AstraZeneca (Pfizer Bid) Debate

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Crispin Blunt

Main Page: Crispin Blunt (Independent - Reigate)
Tuesday 6th May 2014

(10 years, 6 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Vince Cable Portrait Vince Cable
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As I have said several times, I am keeping the options as wide as possible. I have also suggested that because of the European framework within which such matters are embedded, it would be rather difficult to do that.

Crispin Blunt Portrait Crispin Blunt (Reigate) (Con)
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My constituents’ experience of Pfizer from hosting the development and occupation of its award-winning headquarters at Walton Oaks is that it is a model corporate citizen. What is energising some people in the House is that this is a fantastic vote of confidence in the United Kingdom, which gives us the possibility of hosting the world’s leading research-based pharmaceutical company.

Vince Cable Portrait Vince Cable
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I am sure that it is a vote of confidence, but I am equally sure that the companies are motivated by hard-headed commercial considerations. We should therefore be motivated by the hard-headed considerations of the national interest.