Results 1–20 of 3000 for (in the 'Commons debates' OR in the 'Westminster Hall debates' OR in the 'Lords debates' OR in the 'Northern Ireland Assembly debates') speaker:Alok Sharma

UK Policy on the Middle East: Emerging Economies (14 Jun 2010)

Alok Sharma: Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, for the opportunity to make my maiden speech. I start by congratulating my hon. Friends the Members for Sleaford and North Hykeham (Stephen Phillips) and for South Thanet (Laura Sandys) on their excellent and moving maiden speeches. My constituency of Reading West was created in 1983 and was served from then until 1997 by a Conservative Member, Sir Anthony...

Business of the House: Public Spending (17 Jun 2010)

Alok Sharma: Will the Chief Secretary remind us once again why we face such a difficult spending review? It is clearly something that the Labour party has failed to understand.

Business of the House: Banking Reform (17 Jun 2010)

Alok Sharma: Does my hon. Friend agree with the Governor of the Bank of England's assessment that there was little real reform of banking regulation under the last Government, and that the Opposition should therefore welcome the measures that we are setting out today?

Capital Gains Tax (Rates) (23 Jun 2010)

Alok Sharma: I start by congratulating my hon. Friend the Member for Carlisle (John Stevenson) on his passionate speech and on speaking up for localism. That is something that Government Members strongly believe in, and I hope that we will see it acted out in the Government's manifesto. Having listened to Opposition Members during today's debate, it is interesting that not a single one of them had...

Capital Gains Tax (Rates) (23 Jun 2010)

Alok Sharma: Thank you, Mr Speaker. On Government help for local businesses, during the height of the recession, I attended a meeting of more than 100 people from businesses in my constituency. That was when the then Business Secretary, Lord Mandelson, was parading all over the place to tell us about all the schemes he was introducing to help local businesses. When I asked those business people whether a...

Opposition Day — [6th Allotted Day]: Funding and Schools Reform (17 Nov 2010)

Alok Sharma: In addition to welcoming the success of the academies in my hon. Friend's constituency, does he also welcome, as I do, the Secretary of State's recent decision to allow the National Education Trust, the Centre for British Teachers and the Friends of All Saints school to move forward to the next stage of setting up a free school in my constituency with the aim of opening a 120-pupil school in...

Consolidated Fund Bill: Higher Education Fees ( 9 Dec 2010)

Alok Sharma: We have heard much self-righteous indignation from the Opposition about the proposed rise in tuition fee levels, but no real acknowledgement of why these decisions are having to be made. The fundamental reason why the coalition Government are having to make difficult choices on public expenditure is the shocking state of the public finances left to us by the previous Government.

Consolidated Fund Bill: Higher Education Fees ( 9 Dec 2010)

Alok Sharma: This is an economic decision. The Labour party left us with a mess, they have absolutely no plan and they come here trying to oppose a fair policy that we are putting forward. The Opposition have talked about the proposed tuition fees increase "pulling the ladder" away from poorer students, but that clearly is not the case. Such talk is pretty rich coming from a party whose policies in...

Consolidated Fund Bill: Higher Education Fees ( 9 Dec 2010)

Alok Sharma: I could not agree more with my hon. Friend, who makes a very good point. It is clear that Labour's opposition to the change in tuition fees is all about party politics and opposition for its own sake.

Consolidated Fund Bill: Higher Education Fees ( 9 Dec 2010)

Alok Sharma: No, I will not give way now. That approach comes from a party that appears to have no consistent or developed policy on higher education funding. The Leader of the Opposition, who is not in his place, has said that that Labour party policy is a "blank sheet of paper". Well is it not time that he started scribbling on it? The Opposition have raised a number of objections to the proposed...

Consolidated Fund Bill: Higher Education Fees ( 9 Dec 2010)

Alok Sharma: No, I will not just now because I want to make some progress. The proposed changes will be an important step in ensuring that the money follows the student and will go further towards making universities more accountable to students as customers. I do not subscribe to the view that the proposal will reduce social mobility, because it ensures that no one has to pay anything up front and no one...

Consolidated Fund Bill: Higher Education Fees ( 9 Dec 2010)

Alok Sharma: Another tax rise. That is what we get from the Opposition. Another tax rise. They left us with the biggest budget deficit of all time, and now the hon. Gentleman proposes that we increase taxes further. That is their answer to absolutely everything. Let me continue with the proposed extra help. Through the national scholarship programme, the increase in maintenance grants and the required...

Consolidated Fund Bill: Higher Education Fees ( 9 Dec 2010)

Alok Sharma: No, I will not give way, because I do not have much time left. Social mobility starts at school, and a report in November 2008 by the Teaching and Learning Research Programme, called "Widening participation in higher education", concluded that a lack of attainment at secondary school was the biggest factor in non-participation in higher education. So it is highly disappointing to see the OECD...

Consolidated Fund Bill: Higher Education Fees ( 9 Dec 2010)

Alok Sharma: My hon. Friend is absolutely right. A graduate tax would mean that poorer graduates paid more and richer graduates paid less, which is neither fair nor progressive. A graduate tax would also be a tax for life, rather than the maximum period of 30 years in the proposed scheme. The coalition's proposed system is fair. The Institute for Fiscal Studies says that it is more progressive than the...

Localism Bill (17 Jan 2011)

Alok Sharma: Hon. Members on the Government side of the House campaigned vigorously for more localism in the years leading up to the general election. We campaigned for returning genuine power to our local communities, and for allowing local people to have a real say over how their communities look and feel. Promoting localism is in the DNA of this coalition Government and a key hallmark of the Bill is...

Localism Bill (17 Jan 2011)

Alok Sharma: Indeed he did. Labour's clear message appeared to be that we cannot possibly trust local people to make decisions on planning at a local level.

Localism Bill (17 Jan 2011)

Alok Sharma: My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Under the previous Conservative Government between 1979 and 1996, an average of 171,000 homes were built every year across England. By contrast, under Labour, with its top-down approach and targets, an average of only 145,000 homes were built each year between 1997 and 2009. The problem with the current planning system is that it is not seen to be fair to...

Localism Bill (17 Jan 2011)

Alok Sharma: My hon. Friend makes an interesting point, and I am sure that the Minister will take it up when he responds to the debate. The perception is that there is little upside for local communities in taking larger developments in their area. All such developments seem to offer is more traffic, more congestion, more pressure on local public services, the loss of valuable green spaces and amenities,...

Localism Bill (17 Jan 2011)

Alok Sharma: No, I will not. Some of those who are opposed to localism will argue that the Bill will encourage nimbyism, but I could not disagree more with them. Let me give hon. Members a couple of recent examples from my constituency that demonstrate that communities are willing to accept new homes that fit into the local area. The Bath road reservoir site is a 5.4 acre green lung in the centre of...

Oral Answers to Questions — Prime Minister: Engagements (26 Jan 2011)

Alok Sharma: The Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition that has been running Reading borough council since last May has uncovered the fact that over the past 12 years the previous Labour administration spent £1.4 million of taxpayers' money funding the salaries of three full-time union officials. Does the Prime Minister agree that that is an inappropriate use of taxpayers' money and that full-time...


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