Tag: John Redwood

  • John Redwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    John Redwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Redwood on 2016-06-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, which EU (a) legislative and (b) other proposals his Department is leading negotiations on for the Government in the Council of the EU.

    Anna Soubry

    The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills is responsible for a wide range of EU business, including measures relating to the Single Market; consumer protection; labour markets; research, innovation and higher education; trade; and state aid.

    The Department provides Explanatory Memoranda to Parliament on any proposals from the Commission, including those which would be negotiated in Council in accordance with the terms of reference of the parliamentary EU scrutiny committees. These can be found online.

  • John Redwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    John Redwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Redwood on 2016-01-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the outturn cost was of the Reading Station Area Redevelopment project.

    Claire Perry

    I have been informed by Network Rail that the total cost of the scheme is £895m, including renewals over a wider area and a new train maintenance depot. This is approximately £100m under budget and the station upgrade was also completed a year ahead of schedule.

  • John Redwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    John Redwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Redwood on 2016-06-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what EU directives related to her Department’s responsibilities are awaiting transposition into UK law.

    Sir Desmond Swayne

    There are no EU directives related to my Department’s responsibilities awaiting transportation into UK law.

  • John Redwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    John Redwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Redwood on 2016-06-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what EU directives related to his Department’s responsibilities are awaiting transposition into UK law.

    Anna Soubry

    The following EU Directives related to my Department’s responsibilities are awaiting transposition into UK law:

    Directive 2013/53/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 November 2013 on recreational craft and personal watercraft and repealing Directive 94/25/EC

    Directive 2013/55/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 November 2013 amending Directive 2005/36/EC on the recognition of professional qualifications and Regulation (EU) No 1024/2012 on administrative cooperation through the Internal Market Information System (‘the IMI Regulation’)

    Directive 2013/55/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 November 2013 amending Directive 2005/36/EC on the recognition of professional qualifications and Regulation (EU) No 1024/2012 on administrative cooperation through the Internal Market Information System (‘the IMI Regulation’)

    Directive 2014/33/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on the harmonisation of the laws of the Member States relating to lifts and safety components for lifts

    Directive 2014/34/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on the harmonisation of the laws of the Member States relating to equipment and protective systems intended for use in potentially explosive atmospheres (recast)

    Commission Delegated Directive 2015/13 of 31 October 2014 amending Annex III to

    Directive 2014/32/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council, as regards the flowrate range of water meters.

    Directive 2014/29/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on the harmonisation of the laws of the Member States relating to the making available on the market of simple pressure vessels;

    Directive 2014/30/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on the harmonisation of the laws of the Member States relating to electromagnetic compatibility (recast)

    Directive 2014/31/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on the harmonisation of the laws of the Member States relating to the making available on the market of non-automatic weighing instruments

    Directive 2014/32/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on the harmonisation of the laws of the Member States relating to the making available on the market of measuring instruments (recast);

    Directive 2014/35/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on the harmonisation of the laws of the Member States relating to the making available on the market of electrical equipment designed for use within certain voltage limits

    Directive 2014/53/EU of The European Parliament and of the Council of 16 April 2014 on the harmonisation of the laws of the Member States relating to the making available on the market of radio equipment and repealing Directive 1999/5/EC

    Directive 2014/68/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 May 2014 on the harmonisation of the laws of the Member States relating to the making available on the market of pressure equipment

    Directive 2014/95/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2014 amending Directive 2013/34/EU as regards disclosure of non-financial and diversity information by certain large undertakings and groups

    Directive 2014/104/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 November 2014 on certain rules governing actions for damages under national law for infringements of the competition law provisions of the Member States and of the European Union

    Commission Directive (EU) 2015/2115 of 23 November 2015 amending, for the purpose of adopting specific limit values for chemicals used in toys, Appendix C to Annex II to

    Directive 2009/48/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the safety of toys, as regards formamide

    Commission Directive (EU) 2015/2116 of 23 November 2015 amending, for the purpose of adopting specific limit values for chemicals used in toys, Appendix C to Annex II to

    Directive 2009/48/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the safety of toys, as regards benzisothiazolinone

    Commission Directive (EU) 2015/2117 of 23 November 2015 amending, for the purpose of adopting specific limit values for chemicals used in toys, Appendix C to Annex II to Directive 2009/48/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the safety of toys, as regards chloromethylisothiazolinone and methylisothiazolinone, both individually and in a ratio of 3:1

    Directive (EU) 2015/2302 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2015 on package travel and linked travel arrangements, amending Regulation (EC) No 2006/2004 and Directive 2011/83/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council and repealing Council Directive 90/314/EEC

    Directive (EU) 2015/2436 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2015 to approximate the laws of the Member States relating to trade marks

  • John Redwood – 2022 Speech on BBC Local Radio

    John Redwood – 2022 Speech on BBC Local Radio

    The speech made by John Redwood, the Conservative MP for Wokingham, in the House of Commons on 8 December 2022.

    I entirely agree with that passionate defence of localism by the hon. Member for York Central (Rachael Maskell). Local must mean local and we do not want people in the BBC in London imposing on us their views on how our local radio should be conducted and how big our locality should be. I see behind the centralised planning at the BBC a distorted version of what our constitution should look like within the United Kingdom, and a wish to impose that—against the clear majority wishes of people, whenever they have been asked about these subjects in referendums and elections.

    It is not just that the BBC wishes to create phony regional groupings instead of truly local radio, but that it has a very distorted view of devolution. The BBC seems to be an enthusiast for devolution to Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, but it does not even know England exists. It always wants lopsided devolution. One of the four important constituent parts of the United Kingdom is scarcely ever mentioned; it is never suggested it should have any powers or right to self-government and there is no engagement with English issues on BBC radio in the way that there is a clear engagement with Scottish, Welsh or Northern Ireland issues. That causes enormous resentment.

    In my own case, local radio is organised at the county level, at Radio Berkshire. That makes sense, because it is an area that we can recognise and there is some loyalty to our royal and ancient county. Many people now do not know that it had its borders artificially compressed in a local government reorganisation some 50 years ago, under a Conservative Government that I think made some mistakes, but the county retains an enormous amount of goodwill and residual loyalty, and people are very happy for our local radio to be organised at that scale. If people had real choice, however, I think Wokingham would rather have a different radio from Reading, and I think we would probably rather have a different radio from Windsor, because we have a different set of issues. But we accept that there have to be some compromises because talented people need to be appointed and paid wages, and that cannot be done to a sensible budget at very local levels.

    I urge the BBC to look in the mirror and understand why, in many respects, it is getting so out of touch with its audiences. It has a very narrow range of views and issues that it will allow people to discuss, and it has a particularly warped perspective on how we feel about our areas and what our loyalties belong to. I am allowed to express views from time to time on BBC Radio Berkshire. It does not put me through the ordeal of a pre-interview to find out whether my views are acceptable and fit its caricature of a Conservative in the way that nearly always happens if national radio is thinking of interviewing me. Then, I always have the double interview, and I quite often fail the first interview test because my views are clearly too interesting or unacceptable, or do not fit the caricature that the radio wishes to put into its particular drama, so people are spared my voice on radio and I have more free time, which is perhaps a wonderful outcome from those events.

    I do not find that my local radio quite plots the drama as strongly as national BBC radio and television. I am very grateful for that because I think that good, independent broadcasting of the kind that the BBC says it believes in should allow people of decent views—not extremists who want to break the law, or racists—to conduct civilised conversations and debates through the medium of the BBC. But all too often, that is truncated or impossible because of the way in which the editors operate and their pre-conceived set of views, about which they wish to create some kind of drama.

    Colleagues have made extremely good points, which I will emphasise, about the treatment of staff and the way these kinds of proposals are planned. If the BBC wishes to run truly local services, it must listen to us—the local people and the local people’s representatives—and treat its staff well, and be aware that they have given good service in the past and should be taken on a journey of change that makes sense for them as well as for the BBC. This all looks rather top-down, abrupt and unpleasant. Successful organisations understand that their own journeys, evolving as institutions, are best conducted if, at the same time, they allow good journeys for the staff who give them loyal service. That does not seem to be happening in this case.

    I will spare you a bit of time, Madam Deputy Speaker—I have made the main points that I wished to make. The BBC needs to be more open to a wider range of views. If it wants to be local, it has to ask us what local means.

  • John Redwood – 2022 Comments on Bank of England Interest Rate Rises

    John Redwood – 2022 Comments on Bank of England Interest Rate Rises

    The comments made by John Redwood, the Conservative MP for Wokingham, on 3 November 2022.

    Disappointing the Bank [of England] still did not lift the Bank rate to the level they think they need to end the inflation. They want the market to play guessing games about the peak rate. Why not finish the job so people can plan their finances? Why no apology for such high inflation?

  • John Redwood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    John Redwood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Redwood on 2014-04-10.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what levels of stock his Department holds of (a) stationery, (b) printer cartridges, (c) treasury tags and other fasteners and (d) other office consumables.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    The Prime Minister’s Office is an integral part of the Cabinet Office.

    The information requested is not held centrally.

  • John Redwood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Leader of the House

    John Redwood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Leader of the House

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Redwood on 2014-04-10.

    To ask the Leader of the House, what levels of stock his Office holds of (a) stationery, (b) printer cartridges, (c) treasury tags and other fasteners and (d) other office consumables.

    Mr Andrew Lansley

    The Office of the Leader of the House of Commons is part of the Cabinet Office. The information requested is not held centrally.

  • John Redwood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    John Redwood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Redwood on 2014-04-10.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what levels of stock his Department holds of (a) stationery, (b) printer cartridges, (c) treasury tags and other fasteners and (d) other office consumables.

    Andrea Leadsom

    In line with Government policy and to benefit from public sector buying power, HM Treasury has centralised common commodity procurements, such as stationery, through contracts awarded and managed by the Crown Commercial Service.

    The stock information requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.