http://southeastlibdems.org.uk/speecharchive.php Recent Speeches from South East Region Liberal Democrats en-GB South East Region Liberal Democrats http://southeastlibdems.org.uk/ Prater Raines Ltd http://www.praterraines.co.uk/ (c) 2010 South East Region Liberal Democrats 2010-03-14T23:41+00:00 United Kingdom http://southeastlibdems.org.uk/speeches/000037/regulation_and_growth.html We are now confident enough to say that things are getting better even if the effects of the crisis, particularly on employment, are not yet over. 2009-12-02T12:18+00:00 http://southeastlibdems.org.uk/speeches/000036/keynote_speech_at_european_pensions_funds_congress.html Thank you for inviting me. I am pleased to be here even if Chris Verhaegen had to pursue me all round the Eurofi conference in Gothenburg in order to catch up with me. Persistence is rewarded and I hope I can live up to it. 2009-12-02T12:15+00:00 http://southeastlibdems.org.uk/speeches/000035/whats_the_point_of_the_european_union_to_liberal_youth_conference.html What's the point of the European Union 2009-11-14T13:00+00:00 http://southeastlibdems.org.uk/speeches/000034/speech_to_south_central_regional_conference_2009.html For those of you who don't know me - and there are not many I think in this room, but a few. I have been doing what any good candidate is asked to do for the last 15 years. 2009-10-12T13:00+01:00 http://southeastlibdems.org.uk/speeches/000033/on_the_capital_requirements_directive.html The agreed CRD text is a good step forward on core capital, exposures and supervision. 2009-05-06T12:00+01:00 http://southeastlibdems.org.uk/speeches/000032/on_copyright_extension.html Commissioner, 2009-04-23T15:43+01:00 http://southeastlibdems.org.uk/speeches/000028/on_disclosure_requirements.html I am very pleased to reduce the financial reporting burden on SMEs. Smaller companies are not simply downsized versions of large corporations. So some reporting required of large companies is not relevant at all. Other parts create an excessive drain on resources, do not fit the realities of running the huge variety of different smaller companies that we have in Europe and so do not serve the public interest. Unnecessary reporting does more harm than good. Glad to be rid of some, let's keep up the good work 2008-12-18T14:28+00:00 http://southeastlibdems.org.uk/speeches/000002/deposit_guarantee_schemes.html All the institutions have been ambitious in this project. 2008-12-16T21:00+00:00 http://southeastlibdems.org.uk/speeches/000001/address_to_the_committee_of_european_insurance_and_occupational_pensions_supervisors_frankfurt_191108.html I am very pleased to be here, though maybe we are not quite in the situation that we expected in terms of Solvency 2 or the general financial situation when I was invited to speak. 2008-11-19T09:20+00:00 http://southeastlibdems.org.uk/speeches/000030/update_on_sharons_work_in_the_european_parliament.html It was always going to be a busy period for the ECON committee, but with the current global financial turmoil having truly arrived in Europe, the importance of our work has never been more pressing. 2008-10-25T00:00+01:00 http://southeastlibdems.org.uk/speeches/000027/on_the_future_of_financial_supervision.html this report is ambitious but also realistic. It analyses the causes of the financial turmoil and proposes future changes. Many of these changes, as others have said, would have been suggested without the present situation, because there was already a view that the Lamfalussy process had not progressed as far as it could or should have done. 2008-10-08T00:00+01:00 http://southeastlibdems.org.uk/speeches/000026/on_hedge_funds_and_private_equity.html Mr President, I would say to the Commissioner that, in the current turmoil, the interconnection between all institutions is plain to see. It is equally plain and logical that regulation has to be targeted at function and not at entities. It would be wrong if one private company had to abide by different rules from others just because it was owned by private equity. 2008-09-22T00:00+01:00 http://southeastlibdems.org.uk/speeches/000029/support_safe_standing.html As an MEP I've been involved with football rather more than I expected. Usually its been dealing with competition and copyright law for media rights. These have been big issues because everyone wants to watch their favourite sport. 2008-09-14T00:00+01:00 http://southeastlibdems.org.uk/speeches/000025/coordinated_strategy_to_improve_the_fight_against_fiscal_fraud.html May I first take this opportunity to thank colleagues for their input, especially on one or two topics where we still have differences of opinion. I think we have more in common than divides us and that we can reach a satisfactory outcome by not straying too far from the core subject. 2008-09-01T00:00+01:00 http://southeastlibdems.org.uk/speeches/000017/on_financial_services_policy_20052010.html I have three words of caution, or three points, on our report. Firstly, where I have disagreed most in this report is in the fashion zone, where it is de rigueur to criticise private equity and, even more so, hedge funds. It can be good to look at things, analyse and discuss, but it is then wrong to prejudge what is needed as the outcome just in order to be fashionable. 2008-07-10T00:00+01:00