Philip Davies
Main Page: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)(12 years, 2 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.
Each Urgent Question requires a Government Minister to give a response on the debate topic.
This information is provided by Parallel Parliament and does not comprise part of the offical record
Vince Cable
I have already answered that question. I have explained very clearly that the decision was made jointly by me and my coalition colleague, the Universities Minister. No pressure was brought to bear on us; we made a decision on the merits of the case.
Philip Davies (Shipley) (Con)
It comes as no surprise that the Secretary of State wants to appoint someone who is moving the agenda of social engineering forward and the agenda of merit backward, but just so that we can sort out the wheat from the chaff on the Back Benches, will he be specific about which Ministers in his Department were in favour of the appointment and which were against it, and about how many Ministers in the Government contacted him privately to express their concerns about it?
Vince Cable
I have just answered that question. The Universities Minister and I were involved in the decision, and it was made by us and by no one else. As for the general political drift of the hon. Gentleman’s question, I think it fair to point out—as some of the national newspapers did not—that among the institutions that Professor Ebdon has advised on higher education policy is the Conservative party.