Results 1-20 of 549 for (in the 'Commons debates' OR in the 'Westminster Hall debates' OR in the 'Lords debates' OR in the 'Northern Ireland Assembly debates') speaker:Lord Barnett

European Space Programme — Question (21 Jul 2009)

Lord Barnett: My Lords, I am somewhat disturbed by some of the answers to these questions. Has the Treasury, together with my noble friend, been looking at the prospects of expenditure with a view to the priorities of other departments over the next few years?

Finance Bill: Second Reading and Remaining Stages (20 Jul 2009)

Lord Barnett: My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Vallance, for what he has said and how fairly he has summed up the unanimous views of the sub-committee, on which I was happy to be able to participate. I will not deal with all four of the issues with which we dealt; I will deal just with pensions. As always, we did not look at these matters from a political standpoint. We did not have a Minister before...

Parliamentary Standards Bill: Report (20 Jul 2009)

Lord Barnett: My Lords, I am a non-lawyer and I, too, read my noble and learned friend's 10-page letter, which I thought I understood. If she is saying in effect that the amendments tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Jenkin, are unnecessary, a more important question is: if they were on the statute book, would they do any harm?

Parliamentary Standards Bill: Committee (1st Day) (14 Jul 2009)

Lord Barnett: I have listened carefully to what the noble Lord has just said. Can he tell us whether he meant that, unless the Government accept this very important new clause, which I strongly support, he will press it to a vote?

Unemployment — Question (14 Jul 2009)

Lord Barnett: My Lords, my noble friend is quite right not to make a forecast or guess, as most of the best economists in the world are doing. Does he accept that, despite everything that the Government are, rightly, trying to do to keep unemployment down, it is, sadly, likely to rise in the near future at least? However, is it likely to reach the kind of levels that it reached in the years when the noble...

Parliamentary Standards Bill: Second Reading (8 Jul 2009)

Lord Barnett: My Lords, in an earlier intervention in the speech of my noble friend Lord Peston the noble Lord assured us that there was no agreement between the Front Benches. He has now tried for 20 minutes to tell us nothing. Would he care to tell us in which Lobby he will be if, at the end of my noble friend's speech, there is a Division on the amendment of the noble Lord, Lord Norton?

Parliamentary Standards Bill: Second Reading (8 Jul 2009)

Lord Barnett: My Lords, I had intended to start my brief remarks by saying that I would not oppose the Bill on Second Reading. Listening to some of the quite brilliant speeches we have heard today from the former Lord Chief Justice and many others, I must say that I have my doubts but I am sure my noble friend for whom I have the greatest respect will support it. I am extremely concerned that a major...

Financial Regulation — Question (8 Jul 2009)

Lord Barnett: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the forthcoming White Paper on financial regulation will settle the respective roles of the Bank of England and HM Treasury.

Financial Regulation — Question (8 Jul 2009)

Lord Barnett: My Lords, will my noble friend thank our right honourable friend the Chancellor for kindly making his Statement in advance of my Question? That was very helpful. However, it needs a lot of clarity and I hope that we will debate it before too long. Does my noble friend agree that although the Statement confirms that the Governor of the Bank of England is basically the head of a quango, albeit...

Financial Institutions: Auditors — Question (7 Jul 2009)

Lord Barnett: My Lords—

Financial Institutions: Auditors — Question (7 Jul 2009)

Lord Barnett: My Lords, following the question from the noble Lord, Lord Lawson, does not my noble friend find it surprising that the major audit firms of the major banks were giving clean, unqualified certificates and yet a week or two later billions of pounds were being written off the balance sheets for which the auditors had given a clean certificate? Therefore, is it not surprising that some auditors...

Arrangement of Business — Announcement (6 Jul 2009)

Lord Barnett: My Lords, will my noble friend tell us what happens if the arrangements for the speeding-up of the Committee stage are not carried by the House?

Comprehensive Spending Review — Question (2 Jul 2009)

Lord Barnett: My Lords, does my noble friend recognise that the noble Baroness, Lady Noakes, is not at her best playing party political games? However, will he confirm that the Government have in mind not to start to cut public expenditure, and possibly increase taxation, until the recession is clearly over and we are into positive growth, but that then major cuts in public expenditure and/or tax increases...

Arrangement of Business — Announcement (30 Jun 2009)

Lord Barnett: My Lords, can my noble friend tell us what the hurry is?

Insolvency — Question (23 Jun 2009)

Lord Barnett: My Lords, my noble friend, as ever, makes a good point, but is she aware that there is also a perception of serious abuse on occasions by directors of companies using the pre-pack arrangement to buy the company back at an undervaluation? The Government have powers under SIP 16, as she will be aware. How do they intend to use those powers to enforce against the kind of abuse that does indeed...

Parliament Act 1911 — Question (22 Jun 2009)

Lord Barnett: My Lords, I note the views of the noble Lords, Lord McNally and Lord Strathclyde, as well as those of my noble friend, but will she note the fact that the views of the three Front Benches bear no relation to those of the Back Benches?

Banks: Lending — Question (17 Jun 2009)

Lord Barnett: To ask Her Majesty's Government what further discussions they have had with banks regarding their lending to businesses and house buyers.

Banks: Lending — Question (17 Jun 2009)

Lord Barnett: My Lords, I thank my noble friend for that Answer. Does he agree with what the Deputy Governor of the Bank of England said last week? It is worth quoting. He said that unless banks increase their lending, "recovery might end up being anaemic, at best". Also last week, the Prime Minister said that the banks have agreed to lend an additional £70 billion above what they had lent the...

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills — Private Notice Question (9 Jun 2009)

Lord Barnett: My Lords, should not my noble friend be taking over from the Treasury its interest in banking, given that the relationship with business is so important at the present time?

Economy: Public Debt — Question (21 May 2009)

Lord Barnett: To ask Her Majesty's Government when they intend to start to reduce the public debt.