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Bill Rammell MP
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 5 October 2008 |
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| Prime Minister | Gordon Brown |
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| Preceded by | Kim Howells |
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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 | Beryl Jarhall |
| Alma mater | Cardiff University |
William Ernest "Bill" Rammell (born 10 October 1959, Islington) is a politician in the United Kingdom. He has been Labour Member of Parliament for Harlow since 1997 and is currently a Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
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Early life
He 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.
Parliamentary career
He was a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office until the 2005 general election, when he was appointed to the Department for Education and Skills as Minister of State for Lifelong Learning, Further and Higher Education. The department was disbanded by Gordon Brown on 28 June 2007, and in Brown's reshuffle Rammell moved to the newly created Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills.
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.
He is a Pro-European, who is supportive of joining the Single European Currency, this 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 plans5 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 2008, Rammell returned to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office as a Minister of State.
Voting Record
How Bill Rammell voted on key issues since 2001 (They Work For You)::
- 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.
Personal life
He married Beryl Jarhall on 1 January 1983. They have a son (born September 1989) and a daughter (born November 1992).
References
- ^ "Rammell's mission to explain fees", BBC News online (3 October 2005). Retrieved on 23 December 2008.
- ^ 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). Retrieved on 14 February 2008.
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
- Visiting Israel in June 2007
- Getting poor people to university in November 2006
- Visiting Cuba in March 2005
- Visiting North Korea in September 2004
- Talking to BBC Breakfast about Harlow in July 2002
Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 5 January 2009, at 13:07.
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