| Bill Rammell MP | |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 8 June 2009 |
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| Prime Minister | Gordon Brown |
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| Preceded by | Bob Ainsworth |
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| In office 5 October 2008 – 8 June 2009 |
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| Prime Minister | Gordon Brown |
| Preceded by | Kim Howells |
| Succeeded by | Ivan Lewis |
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| In office 28 June 2007 – 5 October 2008 |
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| Preceded by | Unknown |
| Succeeded by | David Lammy |
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Member of Parliament
for Harlow |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 1 May 1997 |
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| Preceded by | Jerry Hayes |
| Majority | 97 (0.2%) |
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| Born | 10 October 1959 Islington |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Labour |
| Spouse(s) | Beryl Jarhall |
| Alma mater | Cardiff University |
William Ernest "Bill" Rammell (born 10 October 1959) is a British Labour politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Harlow since 1997, and is currently the Minister of State for the Armed Forces at the Ministry of Defence (MoD).
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Personal life
Rammell went to Burnt Mill Comprehensive on First Avenue in Harlow. At the University of Wales, Cardiff he studied for a BA in French and Politics, gaining a degree in 1982. He was president of Cardiff University Students' Union from 1982-3. He was a management trainee at British Rail from 1983-4. From 1984-7, he was a Regional Officer at the NUS. From 1987-9, he was Head of Youth Services for Basildon Council. He was the General Manager of King's College London Students' Union from 1990-4, and worked as the Business Manager of the University of London Union from 1994-7. He was a member of Harlow District Council from 1985 to 1997.
He married Beryl Jarhall on 1 January 1983. They have a son (born September 1989) and a daughter (born November 1992).
Parliamentary career
Bill Rammell has held the following positions:
- 2002 - Assistant Government Whip
- 2002-2005 - Parliamentary under Secretary of State at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office
- 2005-2008 - Minister of State for Higher Education
- 2008-2009 - Minister of State at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office
- 2009-present - Minister of State for the Armed Forces
In the 2005 election, he had the 3rd smallest majority of any Labour MP, at just 97 votes. The result was so close that the final declaration had to be delayed 2 days after voting, in order to give exhausted counting officials time to rest.
As Higher Education minister Bill Rammell has been strongly supportive of top-up fees claiming in 2005 that without such fees it would be necessary to put "3p or 4p on the standard rate of tax" [1]. He elsewhere provided a different estimate stating that to replace the income from top-up fees, estimated by the government to be £1.4 billion [2], would necessitate a requirement "to put up income tax by 3%" [3]. The amount raised by the UK in income tax in 2003-2004 was £120 billion [4]. In September 2007 he withdrew funding from some adult and continuing education in UK universities.
Rammell is a Pro-European, who is supportive of joining the Single European Currency, as verified by his time as Chair of Labour's Britain in Europe Group. He was the first British government minister to visit North Korea, in September 2004.
In February 2008, Bill Rammell announced plans[5] to create a "national" database of children's school records and exam results which will make up a publicly-owned CV. The CV and "Learner Number" will stay with the child throughout adult life until retirement and only the British government will be able to remove records from their database entry. The plan will, however, only apply to English children as education is a devolved matter.
In October 2009 following criticism in Sir Thomas Legg's audit of MPs' expenses, Rammell was ordered to repay £2,782 of wrongful claims.
Talks with Libya
In September, 2009, Mr Rammell confirmed he told Libya that the Prime Minister did not want to see the Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi (who had been serving a life sentence) die in prison,[6] but made it clear that the decision was exclusively one for the Scottish Executive.[7]
Voting Record
How Bill Rammell voted on key issues since 2001: [8]
- Has never voted on a transparent Parliament.
- Voted for introducing a smoking ban.
- Voted for introducing ID cards.
- Voted for introducing foundation hospitals.
- Voted for introducing student top-up fees.
- Voted for Labour's anti-terrorism laws.
- Voted for the Iraq war.
- Voted against investigating the Iraq war.
- Voted for replacing Trident.
- Voted for the hunting ban.
- Voted for equal gay rights.
References
- ^ "Rammell's mission to explain fees". BBC News online. 3 October 2005. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/4304774.stm. Retrieved 2008-12-23.
- ^ Price of failure more than £10bn, v-cs warn
- ^ Devoted to debt
- ^ http://www.politics.co.uk/briefings-guides/issue-briefs/economy/taxation/income-tax/income-tax-$366599.htm
- ^ "Anger over pupils database plan". BBC News online. 13 February 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7242326.stm. Retrieved 2008-02-14.
- ^ "No bomber release cover-up - PM". BBC News online. 2 September 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8233814.stm. Retrieved 2009-09-02.
- ^ Magnus Gardham (2009-09-02). "Lockerbie bomber documents show Prime Minister didn't want Megrahi to die in Scots jail". Daily Record. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/2009/09/02/lockerbie-bomber-documents-show-prime-minister-didn-t-want-megrahi-to-die-in-scots-jail-86908-21641675/. Retrieved 2009-02-02.
- ^ They Work For You
External links
- Ministerial responsibilities - DIUS
- Bill Rammell official site
- Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Bill Rammell MP
- TheyWorkForYou.com - Bill Rammell MP
- BBC Politics page
News items
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