Extract from Commons debate on Integrated Review of Security,
Defence, Development and Foreign Policy Mr Andrew Mitchell (Sutton
Coldfield) (Con):...I have a second point I wish to make. I read
that the Government are worried about losing a vote on this in the
House of Commons and are therefore intending to kick it into the
long grass. May I suggest a more constructive approach? Brexit was
supposed to bring power back to this Parliament, not to Executive
fiat, and I think the Government...Request free trial
Extract from Commons
debate on Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and
Foreign Policy
(Sutton
Coldfield) (Con):...I have a second point I wish to make. I
read that the Government are worried about losing a vote on this in
the House of Commons and are therefore intending to kick it into
the long grass. May I suggest a more constructive approach? Brexit
was supposed to bring power back to this Parliament, not to
Executive fiat, and I think the Government should put this to
Parliament sooner rather than later. The reason for that is, first,
that development is long-term; many important development
programmes run for three or five years. We see this in the example
of the Prime Minister’s excellent proposal that all girls should
get 12 years of education. If there is doubt over the budget, it is
extremely unhelpful in planning those programmes, which will, by
definition, then be much less effective. Secondly, as has been
pointed out, the Government may be in breach of the law, because
the provisions do not allow for missing the target on purpose. If
the Government advance down that particular route, they may well
get judicially reviewed. So I urge them to think again about this,
perhaps getting the £4 billion they would save by this pernicious
and shabby cut from a digital online services tax. Why not
let Amazon pay fair tax instead of
balancing the books in this way on the backs of the poorest people
in the world?
To read the whole debate, CLICK
HERE
Extract from Public Bill
committee consideration of the Air Traffic Management and Unmanned
Aircraft Bill
(Ilford South)
(Lab):...Furthermore, we need to ensure that the Bill
enables the DFT and the police to keep up to speed with the
possible future development of broad, unmanned traffic management
systems, so we need to be looking ahead. During the pandemic we
have seen the ubiquitous use of Amazon I have probably recycled
more cardboard boxes from my wife’s orders than I care to think of,
but it is not beyond the realms of possibility that those boxes
could, in the next 10 years, be delivered by drones. That is
certainly something that private companies are thinking about, but
will the provisions and scenarios laid down in the guidance around
the Bill be able to keep pace with those developments? In fact, as
a result of the rapid increase in the technology, Administrations
around the world who are also looking at this issue have called for
a focus on the use of drones—beyond just recreational and military
use—by commercial operators...
To read the whole debate, CLICK
HERE
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