"It is often said that a week is a long time in politics, but in one sense that is wrong. Dealing with Government finance and the economy takes multiple years, so the problem that we had in 2010 will take at least eight years to resolve. People who interview me …..." John Hemming - View Speech
That this House has considered the e-petition relating to holiday companies charging extra in school holidays.
I would like to start by referring to an e-mail I received a few minutes ago from a parent who hopes to take his three children to Turin next February …..." John Hemming - View Speech
"My hon. Friend may be right, but that has been changed anyway.
There is also the issue of the new regulations, which we discussed with the Backbench Business Committee. A group called Parents Want a Say was established following the introduction of the new regulations, and it has a website. …..." John Hemming - View Speech
"I thank my hon. Friend for that comment. As I talk about specific examples, we will see that different families have different circumstances, and a one-size-fits-all approach is not necessarily the best solution.
It is interesting that the tensions that have arisen beyond the initial problem of high prices during …..." John Hemming - View Speech
"I thank the hon. Lady for making that excellent point. I would happily have made it myself, but I now no longer need to...." John Hemming - View Speech
"The hon. Gentleman makes an excellent point. The issue is all about considering individual cases. Perhaps the hardest case is that of the police, who not only often do not have any choice as to when they take holiday, but also can be fired if they are fined. That is …..." John Hemming - View Speech
"Does my hon. Friend agree, as she probably does, that a funeral would be a valid use of exceptional circumstances? Perhaps we should be concerned about Ofsted possibly putting pressure on head teachers to reduce the numbers to such a low level that they cannot even take into account exceptional …..." John Hemming - View Speech
"Given that the issue is about supply and demand, the regulations that the Government introduced affected the demand by focusing it more on one place. Is my hon. Friend as surprised as me that the Department said in the explanatory note to that statutory instrument that an
"Obviously, it is difficult being a Minister in a different Department. Will the Minister ask the Ministers in the Department for Education to write to me and the other hon. Members who have spoken in the debate about what pressures Ofsted is putting on schools to reduce the number of …..." John Hemming - View Speech