Royal Mail
Debate between Vince Cable and Nicholas Brown(11 years, 5 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text
Vince Cable
I made it very clear that the Government plan to become a minority shareholder in the company and that the majority will be a combination of shares sold in the market and shares held by employees. We are not predicting at this stage how far the sale will go, as that will depend on the market.
Mr Nicholas Brown (Newcastle upon Tyne East) (Lab)
What sorts of significant investors has the Secretary of State in mind?
Vince Cable
There will be a combination of institutional and private investors. There will be a retail offering that can be obtained by two routes: by applying to the Government directly over the internet, and through brokers. Ownership will be widely dispersed.
Industrial Strategy
Debate between Vince Cable and Nicholas Brown(12 years, 3 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.
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Vince Cable
There were certainly many mistakes in that era, which I saw at first hand; I was in government at the time. We are determined to learn from both the positive and the negative experiences of that time.
Mr Nicholas Brown (Newcastle upon Tyne East) (Lab)
If the Government have an industrial strategy supported right across government, why is HMS Ark Royal to be decommissioned abroad, rather than in the north-east of England, where she has a long association and where there are eight workers for every job available? The shipbuilding skills are there to decommission the ship in the north-east: why cannot that be done?
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Vince Cable and Nicholas Brown(12 years, 10 months ago)
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Vince Cable
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. That is why we are stressing employee participation in remuneration discussions. There are powers under existing regulations and we want to encourage people to take more advantage of them. As she rightly says, there are enormous practical difficulties involved in choosing one employee who can properly represent the whole of an international labour force.
Local Growth White Paper
Debate between Vince Cable and Nicholas Brown(14 years, 1 month ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text
Mr Nicholas Brown (Newcastle upon Tyne East) (Lab)
What the Secretary of State has announced today is very wrong. One NorthEast did a good job for the north-east of England. How can he justify some form of new localism when he is centralising every major decision in his Department and has been completely unable to answer the question of what will happen with residual assets and residual liabilities? Will he be far more specific on that point than he has been in answer to the right hon. Member for Berwick-upon-Tweed (Sir Alan Beith)?
Vince Cable
The process is necessarily complex and we are trying to balance a series of considerations—making order and keeping continuity, as well as getting value for money—and the White Paper explains that. As far as the north-east is concerned, I am disappointed that, faced with the challenge, there was a fragmented response. We are hoping to come to a satisfactory conclusion that will have a north-eastern group together with one for Teesside.