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24 Most Recent Speeches
The United Kingdom and the Commonwealth
Speech by Jo Swinson delivered to House of Commons on Thu 20th Mar 2008
Jo Swinson (East Dunbartonshire) (LD): It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for City of York (Hugh Bayley), who has done excellent and serious work as the chair of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association. His speech was very well made. I hope that he did not mind my intervention too much; as the only Scot in the Chamber at the time, I felt a duty to make the point that I made.
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International Women's Day
Speech by Jo Swinson delivered to House of Commons on Thu 6th Mar 2008
Jo Swinson (East Dunbartonshire) (LD): It is a pleasure to follow the right hon. Member for Cynon Valley (Ann Clwyd). I particularly enjoyed her remarks about the American elections, which I have also been following with much interest. My overriding concern is that either Obama or Clinton should be in the White House next time; I shall be pleased to see the back of its current occupant. However, I confess that, faced with the choice between the two Democrat candidates, I would be a Hillary supporter. I share the right hon. Lady's abhorrence of ageism, but as the youngest Member of the House, I should point out that the issue works both ways.
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European Union Bill
Speech by Jo Swinson delivered to House of Commons on Wed 27th Feb 2008
Jo Swinson (East Dunbartonshire) (LD): It is a particular pleasure to follow the right hon. Member for Scunthorpe (Mr. Morley), who has distinguished ministerial experience of these issues; I welcome the benefit that his contribution brought to the debate.
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European Union Bill
Speech by Jo Swinson delivered to House of Commons on Tue 26th Feb 2008
Jo Swinson (East Dunbartonshire) (LD): I am delighted to follow the right hon. Member for Leicester, West (Ms Hewitt), who has been a frequent attender of these debates. She outlined well the bigger picture of what we are discussing and the successes of the European Union in the past 60 years or so.
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Westminster Hall Debate - Global Security: Middle East
Speech by Jo Swinson MP delivered to Westminster Hall on Thu 24th Jan 2008
I congratulate the Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, the hon. Member for Ilford, South (Mike Gapes), and all its members on the authoritative and wide-ranging report that we are debating. We have heard from many esteemed hon. Members. The hon. Member for Ilford, South opened the debate very well with a summary, in as much as one can have a summary of the middle east. He took us on a rapid tour around the various countries involved and, crucially, provided an update on what has been happening since the report was published last July. It is obviously a part of the world where events move quickly.
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Topical Debates: Kenya
Speech by Jo Swinson MP delivered to House of Commons on Thu 17th Jan 2008
Jo Swinson (East Dunbartonshire, Liberal Democrat)
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International Whaling
Speech by Jo Swinson MP on Wed 9th May 2007
I am pleased that I was able to secure this debate. It is particularly timely, as the International Whaling Commission is meeting in Anchorage right now. The Scientific Committee meeting has already started, and meetings will continue until the end of the month, with decision making happening between the 28th and the 31st.
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Bill Presented: Communications Allowance
Speech by Jo Swinson MP delivered to House of Commons on Wed 28th Mar 2007
I appreciate the fact that the right hon. Member for North-West Hampshire (Sir George Young) kept his remarks brief. I believe that someone else wishes to speak so I, too, will try to be brief.
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Westminster Hall debate on bogus charity collections
Speech by Jo Swinson MP delivered to Westminster Hall on Wed 28th Feb 2007
I welcome the opportunity to have this debate on an issue of great and growing concern. I hope that we will have a positive and productive debate, and I welcome the interest in the issue that the Minister has shown already, not least when we had a chat about it in Members Lobby last night.
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House of Commons Debate on Climate Change
Speech by Jo Swinson MP on Thu 12th Oct 2006
I am sure that most hon. Members have, like me, received dozens of letters, e-mails, surgery visits and phone calls on the subject of climate change and, most recently, on the importance of having a climate change Bill in the Queen's speech in November. I welcome the opportunity to add my voice and the voices of the residents of East Dunbartonshire to the calls for such a Bill. I hope that Ministers will take the interest in this debate and the fact that 380 Members have signed the early-day motion calling for such a Bill as a clear sign that it must be a priority. I hope that such a Bill will be taken forward in November because we must have annual targets on reducing carbon dioxide emissions so that we can see in the House what progress is being made every single year and so that hon. Members can hold the Government to account. A long-term target on its own will not help us to tackle the problem.
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Westminster Hall Debate on Boundaries, Voting and Representation (Scotland)
Speech by Jo Swinson MP on Thu 20th Jul 2006
I thank all hon. Members who have participated in the debate. Like so many Scottish debates, and like Scottish questions, it has been lively and interesting. A great deal of expertise and consideration has gone into the Arbuthnott report; it was a thorough process. I congratulate the Select Committee Chairman, the hon. Member for Glasgow, Central (Mr. Sarwar), and the Committee members. I am not a member of the Committee, but I have read the evidence transcripts. They flagged up some interesting points, which were highlighted in the report and some of which were brought to our attention this afternoon.
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Westminster Hall Debate on HIV/Aids
Speech by Jo Swinson MP on Thu 11th May 2006
Last week, the nation was shocked by the revelation that 10 new cases of HIV had been discovered in the space of a single month in St. Ives, Cornwall. Headlines grew more hysterical as the story unfolded of a single perpetrator who had, perhaps knowingly, spread the infection through the small town. An expert team of medics was sent directly, a helpline was set up, two new testing clinics were established and my hon. Friend the Member for St. Ives (Andrew George) issued a call for calm. My thoughts are with those 10 people and their families, whose anxiety must be unbearable.
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Westminster Hall debate on Young People and Democracy
Speech by Jo Swinson MP on Thu 23rd Mar 2006
I apologise for arriving late; I was at a sitting of a statutory instrument Committee. I shall have to leave about half an hour before the end of the debate to catch my flight to my constituency, although I would very much like to hear the summing up. I am sure I shall read the Hansard report.
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Westminster Hall Debate on Violence against Women
Speech by Jo Swinson MP on Thu 9th Mar 2006
I very much welcome the fact that we are having this important debate to mark international women's day. In January, I was lucky enough to come high in the ballot for Prime Minister's questions, and I used the opportunity to question the Prime Minister about violence against women. In doing my research for that, I came across a frightening statistic. Nearly half the women in the United Kingdom have experienced domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking. That is the kind of statistic that one reads and wonders whether it can really be true. However, I went away and researched it, and there it was in black and white from 45 per cent. of real women talking about their experiences to the British crime survey. That underlines how wide ranging the problem is and how often it occurs behind closed doors. It is happening in every constituency in the country.
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Westminster Hall Debate on Oil and Gas Supplys
Speech by Jo Swinson MP on Wed 12th Oct 2005
I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Twickenham (Dr. Cable) on securing this debate on gas and oil prices and supply. It is particularly timely given the huge hikes in oil prices over the summer months. The impact of the hurricanes in the US, coupled with uncertainty in the middle east, has inflated the price of fuel. I would like to focus on what that means for people in our constituencies across the country and, let me put it bluntly, on fuel poverty.
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House of Commons Debate on London Olympics Bill
Speech by Jo Swinson on Thu 21st Jul 2005
I apologise for the fact that I was unable to be in the Chamber for the first few minutes of the debate, especially as the whole debate has been so positive and enjoyable. Such a spirit of celebration and consensus is particularly appropriate on the day before the recess.
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House of Commons Debate on Local Taxation
Speech by Jo Swinson MP on Mon 4th Jul 2005
I welcome this debate on a subject of great concern to many of my constituents in East Dunbartonshire. The Conservative Members who have spoken are certainly right in one respect—the current system of council tax places an unfair burden on many people, particularly those on low incomes such as pensioners. Across the country, council tax bills have risen faster than inflation as local authorities have struggled to cope with additional responsibilities handed down by central Government, but often without the additional resources to deliver. Thus the council tax has essentially been used as a stealth tax, often penalising those who can afford it least.
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Westminster Hall Debate on Telecommunications Masts
Speech by Jo Swinson on Tue 28th Jun 2005
Let me first congratulate the hon. Member for Cotswold (Mr. Clifton-Brown) on securing this debate on an important issue. I want to touch on three points: local consultation, permitted development rights and the inclusion of health implications in the planning process.
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Maiden Speech at Whitsun Adjournment
Speech by Jo Swinson MP on Thu 26th May 2005
Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, for calling me to make my maiden speech. I begin by congratulating my fellow Members who have already made their maiden speeches so well today. The first was the hon. Member for Na h-Eileanan an Iar (Mr. MacNeil), who made an excellent contribution. Fortunately, the constituencies of those who followed him were somewhat easier to pronounce. We heard from the hon. Members for Broxbourne (Mr. Walker) and for Welwyn Hatfield (Grant Shapps), my hon. Friend the Member for Taunton (Jeremy Browne), the hon. Members for The Wrekin (Mark Pritchard) and for Hammersmith and Fulham (Mr. Hands), the hon. Member for South-West Norfolk (Mr. Fraser)—who, unusually, had the opportunity to make a second maiden speech—my hon. Friend the Member for Cardiff, Central (Jenny Willott), and the hon. Member for Putney (Justine Greening). I enjoyed listening to all of them.
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