We reported on Monday that Conservative MEPs were battling to save Britain’s opt-out from the Working Time Directive. MEPs have voted to scrap the opt-out. There will now be a period of conciliation between the parliament and the Council of Ministers, which currently supports the opt-out. Philip Bushill-Matthews, the Tory employment spokesman, comments: "Socialist MEPs […]
John Bowis, Conservative environment spokesman in the European Parliament, has given a qualified welcome to the Parliament’s adoption of the European Union’s Climate and Energy package. Small businesses and hospitals have been exempted from the Emissions Trading Scheme and carbon capture and storage technology projects have secured funding. But a Conservative amendment – to make […]
Shadow Health Secretary Andrew Lansley spoke in the House of Commons yesterday. He took Alan Johnson, his opposite number, to task over knife statistics: "The Secretary of State will know that the NHS Information Centre provided to 10 Downing street information from hospitals about people presenting with knife wounds—data that were unpublished, not yet validated […]
As Iain Dale blogged last week, Ed Stourton learnt that his time at the Today programme was ending from a non-BBC journalist. The BBC is now reporting that MPs of all parties – including Hugo Swire and Peter Luff – have signed an EDM calling for him to be reinstated: Peter gave ConHome this statement: […]
You can take a look via this link. This table interested me: Tim Montgomerie
Conservative MEPs are celebrating amidst claims that imperial measures are safe. The European Parliament has agreed that pints and miles are to be excluded from EU legislation on measurements. A derogation was obtained for 1999 – 2009 allowing traders to use dual marking (i.e. both metric and imperial measures) for other items. Giles Chichester, industry […]
Yesterday the Conservatives led a debate on the economic, pensions and welfare portions of the Queen’s Speech. Shadow Chancellor George Osborne kicked things off. The Tory amendment indicated humble regret that: "the Gracious Speech fails to deliver a clear direction for British economic policy, does not contain measures to assist in building a low debt […]
Lord Hanningfield, who leads Essex County Council and is a Shadow Transport minister, has had a written answer about school meals: "To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much is spent each day on school meals for pupils attending (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in Essex. [HL89] The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Children, […]
Update: Some more examples of Mr Pickles’s written questions have been added, to give a fuller flavour. Eric Pickles, Shadow Communities and Local Government Secretary and MP for Brentwood & Ongar, has come top of a league table. He was followed closely by Mark Hoban, MP for Fareham and a Shadow Treasury Minister. In 2007-08 […]
Martin Callanan, MEP for the North East, has written elsewhere on ConservativeHome about the Working Time Directive today. His colleague Philip Bushill-Matthews, Conservative employment spokesman in the European Parliament, has issued a press release. Labour MEPs oppose the UK’s opt-out from the Directive. On Wednesday MEPs will vote on whether to scrap the opt-out. Doing […]
Something else emerged from yesterday’s Business Questions. Shadow Leader of the House of Commons Theresa May asked about Equitable Life: "I note that the Leader of the House announced a statement on Equitable Life in the first week back after Christmas. Last week, the Prime Minister promised to the House a statement on Equitable Life […]
Michael Gove, unlike certain other MPs, is funny. He proved it yesterday in some style: "I thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, and the Government Front-Bench team for their understanding in allowing me to leave the Chamber briefly earlier in order to see my daughter’s nativity play. Even though we all face tough economic circumstances, I […]
In light of the news that the Irish will be asked to vote again to approve the Lisbon Treaty, the leader of Conservative MEPs, Timothy Kirkhope, has put out a statement: "There are no real substantive changes between the treaty the Irish rejected before, and only a few cosmetic changes from the European Constitution, which […]
Francis Maude, Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office and Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster has received yet another interesting written answer: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what estimate the Office for National Statistics has made of the number of new additional jobs created since 1997 in the (a) public […]
The House of Commons has had its last Business Questions for the year. Shadow Leader of the House Theresa May asked why the Government has failed to find time for a debate on the economy, and then teased Harriet Harman for good measure: "Last year, in the final business questions before Christmas, I asked the […]