Anne McGuire: Given that the Deputy Prime Minister and his Lib Dem Ministers are rowing back from coalition policies at Olympic speeds, why are they still carrying red ministerial boxes and taking ministerial salaries in a Government whom they are so antagonistic towards?
Anne McGuire: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what role is played by Ofgem in the calculation and recovery of the renewable obligation certificate from customers.
Anne McGuire: I am delighted to be called in this debate. Like my hon. Friend the Member for Luton North (Kelvin Hopkins), I do not have a fishing community in my constituency. We have anglers, as opposed to fishermen, on the River Forth. I want to speak in this debate for two reasons. First, fishing communities need advocates from outside their communities too, no matter how fantastic the contributions...
Anne McGuire: I was coming on to that exact point. Considering the balance in the industry is not about undermining the contribution of one, or ignoring the contribution of the other. The hon. Lady makes a valuable point. The quotas were set 25 to 30 years ago, and there has been a decreasing allocation for small inshore fishing vessels. The 5,000 small vessels, as the hon. Member for Waveney (Peter...
Anne McGuire: I hear what the Minister says.
Anne McGuire: When he winds up the debate, I hope the Minister will clarify the situation. Will the noble Lord be part of the discussions? Will the Minister be leading the delegation? I know he has great experience of, and takes a great interest in, the fishing industry, but in some circumstances it would be appropriate for a Scottish Fisheries Minister to represent the UK. The Minister has to prove that a...
Anne McGuire: Does my hon. Friend accept, however, that Norway has to enter into negotiations with the EU? As he says, fish do not swim under water with little flags saying that they belong to a certain part of the North sea or any other sea, so Norway’s situation is not quite as clear-cut as he suggests.
Anne McGuire: What recent discussions he has had with his ministerial colleagues on shipbuilding on the Clyde.
Anne McGuire: I am sure many on the Opposition Benches would echo the comments about the new First Minister and wish her well. The Secretary of State gave a slightly nuanced answer. I wonder if he will state categorically that the Type 26 frigates will be built, and perhaps he could throw some light on why the First Sea Lord felt he could make the comments that threw into doubt the proposals for those frigates.
Anne McGuire: It is a pleasure, Mr Crausby, to serve under your chairmanship. I am not sure that the right hon. Gentleman is making the case that he thinks he is. He has not yet explained why having, as he would see it, a greater defence capability and committing 0.7% of our GNI to international development at the same time are mutually exclusive; surely, they are not and he is arguing for his party to...
Anne McGuire: Does the right hon. Gentleman not agree that this is one topic on which there is a political consensus? May I add that it is nice to make a contribution to another Privy Counsellor? The right hon. Gentleman made his own case, because the three main political parties supported enshrining this commitment in law. Indeed, any poll has assessed that around 56% of the British population think that...
Anne McGuire: Given that, according to recent surveys by social landlords, more than half the people impacted by the bedroom tax are now in arrears, what advice would the Secretary of State give those social landlords, particularly housing associations, about the unsustainable financial position they now find themselves in?
Anne McGuire: I am delighted to be called, Madam Deputy Speaker, and I am not going to shut up. The hon. Member for Thurrock (Jackie Doyle-Price) and I serve on the Public Accounts Committee, so she knows that neither of us are prone to shutting up when the issues are important. I agree with the right hon. Member for North West Hampshire (Sir George Young), who has just left, that a bipartisan approach...
Anne McGuire: Let me hark back to the comments made by the hon. Member for Thurrock and say that it is not some weird conspiracy of charities, Labour politicians and disabled people that is creating the environment where people are suffering because of the ways in which the Government have carried forward their employment programme. I congratulate our two Labour Front Benchers today, my hon. Friend the...
Anne McGuire: Sanctions should be a means to a diplomatic end. These sanctions are clearly having an impact on the Russian economy, but can the Secretary of State update the House on what diplomatic reaction there has been from President Putin in the light of the pressure on his economy?
Anne McGuire: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with his EU counterparts on fatigue in long distance coach and lorry drivers.
Anne McGuire: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of the proposed changes to the disabled students' allowance on the participation in higher education of students with high needs.
Anne McGuire: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the Government's proposed changes to the disabled students' allowances on the drop-out rate of students who will no longer be eligible for funding.
Anne McGuire: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the Government's proposed changes to the disabled students' allowances on the employment prospects of students who will no longer be eligible for funding.
Anne McGuire: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what consultation his Department undertook with universities, providers of support and students prior to the announcement of 7 April 2014 on proposals to change the disabled students' allowance.
