Articles tagged with 'Bills'
Conservative Sat 4 September 2010
Douglas Carswell MP

Our currency is shrinking because there's more money


Notice how as you get older, the currency seems to get smaller and coins more tiddly?  A sign of impending middle age and excessive nostalgia?  Or is something else going on? First, £1 notes were replaced with coins.  Then a slimmed down version of the once chunky 50 pence piece [...]
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Conservative Tue 17 August 2010
Douglas Carswell MP

How to stop the cowboy clampers?


Rogue car clampers are a real menace. Hardly a week goes by without a constituent complaining that they’ve been forced to pay £ hundreds for momentarily pulling onto a bit of pavement outside an empty shop.  It’s also driving trade [...]
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Conservative Tue 10 August 2010
Maria Miller MP

Water Energy Calculator


Maria would like to let all constituents know that the first online Water Energy Calculator has been launched by the Energy Saving Trust. Nearly a quarter of domestic CO2 emissions are as result of our water use – and 89 percent of all UK emissions from water come from activities [...]
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Labour Mon 9 August 2010
Tom Harris MP

They’ve got forms


WHAT most people forget about MPs’ expenses was the year between the scandal and the general election. During that year the House of Commons fees office processed all claims and published them online. Every penny was accounted for. There was no fiddling, it was completely transparent and the whole thing was [...]
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Conservative Fri 30 July 2010
John Redwood MP

Public Sector Pensions


There’s been a lot of noise for some years about the high cost of public sector pensions. The last government talked a little about it, but tried to ignore it. Indeed, most of their actions led to a large [...]
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Labour Thu 29 July 2010
Tom Watson MP

Cuts to Arts Funding


I sit on the Department of Culture Media and Sport Select committee. We’ve just announced a new inquiry and have issued  a call for evidence on Funding of the Arts and Heritage. We’re inviting written submissions and requesting views on the following issues: What impact recent, and future, spending cuts from central and local Government will [...]
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Conservative Sun 25 July 2010
Douglas Carswell MP

What social justice?


“Me and my partner together work over 80 hours each week. We pay the council tax, bills and all the rent ourselves” explains a despairing constituent the other day.  “But in the house next door, they get it all for free” he adds.  "Where's [...]
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Conservative Tue 6 July 2010
John Redwood MP

The Generation game


I promised David Willetts I would review his book “The Pinch” . The sub title tells the story – “How the baby boomers took their childrens future – and why they should give it back”. My first [...]
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Conservative Wed 23 June 2010
John Redwood MP

John Redwood’s contribution to the budget debate, 22 June


Mr John Redwood (Wokingham) (Con): I remind the House that, in the declaration of Members’ interests, I have revealed that I offer business advice to a global industrial company and an investment company. In her response to my right hon. Friend the Chancellor’s Budget, the Leader of the Opposition gave one [...]
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Conservative Wed 23 June 2010
John Redwood MP

The UK budget judgement


The surprises in the budget were the big increase in VAT for next year, and the decision to continue with large cash increases in total public spending over the five year period. The Chancellor, who had said that [...]
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Labour Tue 22 June 2010
Tom Harris MP

The day Cable’s reputation died


I LISTENED to Vince Cable on the PM programme tonight. Oh, how the mighty are fallen! From the nation’s “favourite” and most trusted politician to a dissembler of the first order. Since it was radio, I couldn’t tell if he was wearing a straight face when he tried to suggest that [...]
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Conservative Mon 21 June 2010
John Redwood MP

Pain and hurt?


We do make heavy weather of controlling public spending in this country. The £6 billion of cuts which caused such anguish in the Election debates represented less than 1% of total public spending. Tomorrow’s budget will probably be proposing cuts of less than 10% over the [...]
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Conservative Wed 9 June 2010
John Redwood MP

Cutting spending – 2


Last night BBC’s Newsnight created a TV Star Chamber to examine three areas of public spending. Two of the areas they raised are large and central to the task of reducing spending. They asked a panel of 3 including myself [...]
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Conservative Tue 8 June 2010
John Redwood MP

Things government should not do – Part 1


George Osborne has called for a debate on the limits to what the state should do. I hope he will be inundated with people’s views on all the needless interventions, meddlesome actions and over the top spending which [...]
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Labour Mon 7 June 2010
Tom Harris MP

Bobbing up and down


I’M TAKING a break from writing a speech in order to write this blogpost instead. Today at some point I’m hoping to be called by Mr Speaker (or one of his deputies) to contribute to the continuing debate on the Queen’s Speech. Today’s subject is home affairs and [...]
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Conservative Sat 5 June 2010
John Redwood MP

Euroland and the Euro


In 1999 a Euro was worth 71p. Between 2000 and 2002 it was around 60p. From 2003 to 2008 it fluctuated around 65-70p, just a bit below its first issue price. From 2008 the Euro took off against a falling pound, going above 90p. Since March 10th 2010 the Euro [...]
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Labour Fri 21 May 2010
Tom Watson MP

The art of letter writing


I was saddened to read in this morning’s Guardian that one in five children have never received a letter. I tweeted a link and a comment that it was sad. When I was a kid, I used to love letters arriving in the post. I remember the local Conservative MP writing [...]
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Labour Fri 21 May 2010
Tom Harris MP

The 85 per cent solution


AS PLANNED, the new body overseeing MPs’ expenses is going the extra mile to make it as difficult as possible for us to do our job. The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa) has introduced yet another new rule which is so mind-bogglingly unfair and ridiculous, you get the impression that Ian [...]
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Labour Thu 20 May 2010
Tom Harris MP

Being direct


CONGRATULATIONS to Iain Dale for being one of the first in the country to highlight some of the concerns MPs are having over the new expenses regime presided over by the Independent Parliamenary Standards Authority (Ipsa). Not that anyone is listening to MPs on this issue, and the lack of sympathy [...]
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Liberal Democrat Thu 20 May 2010
Danny Alexander MP

Coalition will deliver for the Highlands - Alexander


Local MP and Secretary of State for Scotland Danny Alexander has today highlighted the real benefits the new Coalition government will bring to the Highlands. In the new Coalition's ‘Programme for Government' launched today, for which Mr Alexander led the talks, there are big steps forward on broadband, on energy [...]
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