Contributions
1,478 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDWorking People’s Finances: Government PolicyI absolutely agree—it is such a key point. There are so many schemes that could be introduced, and there is some excellent practice across Europe; I think it is currently beyond…21 Sept 2021HANSARDWorking People’s Finances: Government PolicyI thank the hon. Member, or perhaps I can suggest friend. Indeed, we have been insulated these past 10 years from the ravages of inflation that some of us know—perhaps my hon.…21 Sept 2021HANSARDWorking People’s Finances: Government PolicyI thank my hon. Friend; she is incredibly generous to suggest that I might be of a similar age, but I will take that compliment from her. Of course, I agree. Certainly, I think…21 Sept 2021HANSARDWorking People’s Finances: Government PolicyI thank my right hon. Friend for that point. I think the important thing is that the Cameron-Osborne Government in particular became obsessed with fracking and took their eye off…21 Sept 2021HANSARDWorking People’s Finances: Government PolicyIt is a real pleasure to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Slough (Mr Dhesi), who is a good friend. He put his arguments so forcefully and cogently. So many of the…21 Sept 2021HANSARDWorking People’s Finances: Government PolicyMy hon. Friend is spot on. Short-term thinking often costs much more in the long term, and impacts of that kind will have very long-term consequences on people. We all know about…21 Sept 2021HANSARDWorking People’s Finances: Government PolicyI can assure my hon. Friend that I absolutely agree with that. It was so telling that five or six former Conservative Work and Pensions Ministers said that they were absolutely…21 Sept 2021HANSARDWorking People’s Finances: Government PolicyI understand the right hon. Gentleman’s point about job applications and employment but, as we have heard, this debate is about the cost of living. Can the right hon. Gentleman…21 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Tenth sitting)It was not just our amendment 77. The nub of the problem is how student unions are being muscled by the Government to do certain work for them. I cannot help but use the word…20 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Tenth sitting)I hear what the Minister says. It is so frustrating because we want to be constructive. We want to mitigate the damage of the Bill, but it has been so badly conceived, with so…20 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Tenth sitting)The Minister is being incredibly generous. She said that the Government do not want to rush the regulations and need time to go through the proper process. I remember that in…20 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Tenth sitting)I hear the Minister, and she is a decent individual—I am sure that she means well and I trust her—but one cannot say that a speeding fine is proportionate to the driver when one…20 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Tenth sitting)Given what the Minister was just saying about the promise from the previous Secretary of State, will she say precisely when that will be? She is obviously aware of something that…20 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Tenth sitting)I could not agree more. As my right hon. Friend described it—he has years of experience in this place—the concern is about how we go through the process of devising and…20 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Tenth sitting)I beg to move amendment 77, in clause 6, page 7, line 10, at end insert— “(3A) Any monetary penalty will be limited to a maximum amount set out by the Office for Students decided…20 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Tenth sitting)The frustration from right across the sector is that there has not been more consultation, discussion and engagement about the issue and how to address it, and how to deliver…20 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Tenth sitting)Sir Christopher, I do not wish to say any more on this clause; I am willing to let it pass.20 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Tenth sitting)I hear the Minister. I believe that the amendment was a constructive suggestion, and we would have liked it to have been formalised in the Bill, but I will not press it to a vote.…20 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Tenth sitting)I will be delighted to hear more. I hear the Minister and the point made by the hon. Member for Congleton. I want to repeat the words of Professor Kaufmann, who was a star witness…20 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Tenth sitting)To come back on that point, this is a genuine and sincere question, and it would apply to anyone in the Minister’s position—I appreciate that she has been in the role for 12 or 15…20 Sept 2021