Monthly Archives: February 2008

The government – and taxpayers – will pay for the rushed legislation this week

I have posted the full transcript of the one hour debate we were allowed on Thursday on Northern Rock, because it illustrates just how damaged Parliament has been by the constant use of timetable motions that are unrealistic. The Lords passed three amendments to Labour’s bank nationalisation Bill. One wanted the Freedom of Information Act [...]

Posted in Blog, Northern Rock | 8 Comments

One hour debate on Northern Rock

7.45 pm The Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Yvette Cooper): I beg to move, That this House disagrees with the Lords in the said amendment. Mr. Speaker: With this it will be convenient to take Lords amendments Nos. 2 and 3, and Government motions to disagree thereto, and Lords amendments Nos. 4 to 8. Yvette [...]

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Between a Rock and a load of Granite – how to pay for mortgages

In Northern Rock’s 2006 Accounts they reported how well they were doing. They commented “ The low risk nature of Northern Rock’s balance sheet is reflected in the mix of assets…These assets are well funded through a well diversified range of assets.” They looked forward to further low risk growth, and told their shareholders that [...]

Posted in Blog, Northern Rock | 7 Comments

John Redwood on the foreign policy aspects of the Lisbon Treaty

<strong>During last night’s debate on the foreign policy aspects of the Lisbon Treaty, John Redwood raised a number of issues arising from the treaty in relation to Britain’s relationship with the wider world.</strong> <strong>Mr. Redwood: </strong>It is now quite obvious that we will not be able to debate the second set of amendments, which is [...]

Posted in Press Releases | 3 Comments

Identity cards and freedom

This day 56 years ago Parliament ended the ID card scheme introduced to the UK in 1939. It took a brave and clever Judge to kill it off. In June 1951 Lord Goddard ruled against the continuation of ID cards. In a famous judgement he said: “It is obvious that the police now, as a [...]

Posted in Blog, History | 17 Comments

John Redwood champions accountability in Northern Rock debate

<strong>‘Parliament, accountability and creating better legislation’ were championed by John Redwood in the House yesterday, in the face of yet another affront to Commons proceedings in the form of the ‘Northern Rock’ Bill. He urged the need for a gap between Second Reading of the Bill and the Committee stage, so that MPs from across [...]

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A bad day for democracy and the North East

Yesterday saw another successful government attempt to stifle debate and prevent serious consideration of an important billon bank nationalisation. I was left with just six minutes to try to discuss all the wide ranging issues involved during the Second Reading debate on the principles, whilst the perfunctory two and a quarter hour committee stage left [...]

Posted in Blog, Northern Rock | 16 Comments

Parliament sidelined and kept in the dark about Northern Rock

I am a businessman by background. I have occasionally bought or sold companies. Never have I been asked to buy a company with so little information available on its assets, liabilities, past and possible future performance as today, when the government wants me to approve the purchase of Northern Rock for taxpayers. Never have I [...]

Posted in Blog, Northern Rock | 14 Comments

How Mr Darling lost the government’s economic reputation

The Northern Rock crisis has undermined this government’s economic reputation, and deservedly so. They have made mistake after mistake in responding the Credit Crunch and the run on the bank. I have put the main blog entries on Northern Rock from this site together so people can remind themselves of the way the crisis unfolded [...]

Posted in Blog, Northern Rock | 9 Comments

Mr Darling digs an even bigger hole by nationalising the Rock

Mr Darling is already in a big hole, thanks to his misjudgements over monetary policy last August and September, the run on Northern Rock, the botched proposals on capital gains tax and the U turn on Non Doms. Now, the man in the hole has decided to more than double its size! There are ten [...]

Posted in Blog, Northern Rock | 16 Comments
  • About John Redwood

    John Redwood has been the Member of Parliament for Wokingham since 1987. First attending Kent College, Canterbury, he graduated from Magdalen College, and has a DPhil from All Souls, Oxford. A businessman by background, he has been a director of NM Rothschild merchant bank and chairman of a quoted industrial PLC.
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