Results 1-20 of 1,333 for (in the 'Commons debates' OR in the 'Westminster Hall debates' OR in the 'Lords debates' OR in the 'Northern Ireland Assembly debates') speaker:Greg Hands

Oral Answers to Questions — Treasury: Bingo Industry (3 Nov 2009) has video

Greg Hands: When the Finance Bill went through, we were told that the overall tax burden on bingo would not rise. The industry disagreed, and indeed, a report from Ernst and Young that landed with the Minister last month concluded that the tax has actually gone up. When will she finally admit to the House that the Treasury got its sums wrong on bingo?

Oral Answers to Questions — Defence: Afghanistan (2 Nov 2009) has video

Greg Hands: What recent assessment he has made of the internal and external threats to the military security of Afghanistan.

Oral Answers to Questions — Defence: Afghanistan (2 Nov 2009) has video

Greg Hands: The Secretary of State will have seen from press reports at the weekend that the most senior British Army officer killed in Afghanistan, Lieutenant-Colonel Rupert Thorneloe, wrote to his superiors just before he died warning that the shortage of helicopters would cost lives, as more journeys would have to be taken by road. He said that the system for managing helicopter movements was "very...

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

Greg Hands: If he will assess the value for money of his Department's expenditure on the Prevent strand of its counter-terrorism strategy.

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

Greg Hands: In 2005, Tony Blair announced that Hizb ut-Tahrir would be banned, which we support, but that never came to pass. Further, the Government should put a total ban on Hezbollah. Can the Secretary of State tell us why Ministers have been so slow to take action against these extremist groups?

Uk Border Agency (22 Oct 2009) has video

Greg Hands: rose—

Uk Border Agency (22 Oct 2009) has video

Greg Hands: I was trying to make a speech.

Uk Border Agency (22 Oct 2009) has video

Greg Hands: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I apologise for the confusion. I was under the impression that as we can finish at any time before 6 pm, other Members were allowed to take part in the debate. I do, however, apologise—especially to my right hon. Friend the Member for Maidstone and The Weald (Miss Widdecombe)—for not giving notice that I intended to speak. I shall not speak for very long—

Uk Border Agency (22 Oct 2009) has video

Greg Hands: Thank you for that guidance, Mr. Speaker. I shall not speak for very long. As I have said, I did not intend to speak at all, but I happen to have become very interested in the actions and activities of the UK Border Agency over a considerable period. A couple of years ago, the Home Office produced a league table—which was remarkable, given that it is generally not very good at producing...

Uk Border Agency (22 Oct 2009) has video

Greg Hands: I thank the right hon. Gentleman for that intervention. I am not surprised, having been to the UKBA offices, which I described about five minutes ago, and having seen for myself the chaos, despite the dedication and rather good quality of some of the staff involved. I did not mean to speak for long and I just wanted to back up what my right hon. Friend the Member for Maidstone and The Weald...

Uk Border Agency (22 Oct 2009) has video

Greg Hands: I thank the hon. Gentleman for the intervention with which I concur. I will end there, Mr. Speaker. As a constituency MP, I am extremely worried about what is going on at UKBA. It cannot do any good to have this number of unresolved cases. As I have said, I have between 700 and 800 unresolved immigration cases at any one time, and I suspect that I am by no means in the premier league of MPs...

Economic Recovery: Public Accounts (22 Oct 2009) has video

Greg Hands: The Minister is praising transparency at UKFI, so will she tell the House why Ministers continually refuse to answer parliamentary questions about the Government's substantial bank holdings, saying that the service is managed at arm's length from the Government and, therefore, the details cannot be made available to Parliament? Surely, if the Minister believes in full transparency, there...

Economic Recovery: Public Accounts (22 Oct 2009) has video

Greg Hands: This is the second of these debates to which I have responded on behalf of the Opposition. In my parliamentary experience at least, they remain unique in respect of the multiplicity of subjects covered. In some contexts breadth is an indicator of superficiality, but the reports that we are considering today provide ample evidence of the forensic abilities of the Public Accounts Committee, and...

Economic Recovery: Public Accounts (22 Oct 2009) has video

Greg Hands: I see him shaking his head but I challenge him to find anywhere in the world that has gained efficiency by increasing the size of its government. However, I agree with him on the huge sums paid to consultancies and how undesirable that is. History will record that one of the defining characteristics of the new Labour Government over these past 12 years has been the extraordinary waste of...

Economic Recovery: Public Accounts (22 Oct 2009) has video

Greg Hands: My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The Government have, at their peril, underestimated their power in negotiating these contracts and ironing out details of them. In some cases, providers owe part of their existence to the Government, so the Government need to start punching their full weight in approaching this contract. Let me move on to the Department for International Development—I...

Economic Recovery: Public Accounts (22 Oct 2009) has video

Greg Hands: Will the hon. Gentleman remind us what the Liberal Democrat policy is on Trident?

Economic Recovery (22 Oct 2009) has video

Greg Hands: The topical debate today was chosen by the Leader of the House, presumably in consultation with others on the Government Front Bench. Can the Minister tell us why not a single Labour Member has spoken in support of the debate? Does the recovery simply not matter to his colleagues, or have they just abandoned him to be a one-man show?

Economic Recovery (22 Oct 2009) has video

Greg Hands: That was an extraordinary speech from the Minister, full of quotes from Winston Churchill without quite the style to match them. He provided an incredible example of retro-politics. It is as though he has gone back to the position that the Government held back in the spring, which was to deny the fact that there were any problems with public sector borrowing and the public sector deficit....

Economic Recovery (22 Oct 2009) has video

Greg Hands: My hon. Friend makes the point precisely. Labour Members are so disheartened by the Government's performance in the spring, during the party conference season and at the debate on Monday that they have voted with their feet. Let us be clear about one thing: the Government arranged this debate because they think that there is light at the end of the tunnel. We would welcome that, so let us...

Economic Recovery (22 Oct 2009) has video

Greg Hands: My hon. Friend makes an interesting point, and I shall discuss unemployment in due course. The Government prepared us poorly for the recession that was coming. The Prime Minister boasted of having abolished boom and bust, but I am afraid that we have now had the biggest bust of the lot. The third quarter gross domestic product figures, which will come out tomorrow, may well show...