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Donate to our crowdfunderTony Lloyd: My hon. Friend will know as well as I do that among the poorest in our society are those who depend on the private rented sector. Fuel poverty in that sector is acute, because private landlords have no incentive to provide proper insulation. What can the Government do to ensure that we incentivise those private landlords?
Tony Lloyd: My right hon. Friend is right to emphasise the fact that the Government have played their role in the upgrade of the west coast main line. However, as my hon. Friend the Member for Carlisle (Mr. Martlew) points out, Network Rail has let the travelling public down badly through poor maintenance and the disruption to services. Will my right hon. Friend examine the quality of Network Rail's...
Tony Lloyd: What steps his Department is taking to ensure the prompt payment of benefits to people registering as newly unemployed.
Tony Lloyd: As my right hon. Friend knows, moving into unemployment is traumatic in itself for many people, but it can also be very confusing because of the interrelationship between jobseeker's allowance and other benefits. Can my right hon. Friend give the House a guarantee that the Government, and those who work for the Government, will make creating a seamless exchange for new claimants a priority,...
Tony Lloyd: Does my hon. Friend accept that it is not protectionist to insist on minimum pay and working conditions for British workers in competition with foreign workers? In that context, and in terms of the posted workers directive, can he insist that the European Commission gets a move on with its review? Will he also look at the British angle of this, which is that the current minimum standard is...
Tony Lloyd: If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.
Tony Lloyd: May I bring Ministers back to matters more domestic, and to the surface water drainage scheme, which is causing enormous consternation not only to church groups, but to flat dwellers who feel that they have been very unfairly treated as their bills have shot up—especially in comparison with commercial properties? Will the Government look at this again and see whether Ofwat has allowed the...
Tony Lloyd: The hon. Gentleman will be aware that I have an interest as chair of the trade union group of Labour MPs, but does he not recognise that there is a fundamental difference between the donations of an individual and the donations of a corporate body such as a trade union that operates collectively, which consist of small contributions from many people? The passing of the new clause would thus...
Tony Lloyd: rose—
Tony Lloyd: This goes to the heart of the debate. Although the hon. Gentleman—supported by the Scottish nationalists, incidentally—says that he does not wish to attack the link between the unions and the Labour party, his new clause would have precisely that effect. The hon. Gentleman may honestly argue that he sees a distinction, but he should bear in mind that many trade union members, even those...
Tony Lloyd: I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman; he is being very generous with interventions. Many people—I am one of them—believe that the public really want restraint on spending and transparency about donations. Clearly, that is almost the opposite of what he is proposing and of what the Liberal Democrats believe in.
Tony Lloyd: Will my hon. Friend also confirm that it would be an unreasonable principle of parliamentary democracy if the search for consensus meant that the minority parties could block the demand from the majority parties for the proper scrutiny of the as yet not properly accountable structures of regional governance, particularly in the north of England? The issue before the House is the need for...
Tony Lloyd: I shall be brief, as I know that the Minister has a lot to say. I endorse a considerable amount of what my right hon. Friend the Member for Walsall, South (Mr. George) said. The British Government's commitment to the OSCE over the years has been absolute. Britain has been one of the major contributors to the OSCE, both in its founding days and more recently, although there has been a...
Tony Lloyd: My hon. Friend is absolutely right to say that the Government have taken significant steps to open the process up, but does he agree that the banks and other lenders have not yet properly started to play ball? Barclays are asking a company in my constituency for 9.9 per cent. above the base rate for an overdraft, for example, and the car finance corporation is charging a 30 per cent. annual...
Tony Lloyd: Suppose that the Government were to seek advice from either side of the House about the gross unfairness of bunging a few rich people tax cuts while the majority saw tax increases; that is what would happen if the Tories' inheritance tax proposals went ahead. Would my right hon. and learned Friend prefer the advice of the shadow Business Secretary before or after he was muzzled?
Tony Lloyd: My right hon. Friend will be aware that the Financial Services Authority's compensation scheme has refused to recompense the charitable scheme of the Christie cancer hospital in Manchester for the £6.5 million that it lost when the Icelandic banks crashed. Will it be possible to urge the FSA to look once again at the unique position of charities—not, I recognise, only one charity? They are...
Tony Lloyd: What discussions he had in the recent meeting of the General Affairs and External Relations Council on the effect on consumers of the European Council's European economic recovery plan.
Tony Lloyd: My right hon. Friend's answer has confirmed that making sure that consumers get back into the marketplace is central to the European economic recovery plan. That, of course, means jobs here in Britain. Does she believe that Britain's influence and ability to make sure that we get those jobs would be increased or decreased if we had a Government who were withdrawing to the fascist wing of the...
Tony Lloyd: My right hon. Friend will vividly remember the damage that was done by unemployment as a result of the failed economic policies of previous Tory Governments, when we were told that unemployment was a price worth paying. Will he give my constituents a guarantee that, in his conversations with the G20 and in the Budget, keeping people in work and getting those who are unemployed back into work...
Tony Lloyd: This is rather like old times, I suppose, Mr. Deputy Speaker. The business before the House tonight consists of two revival motions, and I know that you would take a dim view were I to stray beyond the arguments in favour of or, indeed, against revival. The debate is clearly narrow, and I hope that, on that basis, it can be short and succinct. It is worth reminding the House that the revival...