Mike Weatherley MP

Below are Mike’s most recent speeches. For all Mike’s speeches since being elected, click here.

8/02/2012

Mike Weatherley: I am sorry to intervene so early. I speak as someone who owned a manufacturing company that won two Queen’s Awards for Export in the 1990s, and which exported to 49 countries around the world. Does my hon. Friend agree that part of the problem for small and medium-sized enterprises is the equity gap between what the banks will lend-usually up to £100,000-and what...

2/02/2012

Mike Weatherley: Does my hon. Friend agree that part of the problem is the blame culture that has developed at various points in Network Rail’s history?

2/02/2012

Mike Weatherley: Will my hon. Friend comment on cases where the judges might have got something wrong and what routes of recompense there are in those circumstances? I speak as chairman of the all-party group on retail and business crime. I hear a number of instances from independent retailers where judges have given questionable summaries, so these retailers are unsure whether the justice system works in...

17/01/2012

Mike Weatherley: I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing this worthy debate. He mentions larger music festivals, but does he agree that it is equally important to have the access that he describes in some of the smaller venues? Is he aware of my “Rock the House” competition that asks people to nominate their favourite live venue in their constituencies? We would encourage all disadvantaged...

13/12/2011

Mike Weatherley: I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing this important debate. Does he agree that there are three prongs to the protection of our creative industries? There is the carrot, which may be changing some business models to encourage people to download legally, perhaps through differential pricing. There is the stick, which would make illegal the activities of internet service providers and...

12/12/2011

Mike Weatherley: Given that we are the second-largest contributor to Europe, does the Prime Minister agree that without our contribution Europe would fail?

29/11/2011

Mike Weatherley: I congratulate the hon. Lady on securing this important debate. Does she agree with the recent remarks made by the US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, who said that an “AIDS-free generation” should be a policy priority for all Governments, including that of the UK?

24/11/2011

Mike Weatherley: I shall be brief and hope not to take up the full eight minutes I have been allotted. I want to concentrate on smaller manufacturers. My hon. Friend the Member for Warwick and Leamington (Chris White) might be interested to know that I come to the debate with a certain amount of expertise. First, I am a chartered management accountant and that profession is geared towards manufacturing. In...

24/11/2011

Mike Weatherley: Does my hon. Friend agree that the banks in his example would facilitate help for some of the failures in respect of the enterprise finance guarantee scheme? There are 4.8 million SMEs, but the Government are targeting only 6,000 of them with help through the EFG at the moment.

23/11/2011

Mike Weatherley: I thank the right hon. Gentleman for initiating the debate. Could he clarify the situation? Is he saying that the allocation of channels is driven by a commercial enterprise for its own vested interests, rather than being based on viewing figures for the likes of QVC, which may therefore be pushed down the list unfairly, as against those vested interests, in the allocation of the channels?

9/11/2011

Mike Weatherley: I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing this debate. Does he recognise the work of those calling for an opt-out system of organ donation, which includes national campaigns such as the British Heart Foundation, as well as local campaigners, including Valerie Paynter, who underwent a kidney transplant 20 years ago, which saved her life? Her story is very moving. Will my hon. Friend encourage...

1/11/2011

Mike Weatherley: The hon. Lady is under a misapprehension. The person who comes back from holiday and finds their home squatted has no legal redress other than to ask the squatters to leave. The squatters are already in that property; they should not be there while the owners are on holiday.

1/11/2011

Mike Weatherley: Would the hon. Gentleman not agree that the squatters should not be there to start with?

1/11/2011

Mike Weatherley: Today is a good day for the law-abiding citizens of this country and a bad day for those wanting something for nothing. Since my election nearly 18 months ago, I have been campaigning to criminalise squatting, including in an excellent Westminster Hall debate with the Minister about a year ago. I congratulate the Government on tabling the new clause. I wish to dispel once and for all the myth...

26/10/2011

Mike Weatherley: My hon. Friend makes powerful points about fisheries and so forth. In Brighton and Hove, we quite like seagulls. Indeed, their image adorns our wonderful new stadium. In relation to points made earlier about bins and destruction, we have changed some of the collection methods so that there is less destruction and less mess. In large numbers gulls can cause distress, but does my hon. Friend...

26/10/2011

Mike Weatherley: I congratulate the right hon. Gentleman on securing the debate. Although I was not at the Nairobi event, I was at the event in Lithuania. It struck me that very few parliamentarians were present, but there were people from the Pirate party. Does the right hon. Gentleman agree that it is crucial that MPs from other countries attend such events to stop the spread of lawlessness through the...

26/10/2011

Mike Weatherley: I thank the right hon. Gentleman for giving way to me again. Would he like to clarify his position? We all accept that things such as the IGF are a good talking-shop and that these issues should be discussed at length by the various countries and parties involved, but is he saying that no legislation is worth having, not even legislation to set out the principles relating to intellectual...

13/10/2011

Mike Weatherley: I ask this question as the chair of the all-party group on retail and business crime. A lot of retailers feel that crime against their shops is seen as a victimless crime. Does my hon. Friend agree that a lot of people who were committing these crimes felt that they were committing a victimless crime because in the past sentencing had not been robust enough?

11/10/2011

Mike Weatherley: Given that the estimated cost of the clean-up of existing nuclear waste is £100 billion, that the national policy statement said nuclear power was not risk-free, and that the European cap on insurance is £1.6 billion, whereas the cost of the Japanese disaster is estimated at over £60 billion, will the Secretary of State confirm that cost will be a factor in decisions on nuclear...

6/09/2011

Mike Weatherley: I congratulate the hon. Member for Blackley and Broughton (Graham Stringer) on securing this debate. Although passenger numbers are on the decline throughout the country, I understand that buses remain the most popular form of public transport. Usage is on the increase in Brighton and Hove, which bucks the national trend. In the city of Brighton and Hove, which includes my constituency of...