UK Parliament / Open data

European Union (Finance) Bill

Proceeding contribution from Baroness Keeley (Labour) in the House of Commons on Thursday, 11 June 2015. It occurred during Debate on bills on European Union (Finance) Bill.

My hon. Friend is making an excellent speech. Does he wish to comment on the sheer difficulty of bringing about reform? In the October 2012 debate the then Financial Secretary to the Treasury, now the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, the right hon. Member for Tunbridge Wells (Greg Clark), said that the British Government had asked the Commission to model cuts of €5 billion, €10 billion and €15 billion in staffing costs. I know that my hon. Friend took part in the debate, but it is worth looking at the Commission’s response to our Government when they asked for that work to be done:

“We declined as it’s a lot of work and a waste of time for our staff who are busy with more urgent matters…we are better educated than national civil servants. We’re high fliers, not burger flippers”.—[Official Report, 31 October 2012; Vol. 552, c. 297.]

If that is the response that we get, is it not time that we took a more robust approach?

About this proceeding contribution

Reference

596 c1403 

Session

2015-16

Chamber / Committee

House of Commons chamber
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