Former Labour MP for Leyton and Wanstead
I appreciate the hon. Gentleman's homily and I do not disagree with some aspects of it, but does he acknowledge that in certain circumstances, such as those we recently experienced, capitalism does not work either? If it had not been for quasi-socialists coming in and saving the capitalist system-to put it kindly for my colleagues on the Front Bench-it would have collapsed by now?
It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Sevenoaks (Mr. Fallon), whose case is always coherent, even if I do not agree with his solutions. I do not agree with his assessment of yesterday's Budget, either. I think that it was a steady-as-you-go Budget designed not to choke off the recovery. I saw that the front-page headline of the Daily Mail today called this a Budget of envy and...
Absolutely. The only reason why the banking sector is in existence is because of taxpayers' investment; it would have gone completely flat otherwise. If we are to solve the deficit problem, those profits, instead of going into the big bonuses of bankers, should come back to the taxpayer. My second suggestion for a tax boost is the Robin Hood tax, and I pay tribute to the Prime Minister for...
That is the point that I am making: there are savings to be made. The TUC report states: "Tax relief is heavily skewed towards the better off. Treasury figures reveal that 60 per cent. of tax relief goes to higher rate taxpayers, including nearly £10 billion a year...to the top 1 per cent. of earners, those on more than £150,000 a year." On those skewed subsidies, the TUC also said that the...
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I am sorry to draw my right hon. Friend into a bit of a parochial matter relating to my constituency, but he makes an excellent point about Building Schools for the Future. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families offered Redbridge council Building Schools for the Future money a year up front, in this financial year. However, the council said that it was...
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The hon. Gentleman claims that the proposal on stamp duty was Conservative policy. Was the increase in stamp duty-the extra 1 per cent. for those properties selling for more than £1 million-also a Conservative policy?
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when the Government expect full mine clearance in the Falkland Islands to be completed; and what relevant contracts to effect such clearance have been entered into.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the human rights record of the Government of China, with particular reference to Tibet.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent steps the High Commission in Pakistan has taken to obtain consular access to Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh; and if he will make a statement.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will establish a mechanism to monitor progress in the talks on Tibet between the Government of China and the Dalai Lama.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much of the additional £100 million to cut maternal deaths which the Government committed to at the Women Deliver conference in October 2007 has been provided to the United Nations Population Fund.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what models his Department uses to assess prevalence of breast cancer by ethnic minority grouping.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will request the Care Quality Commission to investigate the reasons for the hospital standardised mortality ratio in 2007-08 at hospitals in (a) Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust, (b) Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, (c) Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, (d)...
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer to Lord Dykes of 16 March 2010, Official Report, House of Lords, column 167WA, on nuclear-powered submarines, if he will publish a summary of the report on the collision between HMS Vanguard and FS Le Triomphant, redacting the elements relating to classified operational detail.
