Results 1-20 of 12,913 for speaker:Simon Hughes

Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill: New Clause 15 — Marriages according to usages of approved organisations (21 May 2013)

Simon Hughes: Does the Minister not accept, however, that there are many people who believe that the civil status of coming together in marriage should be open to straight and gay couples alike, but that people of faith and faith groups should be free to define what they understand as marriage? Some of them would permit same-sex marriage, but some of them take a different view and would not.

Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill: New Clause 15 — Marriages according to usages of approved organisations (21 May 2013)

Simon Hughes: I am happy to follow the hon. Member for Foyle (Mark Durkan). I agree with a huge number of his comments. He and I have voted similarly pretty well throughout the passage of the Bill. I want to pick up on a comment the hon. Gentleman made towards the end of his speech. He and I voted for new clause 10 on the implementation of civil partnerships for straight couples. I voted for the new...

Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill: New Clause 15 — Marriages according to usages of approved organisations (21 May 2013)

Simon Hughes: The proposals appear to be linked, Mr Deputy Speaker. I thank my hon. Friend for that proposal and many others he has made, and for his much-respected work. We do not agree on every single item, but his record is one of which the Liberal Democrats and Parliament should be proud. Let me put my position on the record. I believe, have believed and was brought up to believe that marriage is...

Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill: New Clause 15 — Marriages according to usages of approved organisations (21 May 2013)

Simon Hughes: I will give way, but I anticipate being able to deal with the hon. Lady’s intervention.

Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill: New Clause 15 — Marriages according to usages of approved organisations (21 May 2013)

Simon Hughes: I will not, but with respect I want to say a word about humanism and speak to my new clause 18, which is in this group, on the difference between the church and the state. Let me say to the hon. Member for Hackney North and Stoke Newington (Ms Abbott) that of course marriage is never only for the production of children. Many people get married without that intention, and it might be...

Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill: New Clause 15 — Marriages according to usages of approved organisations (21 May 2013)

Simon Hughes: If my hon. Friend will bear with me, I do not believe that and I am not arguing that. They should of course be entitled to hold that view. This group of amendments seeks to give humanists the right to have humanist weddings. I support that proposal. I understand the objection to the technical drafting, and perhaps that needs to be considered. However, the principle—my hon. Friend the...

Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill: New Clause 15 — Marriages according to usages of approved organisations (21 May 2013)

Simon Hughes: That is a good question. The hon. Lady, as a former Southwark councillor, knows well the communities I represent. The short answer is that we could do it one of two ways. We could either do what is done in many countries on the mainland of Europe, which is to require everybody to have a civic ceremony first. In France or Belgium, people go the town hall, have the civil ceremony and then go to...

Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill: New Clause 15 — Marriages according to usages of approved organisations (21 May 2013)

Simon Hughes: I commend my hon. Friend for tabling new clause 14 and for advancing the argument that I hope to make later in relation to new clause 18, if you call me to speak, Mr Deputy Speaker. One of the Bill’s real failings is that it does not address the need to separate, for the purposes of marriage, the secular and the religious. Had we gone down that road, there would have been a much better...

Oral Answers to Questions — Work and Pensions: New Clause 16 — Review of civil partnership (20 May 2013)

Simon Hughes: As one who supported civil partnership and voted for it, I want to be certain that the Minister understands that there are currently differences in law between civil partnership and marriage. It would be helpful if we could confirm that she and the Government understand that. I also want to make it clear that there is a strong wish for the two issues to be dealt with at the same time, not...

Oral Answers to Questions — Work and Pensions: New Clause 1 — Education Act 1996 (20 May 2013)

Simon Hughes: I will make a short contribution, in the same vein, I hope, as the last three. I pay tribute to the hon. Member for Newcastle upon Tyne North (Catherine McKinnell) for her extremely helpful and sensitive contribution and to my right hon. Friend the Member for Arundel and South Downs (Nick Herbert). I hope that those listening to the debate will draw some obvious conclusions: not all gay...

Oral Answers to Questions — Work and Pensions: New Clause 1 — Education Act 1996 (20 May 2013)

Simon Hughes: I absolutely share the hon. Lady’s view and am grateful to her for that prompt. I was here when clause 28 was being debated and opposed it on the record, including in Committee, where I served with my hon. Friend the then Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, now Lord Kirkwood of Kirkhope. We opposed it and spoke and voted against it. I understand exactly that hope. It is absolutely...

Oral Answers to Questions — Work and Pensions: New Clause 1 — Education Act 1996 (20 May 2013)

Simon Hughes: That is why I ask the Minister to look at this issue. We do not yet necessarily have the right balance. We must have free speech. People may still be arrested because of, or quizzed about, what they say. People should be able to say that they think that homosexuality is wrong or right and whether this Bill is appropriate. Although the Committee did a good job, as has another Committee in...

Oral Answers to Questions — Work and Pensions: Topical Questions (20 May 2013)

Simon Hughes: The transition to the personal independence payment is a good thing in theory, but some people are telling me that they are concerned that the threshold for qualification is unacceptably high and they feel unsupported in trying to work out how to make a difficult choice among the variety of suppliers available.

Written Answers — Work and Pensions: Personal Independence Payment (20 May 2013)

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the implementation of the personal independence payment to date.

[Mr Joe Benton in the Chair] — Careers Guidance (16 May 2013)

Simon Hughes: I am very happy to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Benton, and I am also very happy that the Chairman of the Education Committee, the hon. Member for Beverley and Holderness (Mr Stuart), is back. Like others, I wish him well for a complete recovery. I thank the Education Committee for its report. I am not on the Committee, as colleagues know, but I pay tribute to all its members of all...

[Mr Joe Benton in the Chair] — Careers Guidance (16 May 2013)

Simon Hughes: I absolutely agree, and I respect the hon. Gentleman’s expertise on the matter. I have two final points. First, if someone wants to go into the construction industry to be a plumber or builder, actually knowing the best way to go from their secondary school to get the relevant qualification, knowing which college is the best place to do an FE course and knowing which company might give...

Business of the House (16 May 2013)

Simon Hughes: To give the House a break from the Leader of the House’s colleagues’ obsessing about Europe, may we have, before the summer break, a serious debate about the Commonwealth countries and south Asia? There is a controversial Commonwealth conference in Sri Lanka, there has been a recent terrible tragedy with wider implications and civil disorder in Bangladesh, there is a new...

Oral Answers to Questions — Church Commissioners: Church of England (16 May 2013)

Simon Hughes: What steps the Church Commissioners are planning to take to support the future work of the Church of England.

Oral Answers to Questions — Church Commissioners: Church of England (16 May 2013)

Simon Hughes: In the few days before the Church celebrates its birthday, we have seen the recent figures showing the very encouraging signs of more baptisms, more thanksgivings for childbirth, more christenings, more young people and children going to church, and many dioceses with greater attendance numbers. Will the Church Commissioners consider trying to support every parish in reaching out once a year...

Economic Growth (15 May 2013)

Simon Hughes: I think the country understands that we could not go on as we did, with a completely unregulated City, with bonuses out of control and with unjustifiable profits. The Government’s policy on taxation is fairer now than it ever was under the previous Government. May I ask the Chancellor, however, to address the matter of the housing market, to which he partly referred? In addition to the...