"The right hon. Member for Mid Sussex (Nicholas Soames) spoke of the importance of high skills, so let me consider the Government’s record on higher education. The Government’s approach to funding higher education is scandalously irresponsible. It is bad value for taxpayers, and wilfully makes graduates pay far too much …..." John Denham - View Speech
"If I may, I will come to the student loan book in a moment, because that is a serious point.
One final point from the model that I have outlined is that the average amount paid back by each graduate would fall by £5,000 in total. On this model, usable …..." John Denham - View Speech
"On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. Earlier this afternoon I was alerted to a tweet from the Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, the hon. Member for Great Yarmouth (Brandon Lewis), which referred to his parliamentary written answer to me on parking charges. It states:
"I have heard the Chancellor make a number of statements to this House. Is it a fair summary to say that every time he has done so, he has told us that the economy has not grown since the last time he was here, that he is planning to borrow …..." John Denham - View Speech
"I am very pleased to have an opportunity to speak in this debate, and I commend the Backbench Business Committee on securing it. When I was briefly Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government at the end of the last Labour Government, we appointed my right hon. Friend the …..." John Denham - View Speech
"I commend the hon. Gentleman on his work on this issue. What he says is right. In the case I have mentioned—and, I suspect, in many others—there was never even an open disposal. There was never an opportunity for somebody else to come in and start up a microbrewery for …..." John Denham - View Speech
"The hon. Gentleman again makes a fair point. I say to the Treasury Minister on the Front Bench, the hon. Member for Bromsgrove (Sajid Javid), that in addition to reviewing beer duty and changing the planning laws, the way in which these big companies operate needs to be looked at.
"I am sure the last thing the Minister would want to do is embarrass his party colleague by causing him to tear up the letters he was honestly, and with integrity, sending out just a few months ago...." John Denham - View Speech
"Will the hon. Gentleman tell me what the difference is between the tax breaks introduced by the Chancellor in today’s Budget and the tax breaks introduced by Labour that the same Chancellor scrapped in 2010?..." John Denham - View Speech
"My morning newspaper today said that the coalition parties were inviting me to regard this as a Robin Hood Budget. I enjoyed the stories of Robin Hood when I was younger, but I must have missed the bit where Robin goes back to Nottingham castle and says to the sheriff, …..." John Denham - View Speech