Results 101–120 of 4000 for (in the 'Commons debates' OR in the 'Westminster Hall debates' OR in the 'Lords debates' OR in the 'Northern Ireland Assembly debates') speaker:Lord Willetts

Orders of the Day — Opposition Day: Private Pensions (30 Mar 1994)

David Willetts: Will my right hon. Friend accept that his remarks are very significant, because many employers believe that the Financial Services Act inhibits them from giving such advice? His statement will encourage them to give the advice that many have wished but have been afraid to give.

Orders of the Day — Opposition Day: Private Pensions (30 Mar 1994)

David Willetts: The Labour party's attitude to personal pensions lies behind this debate. That attitude is, at best, one of unease and, at worst, one of total hostility. That hostility is shown in the motion because it does not only criticise the poor advice given to people considering what to do with their pensions—a problem which every Conservative Member recognizes—but it describes personal pensions...

Orders of the Day — Opposition Day: Private Pensions (30 Mar 1994)

David Willetts: I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for that plug for my pamphlet. I do not believe in a demographic time bomb. There are good arguments for leaving SERPS and encouraging personal pensions that do not depend on the demographic time bomb arguments. I believe in people registering claims on future resources for their retirement through private contracts and private savings. That is the...

Opposition Day: Family Policy (14 Apr 1994)

David Willetts: Will the hon. Lady give way?

Opposition Day: Family Policy (14 Apr 1994)

David Willetts: I invite the hon. Lady to contribute to the spirit of this debate by saying something about families. Or is it the Liberal Democrats' view that all that can be said about families can be said by a tax accountant?

Opposition Day: Family Policy (14 Apr 1994)

David Willetts: It is a great privilege for me to be the first Conservative Member to speak who is not a member of the Bottomley family. So far, they seem to have taken on the massed ranks of the Opposition single-handed, and to have managed very well. One of the surprises of the debate has been that, although the motion was tabled by the Labour party, when hon. Members had the opportunity to speak, only...

Opposition Day: Family Policy (14 Apr 1994)

David Willetts: The hon. Gentleman does not do justice to his normally rich understanding of social problems. This is not simply a financial matter. We are talking about something that the hon. Member for Croydon, North-West raised, but did not pursue as I hoped he would—reconstituted families. I am perfectly happy to accept that we Conservatives, in our preoccupation with some questions concerning...

Opposition Day: Family Policy (14 Apr 1994)

David Willetts: I have often pursued these matters with the hon. Gentleman, and I am always happy to do so. I greatly enjoyed serving under his chairmanship on the Select Committee on Social Security. However, the experience on which I am drawing is based not only on conversations with people in London but also on my contacts with people in the constituency of Havant. I wish to refer to a social problem...

Opposition Day: Family Policy (14 Apr 1994)

David Willetts: Many good public servants in the educational world and elsewhere face this new and serious threat. Sadly, that is something that we must all recognise.

Opposition Day: Family Policy (14 Apr 1994)

David Willetts: I shall be very happy to cite people writing from a left-wing perspective on family policy. Such people have seized on cases such as that of Jasmine Beckford and presented them as examples of the failure of the family, without digging into the real circumstances. [Interruption.] In response to the hon. Lady's invitation, I shall try to find some quotations to support my point. Beatrix...

Opposition Day: Family Policy (14 Apr 1994)

David Willetts: It is precisely the tide of left-wing opinion that I am talking about. However, I want to move on to another topic, and one that is equally misunderstood—child care. We are all aware of the obvious attractions of appealing for more provision for child care. We all know of the pressures on families where both parents work. It is necessary to arrange child care, and that is often expensive....

Opposition Day: Family Policy (14 Apr 1994)

David Willetts: I am grateful to my hon. Friend for drawing attention to that case, which illustrates the problem of heavy-handed regulation of a diversity of child care providers. The rhetoric of offering high-quality care for everyone is something that politicians of all parties find tempting, but introducing over-ambitious regulatory standards means that, in practice, some child care providers go out of...

New clause 1: Premises for the Provision of Child Care (19 Apr 1994)

David Willetts: The hon. Lady says that she does not want a fragmentation of the labour market, with women moving from one job to another leading to their child care also being fragmented. Why, therefore, is she advocating a change that specifically ties tax relief to the place of employment?

New clause 1: Premises for the Provision of Child Care (19 Apr 1994)

David Willetts: The hon. Member for Peckham (Ms Harman) speaks rather more confidently and certainly at greater length on child care than she does on taxation. Her speech concerned a subject with which she appeared to have rather more familiarity than the subjects that she addressed in her performances in Standing Committee. The principle of greater choice and diversity in child care is one that, of course,...

New clause 1: Premises for the Provision of Child Care (19 Apr 1994)

David Willetts: The speech of the hon. Member for Peckham covered most aspects of child care. The new clause specifically concerns capital allowances, but the hon. Lady ranged widely in her comments and I do not see why Conservative Members should not range as widely. Assistance that is focused especially on working women is likely to be of particular benefit to two-earner families, who, generally, are not...

New clause 1: Premises for the Provision of Child Care (19 Apr 1994)

David Willetts: I am surprised by that intervention. There will be a disregard for costs incurred in buying child care.

New clause 1: Premises for the Provision of Child Care (19 Apr 1994)

David Willetts: I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his intervention. There will be a disregard for the costs of child care, which will help many of the families in receipt of family credit. It is particularly well targeted because it will help low-income working families. One of the ironies of family credit is that the beneficiaries generally fall into two categories, which may be at the opposite ends of...

New clause 1: Premises for the Provision of Child Care (19 Apr 1994)

David Willetts: The hon. Lady is assuming that many women go out to work only if their income is entirely exempt from taxation and national insurance contributions. Surely that is not a reasonable basis on which to plan any sensible approach to taxation. She is saying that as soon as they find themselves brought within the income tax net they will find that they no longer have an incentive to go to work....

New clause 1: Premises for the Provision of Child Care (19 Apr 1994)

David Willetts: I do not regard that intervention as a serious contribution to the debate; I hoped for something more serious from the hon. Lady. I shall turn to another aspect of the debate. The measures proposed by the Opposition parties are entirely concerned with the demand for child care rather than the obstacles to supplying it. They are entirely concerned with trying to lower the cost for employers...

New clause 1: Premises for the Provision of Child Care (19 Apr 1994)

David Willetts: I am sorry that the hon. Lady thinks that I am in the 18th century; that is harsh, especially as I was about to say that the book is interesting. I was not proposing to descend to the same level as the hon. Lady. The hon. Lady's analysis is interesting. She makes some valid points about the changes in the role of the sexes. No man can look at the figures that show that 75 per cent. of all...


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