Continuing our series of retirement speeches we highlight Michael Ancram MP's final words to the House of Commons. The MP for Devizes said that the next Parliament must hand on improved public finances and an improved natural environment to the next generation. "Stewardship is a word that is used frequently, as it has been in […]
Here are some interesting answers from the latest edition of Hansard. Shadow Innovation, Universities and Skills Secretary David Willetts asked a question that couldn't be answered: "Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many EU citizens working in the UK paid sufficient national insurance contributions to earn a potential […]
Here is the latest batch of interesting written answers from the House of Commons. Shadow Minister for Work and Pensions Andrew Selous had a written reminder that ministers are supposed to make big announcements to Parliament first when it is in session – a rule that they in fact breach on a spectacularly frequent basis: […]
Devizes MP Michael Ancram, formerly Shadow Foreign Secretary, has received a somewhat alarming written answer about drugs in Afghanistan. (Poppies can be turned into opium.) "Mr. Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of UK efforts to eradicate poppy growing in Afghanistan; […]
In the latest copy of Hansard, several more written questions have been inadequately answered. There will be times when the Government really can’t answer a question, or when it would be undiplomatic for it to do so, or when pulling the information together would be excessively costly. But those occasions are comparatively rare. This post […]
Michael Ancram, MP for Devizes and founder of the Global Strategy Forum, argues that as Hamas isn’t going to go away we should negotiate with them sooner rather than later. The whole question of the West engaging with Hamas in the Middle East has come very much to the fore with the release of Alan […]
Michael Ancram, MP for Devizes since 1992, was MP for Berwick and East Lothian between Feburary and October 1974, and then successfully contested Edinburgh South in 1979, where he defeated a future Prime Minister. Election night May 1979 was memorable for me for a number of reasons. I was elected MP for Edinburgh South having […]