Results 1-20 of 263 for speaker:Lord Jones of Birmingham

World War I: Veterans — Question (12 May 2009)

Lord Jones of Birmingham: My Lords—

World War I: Veterans — Question (12 May 2009)

Lord Jones of Birmingham: My Lords, I declare an interest as a former serving officer in the Royal Navy and a passionate advocate of defence manufacturing equipment from Britain in both the CBI and UKTI. The Minister recognised the sad loss last Thursday—I notice that one of them was a Gurkha. I would love to hear from the Government that we will honour not only these two amazing veterans of a faraway conflict,...

Finance: Offshore Centres — Question (7 May 2009)

Lord Jones of Birmingham: My Lords—

EU: Budget — Question (6 May 2009)

Lord Jones of Birmingham: My Lords—

Business Support — Statement (14 Jan 2009)

Lord Jones of Birmingham: My Lords, I, too congratulate the Secretary of State on a package that is at last talking about some real numbers and real help. On the eight weeks, to which he refers, to get it filtering into the economy, anything that can be done to get it in in February will be really helpful to business. There is a crying need for urgent help. I urge the noble Lord to go to his colleagues at No. 11 and...

Energy: Renewables — Question (13 Jan 2009)

Lord Jones of Birmingham: My Lords, perhaps I may help the Minister in building a bridge between the question and the necessary answer—because it is bridge building and other civil engineering projects in which Britain excels around the world and for which the ECGD is so desperately needed. Is not the lack of take-up of this fund due to the United Kingdom business community having no confidence in the ECGD? Do...

Unemployment — Question (17 Dec 2008)

Lord Jones of Birmingham: My Lords, the Minister says that he is doing everything that he can to ensure that the employment figures are maintained but, in the light of such worrying unemployment figures, will he explain why it was deemed necessary to spend £12 billion of taxpayers' money on knocking 25p off a Christmas present through VAT and not on ensuring that we preserve people in jobs in this country? If you...

Banking and Financial Services — Question (11 Dec 2008)

Lord Jones of Birmingham: My Lords, I declare a vague interest as a solicitor admitted to the roll of solicitors of the Supreme Court. As noble Lords know, it is a profession that never uses one word when 10 will do. I should like an acknowledgement from the Minister that if the knee-jerk reaction to the banking crisis is to be more and more regulation, the result will be more and more complicated documents from the...

Queen's Speech — Debate (3rd Day) (8 Dec 2008)

Lord Jones of Birmingham: My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Hunt of Chesterton, for his kind words. I also join him in saying to the new Secretary of State: it was a good start. However, perhaps I may lay two issues at his door. First, the accent in the Pre-Budget Report was on stimulation of the consumer. However, regardless of a VAT reduction, people will not go shopping for big-ticket items when they are out...

Euro — Question (8 Dec 2008)

Lord Jones of Birmingham: My Lords, are we not, with respect, dancing on a pinhead here? The point is not whether the conditions are right but, as the Minister just said, that adopting the euro is an irrevocable act and the success or failure of the nation's economy for years ahead will be defined by the rate at which we join. I have in mind particularly the rate at which Germany came in and the rate at which France...

Education: Adult Learning (3 Nov 2008)

Lord Jones of Birmingham: My Lords, given the success of the learning and skills councils when it comes to a major attack on a community such as the closure of Vauxhall at Luton or the closure of MG Rover at Longbridge in Birmingham, will the Minister explain why they are being replaced by local authorities, which will be politically motivated, rather than business-driven, which has been the key to previous success?

Energy Bill (28 Oct 2008)

Lord Jones of Birmingham: My Lords, I take the opportunity to speak for the first time from the Cross Benches to say that I support fully what the noble Viscount, Lord Montgomery, has said. For many years at the CBI, businesspeople got increasingly frustrated with so many billions of pounds being put into the infrastructure of the nation, both in airports and the Channel Tunnel, to enable the productivity of the...

Energy Bill (28 Oct 2008)

Lord Jones of Birmingham: My Lords, once every five years my birthday falls on the very day when the clocks go back. For all of 53 years I have enjoyed a 25-hour birthday every five years. Therefore, in speaking against myself in the interests of a prolonged celebration every five years, I sincerely hope that we can see the adoption of Central European Time as quickly as possible.

Written Answers — House of Lords: Iran: UK Exports (29 Sep 2008)

Lord Jones of Birmingham: The data requested are shown in the following table: Year UK exports of goods and services to Iran UK imports of goods and services from Iran 1997 £448 million £46 million 1998 £412 million £57 million 1999 £333 million £54 million 2000 £411 million £73 million 2001 £596 million £65 million 2002 £578...

Written Answers — House of Lords: Armed Forces: Eurofighter (29 Sep 2008)

Lord Jones of Birmingham: BAE Systems is the lead company for the campaign in Japan (supported by Alenia of Italy). BAE Systems is also leading on the marketing for a number of other prospects which have not yet reached the level of active campaigns. The UK Government through UKTI DSO are actively involved in supporting all these marketing efforts.

Written Answers — House of Lords: Cluster Munitions (29 Sep 2008)

Lord Jones of Birmingham: Cluster munitions are currently controlled under entries ML3 and ML4 of Part I of Schedule 1 to the Export of Goods, Transfer of Technology and Provision of Technical Assistance (Control) Order 2003 ("The Military List") and therefore cannot be exported from the UK without a licence granted by the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR). I would like to...

Written Answers — House of Lords: Cluster Munitions (29 Sep 2008)

Lord Jones of Birmingham: No cluster munitions have been exported or licensed or approved for export from the UK since 30 May 2008.

Written Answers — House of Lords: Energy: Air Source Heat Pumps (29 Sep 2008)

Lord Jones of Birmingham: Air source heat pumps can be an option for reducing carbon emissions from buildings, depending on the efficiency rating of the air source heat pump and the carbon intensity of the electricity it uses. At current prices they will generally be more expensive than conventional sources of heating, and their take-up will depend on future policy, as well as technology developments. The renewable...

Written Answers — House of Lords: Energy: Renewables (29 Sep 2008)

Lord Jones of Birmingham: The Government believe that priority access should remain an option for member states. In considering whether this is the right approach for our market, the issue is not simply whether we can connect more renewable generation but whether we can also maintain a reliable network and encourage essential investment in other generating technologies. Much variable renewable generation, such as from...

Written Answers — House of Lords: Food: Pork and Bacon (22 Jul 2008)

Lord Jones of Birmingham: The department's contract with our catering service provider, Baxter Storey, ensures that they comply with the Public Sector Food Procurement Initiative (PSFPI) and that they procure from local sources wherever possible. They state that 100 per cent of their fresh pork purchased is of British origin, as is 75 per cent of bacon. Monthly meetings with the catering contractor are held to monitor...