Results 1-20 of 5,325 for speaker:John Reid

Oral Answers to Questions — Prime Minister: Skills for Growth (11 Nov 2009)

John Reid: May I welcome this statement and, in particular, the Minister's words about the development of skills accounts? Does he agree that the two essential elements of that development are an extension of the number and range of providers and the passage of information, control, power and, above all, choice to the would-be consumers—that is, the trainees? These are the very elements that have...

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

John Reid: I think that there will be a broad welcome for the restructuring of the individual deals and of the banks themselves, because this will benefit consumers and taxpayers, but is the question of lending not absolutely crucial? Will my right hon. Friend assure me that, when the banks are restructured, the retail side that is set up anew will have the capacity to lend to small and medium-sized...

Oral Answers to Questions — Home Department: Territorial Army (26 Oct 2009) has video

John Reid: I welcome my hon. Friend's adjustment. I fully agree with his requirement to prioritise, and I have full confidence in the Chief of the General Staff, General Richards. May I also therefore explain the problem that I have? If prioritisation is to be carried out and Afghanistan is essentially a conflict where we have to win the people—not just a conventional war against an...

Oral Answers to Questions — Home Department: Prevent (26 Oct 2009) has video

John Reid: Does my right hon. Friend accept that one of the defining characteristics of today's terrorism is the constant search for new methods of inflicting terror, and that in response, therefore, we have to try to harness together the innovative tendencies inside Government and across the private and academic sectors? May I commend, through him, the work of Charles Farr and the Office for Security...

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

John Reid: Lest my right hon. Friend feels isolated, may I speak for the generation before his? We went through this, too. We saw unemployment of 25 per cent., and the distinction between the way that the Conservatives addressed the last big economic crisis and what is happening now can be expressed in three words—"judgment", "action" and "balance" between economic, fiscal and financial stimuli...

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

John Reid: I do not think there is anyone in the House who does not accept that we have to find a route back to prudence by cutting expenditure and increasing income. However, I hope that the right hon. and learned Gentleman is not dismissing as irrelevant the debate about when we do that cutting and how much we cut. Everyone agrees that trying to make significant cuts in public expenditure before a...

Oral Answers to Questions — Work and Pensions: Defence Acquisition (Independent Review) (19 Oct 2009) has video

John Reid: The issue is not just about changes in military requirements, is it? It is about technological advances, too. The military want the latest and the best. The latest and the best, as the Secretary of State said, is at the leading edge of technology; and the leading edge of technology now changes every 18 months, not 18 years, therefore the military re-specify. May I suggest to the Secretary of...

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

John Reid: I, too, stand in great admiration of Ed Butler for his courage and skills, and for the kind words that he said about me to the Committee, but on this one he is wrong. I can assure the hon. Gentleman that the force configuration was given to us by the chiefs of staff. My job was to ensure that we got the money necessary for the configuration that they requested. He may say in retrospect that...

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

John Reid: I declare an interest, as registered. May I begin by expressing my condolences for every one of the young men and women who have given their life or sustained injury in the cause for which we sent them? We should remember them every moment of every day. In the limited time available to me, I wish to touch on the questions before the House, which concern strategy, resources, Government posture...

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

John Reid: I will do so once, but I am very limited in my time.

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

John Reid: I think that the hon. Gentleman is entirely wrong. What I outlined, in slightly less than a minute and a half, was the strategic objective and the short and longer-term means of achieving it. I did precisely what he asked for; I did not give a list of aspirations; I gave a list of objectives, which is what a strategy is about. Beyond the grand strategy of politics is the military strategy of...

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

John Reid: rose—

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

John Reid: Does not my hon. Friend the Member for Newport, West (Paul Flynn) illustrate how he misunderstands the nature of the conflict? There will not be a victory parade on a given day, in a given place, for a given, defined objective of territory. But, as long as we are denying al-Qaeda the capacity and space to attack us in the west, and denying the Taliban the right to impose their will on the...

Oral Answers to Questions — Defence: G8 Summit (13 Jul 2009)

John Reid: May I add my condolences to those expressed to the families of every single one of the young men and women who have fallen for a better world and a more secure country here in Britain? May I also welcome the Prime Minister's open statement that he will continually review the position and listen to the soldiers and those who risk their lives in Afghanistan about what they need in numbers and...

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

John Reid: May I confirm what the Defence Secretary has just said? May I tell the right hon. and learned Member for Devizes (Mr. Ancram) that, no doubt inadvertently, he has just misled the House? I never at any stage expressed the hope, expectation, promise or pledge that we would leave Afghanistan without firing a shot. I did, however, insist that we would not be aggressors. We did not seek war. We...

Amendment of the Law (27 Apr 2009) has video

John Reid: rose—

Amendment of the Law (27 Apr 2009) has video

John Reid: I have never before been nonplussed in response to the right hon. Gentleman. I take his point, but is he not conflating two time scales? The truth of the matter is that during the early stages of a recession, we have to expand and maintain expenditure, demand and investment through the public sector. He would be the first to accept that that requires a degree of borrowing, and that we also...

Amendment of the Law (27 Apr 2009) has video

John Reid: My right hon. Friend is making a very interesting case. Is it not the truth that the key questions about the tax are: first, whether in the present circumstances it is to be regarded as a desirable policy objective on its own, or an economic imperative, particularly given the fairness issue; and secondly, whether it is to be regarded as indicative of a general strategic direction on taxation...

Oral Answers to Questions — Children, Schools and Families: Swine Flu (27 Apr 2009) has video

John Reid: There is absolutely no complacency on such issues, but we are all reassured that the Secretary of State has made a statement in the House immediately and that the UK has been singled out as one of the better prepared countries. The Secretary of State will know that I have a particular interest as one who initiated some of the preparations and as the MP for Monklands hospital. The situation at...