Results 1-20 of 2,949 for (in the 'Commons debates' OR in the 'Westminster Hall debates' OR in the 'Lords debates' OR in the 'Northern Ireland Assembly debates') speaker:Ann Widdecombe

Bill Presented: Clause 61 — Hatred against persons on grounds of sexual orientation (9 Nov 2009) has video

Ann Widdecombe: Will the hon. Lady give way?

Bill Presented: Clause 61 — Hatred against persons on grounds of sexual orientation (9 Nov 2009) has video

Ann Widdecombe: I am grateful to the hon. Lady for giving way, but the point has almost passed. She was referring to the unlikelihood of a prosecution. We are seeking to avoid the likelihood of even the earliest stages of an investigation for a mere expression of opinion—in other words, the police on the doorstep.

Bill Presented: Clause 61 — Hatred against persons on grounds of sexual orientation (9 Nov 2009) has video

Ann Widdecombe: First, may I say to the Minister that neither she nor her right hon. Friend the Secretary of State, or any Minister involved in this law, has the smallest appreciation of how threatened people out there feel when it comes to the exercise of free speech? One of the most common phrases that we hear now, on a wide range of topics, not just this one, is "Of course, you can't say that these days."...

Bill Presented: Clause 61 — Hatred against persons on grounds of sexual orientation (9 Nov 2009) has video

Ann Widdecombe: What the hon. Gentleman says may be true, and the menace may be section 5 of the Public Order Act, but it is not before us tonight, it is not for amendment, and there is no immediate proposal by the Government to amend it. We must therefore use what is at our disposal to try to guarantee free speech. Given the circumstances that we are in—rather than those he wishes us to be in—he...

Bill Presented: Clause 61 — Hatred against persons on grounds of sexual orientation (9 Nov 2009) has video

Ann Widdecombe: Will the hon. Gentleman tell me whether he has any comprehension of how merely writing a letter to an official body could constitute an offence against public order?

Bill Presented: Clause 61 — Hatred against persons on grounds of sexual orientation (9 Nov 2009) has video

Ann Widdecombe: It is for the avoidance of doubt.

Bill Presented: Clause 61 — Hatred against persons on grounds of sexual orientation (9 Nov 2009) has video

Ann Widdecombe: I probably do have the right, and I regularly use this place to exercise it. But those who do not enjoy parliamentary privilege, and, instead, express the same views on the radio, in letters to their council and in the literature that they give out, find that they do not have that right.

Bill Presented: Clause 61 — Hatred against persons on grounds of sexual orientation (9 Nov 2009) has video

Ann Widdecombe: I am grateful to the hon. Lady for her customary grace in giving way. I have said in this House that I do not believe that homosexual couples should adopt children. No police appeared on my doorstep. When a children's author gave exactly the same opinion on a radio programme—under questioning; they did not just volunteer it—the police got involved.

Bill Presented: Clause 45 — Meaning of "qualifying trigger" (9 Nov 2009) has video

Ann Widdecombe: What I have been totally unconvinced about tonight is why this particular motivation and provocation should uniquely be removed from a jury's discretion in deciding whether or not it was, in the circumstances rehearsed, an understandable ground for somebody losing control. The Minister has said that sexual infidelity cannot be, on its own, a cause for killing, and we would all agree with...

Bill Presented: Clause 45 — Meaning of "qualifying trigger" (9 Nov 2009) has video

Ann Widdecombe: That is the whole point and I am sorry that the Lord Chancellor somehow cannot understand it. The whole point is that an intention to kill is not formed.

Bill Presented: Clause 45 — Meaning of "qualifying trigger" (9 Nov 2009) has video

Ann Widdecombe: The hon. Gentleman sums it up exactly. Somebody snaps and loses control, and whether or not a circumstance is sufficient to cause that snap will be decided by the jury in every circumstance, no matter how trivial, other than sexual infidelity. I do not hear the case made for an exception for that single category of provocation.

Bill Presented: Clause 45 — Meaning of "qualifying trigger" (9 Nov 2009) has video

Ann Widdecombe: So, if a woman taunts her husband about her sexual activity with a third party and he, in his fury, moves towards her and shoves her hard and she falls over, hits her head and dies, that is not a provocation because, uniquely, the jury will be told that it cannot take sexual infidelity into account. It is nonsense. I shall not go on repeating the same point, because it has repeatedly failed...

Bill Presented: Clause 45 — Meaning of "qualifying trigger" (9 Nov 2009) has video

Ann Widdecombe: I am grateful to the hon. Lady who has given way very generously. I am not a lawyer, so perhaps we can put this into terms that a layman can understand. The difference between murder and manslaughter is essentially the difference between premeditation and instantaneous reaction. If a man or woman comes home and finds her spouse in flagrante and loses control on the spot—not having...

Bill Presented: Clause 45 — Meaning of "qualifying trigger" (9 Nov 2009) has video

Ann Widdecombe: I thank the hon. Lady for generously giving way to me a second time. I doubt that I am the only Member who is getting very confused. The hon. Lady appears to be saying that sexual infidelity can never be a reason for pleading provocation to murder. We all accept that, but that is also the case with all the other reasons why people might plead provocation. The fact that somebody comes home...

Uk Border Agency (22 Oct 2009) has video

Ann Widdecombe: The Minister spoke about the agency staff having to operate within the rules. At what level do discretion, judgment, compassion and reason enter?

Uk Border Agency (22 Oct 2009) has video

Ann Widdecombe: I am grateful to the Minister for giving way. I have a feeling that he was about to embark on the point I want to raise, but in the case that I was quoting—that of the Carpenters—it is not just that Mrs. Carpenter was expected to leave but that the Secretary of State expected all four of them to continue their lives outside the United Kingdom. That is outrageous.

Uk Border Agency (22 Oct 2009) has video

Ann Widdecombe: I am delighted to have the opportunity to raise this important issue in the House tonight. I think that the Adjournment debate on Thursday is your selection, Mr. Speaker—if not, please do not disabuse me—and I am delighted that you have understood the importance of this issue. I shall make some rather critical remarks about the UK Border Agency in the course of this debate, so I...

Business of the House (25 Jun 2009) has video

Ann Widdecombe: Will the Leader of the House make time within the parliamentary timetable to revisit the recently imposed abolition of the de minimis rules in the Register of Members' Interests? I have been told in all solemnity by the registrar today that in future every bunch of flowers will have to be registered. I suggest to the right hon. and learned Lady that that will result in not only my entry in...

Election of Speaker (22 Jun 2009) has video

Ann Widdecombe: Mr. Williams, I think I am unique in this contest. [Hon. Members: "Hear, hear!"] What is unique is that I propose myself as an interim Speaker, rather than as a permanent or long-term appointee. The reason I do that is that I have become convinced that what we need, between now and the next election—after the next election will be too late—is the restoration of the reputation of...

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

Ann Widdecombe: On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. If the Commission is looking at the possible earlier release of the information, can I be assured that we will all keep our heads and recognise that at present hon. Members are going through many thousands of sheets of paper? I have today sent to the Fees Office many sheets, asking for corrections which consist of nothing more esoteric than the removal of a...