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Miss Melanie Johnson

Miss Melanie Johnson

LAB Labour Former MP
Last served Welwyn Hatfield (1997-05-01 – 2005-05-05)
86
Total votes
42
Ayes
44
Noes
0
Other

Parliamentary History

1 May 1997 – 5 May 2005 (8 yrs)

Voting trends (most recent 12 months of activity)

Voting record

February 2005 30 votes
Division Date Vote
(a) the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism; (b) conduct which knowingly facilitates the commission, preparation or instigation of such acts, or which is intended to do so; and (c) conduct which knowingly gives encouragement to the commission, preparation or instigation of such acts, or which is intended to do so. (11) Evidence established to have been obtained under tortur... 28 Feb 2005 NO
Order. I remind the hon. Gentleman that, although there has been some latitude, he is again going very wide of the amendments under discussion. I am grateful for your guidance, Mrs. Heal. Let me ask the Home Secretary a question that I asked the Minister when I thought that she would respond to this brief debate. I urge the Home Secretary to tell us that we will have a proper chance to discuss ame... 28 Feb 2005 NO
I suggest to the Minister that we need not have reached this situation in the first place. This problem has existed for three years and the Liberal Democrats have consistently pointed out that the Government should have tackled it during that time, rather than leaving it until a point at which, because of a Law Lords judgment, we are faced with such a short time scale. It cannot be right that we h... 28 Feb 2005 AYE
The Bill would replace the Press Complaints Commission, which has been successful as a mediation service, with a rather complicated adversarial one to address a non-existent problem. The Conservative party supports the right of the press to regulate itself, which is a crucial part of our press freedom. Too many of our freedoms seem to be disappearing under this authoritarian Labour regime, which w... 25 Feb 2005 NO
I am not sure about that. We have a healthy eating project together with the Department of Health, we have issued strict guidance to schools and we are working with them to ensure that those standards are reached. We also have the schools food trust. Those measures should help to achieve the major improvement that we want to bring about. We must have a smarter accountability system, where interven... 25 Feb 2005 NO
Question accordingly agreed to. Bill accordingly read a Second time. Motion made, and Question put forthwith, pursuant to Standing Order No. 83(A) , 23 Feb 2005 AYE
Question accordingly negatived. Main Question put forthwith, pursuant to Standing Order No. 62 (Amendment on Second or Third Reading) :— 23 Feb 2005 AYE
As to the contribution of the hon. Member for Henley (Mr. Johnson) , does he accept that there is a serious threat, which I thought was fairly common ground? Does he accept that some people cannot be prosecuted through a conventional legal system? Does he accept that detention in prison under part 4 is not sustainable in the light of the Law Lords' judgment? Frankly, in those circumstances, what w... 23 Feb 2005 NO
We should be fortunate and have three quarters of an hour, if that is fortunate. I was slightly surprised that the hon. Member for Chesham and Amersham was not able to get the Government amendments through PDVN, as I was. I am delighted that, for once, in a technological sense, things seem to be working better in Orkney and Shetland than in Chesham and Amersham. My hon. Friend is of course correct... 22 Feb 2005 AYE
The UK results were 39 per cent. "not at all", 13 per cent. "a little", 5 per cent. "moderately", 2 per cent. "very", 2 per cent. "extremely" and 40 per cent. "don't hear". We are not aware of specific statistics on complaints to local authorities about noise from car alarms, because they do not show up on current record keeping and reporting statistics. However, the complaint does not seem to get... 21 Feb 2005 NO
Question accordingly negatived. Mr. Deputy Speaker then proceeded to put forthwith the Questions necessary for the disposal of the business to be concluded at that hour. Amendment proposed : No. 29, page 46, line 31, at end insert 21 Feb 2005 NO
Order. The hon. Lady must not go on making mini-speeches in her interventions. There is only a relatively small amount of time left for debate. I do not want to add anything further to what I have said and I know that we are all interested in hearing what the Minister has to say in response. I rise to support amendment No. 28— Order. I suspect that the hon. Lady means to speak to amendment No. 29.... 21 Feb 2005 NO
It is a complex issue. We need carrots and sticks to ensure that people do not constantly have to pay this money. London Liberal Democrats have suggested the introduction of a penny-a-pack levy on manufacturers, and I understand that Westminster council—we heard in Committee how much money it has spent—agrees with that. Does the hon. Lady agree that a company that started entirely afresh in market... 21 Feb 2005 NO
The hon. Gentleman is correct. The Minister responded to my hon. Friend the Member for Vale of York (Miss McIntosh) in his usual robust manner. I was one of those who spoke on Second Reading and who made, according to him, an ill-informed contribution. Whether he meant my contribution I am not sure, but I was chief executive of the largest animal welfare charity in Britain, so I understand a bit m... 21 Feb 2005 AYE
I am interested in a more serious debate. The Home Secretary and the Minister for Citizenship and Immigration know that I am very ready to pay tribute to the Government when I think that they are right. However, we should be unremitting in our criticism of them when they are wrong. Today, hon. Members from all the different political traditions have explained eloquently that the Government are wro... 10 Feb 2005 AYE
"The co-ordinated national use of intelligent tracking systems . . . which can piggyback onto the CCTV network is viewed within the service as something of a holy grail." I accept that it may be a holy grail for law enforcement purposes, but it is not necessarily a holy grail for privacy. Throughout this debate, we have tried to argue that law enforcement measures are necessary, but they must alwa... 10 Feb 2005 NO
Question accordingly negatived. Amendment made: No. 56, in page 21, line 45 at end insert— '( ) In Part 6 of Schedule 1 to the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (c. 36) (public authorities for the purposes of that Act), at the appropriate place, insert— "The National Identity Scheme Commissioner.".'.— [Mr. Heppell] Amendment proposed : No. 26, in page 22, line 3 [Clause 25], leave out from 'must' to... 10 Feb 2005 NO
I am a member of the Joint Committee. Of course, the drumbeat of Home Office legislation that touches on human rights matters is so great that we are running behind the Government. That is the difficulty that this huge volume of legislation places on us, as well the constraints that lie within it. It is in the Government's gift to make reasonable the passage of Bills and the deliberation of Select... 10 Feb 2005 NO
"May I ask my right hon. Friend, first, whether he accepts that it is for those who are in favour of the card to make a case for it, not the other way round? Secondly, will he confirm that the card will be little or no use in combating terrorism? Thirdly, given the unhappy history . . . of Government information technology projects, are we not entitled to be sceptical about some of the claims made... 10 Feb 2005 NO
Clause 11 contains the power to require information for validating the register. It is enormously important because it is crucial to the operation of the scheme, but it has not been debated. Clause 11(1) places a duty on a person to provide information to the Secretary of State for the purposes of verifying an individual's entry on the register. Not unreasonably, we would like to discuss that duty... 10 Feb 2005 AYE
Question accordingly agreed to. Bill read a Second time. Motion made, and Question put forthwith, pursuant to Standing Order No. 83(A) , 9 Feb 2005 AYE
Question accordingly negatived. Main Question put forthwith, pursuant to Standing Order No. 62 (Amendment on second or third reading) 9 Feb 2005 AYE
What, alas, we have heard today in too many speeches from the main Opposition party is language to appease UKIP and not promote Britain. I would say to the Conservative party, appeasement and isolation is never the way forward. Every other mainstream Conservative party in Europe understands the need to support this new treaty. I have to say, on the day after President Bush sends his Secretary of S... 9 Feb 2005 NO
My hon. and learned Friend the Member for Redcar (Vera Baird) again rightly emphasised that prosecutions are our preferred route. She said that the Conservative Opposition would need a fall-back position. We have all been worried by the polarisation of the Conservatives, who said simply that we should either proceed through trial and prosecution or release with no controls. That is not a tenable p... 8 Feb 2005 NO
Question accordingly agreed to. Clause read a second time, and added to the Bill. 7 Feb 2005 AYE
"any highway or any place to which at the material time the public or any section of the public has access, on payment or otherwise, as of right or by virtue of express or implied permission". One demonstration could take place, having given notice, but there might then be no opportunity for another demonstration to take place at the same time on what could be a hugely important and divisive issue... 7 Feb 2005 AYE
over the switch "and at the moment I have not heard one". That is a fairly damning assessment. A similar view was expressed by West Yorkshire police, so there are doubts even at senior levels about that change. The Government's proposals have yet to allay those concerns. The main thrust of the Minister's argument in Committee—I hope that I am not unfairly summarising—was that SOCA is a brand new e... 7 Feb 2005 NO
The words have been chosen to make the language precise, because the provisions refer to "a relevant act"; we wanted to give some more detail on that. The definition is of a relevant act, so both subsections 3(a) and 3(b) refer to an act that amounts to a criminal offence and a tortious act. There is nothing unusual in that wording, which is intended to make the clause more precise. The hon. Gentl... 7 Feb 2005 NO
These arguments have not persuaded many. Justice, the all-party law reform group, has also addressed the arguments advanced by the Government. It states: "If the intelligence services of the United States, France, Israel, Canada and Australia can survive the use of such evidence in their courts, then British spies are surely equal to the challenge." The Director of Public Prosecutions, Ken Macdona... 7 Feb 2005 NO
Mr Deputy Speaker then proceeded to put the Questions necessary to dispose of the business to be concluded at that hour. Amendment made: No. 106, in page 187, line 38, leave out 'racial and religious hatred' and insert 'hatred against persons on racial or religious grounds'.— [Mr. Heppell.] 'The offences of blasphemy and blasphemous libel are abolished.'.— [Dr. Evan Harris] Brought up, and read th... 7 Feb 2005 NO
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