Comparison of Divisions: Pensioner Poverty — Welcomes the policies of this Government — 4 Jun 2008 at 18:49 with Division No. 104 on 29 Apr 2009 at 15:49
(Swap the two divisions around).
The majority of MPs voted in favour of the motion:[1]
-
This House
-
welcomes the policies of this Government to tackle pensioner poverty, which have lifted around two million pensioners out of absolute poverty and over one million out of relative poverty, and have led to spending of around £12 billion extra on pensioners compared with 1997;
-
recognises that pension credit allows pensioners to live with dignity and rewards those who have saved for their own retirement;
-
acknowledges the introduction of and increases to the winter fuel payment and further measures to ensure pensioners can keep warm;
-
notes the provision of free off-peak bus travel granting freedom to pensioners and ensuring that they are not isolated in their own community;
-
welcomes the long-term framework for pensions through the Pensions Act 2007, including relinking the basic state pension to average earnings and ensuring equality for women and carers with men by 2025; and
-
further welcomes the private pension reforms in the Pensions Bill which will enable individuals to take personal responsibility for their own retirement.
This had been substituted in place of an earlier motion that was rejected.[2]
The majority of MPs voted in favour of the motion:[1]
-
This House
-
regrets the Government's recent statement[2] outlining the eligibility criteria for Gurkhas to reside in the United Kingdom;
-
recognises the contribution the Gurkhas have made to the safety and freedom of the United Kingdom for the past 200 years;
-
notes that more Gurkhas have laid down their lives for the United Kingdom than are estimated to want to live here;
-
believes that Gurkhas who retired before 1997 should be treated fairly and in the same way as those who have retired since;
-
is concerned that the Government's new guidelines will permit only a small minority of Gurkhas and their families to settle whilst preventing the vast majority;
-
further believes that people who are prepared to fight and die for the United Kingdom should be entitled to live in the country; and
-
calls upon the Government to withdraw its new guidelines immediately and bring forward revised proposals that extend an equal right of residence to all Gurkhas.
As a consequence, the alternative Government motion, which read:[3]
-
This House
-
recognises that this Government is the only one since the Second World War to allow Gurkhas and their families settlement rights to the United Kingdom;
-
notes that in 2004 the Government permitted settlement rights to Gurkhas discharged since 1997, following the transfer of the Brigade HQ from Hong Kong to the United Kingdom;
-
further notes that under these rules around 6,000 Gurkhas and family members have been welcomed to the UK;
-
acknowledges that the court judgement of September 2008 determined that the 1997 cut-off date was fair and rational, while seeking clarification of the criteria for settlement rights for those who retired before 1997;
-
further notes that on 24 April the Government published new and more generous guidelines for the settlement applications of Gurkhas who retired before 1997;
-
supports this revised guidance, which will make around 10,000 Gurkhas and family members eligible to settle in the UK;
-
further notes that the Government undertakes actively to inform those who may be eligible in Nepal of these changes and to review the impact of the new guidance within 12 months;
-
further notes that the contribution Gurkhas have made is already recognised by pensions paid to around 25,000 Gurkhas or their widows in Nepal that allow for a good standard of living there; and
-
further notes that in the year 2000 Gurkha pensions were doubled and that, earlier in April 2009, in addition to an inflationary uplift of 14 per cent., those over 80 years old received a 20 per cent. increase in their pension.
... was never voted upon.
Although this extremely rare Government defeat in an opposition day motion is not binding (has no legal force)[4] a Government minister made a statement later in the day to bring "forward the date for the determination of the outstanding applications to the end of May."[5]
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MPs for which their vote on Motion (a) differed from their inverted vote on Motion (b).
You can also see just opposite votes
between these two divisions,
or simply all the votes.
Sort by: Name | Constituency | Party | Vote (a) | Vote (b)
Name | Constituency | Party | Vote (a) | Vote (b) |
John Reid | Airdrie and Shotts | Lab | aye |
absent |
Gerald Howarth | Aldershot | Con (front bench) | absent |
aye |
Richard Shepherd | Aldridge-Brownhills | Con (front bench) | absent |
aye |
Nick Herbert | Arundel and South Downs | Con (front bench) | absent |
aye |
Geoff Hoon | Ashfield | Lab (minister) | aye |
absent |
Sandra Osborne | Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock | Lab (minister) | aye |
absent |
Tony Baldry | Banbury | Con | absent |
aye |
Margaret Hodge | Barking | Lab (minister) | aye |
absent |
Michael Clapham | Barnsley West and Penistone | Lab (minister) | aye |
absent |
John Hutton | Barrow and Furness | Lab (minister) | absent |
no |
John Mann | Bassetlaw | Lab (minister) | aye |
absent |
Mike Wood | Batley and Spen | Lab | aye |
aye |
Martin Linton | Battersea | Lab (minister) | aye |
absent |
Jacqui Lait | Beckenham | Con (front bench) | absent |
aye |
Patrick Hall | Bedford | Lab (minister) | aye |
absent |
Peter Robinson | Belfast East | DUP | absent |
aye |
Nigel Dodds | Belfast North | DUP (front bench) | absent |
aye |
Alasdair McDonnell | Belfast South | SDLP (front bench) | absent |
aye |
Frank Field | Birkenhead | Lab (minister) | aye |
absent |
Gisela Stuart | Birmingham, Edgbaston | Lab (minister) | aye |
absent |
Richard Burden | Birmingham, Northfield | Lab (minister) | aye |
absent |
Khalid Mahmood | Birmingham, Perry Barr | Lab | aye |
absent |
Lynne Jones | Birmingham, Selly Oak | Lab (minister) | aye |
absent |
Roger Godsiff | Birmingham, Sparkbrook and Small Heath | Lab | aye |
absent |
Joan Humble | Blackpool North and Fleetwood | Lab (minister) | aye |
aye |
Gordon Marsden | Blackpool South | Lab | aye |
aye |
Ronnie Campbell | Blyth Valley | Lab | aye |
absent |
John Butterfill | Bournemouth West | Con (front bench) | no |
absent |
Gerry Sutcliffe | Bradford South | Lab (minister) | absent |
no |
Marsha Singh | Bradford West | Lab (minister) | aye |
absent |
Roger Williams | Brecon and Radnorshire | LDem (front bench) | no |
absent |
Eric Pickles | Brentwood and Ongar | Con (front bench) | absent |
aye |
Ian Liddell-Grainger | Bridgwater | Con (front bench) | absent |
aye |
Ian Cawsey | Brigg and Goole | Lab (minister) | aye |
aye |
Kerry McCarthy | Bristol East | Lab (minister) | absent |
no |
Doug Naysmith | Bristol North West | Lab (minister) | absent |
no |
Bob Neill | Bromley and Chislehurst | Con (front bench) | absent |
aye |
Julie Kirkbride | Bromsgrove | Con (front bench) | no |
absent |
Nick Palmer | Broxtowe | Lab (minister) | aye |
aye |
Kitty Ussher | Burnley | Lab (minister) | absent |
no |
Ivan Lewis | Bury South | Lab (minister) | aye |
absent |
Chris McCafferty | Calder Valley | Lab | aye |
absent |
Harriet Harman | Camberwell and Peckham | Lab (minister) | absent |
no |
Tony Wright | Cannock Chase | Lab (minister) | absent |
no |
Julie Morgan | Cardiff North | Lab (minister) | aye |
aye |
Bob Spink | Castle Point | whilst Independent (front bench) | absent |
aye |
Bob Spink | Castle Point | whilst UKIP (front bench) | no |
absent |
Stephen Dorrell | Charnwood | Con (front bench) | absent |
aye |
Lindsay Hoyle | Chorley | Lab (minister) | aye |
absent |
Christopher Chope | Christchurch | Con (front bench) | absent |
aye |
Mark Field | Cities of London and Westminster | Con (front bench) | absent |
aye |
Hugh Bayley | City of York | Lab (minister) | absent |
no |
Shona McIsaac | Cleethorpes | Lab | aye |
aye |
Martyn Jones | Clwyd South | Lab (minister) | aye |
absent |
Ann Winterton | Congleton | Con (front bench) | absent |
aye |
Andrew Pelling | Croydon Central | whilst Independent (front bench) | absent |
aye |
Ann Clwyd | Cynon Valley | Lab (minister) | absent |
no |
Jon Cruddas | Dagenham | Lab | aye |
absent |
Tim Boswell | Daventry | Con (front bench) | no |
absent |
Bob Laxton | Derby North | Lab (minister) | absent |
no |
Rosie Winterton | Doncaster Central | Lab (minister) | absent |
no |
Ian Pearson | Dudley South | Lab (minister) | absent |
no |
David Mundell | Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale | Con (front bench) | no |
absent |
Stewart Hosie | Dundee East | SNP (front bench) | no |
absent |
Steve Pound | Ealing North | Lab (minister) | aye |
aye |
Sammy Wilson | East Antrim | DUP (front bench) | absent |
aye |
Jo Swinson | East Dunbartonshire | LDem (front bench) | no |
absent |
Stephen Timms | East Ham | Lab (minister) | absent |
no |
Michael Mates | East Hampshire | Con (front bench) | no |
absent |
Gregory Campbell | East Londonderry | DUP (front bench) | absent |
aye |
Tim Loughton | East Worthing and Shoreham | Con (front bench) | absent |
aye |
Gavin Strang | Edinburgh East | Lab (minister) | aye |
absent |
Alistair Darling | Edinburgh South West | Lab (minister) | absent |
no |
Andrew Miller | Ellesmere Port and Neston | Lab (minister) | absent |
no |
Colin Burgon | Elmet | Lab | aye |
absent |
Joan Ryan | Enfield North | Lab (minister) | absent |
no |
David Burrowes | Enfield, Southgate | Con (front bench) | absent |
aye |
Chris Grayling | Epsom and Ewell | Con (front bench) | absent |
aye |
Ben Bradshaw | Exeter | Lab (minister) | absent |
no |
Mark Hoban | Fareham | Con (front bench) | absent |
aye |
John Mason | Glasgow East | SNP | absent |
aye |
John Robertson | Glasgow North West | Lab (minister) | aye |
absent |
Lindsay Roy | Glenrothes | Lab | absent |
no |
Quentin Davies | Grantham and Stamford | whilst Lab (front bench) | absent |
no |
Austin Mitchell | Great Grimsby | Lab (minister) | aye |
absent |
Anthony D Wright | Great Yarmouth | Lab (minister) | aye |
absent |
Nick Raynsford | Greenwich and Woolwich | Lab | aye |
aye |
Anne Milton | Guildford | Con (front bench) | absent |
aye |
Diane Abbott | Hackney North and Stoke Newington | Lab | absent |
aye |
Meg Hillier | Hackney South and Shoreditch | Lab (minister) | aye |
absent |
Linda Riordan | Halifax | Lab (minister) | aye |
aye |
David Davis | Haltemprice and Howden | Con (front bench) | no |
absent |
Glenda Jackson | Hampstead and Highgate | Lab | absent |
aye |
Gareth Thomas | Harrow West | Lab (minister) | absent |
no |
David Willetts | Havant | Con (front bench) | absent |
aye |
John Martin McDonnell | Hayes and Harlington | Lab | aye |
aye |
Andrew Dismore | Hendon | Lab (minister) | absent |
no |
John Howell | Henley | Con | absent |
aye |
Lynne Featherstone | Hornsey and Wood Green | LDem | absent |
aye |
Francis Maude | Horsham | Con (front bench) | no |
absent |
Greg Pope | Hyndburn | Lab (minister) | aye |
absent |
Mike Gapes | Ilford South | Lab (minister) | aye |
absent |
Danny Alexander | Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey | LDem | absent |
aye |
Jeremy Corbyn | Islington North | Lab | aye |
aye |
Gordon Brown | Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath | Lab (minister) | absent |
no |
Jeffrey M. Donaldson | Lagan Valley | DUP (front bench) | absent |
aye |
Hilary Benn | Leeds Central | Lab (minister) | aye |
absent |
John Battle | Leeds West | Lab (minister) | aye |
absent |
Keith Vaz | Leicester East | Lab (minister) | aye |
aye |
Bridget Prentice | Lewisham East | Lab (minister) | aye |
absent |
Harry Cohen | Leyton and Wanstead | Lab (minister) | aye |
aye |
Peter Kilfoyle | Liverpool, Walton | Lab | aye |
absent |
Robert Wareing | Liverpool, West Derby | whilst Independent | absent |
aye |
Andy Reed | Loughborough | Lab (minister) | aye |
aye |
Kelvin Hopkins | Luton North | Lab (minister) | absent |
aye |
Nicholas Winterton | Macclesfield | Con (front bench) | absent |
aye |
Ann Widdecombe | Maidstone and The Weald | Con | absent |
aye |
Ian McCartney | Makerfield | Lab | absent |
no |
John Leech | Manchester, Withington | LDem (front bench) | absent |
aye |
Robert Marshall-Andrews | Medway | Lab | aye |
aye |
Peter Luff | Mid Worcestershire | Con (front bench) | no |
absent |
Ashok Kumar | Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland | Lab (minister) | aye |
absent |
Lembit Öpik | Montgomeryshire | LDem (front bench) | no |
absent |
Paul Farrelly | Newcastle-under-Lyme | Lab (minister) | aye |
aye |
Jessica Morden | Newport East | Lab (minister) | absent |
no |
Katy Clark | North Ayrshire and Arran | Lab (minister) | aye |
absent |
Sylvia Hermon | North Down | UUP (front bench) | absent |
aye |
Malcolm Moss | North East Cambridgeshire | Con (front bench) | no |
absent |
Natascha Engel | North East Derbyshire | Lab | absent |
no |
Owen Paterson | North Shropshire | Con (front bench) | no |
absent |
Stephen Byers | North Tyneside | Lab | aye |
absent |
David Taylor | North West Leicestershire | Lab (minister) | aye |
both |
James Gray | North Wiltshire | Con (front bench) | no |
absent |
Brian Binley | Northampton South | Con (front bench) | no |
absent |
Ian Gibson | Norwich North | Lab (minister) | aye |
absent |
Charles Clarke | Norwich South | Lab | aye |
absent |
Alan Simpson | Nottingham South | Lab | aye |
aye |
Derek Conway | Old Bexley and Sidcup | whilst Independent (front bench) | no |
absent |
Michael Meacher | Oldham West and Royton | Lab | aye |
absent |
Alistair Carmichael | Orkney and Shetland | LDem (front bench) | no |
absent |
John Horam | Orpington | Con (front bench) | no |
absent |
Andrew Smith | Oxford East | Lab | aye |
aye |
Douglas Alexander | Paisley and Renfrewshire South | Lab (minister) | absent |
no |
Gordon Prentice | Pendle | Lab (minister) | absent |
no |
Paul Truswell | Pudsey | Lab | aye |
aye |
Rob Wilson | Reading East | Con (front bench) | absent |
aye |
Martin Salter | Reading West | Lab (minister) | aye |
absent |
Karen Buck | Regent's Park and Kensington North | Lab (minister) | aye |
absent |
Susan Kramer | Richmond Park | LDem (front bench) | absent |
aye |
Sandra Gidley | Romsey | LDem (front bench) | no |
absent |
Kevin Barron | Rother Valley | Lab (minister) | absent |
no |
Kenneth Clarke | Rushcliffe | Con (front bench) | no |
absent |
John Grogan | Selby | Lab (minister) | absent |
no |
Richard Caborn | Sheffield Central | Lab | aye |
absent |
Meg Munn | Sheffield, Heeley | Lab (minister) | absent |
no |
Paddy Tipping | Sherwood | Lab (minister) | aye |
absent |
David Curry | Skipton and Ripon | Con (front bench) | absent |
aye |
Douglas Hogg | Sleaford and North Hykeham | Con | absent |
aye |
Lorely Burt | Solihull | LDem (front bench) | absent |
aye |
William McCrea | South Antrim | DUP (front bench) | absent |
aye |
James Paice | South East Cambridgeshire | Con (front bench) | absent |
aye |
Colin Breed | South East Cornwall | LDem (front bench) | absent |
aye |
Gary Streeter | South West Devon | Con (front bench) | absent |
aye |
Jeremy Hunt | South West Surrey | Con (front bench) | absent |
aye |
John Pugh | Southport | LDem (front bench) | absent |
aye |
Charlotte Atkins | Staffordshire Moorlands | Lab (minister) | absent |
no |
Frank Cook | Stockton North | Lab (minister) | aye |
absent |
Mark Fisher | Stoke-on-Trent Central | Lab | aye |
aye |
John Maples | Stratford-on-Avon | Con (front bench) | no |
absent |
Andrew Mitchell | Sutton Coldfield | Con (front bench) | absent |
aye |
George Osborne | Tatton | Con (front bench) | absent |
aye |
Laurence Robertson | Tewkesbury | Con (front bench) | absent |
aye |
Andrew MacKinlay | Thurrock | Lab (minister) | aye |
aye |
John Stanley | Tonbridge and Malling | Con (front bench) | no |
absent |
David Clelland | Tyne Bridge | Lab (minister) | absent |
no |
Alan Campbell | Tynemouth | Lab (minister) | absent |
no |
John Smith | Vale of Glamorgan | Lab (minister) | absent |
no |
Kate Hoey | Vauxhall | Lab (minister) | absent |
aye |
Mary Creagh | Wakefield | Lab (minister) | absent |
no |
Neil Gerrard | Walthamstow | Lab (minister) | aye |
aye |
Claire Ward | Watford | Lab (minister) | absent |
tellno |
Mike Hall | Weaver Vale | Lab (minister) | aye |
absent |
Peter Bone | Wellingborough | Con (front bench) | absent |
aye |
David Heathcoat-Amory | Wells | Con (front bench) | no |
absent |
Adrian Bailey | West Bromwich West | Lab (minister) | aye |
absent |
Andrew Murrison | Westbury | Con (front bench) | absent |
aye |
Neil Turner | Wigan | Lab (minister) | aye |
absent |
David Cameron | Witney | Con (front bench) | absent |
aye |
Ken Purchase | Wolverhampton North East | Lab (minister) | absent |
no |
Liam Fox | Woodspring | Con (front bench) | absent |
aye |
Peter Bottomley | Worthing West | Con (front bench) | absent |
aye |
Paul Goodman | Wycombe | Con (front bench) | absent |
aye |
The measure of similarity between these two divisions is a calculation
based on a comparison of their votes.
There were
645 MPs who could have voted in both of these divisions,
and 23 voted the same way, with 397 voting in opposite ways.
There were 61 MPs who didn't vote in either division,
and 164 who voted in only one of them.
We invert the vote on the second division if it makes the distance closer (since the meaning of
'Aye' and 'No' are often interchangeable depending on how the question was put).
In this case, they line up on opposite sides.
An 's vote in in only one of the divisions contributes a factor of 0.2 to the distance.
The calculation runs as follows:
ratio =
[same-votes]
([same-votes] + [differing-votes] + 0.2x[abstain-in-one])
=
397
(397 + 23 + 0.2x164)
=
397
452.8
=
0.877
=
87.7 %.