David Nuttall M.P. - Bury North

60th Anniversary of the Queen’s Accession

David Nuttall — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 17:02:57 +0000

Today marks the 60th anniversary of the death of King George the Sixth and the accession of his daughter Elizabeth to become our Monarch Queen Elizabeth the Second.

I believe the example the Queen has sent is a tremendous example of public service. The Queen has been a focus of unity and stability in a changing world for six decades.Her reign has spanned the careers of twelve Prime Ministers and her achievement is one which everyone can be justly proud of.

Kashmir Solidarity Day

David Nuttall — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 11:27:33 +0000

Today is Kashmir Solidarity Day and yesterday I attended a meeting organised by the Jammu Kashmir Self Determination Movement at the Jinnah Day Care Centre on Alfred Street in Bury to mark the event.

The disputed area between India and Pakistan has been a cause of friction since 1947 and continues to be a matter of great concern to the members of the Pakistani community in Bury many of whom have families in the Kashmir area.

IPT Fellowship

David Nuttall — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 20:42:47 +0000

Many constituents are already employed in the media industry and with the BBC moving more departments up to media city the number of constituents engaged either directly or indirectly in the media sector and supporting businesses will continue to increase. With this in mind I have for several months been making arrangement to undertake what they call a Fellowship – in media and broadcasting – through the auspices of the Industry and Parliament Trust (IPT). The Industry and Parliament Trust is a registered charity which is dedicated to promoting mutual understanding between the worlds of business, industry and commerce for the public benefit.

MP’s and peers from all parties are encouraged to spend time in different sectors to learn about business in much greater depth than is normally possible. My placements will be with various media companies from across the sector and last Tuesday I had my first briefing session with ITV. I will in due course be spending time with STV , BBC possibly C4 and a smaller independent production company. There is a commitment on the part of the Member to undertake 18 days of placements with host organisations but these are spread over a period of around one and half years so there is plenty of opportunity to fit the days in with my other commitments.

Scottish Independence

David Nuttall — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 20:38:05 +0000

Who would have thought just a couple of years ago that the question of Scotland becoming an independent nation would seriously be taking up Parliamentary time. It is now. Last week we had a statement as the Government launched a Consultation paper on how to respond to the plans by the Scottish Nationalist Government in Scotland to hold a referendum as to whether Scotland should leave the United Kingdom.

There would of course be a whole host of problems and difficulties. The first would surround the exact nature of the ballot. Who would be entitled to vote? Why should only current residents of Scotland be entitled to vote. There are thousands of passionate Scots who for a variety of reasons are presently living elsewhere in the United Kingdom – or indeed in other parts of the World. What currency would Scotland use? What would the United Kingdom flag look like? ( no blue!) How much of the national debt should the Scots take with them? At the moment there are many more questions than answers.

Politically, the Conservatives – traditionally the Conservative and Unionist Party – are staunchly supporting the preservation of Scotland within the United Kingdom despite the fact that we have only one MP from North of the Border. Labour who have dozens of Scottish MP’s are also and perhaps not surprisingly also keen to retain Scotland and their Scottish MP’s.

I am not surprised that support for the Union is so divided in the England. I think in recent years the failure to properly address the West Lothian question ( that is the fact that Scottish MP’s can vote on matters at Westminster which affect my constituents but not their own! ) has increased the sense of resentment and unfairness among many and I suspect that support for the Union in England would increase if this anomaly was rectified.

Human Rights

David Nuttall — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 13:34:47 +0000

I am one of the ten backbench Conservative MP’s who have promoted a new work on the impact of the Human rights legislation which has been published today. The work is essentially that of the excellent researcher Robert Broadhurst who is employed by the European Research Group which we are all members of.

The publication has received high profile coverage in the Daily Mail today and readers can access it via the following website:
www.makinghumanrightswork.org.uk