Royal Mail
Debate between Vince Cable and Jeremy CorbynUrgent 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
Our party has always been a strong believer in worker share ownership, and we have taken one of the biggest steps forward in recent years as a result of that process.
Jeremy Corbyn (Islington North) (Lab)
The Secretary of State has given an estimate of what profits the public will make from their 30% share ownership in the company. Will he say what the loss of profits would be to the public over the next five years had we done the correct thing and kept Royal Mail in public ownership?
Vince Cable
The National Audit Office assessment is the exact opposite and it accepts a valuation of Royal Mail under continued public ownership as being considerably less than the value that has been realised.
Pub Companies
Debate between Vince Cable and Jeremy Corbyn(11 years, 11 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text
Jeremy Corbyn (Islington North) (Lab)
Basically, the problem in London—certainly inner London—is property values. Many pubs close because pub companies and others make a great deal of money out of selling them and moving on into residential accommodation. My borough council is trying to introduce a planning policy that does not allow an automatic change of use. Is there anything the Secretary of State can do to preserve what are very important community assets from property speculation, beyond what is already happening to the pub industry through this lack of regulation?
Vince Cable
As I understand it, there is in any event a specialist use class under the planning regime, which, as it currently stands, provides a degree of protection. We have a programme, which one of my ministerial colleagues introduced a month ago, for supporting community pubs; I do not know whether the hon. Gentleman’s local council and community are taking advantage of that.