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20 Most Recent Speeches
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Speech by Mark Hunter on Mon 27th Oct 2008
Let me start by suggesting to the Minister that the characteristically generous reference by my hon. Friend the Member for Manchester, Withington (Mr. Leech) was probably due mostly to the fact that he is, like me, a Manchester City fan. We both have fond memories of beating Gillingham in the play-offs final some years ago.
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Speech by Mark Hunter on Wed 15th Oct 2008
The Minister has referred repeatedly to financial experts from the Department offering help to local authorities that have found themselves caught up in this crisis. Speaking as a former council leader, I am sure that councils would welcome any help and support that the Government are able to offer, but may I ask the Minister about another form of financial expertise which, although it has not been mentioned so far today, is central to the subject we are discussing? I refer to the consultants who have been giving advice to local authorities about their investments in Icelandic banks. Does he share my concern about that advice, and does he agree that his Department ought to hold an inquiry into it to establish whether there are-as many suspect-direct links between its quality and consistency and the investments made in those banks in Iceland?
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Speech by Mark Hunter on Wed 15th Oct 2008
I agree entirely with the hon. Gentleman about the iniquity of the planning system. Does he agree with me that to tackle that problem truly we would need to give objectors the same right of appeal as applicants? Until that unfairness is addressed, the system will continue to let down many people.
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Speech by Mark Hunter on Wed 15th Oct 2008
The hon. Gentleman was dismissive of the comment made by my hon. Friend the Member for Falmouth and Camborne (Julia Goldsworthy), who is on our Front Bench. That is particularly unfair given the vagueness of the alternative local government finance proposals that the Conservative party is putting forward. I have listened closely to what he has to say, and I agree somewhat with the Minister: the hon. Gentleman is good on analysis, but there is not actually any Conservative alternative. Perhaps he could use some of the time remaining to him to tell us what the Conservatives propose as an alternative to the current arrangements. He may not agree with us, but he knows that the Liberal Democrats advocate local income tax because it addresses the fundamental problem with the current system, which is that council tax is not related to ability to pay. Until that nettle is grasped, the system will continue to be unfair to many millions of people across the UK. He may not agree with our policy, but at least we have-
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Speech by Mark Hunter on Wed 16th Jul 2008
It is a pleasure to have the opportunity to contribute to today's debate with you in the Chair, Mr. Hancock. I congratulate the hon. Member for Pendle (Mr. Prentice) on securing the debate. As he has said, road safety, particularly in relation to young drivers, is especially important. We have already heard many relevant statistics, but I am afraid that I shall mention a few of them again, because as the hon. Gentleman said, they bear repetition and make one think about the scale of the problem.
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Speech by Mark Hunter on Tue 1st Jul 2008
It is a pleasure to contribute to this debate under your chairmanship, Mrs. Humble. I congratulate the hon. Member for Worsley (Barbara Keeley) on securing it. She spoke eloquently and knowledgably, and I agree with pretty much everything she said.
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Speech by Mark Hunter on Tue 17th Jun 2008
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr. Taylor, and have the opportunity to make a modest contribution to the debate on this important subject. I congratulate the hon. Member for Norwich, North (Dr. Gibson) on securing the debate.
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Speech by Mark Hunter on Wed 11th Jun 2008
I am grateful to the hon. Lady. Some of her hon. Friends have raised concerns about the legislation's impact, if it goes through. I ask her to reflect on the views of a former Metropolitan police commissioner, Lord Condon, who said""If we now go back and make it look as though we are going to challenge yet again the point of 28 days that we have reached, I fear that it will play into the hands of the propagandists, who will encourage young men and women-to all other intents and purposes, they are good people-to be misguided, brainwashed and induced into acts of martyrdom."-[Official Report, House of Lords, 13 December 2005; Vol. 676, c. 1175.]"
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Speech by Mark Hunter on Thu 5th Jun 2008
It is a great pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr. Amess, and to have the opportunity to contribute to this most important debate. The hon. Member for Stroud (Mr. Drew) rightly mentioned the need for balance in the debate. That is crucial, because what we are talking about is self-evidently not a black and white issue.
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Speech by Mark Hunter on Wed 2nd Apr 2008
The hon. Gentleman makes great play of Liberal Democrat Members' concern about the increasing number of repossessions. Is he aware that in my area-to give just one example-the repossession rate is currently running at 10 per cent., which is twice the national average? Does he not think that a repossession rate of 10 per cent. is something to be concerned about?
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Speech by Mark Hunter on Wed 26th Mar 2008
I thank the Minister for giving way; she continues to be very generous with her time. She says that decisions about road charging schemes will be taken locally and should be in the hands of local authorities. What is her view of the current situation in Greater Manchester, with which she will be familiar? Seven of the 10 boroughs are apparently in favour of such a scheme, but the other three are most definitely not. Does she intend that the Government will continue with their policy and effectively force the scheme on the rest of the conurbation of Greater Manchester, whether it likes it or not?
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Speech by Mark Hunter on Tue 25th Mar 2008
Does my hon. Friend accept that one of the key issues is that the Government have failed to forecast the take-up of the scheme accurately? That is the real crux of the matter. In many places it is manifested by the funding shortfall about which we have heard so much already-not only that, but in areas such as Greater Manchester, which covers my constituency of Cheadle, there is the key problem of the authorities not being able to deal with the applications in time. That has led to lots of constituents telling their MPs that there have been unacceptable delays in the processing of the applications. The Greater Manchester transport authority has now said that it will make the current passes valid for an extra six months, until September this year. Frankly, that will get people from one side of Manchester to the other-not to destinations further afield, although that was one of the principal points of the scheme in the first place.
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Speech by Mark Hunter on Tue 25th Mar 2008
The right hon. Lady makes the case for regime change and says that the war in Iraq was all about that as far as she was concerned. Why was the case for regime change different in Iraq from the case that could be made against dictators and despots the world over? What is the difference between the position in Iraq that she has outlined and the position in Zimbabwe, where there is the most awful dictator, Robert Mugabe? Why is it right to invade one country to change the regime and not another?
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Speech by Mark Hunter on Tue 11th Mar 2008
The hon. Lady is making a strong case-it would appear that there is a trans-Pennine alliance of hon. Members from all parties in support of her comments. Further to what the hon. Member for Altrincham and Sale, West (Mr. Brady) said, does she agree that the key thing to establish is that we are not opposed to the principle of National Grid using the tunnel if-it is perhaps a big "if"-there were some way for it to route cables through the tunnel that allowed train services to commence at some future date? I do not know how realistic the hon. Gentleman's proposition is, but we ought to establish firmly the principle that if there is a way around the problem so that National Grid was able to run its cables and retain the potential for future use, we are not against it in principle. We should ensure that the route remains a viable proposition for the future.
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Speech by Mark Hunter on Tue 11th Mar 2008
It is a pleasure to have the opportunity to contribute to a debate under your chairmanship, Mr. Bercow, and I congratulate the hon. Member for Beverley and Holderness (Mr. Stuart) on securing it.
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Speech by Mark Hunter on Wed 30th Jan 2008
It is pleasure to contribute to this debate under your chairmanship, Mr. Williams. I congratulate the hon. Member for Castle Point (Bob Spink) on securing this important debate on hospice funding. I would also like to thank him for being one of the first MPs to sign my early-day motion, tabled last year, on St. Ann's hospice in Heald Green, in my constituency. This issue is very close to my heart and I and other Members feel very strongly about it.
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Speech by Mark Hunter on Tue 11th Dec 2007
First of all, I associate myself with the remarks made by the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs at the start of proceedings with regard to the tragedy in Algeria earlier today. Although details are still emerging, it is obvious that it was a very bad incident, and as the right hon. Gentleman said, our thoughts must be with everyone-the families and friends of all those who were killed or injured.
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Speech by Mark Hunter on Thu 22nd Nov 2007
It is a particular pleasure for me to have the opportunity of participating in the debate, not just because you are a near constituency neighbour of mine, but because of your own long-standing and personal interest in the matters that we are discussing.
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Speech by Mark Hunter on Mon 29th Oct 2007
May I open my remarks by expressing our support for and solidarity with the pro-democracy demonstrators and supporters of Aung San Suu Kyi in particular? We would all agree that they have dealt bravely with the impossible situation in Burma and deserve all the assistance that the international community can give. I add my voice to those condemning the indiscriminate violent attacks on the demonstrators and others in Burma over the last months, and the awful human rights violations that have occurred.
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Speech by Mark Hunter on Thu 11th Oct 2007
It is a pleasure to have the opportunity to participate in this debate under your chairmanship, Mr. Chope. I applaud the Select Committee for producing this robust and detailed annual report and its Chairman for his succinct presentation of its contents today. The Select Committee ought to be congratulated on what is self-evidently a thorough job of work.
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