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Opposition day on Tuesday, 10 March 2009, in the House of Commons, led by Baroness May of Maidenhead. The answering member was James Purnell.

Unemployment

Unemployment. Seventh Opposition Day debate (part 1). Main question negatived on division (161 votes to 349). Amendment agreed to on question.

Secondary information

Type
Parliamentary proceeding
Reference
489 c165-219 
Session
2008-09
Department
Department for Work and Pensions
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
Proceeding contributions
John Mason | 489 c197-8 (Link to this contribution) We want jobs in other ways. The money that is wasted on nuclear weapons would create many more jobs ...
John Mason | 489 c198 (Link to this contribution) As my hon. Friend, who is rushing me through my speech, says, in our case the cut is £1 billion over...
Show all contributions (125)
John Mason | 489 c196 (Link to this contribution) I do not think that the people of Scotland want nuclear weapons or nuclear power—
John Mason | 489 c185 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman agree that if the money used for the VAT cut had been invested in capital co...
John Mason | 489 c195 (Link to this contribution) Following on from the points made by the hon. Member for Nottingham, South (Alan Simpson), I wish to...
John Mason | 489 c195 (Link to this contribution) In the first place, the amount has not yet been worked out and we do not yet know whether the UK wil...
John Mason | 489 c196 (Link to this contribution) We have always compared ourselves with a number of different countries, and the main one is Norway, ...
John Mason | 489 c196 (Link to this contribution) I have said that we compare ourselves to a range of countries. Iceland was one, although it has to b...
David Jones | 489 c201-3 (Link to this contribution) It is a great pleasure to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Bexleyheath and Crayford (Mr. Evennet...
Baroness May of Maidenhead | 489 c177 (Link to this contribution) I thank the Secretary of State for his continuing generosity in giving way. Before the hon. Member f...
Paul Rowen | 489 c178 (Link to this contribution) Does the Secretary of State agree with the Minister for Employment and Welfare Reform that the £230-...
James Purnell | 489 c177-8 (Link to this contribution) I will deal with that later in my speech. [Hon. Members: "Ah!"] I can do it now, if hon. Members wan...
Paul Rowen | 489 c179 (Link to this contribution) Can the Secretary of State confirm the story in The Observer at the weekend that only 6 per cent. of...
James Purnell | 489 c178-9 (Link to this contribution) Actually, my right hon. Friend said that we have to look at that, and that is what we are doing. One...
James Purnell | 489 c179 (Link to this contribution) I am sure that the hon. Gentleman has seen the letter in the Library from our head of statistics on ...
Baroness May of Maidenhead | 489 c179 (Link to this contribution) I did indeed ask the Secretary of State a specific question about the flexible new deal. I did not s...
James Purnell | 489 c180 (Link to this contribution) Yes, we are committed to doing it in October. The right hon. Lady should read her own motion, which ...
Tony Baldry | 489 c180 (Link to this contribution) Is not the issue that we have two sorts of unemployment? There are those who have been unemployed fo...
James Purnell | 489 c180 (Link to this contribution) Two or three years ago, the people who came on to jobseeker's allowance with very high qualification...
Paul Rowen | 489 c185 (Link to this contribution) I do agree. We would expect between 90,000 and 100,000 extra jobs to be created with that £12.5 bill...
John Barrett | 489 c189 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman agree that the worst is yet to come? The Royal Bank of Scotland's headquarte...
Lord Brady of Altrincham | 489 c189-92 (Link to this contribution) I am afraid that the hon. Gentleman is right: worse is still to come. The trend in job losses contin...
Alan Simpson | 489 c185-9 (Link to this contribution) I am pleased to follow on from the concluding comments of the hon. Member for Rochdale (Paul Rowen),...
Lord Brady of Altrincham | 489 c189 (Link to this contribution) I am pleased to follow the hon. Member for Nottingham, South (Alan Simpson). In his contribution he ...
Oliver Heald | 489 c192-3 (Link to this contribution) I start by agreeing with the point that my hon. Friend the Member for Altrincham and Sale, West (Mr....
Speaker | 489 c192 (Link to this contribution) Order. Mr. Speaker has imposed a 15-minute time limit on Back-Bench contributions. If Members volunt...
Oliver Heald | 489 c193-5 (Link to this contribution) I totally accept my hon. Friend's point, which is the main point that I intended to make. Before do...
Peter Bone | 489 c195 (Link to this contribution) I am listening with interest to the hon. Gentleman's opening remarks. Does he agree that if Scotland...
Peter Bone | 489 c193 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is making a powerful point. Does he fear that when jobs start to be created again the...
Anne Moffat | 489 c196 (Link to this contribution) On planning applications and employment, will the hon. Gentleman comment on the Scottish Executive's...
David Evennett | 489 c181 (Link to this contribution) I am listening intently to the right hon. Gentleman. Does he agree that adult and community learning...
James Purnell | 489 c181 (Link to this contribution) On spending on further education, £83 million of the £2 billion extra spending that we announced—I r...
Oliver Heald | 489 c180-1 (Link to this contribution) Does the Secretary of State acknowledge that the problems are going to relate not only to those with...
James Purnell | 489 c181 (Link to this contribution) That is precisely the point that I was making. A few years ago, people with those qualifications wou...
James Purnell | 489 c180 (Link to this contribution) I did not accuse the right hon. Lady of having that policy, but I am happy to make that accusation, ...
James Purnell | 489 c181 (Link to this contribution) As I have said, we have announced an extra £83 million to help people who are out of work back into ...
Anne Main | 489 c181 (Link to this contribution) On training, I recently participated in a debate on the curry industry, which has vacancies for skil...
James Purnell | 489 c181 (Link to this contribution) Perhaps the hon. Lady is going to say that the policy is insane.
Paul Rowen | 489 c182 (Link to this contribution) Well, the hon. Member for North-West Leicestershire (David Taylor) may be one. Young people have be...
Julia Goldsworthy | 489 c182 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that local authorities are leading the way in this respect? A number of lo...
Paul Rowen | 489 c183 (Link to this contribution) I entirely agree with my hon. Friend. Indeed, I intend to refer to such an example from my constitue...
Paul Rowen | 489 c182 (Link to this contribution) I, too, welcome the opportunity to debate unemployment. Aside from the loss of a family home or a be...
Peter Bone | 489 c182 (Link to this contribution) I am listening to the hon. Gentleman and he is quite right to say that unemployment is one of the mo...
Paul Rowen | 489 c182 (Link to this contribution) I agree with the hon. Gentleman that this is a hugely important subject; the presence of several Min...
Paul Rowen | 489 c183-4 (Link to this contribution) Like the hon. Gentleman, I met the local Jobcentre Plus manager to discuss that. To be fair, I know ...
Lord Brady of Altrincham | 489 c184 (Link to this contribution) I am very interested in what the hon. Gentleman is saying. How much of the £12.5 billion has already...
David Leslie Taylor | 489 c169 (Link to this contribution) I thank the right hon. Lady for giving way. She is ladling compliments with a trowel on to Jobcentre...
Baroness May of Maidenhead | 489 c168 (Link to this contribution) I will continue to make another point on Jobcentre Plus. There will still be an opportunity for the ...
James Purnell | 489 c170 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Lady asked me about the new deal. Does she agree with her new boss, the soon-to-be Lo...
Baroness May of Maidenhead | 489 c170 (Link to this contribution) Wait—a little patience. Those failings have been described by the right hon. Member for Birkenhead ...
Baroness May of Maidenhead | 489 c169-70 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for referring to the experience that he quoted. Experience is pa...
Gordon Prentice | 489 c169 (Link to this contribution) What she just said seems to be contradicted by the evidence insofar as it relates to what is happeni...
Baroness May of Maidenhead | 489 c169 (Link to this contribution) The evidence is the opposite to that. I am sure that the Secretary of State was pleased to receive t...
James Purnell | 489 c167 (Link to this contribution) As the right hon. Lady continues to oppose the stimulus, will she confirm that she opposes the extra...
Baroness May of Maidenhead | 489 c167 (Link to this contribution) I have just made the point to the Secretary of State that the money that he has put into Jobcentre P...
Baroness May of Maidenhead | 489 c168 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is right. I was going on to make exactly that point. The problem that Jobcentre Plus ...
Baroness May of Maidenhead | 489 c168 (Link to this contribution) I will make a little more progress, then I will give way to the hon. Gentleman. The problem that Jo...
James Purnell | 489 c168 (Link to this contribution) If the measure is making the system more efficient, the right hon. Lady should support that. Will sh...
Baroness May of Maidenhead | 489 c167 (Link to this contribution) Just wait. The right hon. Gentleman's Government closed almost a jobcentre a week at a time when une...
Tony Baldry | 489 c168 (Link to this contribution) The truth of the matter is that Jobcentre Plus staff are doing an incredibly good job in incredibly ...
Baroness May of Maidenhead | 489 c168 (Link to this contribution) I have said to the right hon. Gentleman that all he has done is reinstate money that was previously ...
Baroness May of Maidenhead | 489 c165-6 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move,"That this House notes that unemployment rose by 146,000 to 1.97 million in the three ...
Speaker | 489 c165 (Link to this contribution) I inform the House that I have selected the amendments in the name of the Prime Minister in both Opp...
Baroness May of Maidenhead | 489 c167 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for his question. As he knows, we believe that parts of th...
James Purnell | 489 c167 (Link to this contribution) Will the right hon. Lady confirm that she still opposes the Government's fiscal stimulus, announced ...
Baroness May of Maidenhead | 489 c167 (Link to this contribution) I say to the hon. Lady that when the Conservatives left government, unemployment was coming down. Cr...
Anne Moffat | 489 c166 (Link to this contribution) As we are talking about apologies and unemployment, will the right hon. Lady take this opportunity t...
James Purnell | 489 c177 (Link to this contribution) The rapid response service cannot go into all companies—sometimes companies do not agree to that—but...
Rob Marris | 489 c177 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend mentioned statistics. I know that he was in short trousers at the time, but I r...
James Purnell | 489 c177 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a powerful point in his usual way. He is right—the Conservatives were more inte...
James Purnell | 489 c176 (Link to this contribution) We have been working with Woolworths ever since it went into liquidation. [Interruption.] We have pr...
Julia Goldsworthy | 489 c176 (Link to this contribution) Many constituents have come to see me not because they have lost their jobs but because their hours ...
James Purnell | 489 c176 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady is right—that is important. Losing overtime and hours is clearly a challenge. However,...
Sandra Osborne | 489 c176 (Link to this contribution) Will my right hon. Friend confirm that, when people lose their jobs, the rapid response team or thos...
Baroness May of Maidenhead | 489 c175 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the Secretary of State for his generosity in giving way for a second time. If his G...
James Purnell | 489 c175-6 (Link to this contribution) The number tripled under the Conservative Government. It went from 700,000 to 2.6 million. It is onl...
Oliver Heald | 489 c176 (Link to this contribution) Woolworths closed with 30,000 redundancies. What has the Secretary of State's rapid response service...
Baroness May of Maidenhead | 489 c174 (Link to this contribution) I did indeed want to intervene on points that the Secretary of State is making, particularly about i...
James Purnell | 489 c174-5 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Lady's new boss—I am sorry to mention him again—said clearly that it would""take at l...
James Purnell | 489 c174 (Link to this contribution) I think the right hon. Lady wants to intervene to tell me where the £2 billion is coming from.
James Purnell | 489 c173 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Lady says that she would not, but she confirmed it in answer to my question. She refu...
Angus Brendan MacNeil | 489 c174 (Link to this contribution) I am listening to the right hon. Gentleman talk about cuts and straw men. Let us leave the straw men...
James Purnell | 489 c174 (Link to this contribution) We are increasing spending in Scotland. Indeed, the money we are spending here will be spent in Scot...
Rob Marris | 489 c173 (Link to this contribution) Does my right hon. Friend agree that an official Opposition whose motion proposes at least three pla...
David Evennett | 489 c171 (Link to this contribution) I am listening to my right hon. Friend with great interest and I support what she is saying; she is ...
Baroness May of Maidenhead | 489 c171 (Link to this contribution) I could not have put it better myself; my hon. Friend makes an extremely valid point. [Interruption....
Oliver Heald | 489 c171 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend is talking about the new deal. Does she agree with the Select Committee on Work...
Baroness May of Maidenhead | 489 c171-2 (Link to this contribution) I am very conscious of what the Select Committee report said about this point. As my hon. Friend say...
James Purnell | 489 c172-3 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move an amendment, to leave out from "House" to the end of the Question and add:""notes tha...
Baroness May of Maidenhead | 489 c170 (Link to this contribution) That intervention does not even merit a response. I return to the words of the Department's own rep...
Rob Marris | 489 c170 (Link to this contribution) In the motion to which she is a signatory, the right hon. Lady has put forward some interesting idea...
Baroness May of Maidenhead | 489 c170 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is quick to suggest that we have a debate on the motion, and that is exactly what...
Lord Brady of Altrincham | 489 c170-1 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Member for Wolverhampton, South-West (Rob Marris) mentioned pump-priming and the Secretary ...
Baroness May of Maidenhead | 489 c171 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes an extremely important point. There is, of course, a double-whammy: not only ar...
Dai Davies | 489 c207-9 (Link to this contribution) I want to raise a few issues that I do not think have been touched on tonight. The first is how redu...
Speaker | 489 c185 (Link to this contribution) Order. Before I call any Back Benchers, may I remind all hon. Members that Mr. Speaker has imposed a...
Peter Bone | 489 c204-6 (Link to this contribution) Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, but I understand why my hon. Friend wanted to make that intervention,...
Speaker | 489 c204 (Link to this contribution) Order. I have to say to the hon. Gentleman that we have a very tight time schedule, so making a very...
Derek Twigg | 489 c206-7 (Link to this contribution) I shall be brief, but I want to make a couple of key points. First, I welcome the almost £2 billion ...
Speaker | 489 c206 (Link to this contribution) Order. Two hon. Members wish to contribute before the winding-up speeches begin at 6.40 pm. If they ...
Philip Dunne | 489 c204 (Link to this contribution) On the question of banks, particularly those that are majority-owned by the Government, helping busi...
Peter Bone | 489 c203-4 (Link to this contribution) It is a great pleasure to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Clwyd, West (Mr. Jones), who made a p...
David Evennett | 489 c198-9 (Link to this contribution) I am pleased to participate in this important debate on unemployment in the UK. I do not want to fol...
David Evennett | 489 c200;489 c199-200 (Link to this contribution) It imposes serious constraints, because of the reduced time that staff can spend talking through cli...
Peter Bone | 489 c199 (Link to this contribution) As usual, my hon. Friend is making a powerful speech. His constituency has seen a rise in unemployme...
David Evennett | 489 c200-1 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a powerful point and I agree with her entirely. Regrettably, we have a low ski...
Anne Main | 489 c200 (Link to this contribution) Green jobs were mentioned earlier. When the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change appeare...
Speaker | 489 c215 (Link to this contribution) I ask the Serjeant at Arms to investigate the delay in the No Lobby.
James Clappison | 489 c210-1 (Link to this contribution) So the hon. Gentleman says, but one of Labour's key pledges was:""We will get 250,000 young unemploy...
Tony McNulty | 489 c212-5 (Link to this contribution) I am afraid that, for all the passion and for all the absence of substance in the speech of the hon....
James Clappison | 489 c211-2 (Link to this contribution) Yes. The Government have broken another promise. They said that they would ensure that the vacancies...
James Clappison | 489 c209-10 (Link to this contribution) This has been a good debate with thoughtful contributions that remind us how, in the words of my hon...
James Clappison | 489 c210 (Link to this contribution) I will not give way to the hon. Gentleman, because he has not been present throughout the debate. T...
Oliver Heald | 489 c183 (Link to this contribution) A constituent of mine has written to me about Woolworths in Letchworth, saying that she has not had ...
Paul Rowen | 489 c185 (Link to this contribution) That is a question for Ministers to answer, but I would imagine that a proportion, probably a third,...
Simon Burns | 489 c196 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman first be kind enough to answer the question asked by my hon. Friend the Memb...
James Purnell | 489 c174 (Link to this contribution) The first test of a serious Opposition is being able to say how policies are funded, and they have c...
David Jones | 489 c195 (Link to this contribution) Perhaps the hon. Gentleman will tell the House whether the First Minister of Scotland still regards ...
Subjects
Staff Education Business Closures Climate change Apprentices Credit Jobseeker's allowance Jobcentres Environment protection Private sector Government assistance Jobcentre Plus Economic situation Incapacity benefit Job creation Public expenditure Redundancy Working hours Standards New deal schemes Reform Unemployment Social security benefits Social security Training Young people Unemployment benefits Renewable energy
Link
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