naomi1

Answered by Jo Swinson

Click play to watch this video answer

Answered by Lynne Featherstone

Click play to watch this video answer

Answered by Lord Carlile

Click play to watch this video answer

Answered by Lord Soley of Hammersmith

I think the congestion charge has been beneficial and would generally support it in areas where congestion is a problem. So although the Mayor can reasonably claim to have responded to local pressure personally I think it would have been better to keep it in west London.

Answered by Baroness Warnock

Religious groups have considerable influence. Especially Roman Catholics are very goo, through their bishops, at mobilising people into writing letters of protest, usually providing the actual wording of the letter, so one gets a hundred identical letters with different signatures. In the House of Lords, the Bishops are listened to respectfully when they speak on any matter of morality. Yet very few of them or other religious people in Parliament declare that they are speaking as their religion teaches them. They  say a few words about the Sanctity of Life, but then go on to the  main secular arguments, such as the danger of abuse, and particularly the threat they perceive to people who are disabled and whose lives are deemed (by others) not to be worth preserving. So it's quite difficult to assess the influence of religious conviction by itself. Most people who are religiously committed make no clear distinction between moral and religious arguments. They assume that their moral convictions are grounded on religion, or are somehow part of what God teaches. One ought to persist in asking them how they know they are right.

Answered by Paul Rowen

I think that we should continue to encourage more people to go to University and invest in higher education, however, although the 50% target for young people in university set by the Government is laudable it is looking increasingly unrealistic.

Mandelson has today announced 10,000 extra places at university for this coming year, but without any extra funding for teaching, I question whether we should increase numbers of students, if the funding isn’t all there. Further to this questions still remain about the quality of education being received, often negatively impacted by lack of funding, do universities provide the right skills to make graduates employable?

The Innovation, Universities, Science and Skills committee has just finished a massive inquiry into students and universities; the report is expected to be published around August 1st, I think that this will answer many of the remaining questions when it is published, transcripts of the evidence heard by the committee is available on their website and may be of interest in the meantime.

Ultimately, we need to invest in skills for Britain’s future, in order to prepare for jobs in the post-recession economy, and sending young people to university is a good way to do that. The UKCES published their ‘Ambition 2020’ report on 7th May saying that the UK should be aiming to be in the top quartile (the top 8) of Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries for low, medium and high level skills. (high level skills translates roughly to degree level). At the rate we’re currently progressing, we won’t be in the top eight for any of those. We do, therefore, need to encourage young people to go to University so that the skills base is available when the job market picks up, keeping the UK globally competitive.

Answered by John Hemming

Click play to watch this video answer

Answered by Philip Norton, Baron Norton of Louth

Click play to watch this video answer

Answered by Jenny Willott

Click play to watch this video answer

Answered by Fabian Hamilton

I am sorry I do not have any figures to help me consider this question. There is no doubt about the value to the Leeds economy of the education institutions. If there are local issues, perhaps in former student areas that are now less popular, I think there will be local solutions for them.

Answered by Sir Menzies Campbell

Click play to watch this video answer