"On the question of sparsity, the rural schools of South Dorset are trying to form multi-academy trusts, and what is so extraordinary is that the funding is different for each pupil, depending on which local authority they come from. This is another anomaly that we must sort out...." Richard Drax - View Speech
"I shall be very brief. First, may I, too, pay tribute to all the local teachers in my constituency, who do a fantastic job in a lovely rural area? My local education authority has three points that it is especially concerned about and it agrees with all the points raised …..." Richard Drax - View Speech
"South Dorset (Con): First, there was no pre-legislative scrutiny, as far as I know, of the Fixed-term Parliaments Bill. Secondly, in the wonderful, mythological world that the hon. Gentleman lives in, he seems to forget that there is such a thing as politics. We do not always get on in …..." Richard Drax - View Speech
"It is a pleasure to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Harwich and North Essex (Mr Jenkin): his was one of the many excellent speeches given in the past two hours.
I am grateful to the Backbench Business Committee for granting this debate and to my co-sponsor, my hon. …..." Richard Drax - View Speech
"I refer to the quote of Lord Waddington, mentioned by my hon. Friend the Member for Stone (Sir William Cash):
“Is it better for a government unable to govern to go to the country to try to obtain a new mandate or for the same government to spend their time …..." Richard Drax - View Speech
"That is not the argument I am putting forward. There would be a period of a year or 18 months of a minority Government before that Government would go back to the country.
A fixed-term Parliament gives the junior partner in a coalition more power than it is due. If …..." Richard Drax - View Speech
"As my hon. Friend the Member for Harwich and North Essex so wisely said, perish the thought that parties are partisan or non-partisan in these events. Of course they are. If the economic climate warrants the Prime Minister going to the country in the belief that he or she will …..." Richard Drax - View Speech
"I always enjoy interventions from my hon. Friend the Member for Stone. I could not agree with him more. It is far thicker than a fog. Unfortunately the electorate cannot see what we are doing at all and they feel disfranchised. We are stuck in this place pontificating about things …..." Richard Drax - View Speech
"I do not agree with the Minister on that last point. Our country has faced far greater dangers than the ones we faced in 2010, yet we saw no need to change our constitution on those occasions...." Richard Drax - View Speech