Results 1-20 of 41 for speaker:Lord Monks

Upcoming Business – Lords: Main Chamber (24 June 2013)

Guidelines about public statements by NHS executives – Lord Monks. Oral Questions

Mesothelioma Bill [HL] — Second Reading (20 May 2013)

Lord Monks: My Lords, I am pleased to add my voice to those congratulating the Government on moving forward. Some of us intend to ensure that this movement goes forward a bit more. Correctly, generous tributes have been paid to the Minister and to my noble friend Lord McKenzie. As my noble friend Lord Jones mentioned, others have been involved over many years in the battle to combat the damage that...

Queen's Speech — Debate (3rd Day) (13 May 2013)

Lord Monks: My Lords, I, too, will address the long-term prospects for the economy, as well as the relationship with the European Union. I am pleased to be able to follow the noble Lord, Lord Tugendhat, who has expressed some very wise words from the Conservative Benches, words that I hope will be heard loudly in that party as the frenzied debate seems to be kicking off again in such a vigorous way....

Growth and Infrastructure Bill — Commons Reasons (22 April 2013)

Lord Monks: My Lords, unfortunately, I was unable to be present at Report stage, but I was struck when I read in Hansardthat the House of Lords was doing its job like it perhaps does not do enough in an admirable and exemplary non-partisan way, looking at the practicalities of this proposal, not looking for negativity but simply giving it some forensic examination, which has clearly not been done by many...

Growth and Infrastructure Bill — Commons Reasons (22 April 2013)

Lord Monks: My Lords, I am grateful to the Minister for giving way. Is he therefore confirming in that reply that it will be possible for an employer to advertise employee shareholder contracts only? Is that what the Minister is confirming?

Growth and Infrastructure Bill — Commons Reasons (22 April 2013)

Lord Monks: My apologies for coming in again. What is voluntary about that for the jobseeker in those circumstances-the applicant for the job in an area of the country where there may not be many jobs and that is the only status available?

Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (Amendment) Order 2013: Motion to Approve (12 March 2013)

Lord Monks: My Lords, I, too, rise to support the regret Motion that has been moved by my noble friend Lord Young. The present rules on the period necessary for consultation are designed, in part at least, to provide an opportunity for employers and unions to explore alternatives to redundancy. These alternatives could be short-time working or transfers to growing parts of the business. They could be...

Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill — Report (1st Day) (26 February 2013)

Lord Monks: My Lords, I rise to support the amendment moved by my noble friend Lord Lea. The amendment concerns the information and consultation arrangements with which I have long been associated, first at the TUC and then at the European TUC. Its origins lie in some unexpected and sudden plant closures in the early 1990s, in particular a Renault plant over in Brussels. As a result, the European TUC...

EU: Prime Minister's Speech — Motion to Take Note (31 January 2013)

Lord Monks: My Lords, it is pretty clear that European Union social and employment laws are being lined up in the Prime Minister's gun sight. He has made no secret of his wish to push the single market much more into a free trade zone, probably on NAFTA lines. If that line is pursued, trade unions in Europe and many Governments, of whatever political persuasion, will take the contrary view and will be...

Economy: Growth — Motion to Take Note (29 January 2013)

Lord Monks: My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Lang, for mentioning the pensions issue which is a gathering storm for this country as private sector pensions reel under the present problems. Those problems are complicated for all the reasons that he gave and are intensified by the economic crisis. Like others, I welcome the noble Lord, Lord Deighton, to his new hot seat. I hope that he...

Air Passenger Duty — Question for Short Debate (28 January 2013)

Lord Monks: My Lords, I rise to add my voice to the concerns that have already been expressed by other noble Lords in this debate. In doing so, I declare an interest as president of the British Airline Pilots Association. There can be very little doubt that the APD is an important revenue raiser for the Chancellor and substituting it would be an extremely difficult task. However, the rapid increases that...

Growth and Infrastructure Bill — Second Reading (8 January 2013)

Lord Monks: My Lords, this Bill has an ambitious title. To the new reader, coming to it fresh, the title might give the impression that it has ambitious contents; that it is on the verge of giving effect to the Heseltine large-scale urgent initiatives call, which he made so well recently in this House on the basis of his report; that there would be a call for a renaissance of municipal values in the...

Public Service Pensions Bill — Second Reading (19 December 2012)

Lord Monks: My Lords, I declare an interest as a trustee director of NOW:Pensions, an offshoot of the giant Danish Pensions Institute ATP, which now seeks to make a success of auto-enrolment in this country. The growth of occupational pensions was one of the outstanding, if rather unsung, features of 20th-century Britain. As the noble Baroness, Lady Noakes, said, there has been a relationship between the...

Public Service Pensions Bill — Second Reading (19 December 2012)

Lord Monks: I acknowledge that they were important, but it is just a pity that so many employers did not make provision for that when they took their pensions holidays. They did not put away for a rainy day-it certainly came, and it is still with us. This brings me back to the relationship between the public and private schemes. There have been many like the noble Baroness, Lady Noakes, who have been...

European Union: Recent Developments — Motion to Take Note (17 December 2012)

Lord Monks: My Lords, I start by declaring an interest. I act from time to time as an unpaid adviser to the President of the European Commission. I certainly welcome this debate. It is very timely and inevitably it is centring on the UK's awkward relationship with the European Union. As we have heard, the Prime Minister is poised on the verge of a major speech that will define future policy-at least,...

Economy: Growth — Question for Short Debate (6 December 2012)

Lord Monks: My Lords, as the noble Lord, Lord Heseltine, rightly says in chapter 7 of his report: "If there is an upside to the worst ... crisis of modern times, it is the emergence of an audience for deep seated and radical proposals". Indeed, we cannot just go back to business as usual, pre-2007. We know that we must rebalance our economy towards innovation, manufacturing, infrastructure and the weaker...

Written Answers — House of Lords: EU: Common Agricultural Policy (21 November 2012)

Lord Monks: To ask Her Majesty's Government which agricultural estates in the United Kingdom were the 10 highest recipients of funds from the European Union's Common Agricultural Policy in the last year for which records are available.

Employment: Rights — Question (19 November 2012)

Lord Monks: To ask Her Majesty's Government what are their plans for employment rights to be exchangeable for shares.

Employment: Rights — Question (19 November 2012)

Lord Monks: I thank the Minister for that reply, but can anyone here imagine a decent employer trying to bribe workers to give up their employment rights in return for shares of questionable value? After all, some 50% of small firms fold within five years. Will not decent employers agree with Justin King, the boss of Sainsbury's, who said that this is not what we should be doing? Will the Government stop...