Results 1-20 of 9,547 for speaker:Lord Davies of Oldham
- Upcoming Business – Lords: Main Chamber (4 June 2013)
Extending the management by Directly Operated Railways of the East Coast Main Line franchise – Lord Davies of Oldham.
- Transport: Bus Services — Question (20 May 2013)
Lord Davies of Oldham: My Lords, the Minister regaled the House with a list of optimistic policies that the Government were pursuing with regard to buses. However, if the grant and support for local buses are reduced by 20%, how on earth are any of these policies going to make a real difference? Will he recognise that there is absolutely no point in the Prime Minister guaranteeing the bus pass for pensioners if...
- Economy: Growth — Motion to Take Note (16 May 2013)
Lord Davies of Oldham: My Lords, I congratulate my noble friend Lord Soley on securing this debate and concentrating on the issue that must be of prime importance to all of us: how we restore growth to a flatlining economy. Of course, there are rather fewer contributors today than there were in the economics debate on Monday. It is also true that just before the end of the previous Session we had a major debate on...
- EU: Budget Report — Motion to Approve (25 April 2013)
Lord Davies of Oldham: My Lords, this has been a most interesting debate and the Minister has a major task in replying to it. He has to address himself to the minutiae of parliamentary procedure and to the most philosophical aspects of the current policies of the Government. On the question of procedure, I cannot understand why we did not have a speakers list for this debate. I agree with the noble Baroness, Lady...
- Budget Statement — Motion to Take Note (21 March 2013)
Lord Davies of Oldham: My Lords, I am grateful for the contribution of the noble Lord, Lord Brooke, and that of the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Bristol, who emphasised the progress towards the aid target of 0.7% of GDP, which this Government have fulfilled. It was driven towards strongly by the preceding Administration, so at least we have a note of unity across the House on the successful achievement of...
- Roads: New and Young Drivers — Question (18 March 2013)
Lord Davies of Oldham: My Lords, of course we are happy to support any measure that improves the safety record of young drivers. However, that does not mean that we support the pricing of young drivers off our roads. The increase in insurance for young drivers last year was 53%. How do we expect young people, particularly in rural areas, to be able to get to jobs, apprenticeships or even education institutions if...
- Railways: Reopenings — Question (11 March 2013)
Lord Davies of Oldham: My Lords, I, too, welcome the noble Lord to his new responsibilities and look forward to our future exchanges. I will begin with a very gentle question. Given that capital investment in Network Rail has been slashed by more than a £1 billion by the Government since they came to power, does not £20 million to local authorities look like a flea bite?
- Taxation: Income Tax — Question (6 March 2013)
Lord Davies of Oldham: My Lords, the noble Lord's Answer to his noble friend Lord Greaves was pathetically thin against a background where, as he must surely appreciate, unfairness is perpetrated very heavily against the low-paid and the poor, for whom the Government have scant regard, having of course withdrawn significant numbers of benefits from them. When will the Government address the fact that the economy is...
- Republic of Ireland: Aids to Navigation — Question (25 February 2013)
Lord Davies of Oldham: My Lords, the House will of course welcome the optimistic and accurate position which the noble Earl has reflected. However, the urgency of the situation ought not to be underestimated. General shipping costs are going up 11% this year on these dues. For shorter crossings and ferries, they are going up by 43%. People have ways of avoiding these costs, such as by putting into other ports if...
- HGV Road User Levy Bill: Second Reading (and remaining stages) (7 February 2013)
Lord Davies of Oldham: My Lords, Her Majesty's Opposition welcome the Bill, and regard a great deal of it as eminently workable. It will improve the situation and remedy a grievance that we have recognised for many years, as far as our road haulage industry is concerned. That does not mean that we do not have some criticisms of the Bill. I had a few carefully listed, but half of them have been made by my noble...
- HGV Road User Levy Bill: Second Reading (and remaining stages) (7 February 2013)
Lord Davies of Oldham: My Lords, the driver is responsible for the vehicle and its legitimacy, so he will be stopped all right, and the vehicle will not be released until the necessary charge has been paid. I doubt if the driver will have £5,000-which is the maximum fine-in his back pocket, so the charge will go to his office in the country from which he has come, and that office will have to pay. I agree...
- Young People: Personal Finances — Question (7 February 2013)
Lord Davies of Oldham: My Lords-
- Young People: Personal Finances — Question (7 February 2013)
Lord Davies of Oldham: The Liberals are part of the coalition. I agree with the noble Lord, Lord Flight. This is not just a question of mathematics but of knowledge. It is quite clear that a very high percentage of adults who invest their hard-earned money in all sorts of organisations have no idea of the costs that have been taken from them by the people controlling the fund. The evidence is clear that a very...
- Taxation: Avoidance — Question (6 February 2013)
Lord Davies of Oldham: My Lords, are not the charities that most significantly avoid tax on dubious grounds the public schools? Many of them were granted charitable status when they educated the poor or those of middling incomes. They now clearly educate, overwhelmingly, the children of the wealthy and the privileged, as evidenced by the Conservative Front Bench in the Commons.
- Banking Reform — Statement (4 February 2013)
Lord Davies of Oldham: My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord for repeating the response to the Urgent Question but I am appalled that this issue is being tackled as an Urgent Question. It means that this House has merely 10 minutes to consider the matter. Surely on this issue-the most significant piece of legislation that will go before the two Houses relating to an industry that has been at the centre of the...
- Railways: Fares — Question (31 January 2013)
Lord Davies of Oldham: My Lords, I am surprised that the Minister takes a patronising attitude to what the public understand. The public understand fare increases quite clearly. The National Audit Office warned that if excessive fare increases occurred they would merely be reflected in higher profits for the train operating companies. The Prime Minister said that fares should not go up by more than 1% above...
- Economy: Growth — Motion to Take Note (29 January 2013)
Lord Davies of Oldham: My Lords, this has been a most fascinating debate, which has covered a wide range of issues and it is therefore a testing ground for the new Minister, whom of course I welcome to his place. I am sure that he will enjoy these debates, as we all do, while recognising that replying to a debate with nearly 30 contributions, all of which merit real thought and response, is challenging. This is not...
- Air Passenger Duty — Question for Short Debate (28 January 2013)
Lord Davies of Oldham: My Lords, I congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Palmer, on securing this debate and on introducing it in a speech which covered all points at issue. Each subsequent contribution highlighted some of those points with dramatic and significant effect. I thought that I would have a little sympathy for the Minister if most speeches were critical of the position which presently obtains. I am afraid...
- Railways: High Speed Rail — Statement (28 January 2013)
Lord Davies of Oldham: My Lords, I thank the Minister for repeating the Statement made earlier in the Commons. I welcome the Statement, of course. The Minister made the presumption that there was agreement between the major parties on this project and indeed there is. He will know that I endorse the main strategy that is proposed in the paper, and I welcome the fact that this announcement is being made today....
- Airports: Heathrow — Question (23 January 2013)
Lord Davies of Oldham: I am so sorry that the noble Lord, Lord Forsyth, was unable to ask this Question. That would have given me the opportunity to agree with him twice in consecutive days, which would be some kind of record as far as he and I are concerned. As the Minister is so well briefed as to tell us what other European airports suffered delays, will he put in the Library an analysis of these problems,...