Contributions
824 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDFree TV Licences: Over-75sMy hon. Friend’s points have been made elsewhere, both within the Houses of Parliament and beyond them. It is right to expect the BBC to consider carefully the responsibility that…11 Jun 2019HANSARDFree TV Licences: Over-75sMy hon. Friend makes a good point about communication. It is important that the BBC does its utmost to ensure that such changes are communicated in a responsible, accurate and…11 Jun 2019HANSARDFree TV Licences: Over-75sOf course, I was not present for those negotiations, so I cannot tell the hon. Gentleman that. What I can say is that they were not conducted at gunpoint. They were conducted by…11 Jun 2019HANSARDFree TV Licences: Over-75sNo, I cannot entirely agree with my hon. Friend on that. I think that the BBC presents huge benefits to our society and to the nation beyond our shores. It is right that the BBC…11 Jun 2019HANSARDFree TV Licences: Over-75sI am very happy to make it clear that the Scottish National party voted against these changes, as did the Labour party, as I said. The hon. Gentleman will recognise, inconvenient…11 Jun 2019HANSARDFree TV Licences: Over-75sNo, I am not careering anywhere and I have not admitted any such thing. What I said was that when this deal was made, both sides—the Government and the BBC—ought to have known…11 Jun 2019HANSARDFree TV Licences: Over-75sMy right hon. Friend knows, from his experience as a former Secretary of State in the relevant Department, that the irony of the situation is that this is a saving the Government…11 Jun 2019HANSARDFree TV Licences: Over-75sNo. I accept entirely that the BBC is not responsible for pension credit. It is, however, responsible for making a judgment on whether or not to continue with the BBC licence fee…11 Jun 2019HANSARDFree TV Licences: Over-75sI can tell my hon. Friend that I will be sitting down with the BBC to discuss this issue. As I said, this is a BBC decision. Statute gives this responsibility to the BBC to decide…11 Jun 2019HANSARDFree TV Licences: Over-75sI will not repeat what I have said about the decision and the process that was undertaken in 2017, but the right hon. Gentleman knows better than many people in this House how…11 Jun 2019HANSARDFree TV Licences: Over-75sYes. My right hon. Friend’s last point is an important one. As I said earlier, it is important that we raise the take-up of pension credit. There are tens of thousands, if not…11 Jun 2019HANSARDFree TV Licences: Over-75sThe hon. Gentleman says that we should ask Conservative party leadership contenders whether they will bring this obligation back to the taxpayer. I hope that he will ask the same…11 Jun 2019HANSARDFree TV Licences: Over-75sThe BBC is a fundamental part of the social and economic fabric of this country. It is important for people of all ages, but particularly for older people, who value television as…11 Jun 2019HANSARDFree TV Licences: Over-75sWell, Mr Speaker, it is not quite as simple as that. The hon. Gentleman knows I have a good deal of respect for his passion and his consistency. I accept that he has always argued…11 Jun 2019HANSARDFree TV Licences: Over-75sI respect my right hon. Friend’s experience in this matter. I am tempted to say that if he really wants my job, today would be a very good day for him to have it, but I do not…11 Jun 2019HANSARDFree TV Licences: Over-75sI agree with the hon. Gentleman that the BBC has a responsibility here, and to be fair to the BBC, most of the people I speak to at the BBC accept that. However, I do not find the…11 Jun 2019HANSARDSociety Lottery ReformThe hon. Gentleman will not be surprised to hear that I will not announce the result of the consultation until we have that result. We have been saying for some time that we would…23 May 2019HANSARDHorse-racingOur world leading horse-racing industry employs over 17,000 people and contributes around £3.5 billion to rural economies across Britain each year. The Government support British…23 May 2019HANSARDHorse-racingI am grateful to the hon. Gentleman, not just for what he says, but also for the valuable work he does with the APPG to support the industry. He is right that the levy receipts…23 May 2019HANSARDHorse-racingIn order to be even-handed, I should offer equal thanks and congratulations to my hon. Friend for the work that he does with the APPG. He is right that horse-racing can make a…23 May 2019