Ian Pearson: ...that both new clauses give the Treasury certain powers that may be useful in resolution and may make the exercise of the stabilisation powers more effective. However, the examples that I gave in Committee were intended to illustrate the wider point that there are pieces of legislation that we can identify as needing to be amended, but others to which, as things stand, that does not apply....
Bill Wiggin: ...to funding the identification of areas that need protection. We all appreciate the present financial situation, but the minutes of the September board meeting of the Joint Nature Conservation Committee were worrying. The JNCC is responsible for identifying a set of marine conservation zones by Easter 2011, but it is still awaiting a decision on its funding for 2009-10 and 2010-11. Until...
Alan Reid: ...in triggering. As my hon. Friend said, we debated that at great length when we were questioning the witnesses. As that is the most controversial part of the Bill, it would be an utter outrage if the Committee were not able to debate it. With the knife already set in place by the House for 4 pm on Thursday, we would have only four and a half hours on Thursday. That is simply not enough time...
Eleanor Laing: ...a banana republic.” It is embarrassing to have such a judgment of our electoral system in the 21st century. The comments made by the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly’s Monitoring Committee were even worse. It said: “The voting system in the United Kingdom is open to fraud, and while it delivers democratic elections, this is despite vulnerabilities in the system which...
Ed Vaizey: Absolutely. I do not wish to make up policy on the hoof, but we would not necessarily vigorously oppose it if it transpired that the single Minister in charge of that committee were to come from the DCMS. The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre has been enormously successful. Essentially, it is a branch of the Serious Organised Crime Agency—the police arm of child internet...
Michael Wills: ...safeguard, not for the regulator but against wrongful imposition of the sanction. It does not replace the appeals process to the courts; it is meant to be an extra safeguard, which, I thought, the Committee were ardently seeking in every area. I hope we can all agree that the amendment should not proceed.
Chris Bryant: .... That is an important principle, which has been reasserted by many Speakers of this House throughout the centuries, not least because if the deliberating process of a Select Committee or any other Committee were an open matter, the proper deliberation of a report would be thoroughly undermined. Many hon. Members will recall that drafts of Committee reports have sometimes leaked, leading...
John Redwood: ..., no growth or modest reductions in activity. The Government seem to have lurched from wanting a very sharp reduction in private sector debt—that is what their regulators and the Monetary Policy Committee were saying last year, with the Chancellor saying that it would serve the private sector right—to wanting a much slower run-down. If they simply transfer it all to the Government...
Simon Hughes: .... Member for Aldridge-Brownhills (Mr. Shepherd) left off. There are five areas of importance in the Bill, and we had some debate on all of them on Report. Those who were privileged to serve on the Committee were able to explore them in more detail but, as is always the case, that involved only a minority of Members. Over the years, many of us have taken an interest in many of the matters...
Paul Flynn: ...and obsessed with our internal divisions and gossip. The rim of the saucer, beyond which we cannot see, is the date of the next general election. There is some truth in that. However, Members of the Committee were surprised when we went to Finland and Sweden to be told that they were great admirers of our system—our foresight and organisations. We were told that we were one of the...
Mark Hoban: ...stability committee should have executive decision-making powers, and that the chairman should chair it in the same way as he chairs the MPC. That would not be an unreasonable view to take if the committee were to be an executive body. There has been some comment on this matter by the industry. In its response to the January consultation, the Association of British Insurers said that its...
Maria Eagle: It is a pleasure to be here in a new role—as of last week—as one of the Equality Ministers. I have, of course, dealt as a Minister with equality issues in the past: between 2001 and 2005, I was the Minister with responsibility for disabled people. Consequently, I have a background in dealing with equality issues, not to mention the sort of experience that those hon. Members on this side...
Jamie McGrigor: ..., Energy and Tourism Committee's detailed and thoughtful scrutiny of the bill. Members will have gleaned from Mr Whitton's eloquent and incisive remarks when he moved amendment 1 that debates in the committee were lively, thoughtful and informed. In particular, the debate about tartan's importance from the perspectives of wovenists, modernists and pragmatists caught the attention of not...
Baroness Andrews: ...infrastructure project, as set out in Clause 14. Clause 14 makes it clear that any new projects could be added to this list only if they fell within those fields. I understand that Members of the Committee were seeking clarification, but—
Nanette Milne: I fully endorse the comments of Frank McAveety and other members about the late Michael Gray and his wife, Tina McGeever. It is fair to say that all members of the Public Petitions Committee were deeply moved by the bravery of the couple, who, in the final stages of Mr Gray's illness, put so much effort into their petition, which aimed to secure a better experience in future for patients...
Brian Adam: As far as I am aware, today's debate is unique in the nine years of the Parliament in that the members who opened and will close the debate on behalf of the committee were not members of it when the inquiry took place and the report was written. I add my voice to the general approval of the way in which Tavish Scott led the committee. Although his party has done him the significant honour of...
Patrick Harvie: ...scheme. We recognise the fact that it is a pilot scheme that is in its initial stages. However, although we cannot comment on the effectiveness or the impact of the changes, several members of the committee were concerned about the views that were expressed regarding the possible impacts of the pilot scheme in various areas—different impacts in different parts of the country—and the...
Cathie Craigie: ...lawyers confirmed to the committee, in response to a question by Jamie McGrigor, that they would give the same advice again. In light of that, I can conclude only that some members of the committee were not open-minded in this case and were not prepared to consider all the facts. Therefore, I could not support the imposition of sanctions. I ask that members consider all the facts when...
Michael Mates: ...are an old chestnut, which come up every time we debate the matter. We have to redact some things from our report, which must go first to the Prime Minister. That cannot be changed. If the Committee were an ordinary Select Committee, any evidence given to it would become the property of the House, as the hon. Member for Thurrock knows. One cannot do that with secret intelligence. If the...
Gordon Brown: Plans for the Intelligence and Security Committee were set out in the Governance of Britain White Paper (Cm 7342-1, paragraphs 235-244). On the issue of staffing, I refer my hon. Friends to the answer I gave my hon. Friend the Member for Thurrock (Andrew Mackinlay) on 17 June 2008, Official Report, column 883W.