"The biggest problem facing the north-east of England is the need to strengthen the region’s private sector employment base. How will today’s statement help to do that?..." Nicholas Brown - View Speech
"Does the Chancellor identify shortcomings in existing anti-fraud legislation, apart from the costs of pursuing an investigation and a prosecution? Will he confirm to the House that there will be no constraints on either investigation or prosecution costs?..." Nicholas Brown - View Speech
"The Government’s new financial services regulatory architecture puts a lot of power and responsibility on the shoulders of the Governor of the Bank of England, but proposes no change to the relationship between the regulator and Parliament. May I ask the Chancellor to reflect again on the relationship of the …..." Nicholas Brown - View Speech
"The Chief Secretary deserves credit for his handling of the issue since it came into the public domain. Like my right hon. Friend the Member for Barking (Margaret Hodge), I pay tribute to him and to the investigative journalists, David Hencke and others, who first drew it to our attention. …..." Nicholas Brown - View Speech
"It is a pleasure to follow the Secretary of State, if only because he has confirmed me in my long-held prejudices about Liberal Democrat politicians. I think he redeemed himself in the last part of his speech about the financial services sector, which is where I would like to begin …..." Nicholas Brown - View Speech
"Along with my hon. Friend the Member for Leeds East (Mr Mudie), I represented the parliamentary Labour party in the Commons on the Joint Committee of both Houses that gave the Bill pre-legislative scrutiny. It was a pleasure to serve under the chairmanship of the right hon. Member for Hitchin …..." Nicholas Brown - View Speech
"We need to go further. How Parliament interacts with the Governor in his new role as regulator has not been properly addressed in the Bill, but we need to think about that carefully. Although finding fault with every other structural problem with financial services, the Government propose no change to …..." Nicholas Brown - View Speech
"(Urgent Question): To ask the Chief Secretary to the Treasury if he will set out the Government’s policy on the operation of tax avoidance schemes in the civil service...." Nicholas Brown - View Speech
"May I point out to the Chief Secretary to the Treasury that the chief executive of the Student Loans Company is the accounting officer? Perhaps the Chief Secretary can tell the House what sort of reply he expects from that accounting officer when he writes to him.