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Mr Harold Best

Mr Harold Best

LAB Labour Former MP
Last served Leeds North West (1997-05-01 – 2005-05-05)
33
Total votes
12
Ayes
21
Noes
0
Other

Parliamentary History

1 May 1997 – 5 May 2005 (8 yrs)

Voting trends (most recent 12 months of activity)

Voting record

March 2005 14 votes
Division Date Vote
I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his second speech. I am reminded that lawyers sometimes appear to have a sort of taxi meter that charges in guineas according to the length of their speeches. In response to a contribution from my noble Friend Lord Goodhart, Lord Kingsland, the Conservative spokesman, said: "What possible confidence can the noble Lord, Lord Goodhart, have that a non-lawyer s... 16 Mar 2005 AYE
Question agreed to. Motion made, and Question put forthwith, pursuant to Standing Order No. 118(6) (Standing Committees on Delegated Legislation) , That the draft Renewables Obligation Order 2005, which was laid before this House on 9th February, be approved.— [Mr. Ainger] Question agreed to. Motion made, and Question put forthwith, pursuant to Standing Order No. 118(6) (Standing Committees on Del... 15 Mar 2005 AYE
There are wider considerations. As my hon. Friend will appreciate, there may well be an inquest into a death that bears on the state function that led to that death. I can think of inquests in which that has been the case, certainly in the context of my constituents. In any state, the legal mechanisms—which may include an inquiry, an inquest or even criminal proceedings—will have a bearing on our ... 15 Mar 2005 AYE
Question accordingly agreed to. Lords amendment, as amended, agreed to. 9 Mar 2005 NO
I cannot give way to the right hon. Gentleman. I will just complete my five minutes before I resume my place. I realise that he is on the side of the angels but his particular angel is being too naive if he thinks that we are half way near to getting the sort of terrorism legislation that the House should approve, in any circumstances, once it is given the proper time to debate it. I regret that I... 9 Mar 2005 NO
This is broadly a good Bill. We have been calling for such a road safety measure for about three years, so it would be churlish of me to pick it apart. There are many good things in the Bill, although they are not all set out precisely as I might want. However, the broad thrust of the Bill and what it seeks to do are good. In one of our debates, we touched on the idea of 20 mph zones around school... 8 Mar 2005 AYE
(c) in Northern Ireland, when a notice is served on the clerk of the petty sessions under Article 76(2)(a) of the Magistrates' Courts (Northern Ireland) Order 1981.'.— [Mr. Jamieson.] I beg to move amendment No. 9, in page 47, line 43, after 'passengers', insert '(a)'. With this it will be convenient to discuss amendment No. 10, in page 47, line 43, at end add (b) at end insert "or a vehicle which... 8 Mar 2005 NO
Question accordingly negatived. 'In section 41 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 (c. 52) (regulation of construction, weight, equipment and use of vehicles), at the end of subsection (2) insert— "(m) for prohibiting the modification or retrofitting to the front of a motor vehicle any equipment which in the opinion of the Secretary of State may render the vehicle more likely to cause injury to a third p... 8 Mar 2005 NO
"The information is not collected centrally."—[ Official Report , 26 April 2004; Vol. 420, c.765W . ] During the last Session, I tabled early-day motion 1186 on that very issue, expressing disappointment, and it seemed to me that the Road Safety Bill would be a very appropriate means by which to introduce a new clause on the subject. "crash direction and force data can markedly improve injury pred... 8 Mar 2005 NO
Question accordingly negatived. 'If a person causes the death of another person by driving a mechanically propelled vehicle on a road or other public place while disqualified from driving by order of a court he is guilty of an offence.'. —[ Mr. Chope.] Brought up, and read the First time. 8 Mar 2005 NO
Will the Minister address the point that I raised earlier—whether the penalties should be the same in all parts of the jurisdiction and whether it is not unfair that in some parts of the country, there can be a trade-off between a speed awareness course and a penalty, whereas in others there is no option? It is the case that these courses have been pioneered in some parts of the country. Because t... 8 Mar 2005 NO
Division 112 2 Mar 2005 AYE
The Minister is guilty of many sins, but when she was a Treasury Minister she was the first person to see to it that there were no longer fibs on death certificates. She ensured that the cause of death was properly recorded. Previously, pneumonia and septicaemia might be put down as the cause of death, when the truth was that the death was MRSA-related. My hon. Friend remedied that. However, now t... 2 Mar 2005 NO
The Tories proposals are fool's gold. There is no money to give away to pensioners in council discounts. The Tories £35 billion of cuts means full spread council tax and an increase for council tax for all, not just pensioners. Even if memories among those pensioners were not very strong, however, they would know about the track record of Tory councils and about the average council tax, which is £... 2 Mar 2005 NO
February 2005 16 votes
Division Date Vote
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 AYE
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 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 NO
Question accordingly negatived. Main Question put forthwith, pursuant to Standing Order No. 62 (Amendment on Second or Third Reading) :— 23 Feb 2005 NO
That is not the comfort zone that I was seeking concerning the interpretation of this clause. It is my understanding that the Minister is actually saying that the aggravation factor will not apply if, for example, the children are at a school premises and attending a Sunday school. indicated dissent. The Minister could intervene to tell me that such children would be protected while attending such... 22 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
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
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 AYE
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