can to minimise casualties, it is irresponsible and dishonest to pretend that if only the Government had provided this piece of equipment or that piece of equipment, all those lives could have been saved? That only serves to upset unnecessarily the grieving relatives.

Business of the House (18 Jun 2009) has video

Chris Mullin: Will my right hon. and learned Friend confirm that the Bill to set up the parliamentary standards committee will be published in draft and subject to full pre-legislative scrutiny? I am sure that she agrees that it is better that we do not legislate in haste and repent at leisure.

Oral Answers to Questions — Justice: Probation Services (16 Jun 2009) has video

Chris Mullin: I hear what my right hon. Friend says about the increase in resources, but I am told that in Northumbria, for example, of the 24 probation officers currently in training, at a cost of £90,000 per course, only half will be offered temporary contracts at the end; the other half will be offered nothing at all. How does he explain the gap between the figures he has quoted, and what we are...

Opposition Day — [13th Allotted Day]: Business Rates (15 Jun 2009) has video

Chris Mullin: I know that my right hon. Friend has been in her post for only a few days—

Opposition Day — [13th Allotted Day]: Business Rates (15 Jun 2009) has video

Chris Mullin: No, not at all. Has she had an opportunity to assess the impact of the empty properties rate on businesses? Several companies in Sunderland face ruin as a result of it. I know that the Government have introduced a concession for properties with rateable values of less than £15,000. However, for example, two business men came to my office last week who employ 80 people and have just been...

Opposition Day — [13th Allotted Day]: Business Rates (15 Jun 2009) has video

Chris Mullin: I do hope that my right hon. Friend will have a look at this, because this is a much more serious problem than the little note that she has just received from the Box makes out. The Pallion engineering company in my constituency is the last surviving shipyard on the Wear, and its rates are going up from £55,000 a year to £234,000. The Treasury will not get that £234,000,...

Oral Answers to Questions — Prime Minister: Constitutional Renewal (10 Jun 2009) has video

Chris Mullin: May I put it to my right hon. Friend that, if we wish to enhance the standing of Parliament in the eyes of our constituents, there is one simple measure that we can take immediately and that requires no legislation—that is, to resume sittings in September? That is something that we voted for several years ago, but then reneged on. How can it be right in a democracy for Parliament to...

Oral Answers to Questions — Work and Pensions: Speaker's Statement (11 May 2009)

Chris Mullin: On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. I am all in favour of owning up and apologising when we are in the wrong, but would it be in order to inquire whether the House authorities should be a little more robust in responding to the many falsehoods that have been written about our use of the allowances? On 4 April, a Mr. Ian Cowie wrote an article in the financial section of The Daily Telegraph in...