Results 1-9 of 9 for ("top up" fees) speaker:Lembit Öpik

Government of Wales Bill (Programme) (No. 3): Clause 7 — Candidates at general elections (18 Jul 2006)

Lembit Öpik: ...commitment must not be broken. Can he confirm that he thinks it was utterly unacceptable for the Government to break their highly publicised manifesto commitment in 2001 not to introduce tuition top-up fees? The question is relevant, because there is no consistency in what the right hon. Gentleman claims his Government should do, and what the Government have done with regard to manifesto...

Government of Wales Bill (Programme) (No. 3): Clause 7 — Candidates at general elections (18 Jul 2006)

Lembit Öpik: I was momentarily distracted, Madam Deputy Speaker, by the sheep noises from the hon. Member for Vale of Clwyd. Hopefully, his support for rural policies will follow from that. There is a degree of schizophrenia in the way that the Conservatives approach issues of democratic mandate, but perhaps that is a matter for another day. I am frustrated by the apparent about-turn made by the right...

Public Bill Committee: Northern Ireland (Offences) Bill: Clause 2 - Certification commissioner (8 Dec 2005)

Lembit Öpik: As the Committee knows from the comments of my hon. Friend the Member for Solihull, we were going to support the Government on this amendment, but the more the Minister says, the less inclined I am to do that, because his comments contradict the Government’s actions. He assures us that the Government will seek consensus, yet when every party in Northern Ireland opposed student tuition...

Welsh Affairs (4 Apr 2005)

Mr Lembit Öpik: ...tax. I am convinced that local income tax is a fairer form of taxation than council tax. We do not need to go into detail, but let us recognise a few facts. The number of properties that moved up bands in Wales was not the same as the number that went down. Some 33 per cent. went up and 8 per cent. went down. I guarantee that, on balance, a lot of people will pay more council tax as a...

Welsh Affairs (4 Apr 2005)

Mr Lembit Öpik: ...the not-too-distant past would have branded him a Conservative. I am sad that Labour has moved so far away from the fairest form of taxation, which is income tax. Above all, I am frustrated that these fees were introduced on the basis of a false premise—a promise in a Labour manifesto that it would not introduce such fees for students. Once again, it is for the electorate to decide...

Welsh Affairs (26 Feb 2004)

Mr Lembit Öpik: ...vote. At that age, they can pay tax, get married and raise children, but they cannot vote. That is preposterous. We would change that as soon as we came to power. Labour said that they would rule top-up fees out for Welsh universities. In fact, they have done so only for the duration of this Assembly. That is only one year longer than the time within which the fees can theoretically be...

Wales Office: Student Finance (21 Jan 2004)

Mr Lembit Öpik: The Government want to raise student grants from £1,000 to £1,500 and to provide loans to help students to pay top-up fees. Given that both measures would increase public expenditure, how much extra money would the Welsh Assembly get for them as a Barnett consequential, so that Wales is not short-changed even if Assembly Members choose to reject top-up fees for Wales?

Oral Answers to Questions — Wales: Borders (2 Jul 2003)

Mr Lembit Öpik: ...prescriptions were thanks to the Liberal Democrats when they were in government in Wales? Does he agree with the obvious conclusion that if the hon. Member for Bridgend (Mr. Griffiths) opposes top-up fees and foundation hospitals, which could poach nurses from the Welsh health system, he should vote for the Liberal Democrats?

Budget Resolutions — Amendment of the Law (9 Apr 2003)

Mr Lembit Öpik: The hon. Gentleman mentioned tuition fees and, by implication, top-up fees. Given that, as we know, education makes a big difference to productivity, and given that the Welsh Liberal Democrats—should they get back in government in Wales—will promise to try to abolish tuition fees and not to introduce top-up fees, what advice would the hon. Gentleman give to his Labour colleagues...