Paul Rowen | ProjectParly

Parliamentary History

Liberal Democrat

Rochdale

5 May 2005 – 6 May 2010 (5 yrs)

Ideology spectrum

69.0

ProgressiveCentreConservative

Conservative — based on 13 coded votes across 1 axes (2% coverage).

Policy axis scores

0 = progressive, 50 = centre, 100 = conservative. Based on coded division votes.

Climate / energy 69

Medium confidence 13 votes

Voting trends (most recent 12 months of activity)

Voting record

November 2009 12 votes

Division	Date	Vote
We have made clear that on the question of public subsidy for nuclear—it was clear in the White Paper produced by my right hon. Friend the Member for Barrow and Furness (Mr. Hutton) —we are not going to provide public subsidy for the construction, operation and decommissioning of nuclear power stations. Motion made, and Question put forthwith ( Standing Order No. 83A ),	9 Nov 2009	NO
Division 241	9 Nov 2009	AYE
We have had a useful debate, and we have all managed to get on record the importance of the complete discretion and independence of the CAG. Question put and agreed to. Clause 38 accordingly ordered to stand part of the Bill. Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill. I want to ask about the necessity of this clause. The Father of the House might correct me, but I do not remember i...	4 Nov 2009	AYE
My problem is that it is very difficult to compare costs. I intervened on the hon. Gentleman and, perhaps rashly, he insisted that he was comparing like with like. I ask him to think again. It is very difficult to make reliable comparisons for exactly the reason that has been given by the hon. Member for Somerton and Frome (Mr. Heath) . There is no like-for-like comparison that we have been able t...	4 Nov 2009	NO
All I seek to do is point out to the Minister that we are establishing a panoply of corporate governance that could lead to confusion in the NAO, when all that is required is the scrutiny of those two aspects: the longevity of appointment, about which there is no disagreement at all; and, the board's oversight of expenses and NAO organisation, which may be rather more demanding than was intended o...	4 Nov 2009	AYE
That takes us back to the debates that we had earlier this afternoon and the reluctance, it would seem, of the Executive entirely to let go of matters that are within their power. I hope that the Minister will be able to tell us that in the long term that is precisely what the Government intend to do. Of course we must get value for money, which is exactly what I said. As I shall describe in a mom...	4 Nov 2009	NO
I shall wait for inspiration-but there does not seem to be any great transfer of power in the amendment at all. The right way to address the concerns is to have a proper response to the Calman commission in the round. If the amendment is pushed to a vote and Members vote against it, they will not be voting against Calman; they will be voting for a proper considered response to the whole report. I ...	3 Nov 2009	AYE
I shall attempt to answer the question, and then my right hon. Friend might provide a better answer. It seems to me that an appointment not on merit would be an appointment on political grounds, and I cannot see under what circumstances there could be an appointment to GCHQ on political grounds. My right hon. Friend might enlighten us. I was going to put it to my hon. Friend that I was as baffled ...	3 Nov 2009	AYE
Indeed. I have no doubt that when we come to the third and fourth days, whenever they might be, we will find that yet more important business has been shuffled into the programme. The truth is that this House is being denied an opportunity to make very important changes to the constitution, or, if it is not ready to make them, at least to debate them. I am afraid that this Government like to shut ...	3 Nov 2009	NO
First, I welcome the conversion of the hon. Member for Perth and North Perthshire (Pete Wishart) to the Calman commission. That will receive widespread support from Labour Members—even though there was no great support for the commission from the Scottish National party, which would not even take part in it. I listened to the hon. Gentleman carefully when he said that he was being helpful, and I w...	3 Nov 2009	AYE
The battle for GCHQ's trade union rights, so disgracefully denied by Mrs. Thatcher's Government, was won under this Government, and they should be rightly proud of that. In seeking to extend what are proper rights and entitlements to GCHQ employees— I thank hon. Members for their comments. I shall first set out the scope of the amendment and then address their questions. Clause 1 sets out the scop...	3 Nov 2009	AYE
The right hon. and learned Gentleman will also be aware that there is a very high expectation of a statement tomorrow—the second day in Committee—so we will lose yet more time. That is again something that could not have been factored in when the programme motion was first considered. I remember, in the days when I was in Committees upstairs, time after time the habit crept in of putting in the kn...	3 Nov 2009	NO

October 2009 18 votes

Division	Date	Vote
I must tell the Minister that that is an untruth. The Times printed an untruth. That is not what the shadow Chancellor said. It was clearly printed as a result of discussion in which the shadow Chancellor had engaged, and I know for a fact that the Tory Front Benchers were very concerned about that commitment. The hon. Member for Westbury made a number of stringent attacks on me and on my minister...	28 Oct 2009	AYE
In response to the direct questions from the hon. Member for Falmouth and Camborne, we will-as I said earlier-produce a report in December on the next stages of developing spending reports. On her question about when the next round will take place, it will be-as I again said earlier-when we have assessed and appraised this round. We will certainly consider the role of parish councils in the proces...	28 Oct 2009	AYE
Division 233	28 Oct 2009	AYE
The hon. Gentleman may certainly look forward to us looking at them. We need to move away from the old ways of doing things, and the hon. Gentleman's call for the transformation of the relationship between local and central Government was a good one. In response to the direct questions from the hon. Member for Falmouth and Camborne, we will—as I said earlier—produce a report in December on the nex...	28 Oct 2009	AYE
My hon. Friend also raised the issue of access to gateway. The civil service gateway gives access to all civil service jobs, not just to those in DEFRA. The MMO will apply to civil service commissioners, via the Cabinet Office, for accreditation for MMO staff. Providing the MMO continues to meet the criteria for accreditation, there is no reason why MMO staff should lose the benefit of access to c...	27 Oct 2009	AYE
Essentially, the argument is about whether the word "habitat" goes far enough in protecting our marine environment or whether it should be added to with the word "ecosystem". According to the Oxford English Dictionary, "habitat" means "the natural home or environment of an organism," whereas "ecosystem" is defined as "a biological community of interacting organisms and their physical environment."...	26 Oct 2009	AYE
Division 230	26 Oct 2009	AYE
Does my hon. Friend agree that, while the Liberal Democrat motion makes no mention of costings, the Government amendment confirms a commitment to spending up to £20 million to help Departments reduce their emissions? Is that not a very good reason to vote for the amendment? I confirm what my hon. Friend says. This country already has a good track record on energy efficiency, and I agree, that ener...	21 Oct 2009	AYE
The design of the scheme will be available by spring 2010, and we will move with all speed to get the payments made. The motion proposes the implementation of the ombudsman's recommendation for a scheme setting up a tribunal, which would mean that individual assessments took longer, and it would therefore take longer for the money to get through. I cannot give way; I have only four minutes left. M...	21 Oct 2009	AYE
Division 229	21 Oct 2009	AYE
Division 228	21 Oct 2009	AYE
Question accordingly negatived. Question put forthwith ( Standing Order No. 31(2) ), That the proposed words be there added.	19 Oct 2009	NO
They want to abolish the flexible new deal, when it has just got going on the advice of Lord Freud, who said last year: "The New Deals have been enormously successful". What they are offering instead is simply a new report, which is just a con and a rehash, and which, importantly, has less money behind it than our investment to support the unemployed. They say that they will spend £600 million ext...	19 Oct 2009	AYE
Division 226	19 Oct 2009	NO
Division 225	19 Oct 2009	AYE
I confirm for the hon. Member for Rochdale that I will, of course, meet representatives of the asbestos victims support groups. I have met many such groups, trade unions and others who have campaigned on this issue, just as I have met those, including the Association of British Insurers, who are opposed to our doing anything at all about it. I shall not go through the history of the Bill or the le...	16 Oct 2009	AYE
As I understand clauses 1 and 2, they put back the old common law, but one of my concerns is the possibility for parallel litigation. Indeed, the Association of British Insurers has talked of a flood of exposure-related cases relating to different types of toxic products. However, having studied the Bill carefully, I think the association is being overly alarmist, because it is tightly drawn. I am...	16 Oct 2009	NO
', is causing or is likely to cause' and insert 'or is causing'. Amendment 12, page 1, line 22, at end insert 'if it is likely to cause such impairment'. Amendment 13, in clause 3, page 2, line 10, leave out	16 Oct 2009	NO

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