Results 1-20 of 450 for (in the 'Commons debates' OR in the 'Westminster Hall debates' OR in the 'Lords debates' OR in the 'Northern Ireland Assembly debates') speaker:John Penrose

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

John Penrose: Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, and I shall try to keep my comments as brief as possible to allow plenty of time for other colleagues to make a contribution. I shall start on a momentary happy note by saying that the Opposition have one fundamental point of agreement with the Minister. We agree that manufacturing is clearly vital for this country's long-term economic future. It has been for...

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

John Penrose: I should love to agree, but I am afraid that I cannot. I am a free marketeer, and so believe that the market is rather better at choosing appropriate exchange rates for most countries than politicians are—certainly, it is better than politicians in this place. In addition, Germany's experience with the level of the deutschmark and now the euro has not been altogether happy in many...

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

John Penrose: I do not have a clue, but I am sure that either the hon. Lady or somebody with the appropriate note from the Labour Whips is itching to tell us and will doubtless leap to their feet at some point during the debate. It is instructive to consider why there has been a long-term decline. Some factors are the fault of Governments and politicians, but others are part of the global economy. It is...

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

John Penrose: I am delighted to have been able to give the Minister the opportunity to make that explanation. I am sure we all wish the initiative well, although we obviously need to make sure that it delivers what it promises. I am sure that all hon. Members would agree about the principle that it is trying to achieve. We must deal with some other external problems, one of which, particularly at a time of...

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

John Penrose: I give way, but with trepidation.

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

John Penrose: I take the hon. Gentleman's point, but it is also true to say that in the past 10 years, this country's tax code has become incredibly baroque, long and involved. I think that it is one of the longest in the developed world. It is now incredibly difficult to enact any measures, other than simplification measures, that will have a practical effect on investment decisions, because people cannot...

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

John Penrose: The effects are many. The hon. Gentleman has picked up one, and it is a major factor. It is extremely difficult in some cases to take out forward contracts that might allow a firm to hedge its exposure. There are a number of things that can be done, but the problem with them is that none works as well as in other countries. Finally—here we are in agreement with the Minister—there...

Bill Presented: Leeds City Council Bill (By Order ) (3 Jun 2009) has video

John Penrose: I commend the industry and efforts of the different local councils who have brought the Bills to the House. As hon. Members on both sides of the House have mentioned, the process of bringing a private Bill before the House is expensive, quite complicated, pretty time-consuming and rather arcane. It is worthy of note that these local councils have found their way through the different thickets...

Bill Presented: Leeds City Council Bill (By Order ) (3 Jun 2009) has video

John Penrose: I am grateful for my fellow Somerset MP's support. What we have described is a microcosm of a much wider problem. My local council has considered bringing one of these Bills to the House but after extensive consideration it has so far decided that it cannot justify the expense, for the reasons that have been mentioned by hon. Members on both sides of the House. I compliment those councils...

[Mr. Bill Olner in the Chair] — Fire Safety (Schools) (19 May 2009)

John Penrose: The right hon. Gentleman is making a very powerful case on this very important issue. I congratulate him on his new grandfatherly status—I am sure that everyone is delighted for him. He is rightly focusing on the risk to life and limb and the cost of such incidents. However, does he agree that a wider problem is the huge disruption to the education of pupils in the schools themselves?...

[Mr. Joe Benton in the Chair] — Honey Bee Health (29 Apr 2009)

John Penrose: I just want to point out, for the record, that there is a degree of uncertainty about the figures that the hon. Gentleman has just quoted. The BBKA certainly believes that the number of unregistered beekeepers is substantially smaller than that figure of 20,000, although everyone accepts that there is a reasonable number of unregistered beekeepers out there.

[Mr. Joe Benton in the Chair] — Honey Bee Health (29 Apr 2009)

John Penrose: It is extremely good to see a respectable sprinkling of MPs who want to talk about honey bee health at 9.30 on a Wednesday morning. It is several months since we last met to discuss this topic in a debate organised by the hon. Member for Norwich, North (Dr. Gibson), and we were all pleased that he managed to do that. A lot has happened since then, and it is important to record what has...

[Mr. Joe Benton in the Chair] — Honey Bee Health (29 Apr 2009)

John Penrose: With trepidation, I give way to the hon. Gentleman.

[Mr. Joe Benton in the Chair] — Honey Bee Health (29 Apr 2009)

John Penrose: I knew that I should not have given way. To finish my point, I propose that we have an informal version of a parliamentary swear box, and anybody who makes a pun will have to put a pound in it. I suggest that we put the proceeds in the capable hands of the British Beekeepers Association, whose representatives are in the Public Gallery watching us. At the end of the debate, they can put the...

[Mr. Joe Benton in the Chair] — Honey Bee Health (29 Apr 2009)

John Penrose: I completely agree. In fact, that issue will make up a substantial part of the second section of my contribution, so perhaps the hon. Gentleman will bear with me and hold that thought. If I do not cover any of his points in quite the way that he would like, perhaps he can top up my contribution later. We have had the welcome announcement of £10 million for pollinator research, plus the...

[Mr. Joe Benton in the Chair] — Honey Bee Health (29 Apr 2009)

John Penrose: There we are; our numbers have doubled at a stroke. There are things that need to be clarified, and we should understand the detail of how the money will be spent, so I have some questions of detail for the Minister. Everyone here is onside with the principle and is congratulating themselves and her on the progress so far, but we need to go into the detail now, so perhaps I can press her on a...

[Mr. Joe Benton in the Chair] — Honey Bee Health (29 Apr 2009)

John Penrose: I thank the hon. Gentleman for that intervention; if he will preserve his soul in patience for just a little longer I will come on to the point, but if I do not cover it in sufficient detail perhaps he will round it out later. To come back to the point I was making about whether the research that is supported will be pure or applied research, it is important to understand what mixture is...

[Mr. Joe Benton in the Chair] — Honey Bee Health (29 Apr 2009)

John Penrose: I take the hon. Gentleman's point. Many in the farming community would point out that over the past 20 years or more, the incidence of honey bee hive death has been dramatically reduced because of changes in agricultural practice. However, it may be that additional changes since then have created some kind of cumulative effect or combined with other factors, which we need to understand. That...

Legislative Reform (19 Mar 2009) has video

John Penrose: Before the Minister moves on from that point, can he indicate whether the timetable mentioned to the Chairman of the Select Committee for the order to be introduced during April is realistic, or whether he expects the process to take longer, and if so, how much longer?

Legislative Reform (19 Mar 2009) has video

John Penrose: It is always a pleasure to follow the Minister, who took such pains to be careful and reasonable in his exposition of the Government's position and took time to try to anticipate many of the questions that will be raised in this debate. It is vital that any modern economy such as Britain's has an efficient and effectively functioning insolvency process, if only because at a time of pretty...