http://www.zahawi.com/blog.php Blog of Nadhim Zahawi Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Stratford Upon Avon Fri, 02 Apr 2010 04:00:00 GMT http://www.zahawi.com/viewblog.php?postID=79 You can now watch my speech from yesterday below, the full text is also still available.... Thu, 10 May 2012 16:18:46 GMT http://www.zahawi.com/viewblog.php?postID=79 http://www.zahawi.com/viewblog.php?postID=78 Today I had the great privilege of opening the debate on the Queen's speech and moving the motion that a humble address be presented to Her Majesty. The full text of my speech is below and you can also watch it here: Mr Speaker, I beg to move that an humble address be presented to Her... Wed, 09 May 2012 14:40:07 GMT http://www.zahawi.com/viewblog.php?postID=78 http://www.zahawi.com/viewblog.php?postID=77 On Sunday I wrote an article for the Observer in which I laid out why I am in favour of reforming the House of Lords but against introducing elections. You can read the full article below: Abolishing the Lords would be political vandalismIt's all too easy for the emerging debate on House of Lords reform to be described as a battle between those who want modernisatio... Mon, 23 Apr 2012 03:42:39 GMT http://www.zahawi.com/viewblog.php?postID=77 http://www.zahawi.com/viewblog.php?postID=76 Thank you for making the time in this meeting for my statement. I’m sorry that I am unable to attend in person but as many of you will be aware, the business of the house requires me to be in Westminster from Monday to Thursday to vote on legislation.   At around 10 o’clock tonight  we will be voting on a little known piece of legislation to rebalance the burden of disclosure in insurance contracts  away from the consumer, not necessarily the most high profile Bill but important nonetheless . ... Wed, 07 Mar 2012 05:59:39 GMT http://www.zahawi.com/viewblog.php?postID=76 http://www.zahawi.com/viewblog.php?postID=75 This morning my colleague Peter Bone and I debated the Government's policy to replace Civil Partnerships with Civil Marriage for same sex couples on 5Live. As a Conservative I believe society is stronger when we make vows to each other, and support each other. This is true whether the couple making the commitment is a man and a woman, a woman and a woman, or a man and a man and that is why I, and the Conservative party support, gay marriage. You can listen to the discussion in full below... Mon, 05 Mar 2012 15:10:18 GMT http://www.zahawi.com/viewblog.php?postID=75 http://www.zahawi.com/viewblog.php?postID=74 I’ve joined 105 other MPs in signing a joint letter to the Prime Minister asking him to reconsider the level of Government support for onshore wind. Whilst fully supportive of our pledge to be the greenest government ever, I have never been convinced of the efficiency or effectiveness of on-shore wind. As a result I feel that the high level of subsidy currently available for onshore wind would be better spent on other renewable energy types. I also want to ensure that the new planning regime... Tue, 07 Feb 2012 09:20:39 GMT http://www.zahawi.com/viewblog.php?postID=74 http://www.zahawi.com/viewblog.php?postID=73 The IMF’s World Economic Update, released today, makes sober reading for the world economy, stating that “The Global recovery is threatened by intensifying strains in the euro area and fragilities elsewhere” The organisation has downgraded global growth forecasts by three quarters of a percentage point and even downgraded growth in developing and emerging economies. Particularly badly hit is the Eurozone with Germanys growth put at 0.3%, France’s at 0.2 and Italy and Spain both in negative te... Mon, 06 Feb 2012 14:18:02 GMT http://www.zahawi.com/viewblog.php?postID=73 http://www.zahawi.com/viewblog.php?postID=72 Nadhim Zahawi (Stratford-on-Avon, Conservative): Eight million households have to make do with earning £26,000 or less before tax. What message does my right hon. Friend think that we will be sending to those people if we renege on our promise to cap benefits at £26,000 a year? David Cameron (Prime Minister; Witney, Conservative): There will be many people in the country who criticise the benefit cap, saying, “Actually, £26,000, £500 a week, is too high.” I... Thu, 02 Feb 2012 09:41:24 GMT http://www.zahawi.com/viewblog.php?postID=72 http://www.zahawi.com/viewblog.php?postID=71 Last Friday I had two articles published, one on ConservativeHome on immigration and the other on Stimulus vs. Growth on PoliticsHome. You can read them below. Statistics and spin in immigration I am strongly in favour of evidence-based strategy. Before I became a politician I built a business based around... Mon, 23 Jan 2012 09:18:27 GMT http://www.zahawi.com/viewblog.php?postID=71 http://www.zahawi.com/viewblog.php?postID=70 Today seems to be the day for articles about immigration statistics. First thing this morning Jonathan Portes, director of the NIESR, blogged in response to Damian Green and Chris Grayling’s article in the Telegraph. Then this afternoon Chris... Fri, 20 Jan 2012 10:45:28 GMT http://www.zahawi.com/viewblog.php?postID=70 http://www.zahawi.com/viewblog.php?postID=69 It’s well known that Labour’s Plan B would result in an extra £326bn of borrowing over the course of this Parliament, but new figures show it could also result in a loss of £89m a year to the local Stratford economy. On the day the Coalition Government was formed, UK Gilt yields (interest rates) were similar to those of Spain and Italy, yet today they are 4.8 percentage points lower than Spain’s and 4.7 points lower than Italy’s. Spain and Italy have both been punished by the markets for t... Wed, 14 Dec 2011 06:47:35 GMT http://www.zahawi.com/viewblog.php?postID=69 http://www.zahawi.com/viewblog.php?postID=68 As I stated in the update to my blog post of the 8th of December the Times only published my correction letter in edited form. As a result 19 other MPs and I have co-signed the following letter to the editor asking for a full correction. Dear Sir Re: Benefit claimant figures totally inaccurate As Members of Parliament for the areas highlighted in your 28th of November article, “Welfare benefit appeals see costs soaring”, we are writi... Tue, 13 Dec 2011 10:24:04 GMT http://www.zahawi.com/viewblog.php?postID=68 http://www.zahawi.com/viewblog.php?postID=67 The House recently debated the economy and unfortunately I was not called to speak again. However had I been, I would have given the speech below. Thank you Mr Speaker. I don’t believe that on either these benches, or those opposite, that there is any disagreement on whether the economy is where we would like it to be. The members opposite are quick to blame us. We are “cutting too far, too fast” they say, rhe line parroted from the Whips handout as they conveniently forget their... Mon, 12 Dec 2011 08:38:42 GMT http://www.zahawi.com/viewblog.php?postID=67 http://www.zahawi.com/viewblog.php?postID=66 On the 28th of November the Times ran a graphic accompanying their front page story which claimed that Stratford-on-Avon had seen a 156% increase in benefit claimants since May 2010. This figure, and many of the others in the graphic was totally wrong. In actual fact we've seen the number of benefit claimants fall by 4.2% in that time. My letter to the Editor (sent today) pointing this out is below. Dear Sir I am writing to correct a number of inaccuracies in the graphic w... Wed, 07 Dec 2011 05:44:57 GMT http://www.zahawi.com/viewblog.php?postID=66 http://www.zahawi.com/viewblog.php?postID=65 I am extremely pleased that the Backbench Business Committee has decided to allow the Fair Fuel e-petition to be debated today. The speed at which the e-petition attained 100,000 signatures shows just how important fuel prices are to the public, and the granting of this debate also shows that Parliament is willing to listen to and engage with public priorities. I, along with 115 of my colleagues have happily signed the motion, showing our support for the work that the government has already... Tue, 15 Nov 2011 09:45:56 GMT http://www.zahawi.com/viewblog.php?postID=65 http://www.zahawi.com/viewblog.php?postID=64 Matt Hancock MP and I spoke at a CPS event on our book Masters of Nothing today. Just before we started I recorded a short piece for them explaining what the book is about and where the idea came from.... Mon, 07 Nov 2011 08:07:00 GMT http://www.zahawi.com/viewblog.php?postID=64 http://www.zahawi.com/viewblog.php?postID=63 I’m delighted that today’s announcement of the route for the olympic torch relay includes five locations within my constituency. On the 1st of July Earlswood, Alcester, Newbold-on-Stour, Alderminster and Stratford-Upon-Avon will all play host to the torch as it makes its way towards London’s own Stratford. This is fantastic news for our area and an excellent opportunity for our local communities to put on their own celebrations and show themselves off.... Mon, 07 Nov 2011 03:19:21 GMT http://www.zahawi.com/viewblog.php?postID=63 http://www.zahawi.com/viewblog.php?postID=62 Unfortunately the Speaker has informed me that due to the number of people who have asked to speak this evening I will not be called. However here is what I would have said had I been. Thank you Mr Speaker I am afraid Mr Speaker, that I cannot support this motion. I am sure it will disappoint some of my honourable and right honourable friends when I say that the reason for this has nothing to do with application of the whip. There is no doubt, that Europe needs reform, that our relati... Mon, 24 Oct 2011 12:13:45 GMT http://www.zahawi.com/viewblog.php?postID=62 http://www.zahawi.com/viewblog.php?postID=61 Dear Roger Thank you for your email and for posting it as an open letter on your blog, I have also posted my reply there. I am sorry that you were disappointed with what I had to say on Sunday, but I am afraid that I must disagree with you that being in the EU for the sake of trade is a discredited position. Whilst I have no doubt that you have gained a great deal of experience in... Thu, 20 Oct 2011 12:31:54 GMT http://www.zahawi.com/viewblog.php?postID=61 http://www.zahawi.com/viewblog.php?postID=60 The following speech was given to the CBI's, Neglected Middle, fringe event at Conservative Party Conference on the 3rd of October. Thank you John. I have to admit that I am not a career politician and still think of myself as an entrepreneur and a businessman, with the personal experience of growing a mid-sized business and taking it public YouGov may have started with two of us in a shed, but today it’s a multi-national business, listed on the London stock exchange and with a turn... Wed, 05 Oct 2011 05:53:00 GMT http://www.zahawi.com/viewblog.php?postID=60