Results 1-20 of 524 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 Reid

Business of the House (19 Nov 2009) has video

Alan Reid: Can we have a debate on the responsibilities of banks in which the Government are the main shareholder to support small businesses? For example, the Bank of Scotland has withdrawn the post of business relationship manager from its branch on the island of Islay, causing widespread anger among businesses on the island. A manager based on the mainland will never understand the unique...

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

Alan Reid: My right hon. Friend is perfectly correct. I was on the Isle of Coll on Saturday and found that there is a limit to the number of available broadband slots, and that BT seems to have been operating the situation very haphazardly. For example, when a constituent who came to my surgery moved house, he lost his broadband connection, and the slot was allocated to the lucky person who happened to...

Oral Answers to Questions — Home Department: New Clause 8 — MCZs: duty to manage and mitigate impacts upon existing activities (26 Oct 2009) has video

Alan Reid: I represent a constituency where fishing is still an important part of the local economy. Fishermen support the Bill. They fully recognise the importance of conservation, and they support the Bill because it sets out a path for sustainable protection of the marine environment and a coherent management structure. However, fishing organisations have one or two concerns. I start by referring to...

Oral Answers to Questions — Home Department: New Clause 8 — MCZs: duty to manage and mitigate impacts upon existing activities (26 Oct 2009) has video

Alan Reid: I wholeheartedly agree with the right hon. Gentleman. I was coming to that. If the Act is obsolete, there is no point in repealing it. If it is not obsolete, it should be kept on the statute book. As well as rights to fish and to use ports and harbours, the Act gives fishermen the right to draw their vessels up on beaches, and to use uncultivated land in a 100-yard strip above the high water...

Oral Answers to Questions — Home Department: New Clause 8 — MCZs: duty to manage and mitigate impacts upon existing activities (26 Oct 2009) has video

Alan Reid: The hon. Gentleman is quite right: there would be no point in declaring an MCZ between the 6 and 12-mile limit if European fishermen were able to fish there and ours were not. To summarise, I support the Bill. It is a good Bill that sets out how to make progress towards the future for the sustainable development and protection of the marine environment. There are, I believe, one or two flaws,...

Defence Policy (15 Oct 2009) has video

Alan Reid: In answering questions from my right hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield, Hallam (Mr. Clegg) yesterday, the Prime Minister said: "there is an issue about small vehicles... We will do everything that we can to ensure that there are better vehicles in future."—[ Official Report, 14 October 2009; Vol. 497, c. 309.] Will the Secretary of State give a commitment on the number of better...

Business of the House (15 Oct 2009)

Alan Reid: If the postal strike goes ahead, it will be disastrous for many small businesses and will be complete suicide for Royal Mail itself. Will the Government get both sides of the dispute together and hammer out an urgent settlement. May we have a statement from the Business Secretary on this matter?

Political Parties and Elections Bill (Extension of Carry-over) (13 Jul 2009)

Alan Reid: My hon. Friend the Member for Cambridge (David Howarth) is right in his criticism of the process that this Bill has gone through. Procedurally, it has been a shambles. I served on the Committee and vast rafts of amendments were not debated. I sat here through the entire Report stage and, again, rafts of amendments were not considered. I tried to speak on Third Reading, but we ran out of...

Political Parties and Elections Bill (Extension of Carry-over) (13 Jul 2009)

Alan Reid: I agree that the Bill is important, but I am concerned about the date of 29 October that the Government have specified in the motion. Clause 14, for example, introduces important new regulations that will take effect on 1 January, and an Electoral Commission consultation must take place between Royal Assent and that date. What concerns me is that an extension until 29 October will not...

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

Alan Reid: What assessment he has made of the effect on UK defence expenditure and capabilities in the long term of the current financial situation.

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

Alan Reid: I thank the Secretary of State for that answer. We recently found that the carriers would require an extra £1 billion. Can he tell us whether the Government are fully committed in all circumstances to a like-for-like replacement for Trident and to two new aircraft carriers and, if they are, what their strategy is for ensuring over the next 20 years that the Ministry of Defence can...

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

Alan Reid: The Government, in their disposal of the former RAF Machrihanish, have the twin aims of obtaining value for money and helping to stimulate the local economy. Can the Minister update me on progress made there? What consideration has been given to the possibility of a community buy-out?

Prevention and Suppression of Terrorism: UK Manufacturing (9 Jul 2009) has video

Alan Reid: My hon. Friend is right that the renewable energy industry gives a great opportunity for British manufacturing, particularly in remote locations. Will he join me in welcoming the investment made in Campbeltown by Welcon? It has the potential to create a few hundred jobs in the manufacture of wind turbine towers for the offshore wind generation industry.

Care Homes (Domestic Pets): Clause 20 — Bingo duty (8 Jul 2009)

Alan Reid: My hon. Friend is right. Bingo takes place in a controlled environment, and the losses that people can make are very small compared to the almost limitless losses that can be made by those who go to casinos or engage in activities such as online poker or even online bingo. It is nonsensical to tax it at a higher rate than those other activities.

Business of the House (25 Jun 2009) has video

Alan Reid: This morning's announcement by Consumer Focus that it has found that energy companies are not passing on the full decline in wholesale prices to consumers must be investigated. May we have an urgent statement from the Energy Minister to get to the bottom of that, as it appears that every consumer is being overcharged by an average of £74? Can we ensure that energy companies are forced to...

Equitable Life (24 Jun 2009)

Alan Reid: I congratulate the hon. Member for Leeds, North-East (Mr. Hamilton) on securing the debate and giving us another opportunity to try to persuade the Government to do the right thing by Equitable Life policyholders. The title that the ombudsman gave her report—"Equitable Life: a decade of regulatory failure"—sums the situation up very well. When Equitable Life was forced to default...

Equitable Life (24 Jun 2009)

Alan Reid: My hon. Friend is quite right. I am sure that a lot of elderly people are in that situation. The parliamentary ombudsman concluded that there had been maladministration and injustice, yet the Government are fiercely resisting paying the compensation that the ombudsman said was due to policyholders.

Equitable Life (24 Jun 2009)

Alan Reid: The right hon. Gentleman is right about what the ombudsman said, and I agree that the Government should take that into account in implementing the ombudsman's recommendations. The case for compensation is straightforward. The maladministration by the regulator was a direct cause of the injustice suffered by policyholders. The regulator was a Government responsibility, so the Government should...

Equitable Life (24 Jun 2009)

Alan Reid: The right hon. Gentleman is perfectly correct. It is important also to remember that the ombudsman is the parliamentary ombudsman, and not the Government ombudsman. Parliament, not the Government, should take the decisions. I hope that through the deliberations of the Committee that we shall set up tomorrow, we may get to a situation in which individual hon. Members can initiate motions in...

Oral Answers to Questions — Health: Parliamentary Standards (23 Jun 2009)

Alan Reid: I welcome much of what was in the statement today, but there was one important omission, which my right hon. Friend the Member for Berwick-upon-Tweed (Sir Alan Beith) mentioned. I hope that the committee chaired by the hon. Member for Cannock Chase (Dr. Wright) will be able to consider the programming of Government Bills on Report. Scrutinising Bills is one of the most important jobs that...