Bill Rammell

Infobox MP

---

honorific-prefix =
name = Bill Rammell
honorific-suffix =MP
office = Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
term_start = 5 October 2008
term_end =
predecessor = Kim Howells
successor =
primeminister = Gordon Brown
office2 = Minister of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills
term_start2 = 28 June 2007
term_end2 = 5 October 2008
predecessor2 = Unknown
successor2 = David Lammy
constituency_MP3 = Harlow
parliament3 =
majority3 = 97 (0.2%)
predecessor3 = Jerry Hayes
successor3 = Incumbent
term_start3 = 1 May 1997
term_end3 =
birth_date = Birth date and age|1959|10|10|df=yes
birth_place = Islington
death_date =
death_place =
nationality = British
spouse = Beryl Jarhall
party = Labour
relations =
children =
residence =
alma_mater = Cardiff University
occupation =
profession =
religion =


website =
footnotes =

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.

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.

Although Bill Rammell is responsible for the UK government's lifelong learning policy, in September 2007 he somewhat controversially withdrew funding from significant amounts of adult and continuing education in UK universities, allegedly putting at risk such institutions as the Open University and Birkbeck College, in addition to lifelong learning departments throughout the UK.

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 plans [cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7242326.stm |title=Anger over pupils database plan |date=13 February 2008 |work=BBC News online |accessdate=2008-02-14] 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 ( [http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/bill_rammell/harlow 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 January 1 1983. They have a son (born September 1989) and a daughter (born November 1992).

References

External links

* [http://www.dius.gov.uk/ministerialteam/billrammell.html Ministerial responsibilities - DIUS]
* [http://www.billrammell.labour.co.uk Bill Rammell official site]
* [http://politics.guardian.co.uk/person/0,9290,-4323,00.html Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Bill Rammell MP]
* [http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/bill_rammell/harlow TheyWorkForYou.com - Bill Rammell MP]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/mpdb/html/300.stm BBC Politics page]

News items

* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/6734873.stm Visiting Israel in June 2007]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/6195842.stm Getting poor people to university in November 2006]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4327279.stm Visiting Cuba in March 2005]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3646584.stm Visiting North Korea in September 2004]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/breakfast/2155116.stm Talking to BBC Breakfast about Harlow in July 2002]