Results 1-16 of 16 for ("top up" fees) speaker:Michael Howard

Oral Answers to Questions — Prime Minister: Engagements (6 Apr 2005)

Mr Michael Howard: Before the last election the Prime Minister was asked specifically whether people should suppose he was going to increase national insurance contributions. He said, "They shouldn't." Now he says that that was not a promise. Does not that tell people everything they need to know about the Prime Minister? In 1997 he said: "Labour has no plans to introduce tuition fees for higher education". He...

Oral Answers to Questions — Prime Minister: Engagements (6 Apr 2005)

Mr Michael Howard: The Prime Minister was asked specifically about his broken promises on top-up fees and tuition fees, and he could not bring himself to say a word in defence of those broken promises. In 1997 he promised "firm control" over immigration, but since then net immigration has tripled. In the words of the Chancellor, why should people ever believe him again?

Prime Minister: Engagements (21 Jan 2004)

Mr Michael Howard: Will the Prime Minister read out to the House what his manifesto at the last election said about top-up fees?

Prime Minister: Engagements (21 Jan 2004)

Mr Michael Howard: ...that the Prime Minister cannot bring himself to read out the words on which he asked all his hon. Friends to stand at the last election. What he said in that manifesto was: "We will not introduce 'top-up' fees and have legislated to prevent them." Is it his case that, when he actually said that, what we should have all understood by those words was, "We will introduce top-up fees; we will...

Prime Minister: Engagements (21 Jan 2004)

Mr Michael Howard: ...debate is about his policy, and we will be voting next week on his proposals and his attempts to bully his hon. Friends into breaking their election promise. Is it not absolutely clear that the top-up fees policy is a complete dog's breakfast and that the Prime Minister and his Education Secretary do not even know from one day to the next what their proposals involve or who is going to...

Oral Answers to Questions — Prime Minister: Engagements (10 Dec 2003)

Mr Michael Howard: Is the Prime Minister aware that his Government are spending taxpayers' money advertising his proposals for student funding, including top-up fees, even though, as we all know, there has not been a vote in the House of Commons?

Oral Answers to Questions — Prime Minister: Engagements (3 Dec 2003)

Mr Michael Howard: ...to the Governments and families of those who lost their lives in the most recent tragic incidents in Iraq. How many people in the big conversation have told the Prime Minister that they want top-up fees?

Oral Answers to Questions — Prime Minister: Engagements (3 Dec 2003)

Mr Michael Howard: ...moment, it is his duty to answer the questions. He did not answer the first question, so let us try again. If, in the course of the big conversation, a majority of people say that they do not want top-up fees, will the Prime Minister listen to them and withdraw his proposals?

Oral Answers to Questions — Prime Minister: Engagements (3 Dec 2003)

Mr Michael Howard: ...make it clear: this grammar school boy will take no lessons from that public school boy on the importance of children from less privileged backgrounds gaining access to university. If the case for top-up fees is so overwhelming, why, only two years ago, did the Prime Minister promise in his manifesto not to impose them? He appears to have forgotten that, at the last election, we both stood...

Oral Answers to Questions — Prime Minister: Engagements (3 Dec 2003)

Mr Michael Howard: ...not bode well for the big conversation if in this quite small conversation the Prime Minister is not prepared to answer the questions. If he is not prepared to listen to the answers that he gets on top-up fees or on foundation hospitals or on the European constitution, what on earth is the point of this ludicrous exercise? Does not he realise quite how ridiculous he is beginning to look?...

Debate on the Address — [First Day] (26 Nov 2003)

Mr Michael Howard: I shall give way to the hon. Gentleman. While he is on his feet, I hope that he will tell us where he stands on top-up fees. Is he in favour of the manifesto proposal or is he in favour of the proposal in the Queen's Speech? Is he in favour of the Chancellor's policy or the Prime Minister's policy? I hope he will deal with that.

Debate on the Address — [First Day] (26 Nov 2003)

Mr Michael Howard: I am very, very sorry that the hon. Gentleman was unable to enlighten us about his position on top-up fees—[Interruption.] I was only trying to help the Chief Whip; she needs to know the numbers. Since the Government came to office, we have had five transport Acts. Yet we have more congestion, and twice as many trains running late as before. We have had 18 Acts from the Department of...

Debate on the Address — [First Day] (26 Nov 2003)

Mr Michael Howard: I shall give way to the hon. Gentleman. I hope that in order to help the Chief Whip he will tell us what his position on top-up fees is.

Debate on the Address — [First Day] (26 Nov 2003)

Mr Michael Howard: ...have gone further than any civilised Government should go. Earlier this week, we read in our newspapers that the Government propose to use the children of asylum seekers as pawns to cover up their failure to get a grip on their asylum chaos. Children of asylum seekers are to be taken into care in order to force their parents to leave the country. The Prime Minister and the Home Secretary...

Debate on the Address — [First Day] (26 Nov 2003)

Mr Michael Howard: ...a half years, the Prime Minister has lost his grip and the Government have lost their way. They are running out of steam, and they know it. We need better schools and the Government just give us top-up fees. We need safer streets, but the Government abolish the Lord Chancellor. We need improved hospitals but the Government give us legislation on the euro. The Prime Minister and the...

Economic and Monetary Union (10 Jul 2003)

Mr Michael Howard: ...he announced this afternoon, which caused such joy among Labour Members. The Chancellor began his speech in Monday's debate by claiming that the documents from which he quoted were neither "sexed up" nor based on a PhD thesis. He repeated that claim this morning at Treasury questions. He is obviously keen to distance himself from claims that any document to which he refers is "sexed up" or...