House of Commons Governance

Debate between Julian Lewis and Angela Eagle

Thursday 22nd January 2015 Commons Chamber

[Ms Eagle]

I see absolutely no reason why not. I know that the Commission will, if the House passes the motion, have that issue on its agenda on Monday. I for one—I am not the only one—am anxious to get on with both appointments as speedily as possible.

[Dr Julian Lewis]

Does the hon. Lady agree that any advertisement should make it absolutely clear that the director general will have very considerable autonomy in the execution of their duties?

[Dr Lewis]

Indeed. That very considerable autonomy was emphasised by the right hon. Member for Blackburn (Mr Straw) in his report and his speech.

[Ms Eagle]

I strongly agree with the hon. Gentleman. I hope that anyone who wishes to apply for the post will read the Committee’s report, as well as all the fascinating evidence people gave in such a short time, so that they are well aware of the nature of the job and the authority that we intend should go with it.

House of Lords Reform Bill

Debate between Julian Lewis and Angela Eagle

Tuesday 10th July 2012 Commons Chamber

[Ms Eagle]

All Labour Members stood on a manifesto that promised a referendum, and my hon. Friend makes an extremely good point.

[Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

I support the point made by the hon. Member for Dudley North (Ian Austin). I was first elected to this House in 1997, when the question of replacing the pound with the single European currency was active. The Government and the Opposition said, “Wait and see—we’ll let you know after the election whether we’ll keep our own currency,” while the Liberal Democrats said that they were going to scrap it and replace it with the euro. The electorate had no choice on that matter. I think that everyone agrees today that there should have been a referendum if there had been such a proposal.

[Ms Eagle]

We had a triple lock on that issue.