Jeremy Browne: I have heard it said that I was the only Minister in history to have been sacked for being too supportive of the Government. Although the decision to determine my future may or may not have been wise—others can judge that—I remain unequivocally enthusiastic about this Government, as I am about the Budget statement made by the Chancellor today. That is what I want to speak about in what...
Jeremy Browne: Grand coalition is what you need.
Jeremy Browne: Surely the most rational explanation is that this Government, even well into their fifth year, remain so vigorous and so determined to reform Britain for the best across so many different fronts and so many different departments, that it is difficult for us to accommodate all our energetic new ideas without putting a lot of them into this single Bill.
Jeremy Browne: I want to explore the hon. Gentleman’s thinking about a sovereign wealth fund for the north, or that line of thinking, which may or may not be his; he did not make that clear. Does that potentially open up some difficult implications? One could argue, for example, that the proceeds of the so-called mansion tax, which heavily falls on London and the south-east, should be retained in London...
Jeremy Browne: I agree with that. For the avoidance of doubt, I am strongly in favour of having a reasonable regulatory regime, and I think that people living in the affected areas would, rightly, expect that. I do not wish to imply anything to the contrary; I just do not want the regulations to be so excessive and onerous that their real intention is to frustrate the legitimate aspirations of the industry...
Jeremy Browne: As the hon. Gentleman expands on his theme, will he also consider that we have had extractive industries in this country for an extended period? The whole debate that took place as I was becoming more interested in politics was about the social impact of reducing the effect of extractive industries on different communities around the country. Inevitably, there is an impact if industries...
Jeremy Browne: Like coal mining and so on.
Jeremy Browne: I had not intended to speak at this time, but I was stimulated to do so by the previous contribution. I will just put some thoughts to the Minister before she addresses the Committee. I am looking now at all three Labour Front Benchers, all of whom are using electronic devices. I am not in the least bit offended by that, because they are not required to listen to me, but they are all choosing...
Jeremy Browne: Obviously, the example that was given provoked a constituency response from me, but the point made by the hon. Member for City of Durham does raise a wider issue, which is whether developers will be able to put more and more solar panels in parts of the country where land prices are lower and the demand for housing may be lower, and they are far away from the sensitive eyes of people who want...
Jeremy Browne: I do not recall ever calling my hon. Friend anything as crude as that—[ Interruption. ] Oh, he does recall it. I am instinctively a believer in free-market solutions to problems, but the only reason I wonder whether a greater degree of intervention may be appropriate in this case is that the person who is buying the product does not know that they are a customer at the point the product is...
Jeremy Browne: I enjoy discussing beauty with the Minister. It is important; for example, the architecture of London’s skyline is changing, and that is the legacy on which we will be judged by people hundreds of years from now. Whether people think that is good or bad, I leave to them. People talk about there not being enough house building. That is not how people feel in my constituency; there is a lot...
Jeremy Browne: Thank you, Mr Hood, for giving me the opportunity to speak to new clause 6, which is in my name. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship. I will make a fairly brief speech. I will not go into detail—others have greater command of that detail than myself—on precisely what level new properties should be at or whether 130 mm of insulation is superior or inferior to 140 mm; I assume...
Jeremy Browne: The shadow Minister talks as if batting decisions into the next Parliament, as she puts it, is inevitable, but there is absolutely nothing to stop the Leader of the Opposition making a speech this afternoon saying that if Labour wins an overall majority in May, it will proceed with the Heathrow option, the Gatwick option or the Thames estuary option. It does not have to buy into batting...
Jeremy Browne: The right hon. Gentleman makes a reasonable point. I remember what I regarded as a rather inglorious moment, but as a party loyalist I voted the way that it was suggested I should. In the last Parliament, when the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats both voted against any potential Heathrow expansion, as far as I could work out, that was because both parties wanted to be competitive in the...
Jeremy Browne: I said about five minutes ago that I was about to conclude and then the debate took what I regard as an interesting turn—although not everyone may regard it as interesting. I intend to support the Government, because I am a supporter of the Government, and if the Government, in their wisdom, have decided that this is the best route to take, I defer to the wise judgments of others, but I am...
Jeremy Browne: I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman because I have already spoken, but, essentially, the point I was making is that there is no reason for the Government to lose time unless they choose to do so. There is no reason for the Government to not have an energy policy unless they choose not to. I am not making a particularly party political point because it could be made of lots of parties, but the...
Jeremy Browne: Is not the onus on elected politicians to make the case to the public why Britain, in order to be economically competitive internationally, needs sufficient airport and high-speed train capacity? Rather than dodging that debate because we do not feel able collectively to make a compelling case to the electorate, and giving that responsibility to people who are not elected, should the onus...
Jeremy Browne: Happy new year, Sir Roger. I want briefly to echo some of the themes mentioned by the hon. Member for Daventry a few moments ago. I have a high regard for Sir John Armitt and agree with his analysis, although I did not vote for him and I am not sure whether anyone else here did. All Members present for today’s deliberations were voted for—that is what gives us an authority that others do...
Jeremy Browne: Yes, indeed, on this issue we did not play the game of shuffling responsibility as astutely as two parties with greater experience of government. We are entering into a conspiracy now. There is this airport commission, and the only thing that it has really been told is not to come up with any views until after the general election. The time scale is entirely arbitrary. After the general...
Jeremy Browne: ) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?