SPEECHES : 2005 This page contains
excerpts from many of the speeches made by Peter.
Nearly all are speeches made in the House of
Commons, Westminster.
The paragraph listed contains the introductory
text to the speech. For the full text, plus
the context in which the speech was made, simply
follow the link at the end of the paragraph.
Council
Tax (New Valuation Lists for England) Bill I had the privilege of leading Leicester
city council for some 17 years. It has been said that
that is longer than a life sentence, and at times
it certainly felt like it. But in that capacity my
city and I survived the rating system, the savage
revenue and capital cuts of the early 1980s, and the
rate capping and attendant confrontations that took
place... More...
October 26 2005
Avian
Influenza My right hon. Friend will agree that there
have been some astonishing scare stories and headlines
in the press about avian influenza. She would probably
also agree that, as a result, there has been widespread
fear and public confusion, in about equal measure,
about these issues. More...
October 21 2005 Orders of the Day
Armed
Forces (Parliamentary Approval for Participation in
Armed Conflict) Bill It is significant that, with a couple of
notable eccentric exceptions, the majority of Members
who have spoken against the Bill have done so not
on the basis of principle—parliamentary scrutiny
and approval of proposed armed conflicts—but
on the two themes of necessity and the problems associated
with implementation. I shall deal with those themes
one at a time. More...
July 11 2005 Orders of the Day
Racial and Religious Hatred Bill: New Clause 2 —
Protection of Freedom of Expression
At the heart of the hon. Gentleman's argument is the
assertion that a person's religious belief is, in
many respects, very similar to that person's political
belief or—this example was given earlier—his
or her support for a football club. Does he accept
that many people's religious beliefs are much more
fundamental than their political beliefs...
More..
June 21 2005 Orders of the Day
Racial
and Religious Hatred Bill
My constituency is one of the most ethnically diverse
of any represented in this House outside London. In
the last census in 2001, more than 40 per cent. of
its population described themselves as other than
white British, and the proportion is probably somewhat
higher today. In giving that description, they used
many different criteria... More...
June 21 2005 Oral Answers to
Questions
Foreign
and Commonwealth Affairs: Middle East When he (Jack Straw) last met representatives
of the Palestinian Authority to discuss progress on
the Middle East peace settlement. In his initial response
to the question, the Foreign Secretary indicated that
this is indeed a unique opportunity to move forwards
in the middle east and to move towards a two-state
solution... More...
May 18
2005 MAIDEN SPEECH
Foreign
Affairs and Defence
I should like to begin my first speech in the House
with an apology to my hon. Friends. As the new Member
for Leicester, South, I can claim credit for being
the Labour gain on 5 May. I was also, however, the
candidate who did not win the by-election last July.More...
