Mike Freer: May I add my congratulations on your recent election, Mr Deputy Speaker, and thank you for giving me this opportunity to make my maiden speech? It is a great honour to serve Finchley and Golders Green, and I have found the trust placed in me quite humbling as I walk around this building. I should also like to thank the hon. Member for Clwyd South (Susan Elan Jones) for telling the House of...
Mike Freer: First, may I declare an interest as a former leader of a London borough council that had to deal with street trading on a day-to-day basis? My postbag on street trading was far bigger than my postbags on many other areas of council activity. I should like to address a few of the issues raised by my hon. Friend the Member for Shipley (Philip Davies). I understand the law of supply and demand...
Mike Freer: That is quite right. It would be helpful if we could get the Department for Communities and Local Government or whichever is the correct Department to regulate on a national framework. However, in the absence of that, I shall support the city of Westminster in its promotion of the Bill. Those who have to deal with the scourge of street trading know that it is not simply a matter of the...
Mike Freer: I accept entirely that this House acts as a check and balance on the powers of local governance, but I also look forward to my hon. Friend tabling a private Member's Bill to legalise or deregulate prostitution and drug dealing on our streets. We cannot pick and choose which freedoms should be traded on our streets. The City of Westminster and other areas need these powers, not to regulate in...
Mike Freer: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent progress has been made in the middle east peace process; and if he will make a statement.
Mike Freer: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities what discussions she has had with ministerial colleagues on increasing recruitment to the civil service from black, Asian and other minority ethnic people.
Mike Freer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much his Department spent on its evaluation of the effectiveness of the Think brand in each of the last five years; and if he will place in the Library a copy of the reports of that evaluation.
Mike Freer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many hours of training on using (a) laptop computers (b) mobile telephones and (c) Blackberry's was provided to staff of his Department and its agencies in the last three financial years; and at what cost such training was provided.
Mike Freer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much was spent on hotel bills for (a) Ministers and (b) officials in his Department and its agencies in each of the last three financial years; and which hotels were used in each case.
Mike Freer: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions she has had with Ministerial colleagues on the European Parliament's proposals to require food from animals which have not been stunned prior to slaughter to be labelled with that information, with particular reference to the likely effects on faith groups of the implementation of those proposals.
Mike Freer: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her policy is on the European Parliament's proposals to expand the remit of EU food labelling regulation to include the provision of labelling information on methods of animal slaughter.
Mike Freer: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the Government's policy is on proposals at EU level to include the provision of information on food labelling about methods of animal slaughter.
Mike Freer: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions she has had on the effects on faith communities in the UK of proposals at EU level on the requirement of labelling of food from animals which have not been stunned prior to slaughter.
Mike Freer: What his most recent assessment is of the security situation in the Gulf region; and if he will make a statement.
Mike Freer: My hon. Friend will share my concerns about Iran's nuclear programme. What action is being taken to ensure that the UN sanctions are enforced effectively to deter Iran from future developments?
Mike Freer: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the average cost to his Department was of processing the payment of an invoice in the latest period for which figures are available; and what proportion of invoices settled in that period his Department paid (a) electronically and (b) by cheque.
Mike Freer: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the estimated monetary value is of each vacant (a) building and (b) parcel of land owned by his Department in each region.
Mike Freer: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much his Department spent on newspapers, periodicals and trade profession magazines in each year since 1997.
Mike Freer: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the average cost to her Department was of processing the payment of an invoice in the latest period for which figures are available; and what proportion of invoices settled in that period her Department paid (a) electronically and (b) by cheque.
Mike Freer: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the estimated monetary value is of each vacant (a) building and (b) parcel of land owned by her Department in each region.