Results 1-20 of 3,733 for (in the 'Commons debates' OR in the 'Westminster Hall debates' OR in the 'Lords debates' OR in the 'Northern Ireland Assembly debates') speaker:Keith Vaz

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

Keith Vaz: The hon. Gentleman is to be forgiven even before he speaks, because, as chairman of the all-party group on the Holy See, he arranged for me, my wife and other members of the group to meet the Holy Father. Whatever he says, I shall forgive.

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

Keith Vaz: It is always a pleasure to follow the right hon. Member for Wokingham (Mr. Redwood), even though after I hear him speak I tend to feel extraordinarily depressed about the state of the country. He is always a doom-and-gloom speaker about the Government, as he is an Opposition MP, but I hope in my speech to take up a couple of his points, especially concerning the financial services Bill,...

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

Keith Vaz: I agree with what my right hon. Friend says; it is very bad when those in positions of responsibility in another place try to frustrate the will of this House. Now that the Conservative leader in the other place has heard the Queen's Speech, I hope that he will reflect on the proposals put forward. Some good speeches have been made in this debate. The points that the right hon. and learned...

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

Keith Vaz: Perhaps they have gone to fix their broadband internet as a result of the digital economy Bill. I welcome that Bill because it will implement, in full, the recommendations of Tanya Byron's review, which was set up by the Prime Minister. She produced a very good report last year about video games. It is important that we do our best to ensure that the House has a say in how the video games...

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

Keith Vaz: My hon. Friend is right, and I do remember that. It is important to revisit what people said then. Of course I do not blame the Opposition for the global economic crisis or the failure of the banks-it would be wrong to do so-and I am not saying that everything went wrong as a result of the suggestion of light-touch regulation. I am not that partisan. However, we need tough regulation, so...

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

Keith Vaz: The right hon. Gentleman was a member of the last Government when BCCI-the Bank of Credit and Commerce International, which was the sixth largest private bank in the world-closed because of a lack of regulation. I think he may have been at the Department of Trade and Industry at the time. There then followed the Bingham report into why the bank failed and why it was not properly supervised....

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

Keith Vaz: The right hon. Gentleman did not mention the digital economy Bill. Surely, he will support the measures in that Bill to implement for the first time the recommendations of the Byron report on violent video games. He must accept that there is a need for legislation to deal with such issues-we cannot just talk about expenses all the time.

Coroners and Justice Bill: Clause 27 — Increase in penalty for offence (12 Nov 2009)

Keith Vaz: It is most pleasing to see Government and Opposition working together to try to strengthen proposed legislation before it becomes law, rather than passing legislation before reflecting on it and wanting to change some of it, which is what we have done over the past 10 years in respect of the so-called 24-hour drinking culture. I commend the hon. Member for Hornchurch (James Brokenshire) on...

Coroners and Justice Bill: Clause 13 — Paying for sexual services of a prostitute subjected to force etc: England and Wales (12 Nov 2009)

Keith Vaz: Of course, my right hon. Friend is well travelled around the world, so he will have made his own inquiries, but I have to tell him that when I and other members of the Select Committee went down to meet those prostitutes, they were very contented with what they were doing. Many of them were from eastern Europe, and they had come here because they wanted to earn money. Their only...

Coroners and Justice Bill: Clause 13 — Paying for sexual services of a prostitute subjected to force etc: England and Wales (12 Nov 2009)

Keith Vaz: I wish to speak briefly about the amendments. I welcome what the Government have done. There was concern on Second Reading about the original proposals. As the Minister knows, the Home Affairs Committee looked into human trafficking. One problem, however, is that it is very difficult to find victims prepared to admit that they have been trafficked. My worry on Second Reading, therefore, was...

Coroners and Justice Bill: Clause 13 — Paying for sexual services of a prostitute subjected to force etc: England and Wales (12 Nov 2009)

Keith Vaz: Unfortunately, my right hon. Friend was not available, otherwise I am sure that we would have taken him with us. We engaged some ladies in a conversation about how they got there and what they were doing. They, too, we concerned that this was in some way a reflection on them. While accepting all the points that I know that my right hon. Friend—he is my dear friend, and was my successor...

Olympics: FOI Request (Immigration) (9 Nov 2009) has video

Keith Vaz: The Minister and the head of the UK Border Agency gave evidence to the Select Committee last Tuesday, and the Minister gave us a number of important facts and figures. Will he confirm that none of the issues that are before the House today will have any effect on the veracity of the information that he gave last Tuesday, and that he stands by the figures that he gave us? There are also some...

Oral Answers to Questions — Culture, Media and Sport: Byron Review (9 Nov 2009) has video

Keith Vaz: What steps his Department has taken to implement the recommendation of Professor Byron's review on safer children in a digital world.

Oral Answers to Questions — Culture, Media and Sport: Byron Review (9 Nov 2009) has video

Keith Vaz: The Minister will be aware that at midnight a new and violent video game, "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare", is to be released. It contains scenes of such brutality that even the manufacturers have put warnings in the game telling people how they can skip particular scenes. Given the recommendations of the Byron review, specifically paragraphs 32 and 33, what steps do the Government propose to...

Onshore Wind Turbines (Proximity of Habitation): Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill (Programme) (No. 2) (3 Nov 2009) has video

Keith Vaz: I agree with the hon. and learned Member for Beaconsfield (Mr. Grieve) and the hon. Member for Somerton and Frome (Mr. Heath) that, as a matter of principle, when a Bill dealing with the constitution is before the House it should not be the subject of a programme motion. The House of Commons ought to have an opportunity to discuss these important matters, especially given that when the Lord...

Onshore Wind Turbines (Proximity of Habitation): Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill (Programme) (No. 2) (3 Nov 2009) has video

Keith Vaz: I say to the hon. and learned Gentleman that even if this were the shortest Bill in the world, he would be able to make his usual passionate and eloquent speeches, ensuring that even one of them would fill the whole four days—he is that able an advocate when he speaks at the Dispatch Box. The one point that I wish to make in conclusion relates to the bit of the Bill that I found to be...

Onshore Wind Turbines (Proximity of Habitation): Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill (Programme) (No. 2) (3 Nov 2009) has video

Keith Vaz: Is not one way of dealing with this the commencement of proper discussions between the Government and the Opposition? We heard from the Lord Chancellor that there were informal approaches, and the hon. Member for Chichester (Mr. Tyrie) raised the issue on Second Reading. One way of avoiding lengthy debates on the Floor of the House about programme motions is to have proper constructive...

Onshore Wind Turbines (Proximity of Habitation): Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill (Programme) (No. 2) (3 Nov 2009) has video

Keith Vaz: Since Second Reading, have there been any further discussions with the Opposition about their proposal for the appointment of temporary peers? The Lord Chancellor seemed to favour the idea.

Uk Border Agency (22 Oct 2009) has video

Keith Vaz: I apologise for missing the start of the debate, which started a bit sooner than I expected. Has the hon. Gentleman seen the letter that Lynne Homer sent to me yesterday in which she said that the UK Border Agency has now discovered 40,000 files it did not think it had seen before? That is 40,000 people whom the agency does not know are still in the country or not. Is that not indicative of...

Women and Equality: Race Inequality (NHS Staff) (22 Oct 2009) has video

Keith Vaz: What discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Health on levels of race inequality among NHS staff.