Results 181-200 of 2,249 for in the 'Commons debates' speaker:Lembit Öpik

Deferred Division: Repossessions and the Housing Market (2 Apr 2008) has video

Lembit Öpik: If the Minister is telling us that the economy is in good shape, what message does she have for the people of Powys and Monmouthshire, whose average income fell by 4 per cent. in absolute terms between 2006 and 2007? Is that not a clear indication that the concerns raised by my hon. Friend the Member for Twickenham (Dr. Cable), myself and others are not theoretical but practical, as they are...

Deferred Division: Repossessions and the Housing Market (2 Apr 2008) has video

Lembit Öpik: I was very interested in the earlier contribution from the Minister. I like her; she did a good job in Northern Ireland as I guided her towards securing peace there. That is no more of a claim to power than what has been foisted on us from both sides of the House this afternoon, but all the negativity that the right hon. Lady showed makes it clear that she seems to have a real downer in the...

Deferred Division: Repossessions and the Housing Market (2 Apr 2008) has video

Lembit Öpik: My hon. Friend illustrates the precise problem. This is not a theoretical debate about what might happen, but a practical debate about what is happening. When councils act in the way that she describes, and when individuals face the desolation of homelessness, we have to take ideas seriously. I ask the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury to offer us a crumb of hope when she sums up, by saying...

Deferred Division: Repossessions and the Housing Market (2 Apr 2008) has video

Lembit Öpik: Individuals such as the one my hon. Friend quotes are not politicians; they are real people who are looking for real solutions. To that extent, I hope that the Government accept the circumstantial and anecdotal evidence, which adds up to clear mood music that this country is experiencing frustrations with some of the laudable proposals made by the Government. I understand that, so far, only...

Opposition Day — [9th Allotted Day]: Repossessions and the Housing Market (2 Apr 2008) has video

Lembit Öpik: rose—

Opposition Day — [9th Allotted Day]: Repossessions and the Housing Market (2 Apr 2008) has video

Lembit Öpik: rose—

Opposition Day — [9th Allotted Day]: Repossessions and the Housing Market (2 Apr 2008) has video

Lembit Öpik: I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for flattering me by saying I have such awesome power over the British economy. Perhaps my party does not need to be in government, and instead we can just run the country from the Opposition Benches. Given that the hon. Gentleman seems to be striking a middle way between our position and the Government's, I am at a loss to know whether he will vote for the...

Opposition Day — [9th Allotted Day]: Repossessions and the Housing Market (2 Apr 2008) has video

Lembit Öpik: I am glad to hear that the right hon. Lady will be addressing my hon. Friend's comments, because I am extremely concerned when the Government receive what I think is pretty sage advice, delivered in a non-partisan way, and they respond with lectures about Liberal Democrat policy, which is the last thing that the country needs to hear given that, collectively, we are on the brink of a...

Oral Answers to Questions — Wales: Cross-Border Patients (2 Apr 2008) has video

Lembit Öpik: My constituents are often told that because they live in Wales, they have to wait longer than the English patients of Shropshire hospitals. It is not hard to imagine the frustration and suffering that that causes my constituents. What can the Minister do to ensure that Montgomeryshire folk with health problems are not made to feel like second-class citizens when they go to those hospitals?...

Oral Answers to Questions — Communities and Local Government: Eco-towns (1 Apr 2008) has video

Lembit Öpik: Airport infrastructure in the United Kingdom is a subject of much interest. Is the Minister aware that small airports and airfields around the UK provide an important sub-infrastructure and that many business people use them? Will she provide an assurance that airfields such as Leicester airport and others will not be regarded as easy targets on which to build eco-towns, given that they are...

Orders of the Day: Schedule 11 — Repeals (31 Mar 2008) has video

Lembit Öpik: I enjoyed serving on the Committee with the Minister. I think that he has genuinely listened. Above all today, I have accepted—and respect—the fact that the specific case that I raised in relation to amendments Nos. 14 and 15 will be considered. I think that that will prove to be a valuable step forward. I approve of the creation of Oftenant. We felt that the name was faulty, but...

Orders of the Day: New Clause 14 — Duty to give financial assistance in respect of certain disposals (31 Mar 2008) has video

Lembit Öpik: That would mean an increase of 239,840 a year on what is being built at the moment. Hon. Members should not worry; we have not got the time to have that argument at the moment. The Minister mentioned amendment No. 229. Under normal circumstances, I would have pressed it to a vote because, as he knows, I feel strongly that even though the Government talk strongly about the environment, the...

Orders of the Day: New Clause 14 — Duty to give financial assistance in respect of certain disposals (31 Mar 2008) has video

Lembit Öpik: To respond to what the Minister said, I see that my hon. Friend has assiduously read the reports of the Public Bill Committee. He is citing the exact point that I made, which is that the HCA has incredible powers—indeed, almost unfettered powers. He is expressing concern that the HCA has such a wide remit that it can walk into just about any other quango's activities without having to...

Orders of the Day: New Clause 11 — Possession orders relating to certain tenancies (31 Mar 2008) has video

Lembit Öpik: To finish the sentence, "not press the amendments." I would love to comply, but I want clarification of some practical matters. The Under-Secretary says that Government amendments Nos. 40 and 42 would achieve the same outcome as amendments Nos. 14 and 15. That means that he believes explicitly that it would not be possible to reopen the question of the valuation from the point of completing a...

Orders of the Day: New Clause 11 — Possession orders relating to certain tenancies (31 Mar 2008) has video

Lembit Öpik: I offer the Under-Secretary a deal—I am not playing games with him. I do not believe that the Government amendments do what he set out. If, on the basis of impartial legal advice after the debate, the amendments do not achieve what he says, will he commit to introducing a statutory instrument to achieve what amendments Nos. 14 and 15 propose? If he is willing to do that, and, acting in...

Orders of the Day: New Clause 11 — Possession orders relating to certain tenancies (31 Mar 2008) has video

Lembit Öpik: I understand that the Under-Secretary is saying that we will have a statutory instrument Committee, if, on the basis of an impartial conversation with lawyers and probably London Councils, we decide that the Government amendments do not achieve what he said. I am grateful for that assurance—the Under-Secretary has taken a mature approach. On that basis, I will not press the amendments...

Orders of the Day: New Clause 11 — Possession orders relating to certain tenancies (31 Mar 2008) has video

Lembit Öpik: rose—

Orders of the Day: New Clause 11 — Possession orders relating to certain tenancies (31 Mar 2008) has video

Lembit Öpik: The Minister is right to spend time on this, because it is one of the key elements in the Bill. Can he confirm that he believes—he must, I suppose—that if new clauses 1 and 8 are not passed, we will build more houses than we would if they were passed? I remind him that he has not yet addressed amendments Nos. 14 and 15; if he does not do that, I will ask for a separate vote.

Orders of the Day: New Clause 11 — Possession orders relating to certain tenancies (31 Mar 2008) has video

Lembit Öpik: The hon. Gentleman may have forgotten that, two weeks ago—this was mentioned in the debate—the pilot indicated that the fund was underfunded by 43 per cent. He is waiting for information that has already been published so, in the light of that fact, he can agree with new clause 8.

Orders of the Day: New Clause 11 — Possession orders relating to certain tenancies (31 Mar 2008) has video

Lembit Öpik: I do not want to enter into a dialogue, but I cannot let the Opposition off the hook. [Hon. Members: "Go on."] Oh no, I will not.