Royal Mail
Debate between Ben Bradshaw and Vince CableUrgent Questions are proposed each morning by backbench MPs, and up to two may be selected each day by the Speaker. Chosen Urgent Questions are announced 30 minutes before Parliament sits each day.
Each Urgent Question requires a Government Minister to give a response on the debate topic.
This information is provided by Parallel Parliament and does not comprise part of the offical record
Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)
Most people who are responsible for such ruinous incompetence at least consider their position. Has he?
Vince Cable
Absolutely not. It was a successful operation and the National Audit Office confirms that.
Industrial Strategy
Debate between Ben Bradshaw and Vince Cable(12 years, 2 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text
Urgent Questions are proposed each morning by backbench MPs, and up to two may be selected each day by the Speaker. Chosen Urgent Questions are announced 30 minutes before Parliament sits each day.
Each Urgent Question requires a Government Minister to give a response on the debate topic.
This information is provided by Parallel Parliament and does not comprise part of the offical record
Vince Cable
I may need to reflect on the question, but I do not think that there is a strong argument for cutting back on infrastructure, as efficient infrastructure is crucial to the efficiency of the economy. I might have misunderstood the question, however.
Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)
Both the right hon. Gentleman and the Deputy Prime Minister have made quite clear their opposition to regional pay, which is welcome. What are he and the Liberal Democrats doing within the Government to stop regional pay coming in by the back door in 20 NHS hospitals in south-west England?
Vince Cable
The Government have made it clear that we support local flexibility. The model we have studied was introduced by the Labour Government in the Courts Service. It does not involve large-scale regional differentials, but does involve giving parts of the public sector the opportunity to vary their pay to reflect performance and local conditions.
Local Growth White Paper
Debate between Ben Bradshaw and Vince Cable
Vince Cable
It is revealing, in a way, that half an hour into questions that is the first question we have had about the key development, which is creating incentives for local authorities to grow. Those did not exist before. We have the new homes bonus. We are talking about the repatriation of business rates and a series of incentives that local authorities will in future have to grow and develop, which currently do not exist.
Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)
Is not the CBI right to describe the whole process as a shambles? That is certainly what it has been in the south-west, which has fallen back into the worst parochialism and petty rivalry that bedevilled the system before RDAs. Why does not the Secretary of State think again before it is too late and he does untold damage to the economy of the south-west?
Vince Cable
My Department has been talking to the CBI, which is pleased with the outcome, as it made clear. On petty parochialism, that is a strange way for the right hon. Gentleman to describe his own local community. We have tried to ensure that the process is driven from the bottom up and is not centrally imposed. Good local authorities, working with local businesses, are producing very creative, positive ways forward. What is wrong with that?