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January 31, 2017 16:26
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Everything John Bercow has ever said in Parliament. A TSV with a link to where/when it was said.
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| For the record, that was passed unanimously. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-30a.705.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g751.0 | |
| I call the Front Bench speakers to wind up. If each could take no more than 10 minutes, or thereabouts, that would be excellent. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-30a.705.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g742.1 | |
| That was a splendid example, to be followed. It is not for me to comment on the content of the hon. Lady’s speech, but the length was admirable. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-30a.705.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g733.0 | |
| Order. There are—four, five, six—nine Members wishing to speak. Let me explain to the House that each of the Front-Bench speakers should have an opportunity to speak for 10 minutes or thereabouts, and the Minister should conclude by 8.59 pm, because the right hon. Member for Doncaster North (Edward Miliband) has the right to reply at that point. We must work on that basis. If everyone speaks for three or four minutes, we shall be fine, but if Members speak for longer than that, they will be preventing others from speaking. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-30a.705.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g732.3 | |
| Order. May I gently point out that if we are to accommodate all colleagues, it will be necessary to have an informal limit of approximately five minutes? I ask Members not to exceed that limit from now on. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-30a.705.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g721.1 | |
| Order. That intervention was rather long. I encourage colleagues to contribute for approximately five minutes each, but that will not be much help if Members who intervene choose to imitate those who have the Floor. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-30a.705.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g715.1 | |
| I have listened carefully to the application from the right hon. Gentleman and I am satisfied that the matter raised by him is proper to be discussed under Standing Order No. 24. Has the right hon. Gentleman the leave of the House? The answer is that he does—that is clear from the evident demonstration of compliance with the requirement of the Standing Order entailing the standing of no fewer than 40 Members.Application agreed to (not fewer than 40 Members standing in support). https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-30a.704.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g704.3 | |
| I must advise colleagues that the debate will be held immediately as the first item of public business today. It will last for three hours and will arise on a motion that the House has considered the specified matter set out in the right hon. Gentleman’s application.The scheduled business for today will take place afterwards and, under Standing Order No. 24(7), may continue for the same time beyond the moment of interruption as that taken by the emergency debate. Obviously, there is no list of speakers because Members were not to know whether such a debate would take place. Therefore, analogous to Report stages in debates on Bills, Members who wish to catch the eye of the Chair should simply stand in order to do so. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-30a.704.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g704.4 | |
| I am grateful to the hon. Lady for her point of order and for giving me the courtesy of advance notice of it. The right hon. Gentleman is in his place and of course I would want to hear from him. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-30a.700.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g701.1 | |
| Order. I think we should leave it there. I thank the right hon. Gentleman for what he has said. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-30a.700.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g701.3 | |
| I am grateful to the hon. and learned Lady, to whose point of order I shall come momentarily. I do not wish to dwell on the previous matter, but my response was, if truth be told, incomplete. I thanked the right hon. Member for Mid Sussex (Sir Nicholas Soames), and I stand by that, for his courtesy in remaining for the point of order, which was proper, and for his apology. However, I neglected to respond to a particular part of the point of order from the hon. Member for Ochil and South Perthshire (Ms Ahmed-Sheikh), which was: would such a statement have been in order? The short answer is no, it would not have been in order; it is discourteous and that expression should not have been used. That said, the right hon. Gentleman has apologised, with considerable grace and very succinctly, and for today we must most certainly leave it there. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-30a.700.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g702.0 | |
| I call Hannah Bardell on a point of order. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-30a.700.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g702.2 | |
| I beg your pardon, but I am getting ahead of myself. So enticed was I by the prospect of hearing a further point of order from another hon. Member that I neglected to respond to the previous one.The hon. and learned Member for Edinburgh South West has raised her point of order, and I thank her again for her courtesy, but the issues to which she refers are matters for debate. However, what I would say to her is that the Joint Committee on Human Rights not infrequently reports to both Houses on the human rights implications of Bills, and I have a feeling that this Bill may be no exception. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-30a.700.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g702.4 | |
| Order. May I gently say to the hon. Lady that I absolutely respect her sincerity and very proper generosity of spirit in taking the opportunity, but I hope she will understand when I say that I have to be sensitive to the wider interests of the House? What she has said already has been very powerful, and I think it will be widely echoed across the House. I have, of course, written to Tam’s widow, Kathleen and to both of the children to express my condolences. He was a parliamentary giant whose contribution was enormous. He never held ministerial office but achieved a great deal, and we thank him greatly for that service. I hope the hon. Lady will not take offence, but we must move on. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-30a.700.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g702.6 | |
| The short answer is that these are matters upon which Members can form their own views. As to whether there is anything disorderly about the conduct of the Foreign Secretary, the answer is no, there is nothing disorderly about it. The Foreign Secretary was here for exchanges lasting approximately an hour and a half, and the question of which Minister is fielded by the Government is a matter for the Government. They have fielded the right hon. Member for Rutland and Melton (Sir Alan Duncan). The hon. Lady can form her own view of him, but he is certainly not disorderly; nor is he in any way, on any occasion that I have ever observed him, remotely dishevelled. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-30a.700.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g703.1 | |
| The hon. Gentleman has found his own salvation. If he is implying that the appetite for commentary, and possibly even speech making, on a matter of immediate interest has been satisfied, I can say only that he is a braver man than I am.On the assumption that points of order have indeed been exhausted, I call Mr Edward Miliband to make an application for leave to propose a debate on a specific and important matter that should have urgent consideration under the terms of Standing Order No. 24. The right hon. Gentleman has up to three minutes in which to make such an application. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-30a.700.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g703.3 | |
| Order. I will do my best to accommodate the extensive interest in this subject, but may I gently and perhaps tactfully point out that Members who toddled into the Chamber after the Foreign Secretary’s statement had begun should not be standing? It is in defiance of the conventions of the place, and I am sure they would not be so unreasonable as to think that they would have a right to be called. That would be perverse, and I feel sure that they would not behave in a perverse way. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-30a.674.10&s=speaker%3A10040#g679.6 | |
| Order. The hon. Gentleman will have heard the response to what he said, but my immediate reaction is that the matter—[Interruption.] Order. I do not require any assistance. My immediate reaction is that the matter is one of taste, rather than of order—and I certainly do not need any help from the hon. Member for North West Leicestershire (Andrew Bridgen), who would not have the foggiest idea where to start. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-30a.674.10&s=speaker%3A10040#g684.0 | |
| Order. I am keen to accommodate remaining interest. If colleagues have been listening, they will have noticed that the Foreign Secretary has been giving pithy replies, so I would now ask for pithy, single-sentence questions without preamble. If people want to go for preamble, let me politely say, “Keep it for the long winter evenings that lie ahead; we do not need you today.” https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-30a.674.10&s=speaker%3A10040#g691.5 | |
| What a great relief it was for those of us who did not have to meet either of those two people. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-30a.674.10&s=speaker%3A10040#g692.5 | |
| My keenness to accommodate colleagues is undiminished, but may I very tactfully say that if people feel that they are going to add further insight to our proceedings with their contributions they can of course continue to stand, but it is not compulsory to do so? https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-30a.674.10&s=speaker%3A10040#g693.5 | |
| Pithiness personified, perhaps, by Mr Pound? https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-30a.674.10&s=speaker%3A10040#g694.5 | |
| I am grateful to the Foreign Secretary and to colleagues. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-30a.674.10&s=speaker%3A10040#g700.6 | |
| Order. Let me just say to the House that it is obvious that there is huge interest in this matter, which colleagues can rely upon me to accommodate. I understand the strength of feeling, but the Foreign Secretary’s statement, and his upcoming answers to questions, must be heard. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-30a.674.10&s=speaker%3A10040#g675.1 | |
| Order. I am keen to accommodate the very considerable interest in this subject, but I should point out to the House—and remind those colleagues who previously knew—that there is a statement by the Foreign Secretary to follow, and thereafter other important business, which is likely to be well subscribed. There is a premium on brevity from Back Benchers and Front Benchers alike. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-30a.660.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g662.2 | |
| What an unenviable dilemma! I call Margaret Ferrier. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-30a.660.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g674.4 | |
| I am most grateful to all colleagues, and I thank the Minister for her splendidly succinct replies. Perhaps she should send a copy of her textbook to all her ministerial colleagues. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-30a.660.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g674.9 | |
| I think we should hear from a Lancashire knight: Sir David Crausby. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-30a.642.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g644.2 | |
| I am sure the Secretary of State meant graciously to congratulate the hon. Member for Bolton North East (Sir David Crausby) upon his knighthood, but as he did not, I do so on his behalf. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-30a.642.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g644.5 | |
| I think we have got the general drift, and we are deeply obliged to the hon. Gentleman. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-30a.642.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g644.7 | |
| The hon. Gentleman may ask his question from a sedentary position if he wishes. I am sorry that he is in discomfort. The House will want to hear from him. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-30a.651.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g651.4 | |
| We all wish the hon. Member for Gateshead (Ian Mearns) well. Knowing what a robust character he is, perhaps I can say that no injury will dare to get him down for long. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-30a.651.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g651.7 | |
| No, the hon. Lady should come in on this question, to which her own Question 17 is similar; she should piggy-back on this question. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-30a.651.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g651.9 | |
| Finally, and with rapier-like speed, I am sure, I call Sir David Amess. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-30a.652.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g654.2 | |
| I call Julie Cooper. Not here. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-30a.654.8&s=speaker%3A10040#g655.7 | |
| It is a very high bar to imitate the accuracy and genius to which the right hon. Gentleman alludes. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-30a.654.8&s=speaker%3A10040#g657.2 | |
| With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:Government amendment 2, page 6, line 11, after “accommodation” insert—“and, on the date of refusal, there was a reasonable prospect that suitable accommodation would be available for occupation by the applicant for at least 6 months or such longer period not exceeding 12 months as may be prescribed”.This amendment provides that a local housing authority can only bring the duty in section 195(2) of the Housing Act 1996 (inserted by clause 4) to an end on the basis that the applicant has refused an offer of suitable accommodation, if on the date of the refusal there was a reasonable prospect that suitable accommodation would be available for 6 months or such longer period not exceeding 12 months as may be prescribed in regulations made by the Secretary of State.Government amendment 3, page 6, line 22, at end insert—“(9) The duty under subsection (2) can also be brought to an end under sections 193A and 193B (notices in cases of applicant’s deliberate and unreasonable refusal to co-operate).”This amendment inserts, into section 195 of the Housing Act 1996 (inserted by clause 4), a reference to sections 193A and 193B of that Act (inserted by clause 7) under which the duty in section 195(2) can be brought to an end.Government amendment 4, in clause 5, page 7, line 45, after “accommodation” insert—“and, on the date of refusal, there was a reasonable prospect that suitable accommodation would be available for occupation by the applicant for at least 6 months or such longer period not exceeding 12 months as may be prescribed”.This amendment provides that a local housing authority can only bring the duty in section 189B(2) of the Housing Act 1996 (inserted by clause 5) to an end on the basis that the applicant has refused an offer of suitable accommodation, if on the date of the refusal there was a reasonable prospect that suitable accommodation would be available for 6 months or such longer period not exceeding 12 months as may be prescribed in regulations made by the Secretary of State.Government amendment 5, page 8, line 9, at end insert—“(9) The duty under subsection (2) can also be brought to an end under—(a) section 193ZA (consequences of refusal of final accommodation offer or final Part 6 offer at the initial relief stage), or(b) sections 193A and 193B (notices in cases of applicant’s deliberate and unreasonable refusal to co-operate).”This amendment inserts, into section 189B of the Housing Act 1996 (inserted by clause 5), references to section 193ZA (inserted by amendment 10), and sections 193A and 193B of that Act (inserted by clause 7), under which the duty in section 189B(2) can be brought to an end.Government amendment 6, page 8, line 18, leave out paragraph (a) and insert—“(a) for subsection (1) substitute—(1) If the local housing authority have reason to believe that an applicant may be homeless, eligible for assistance and have a priority need, they must secure that accommodation is available for the applicant’s occupation.(1ZA) In a case in which the local housing authority conclude their inquiries under section 184 and decide that the applicant does not have a priority need—(a) where the authority decide that they do not owe the applicant a duty under section 189B(2), the duty under subsection (1) comes to an end when the authority notify the applicant of that decision, or(b) otherwise, the duty under subsection (1) comes to an end upon the authority notifying the applicant of their decision that, upon the duty under section 189B(2) coming to an end, they do not owe the applicant any duty under section 190 or 193.(1ZB) In any other case, the duty under subsection (1) comes to an end upon the later of—(a) the duty owed to the applicant under section 189B(2) coming to an end or the authority notifying the applicant that they have decided that they do not owe the applicant a duty under that section, and(b) the authority notifying the applicant of their decision as to what other duty (if any) they owe to the applicant under the following provisions of this Part upon the duty under section 189B(2) coming to an end.”See amendment 8. This amendment also makes the circumstances in which the interim duty to provide accommodation under section 188(1) of the Housing Act 1996 comes to an end where the local housing authority decide that the applicant does not have a priority need.Government amendment 7, page 8, line 26, leave out from “for” to end of line 27 and insert— “pending a decision of the kind referred to in subsection (1)” substitute “until the later of paragraph (a) or (b) of subsection (1ZB).”See amendments 6 and 8.Government amendment 8, page 8, line 27, at end insert—“() for subsection (3) substitute—‘(2A) For the purposes of this section, where the applicant requests a review under section 202(1)(h) of the authority’s decision as to the suitability of accommodation offered to the applicant by way of a final accommodation offer or a final Part 6 offer (within the meaning of section 193ZA), the authority’s duty to the applicant under section 189B(2) is not to be taken to have come to an end under section 193ZA(2) until the decision on the review has been notified to the applicant.(3) Otherwise, the duty under this section comes to an end in accordance with subsections (1ZA) to (1A), regardless of any review requested by the applicant under section 202.But the authority may secure that accommodation is available for the applicant’s occupation pending a decision on review.’”This amendment, together with amendments 6 and 7, ensure that any interim duty of a local housing authority under section 188 of the Housing Act 1996 to accommodate an applicant continues pending the conclusion of a review of the suitability of accommodation offered in a final accommodation offer or a final Part 6 offer under section 193ZA of that Act (inserted by amendment 10).Government amendment 9, in clause 6, page 11, leave out lines 14 to 16 and insert—“(3) For the purposes of this section, a local housing authority’s duty under section 189B(2) or 195(2) is a function of the authority to secure that accommodation is available for the occupation of a person only if the authority decide to discharge the duty by securing that accommodation is so available.”This amendment ensures that where a local housing authority decides to discharge their duty under section 189B(2) or 195(2) of the Housing Act 1996 (inserted by clauses 5 and 4, respectively) by actually securing that accommodation is available for occupation by the applicant, sections 206 to 209 of that Act apply. Those sections contain various provisions about how a local housing authority’s housing functions are to be discharged. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-27a.575.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g575.3 | |
| Order. In recent weeks, exchanges at business questions have been notably protracted and it would really help if questions and replies could be pithy, including the exchanges between the Front Benchers. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-26a.454.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g455.3 | |
| Order. In reminding colleagues of the need for brevity, I also remind them that those who came into the Chamber after the statement had started should not be standing—I am sorry, but it is as simple as that. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-26a.454.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g459.2 | |
| Order. Given the significant interest in the subject, I appeal for pithy questions and pithy replies. I call Bob Stewart. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-26a.442.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g445.1 | |
| Order. Well, I suppose the Minister can invent a question mark at the end and then provide a sentence of reply—it was not a question but a statement. But can we have a brief sentence? https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-26a.442.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g445.3 | |
| If only. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-26a.442.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g445.5 | |
| Colleagues, may I point out that there are a lot of questions on the Order Paper that I am keen to reach, but exchanges at the moment are quite ponderous? We need to speed up a bit. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-26a.421.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g424.0 | |
| Briefly. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-26a.426.8&s=speaker%3A10040#g427.3 | |
| Splendid. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-26a.426.8&s=speaker%3A10040#g427.5 | |
| What a fortunate fellow the Minister is! https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-26a.428.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g429.5 | |
| I call Brendan O’Hara. Where is the chappie? Extraordinary fellow. Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-26a.436.9&s=speaker%3A10040#g436.10 | |
| There are five remaining would-be contributors and the Front-Bench speeches to wind up the debate should start at or extremely close to 6.40. Two minutes each will suffice and colleagues can help each other. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-25c.357.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g397.1 | |
| There was no danger of the Secretary of State not hearing the right hon. Gentleman. I rather assumed that she would give way, because Chelmsford prison has been referred to. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-25c.303.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g313.6 | |
| Order. The Government Whip, the hon. Member for Hexham (Guy Opperman), should not shout out. He should not shout from a sedentary position, and he should not shout out while standing up. If he will forgive my saying so, to shout out while standing right next to the Speaker’s Chair is perhaps not quite the most intelligent action that he has undertaken in the course, so far, of a most auspicious career. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-25c.303.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g310.0 | |
| I inform the House that I have selected the amendment in the name of the Prime Minister. To move the amendment, I call the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-25c.303.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g311.0 | |
| I think that the hon. Gentleman should be preserved; we should build up a sense of anticipation for him. I will take a point of order first from the hon. Lady. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-25c.298.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g299.2 | |
| The short answer is no. However, I genuinely wish to thank the hon. Lady for her courtesy in giving me notice of her intended point of order. I am aware, as other Members will be, that she has a long-standing interest in this sensitive issue. That said, I must tell the hon. Lady and the House that I have received no notice from Ministers of any intention to make a statement to the House on this subject. That, of course, is a judgment for them, rather than for me. However, I am sure that her words will have been heard on the Treasury Bench, not least by a senior Whip, upon whom I trust we can rely to convey her sentiments to those who need to be aware of them. We will leave it there for now. Having built up a due sense of anticipation, let us now hear the point of order from Mr Ian Paisley. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-25c.298.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g299.4 | |
| I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for what he has said. He will appreciate that in matters of this kind I benefit from advice, and the advice that I have just received, and that I accept—it is my responsibility whether or not to accept it—is that there is no need for any further correction. It was an error. I recognise how upsetting that will have been, but it was a mistake. It has subsequently been corrected, and the hon. Gentleman himself has now quite properly used the opportunity of a point of order to correct it. I do not think that anything further needs to be said. The hon. Gentleman is a wily character and he has found his salvation. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-25c.298.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g300.1 | |
| That is a very helpful notice to colleagues. No disrespect to the hon. Gentleman, because that is very helpful for others, but my office had already planned for me to sign the book when I leave the Chair today, and I certainly shall, as I always do. I think that it would be a wonderful thing if a very large number of colleagues—preferably all colleagues—took the opportunity to sign the book, as the hon. Gentleman helpfully suggests. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-25c.298.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g300.3 | |
| The question is certainly part of an ingenuity strategy, on which I congratulate the hon. Gentleman. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-25c.279.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g280.5 | |
| I call the hon. Member for Kilmarnock and Loudoun (Alan Brown) and wish him and his colleagues a happy Burns night. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-25c.280.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g282.6 | |
| Order. We would like to hear the reply. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-25c.283.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g283.8 | |
| Order. Colleagues, we are visited today by Speaker Win Myint, the Speaker of the Hluttaw, the Burmese Parliament. He is accompanied by a delegation of his parliamentary colleagues. I am sure the House will wish to join me in welcoming Mr Speaker and his colleagues. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-25c.283.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g285.0 | |
| The hon. Gentleman seems to know a lot about these ducal matters; it is most interesting. I am fascinated by the reply, so let’s hear it. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-25c.294.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g294.4 | |
| Ah, yes, a Hampshire knight. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-25c.294.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g294.7 | |
| The right hon. Gentleman never knew he was quite that popular. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-25c.294.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g298.1 | |
| Order. We need to be clear that the hon. Gentleman is not accusing any individual Minister of hypocrisy. That would be completely disorderly—[Interruption.] This is not a debating matter. Nor is it something on which I am looking for his interpretation. I am gently saying that if that is what he is saying, he must withdraw it. If he is making a charge at a collective, however, he can just about get away with it under our procedures. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-24b.233.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g247.2 | |
| The right hon. Gentleman has borne stoically and with fortitude the absence of the named individual. It would certainly have been a gruelling experience to appear in front of the Committee chaired by the right hon. Gentleman. I think the answer to his question as to whether there is some orderly way in which he can put the record straight is: there is, he’s found it, job done. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-24b.192.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g193.1 | |
| Order. The right hon. Gentleman should resume his seat. The House is in an understandably excited and excitable state. What I want to say to colleagues is that they do not need to look into the crystal ball when they can read the book. Members should know by now that I always want to facilitate the fullest possible questioning and scrutiny, and it is right that that should happen, but it is also right that, when the Secretary of State is responding to questions, he is given a fair and courteous hearing. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-24b.161.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g164.1 | |
| I do not think the right hon. Gentleman has another birthday until December—I think his birthday is 23 December—so he has a long time to wait: nothing to worry about. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-24b.161.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g178.1 | |
| Order. After faster progress for a while, the pace has slowed terribly in the last few minutes. What is required is a pithy question of the kind in which a Queen’s Counsel should specialise. Let us hear about the contents of the textbook pithily. I call Lucy Frazer. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-24b.161.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g186.4 | |
| Single sentence questions, please, with the abandonment of any preamble that colleagues might have in mind. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-24b.161.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g187.4 | |
| Somebody who has been waiting a long time must have been able to work out how to put the question in a short sentence. I call Neil Gray. Let us hear it. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-24b.161.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g188.5 | |
| Order. Too long. Too loud. We do not want to hear it. Enough. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-24b.161.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g189.0 | |
| I am grateful to the Secretary of State, to the Opposition spokespersons, and to all 84 Back Benchers who took part in this important series of exchanges. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-24b.161.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g192.4 | |
| There is no reason to doubt it; the Secretary of State seems remarkably well informed about these important matters. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-24b.140.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g141.6 | |
| That is only tangentially related to the question on the Order Paper, and I think that is a generous statement, but the Minister is a dextrous fellow, so let us hear from him. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-24b.142.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g142.6 | |
| The hon. Member for Vale of Clwyd (Dr Davies) has an identical question, Question 19. It was not grouped with this question, but the position is clear: if he does stand I will call him, and if he doesn’t I won’t. He does. Get in there man! https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-24b.145.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g146.4 | |
| I call Danny Kinahan. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-24b.149.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g149.8 | |
| Oh, never mind. We will bear the hon. Gentleman in mind for subsequent questions. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-24b.149.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g150.0 | |
| I think that the hon. Gentleman also meant to refer to the modernisation of the courts system—purely an error of omission from the hon. Gentleman. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-24b.150.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g150.7 | |
| What a well-informed fellow the right hon. and learned Gentleman is. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-24b.150.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g151.5 | |
| Let us hear the voice of Bolton West on this matter. Chris Green. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-24b.152.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g152.6 | |
| Put the details in the Library; it will be helpful to us all. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-24b.153.8&s=speaker%3A10040#g154.6 | |
| Ah, a Crabb or a Berry? I think we will have the Crabb. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-24b.154.12&s=speaker%3A10040#g158.10 | |
| Let’s have a Berry. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-24b.154.12&s=speaker%3A10040#g159.1 | |
| Order. I have known the right hon. Gentleman long enough to know of his naturally pugnacious and combative spirit, but that must not elide into impugning the integrity of another hon. Member. He has had his bit of fun, but he must now wash out his mouth, withdraw those words and put a question, for which the nation will be grateful. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-23d.22.9&s=speaker%3A10040#g27.4 | |
| Especially in relation to Trident testing. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-23d.22.9&s=speaker%3A10040#g31.1 | |
| What the Secretary of State said has real merit, but I was more inclined to congratulate the hon. Member for Newport West (Paul Flynn) on the ingenuity of his question. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-23d.22.9&s=speaker%3A10040#g31.3 | |
| Ah yes—young Gove. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-23d.22.9&s=speaker%3A10040#g31.5 | |
| I am sure it went down very well at the Oxford Union. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-23d.22.9&s=speaker%3A10040#g31.8 | |
| I shall take this point of order from the originator of the urgent question if it relates exclusively to the matters that have just been under discussion, and if it is an attempt not to continue the exchanges, but to provide some new information with which the hon. Gentleman thinks the House should be favoured. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-23d.22.9&s=speaker%3A10040#g40.7 | |
| I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his point of order. I say simply that the Secretary of State will have heard the right hon. Member for New Forest East (Dr Lewis), the Chair of the Select Committee, who is extremely diligent, extraordinarily intelligent and persistent—and I have known him a damn sight longer than the Secretary of State has known him. How the Secretary of State wants to deal with the right hon. Member for New Forest East is entirely a matter for him and his judgment, exercising it to the best of his ability. We will leave it there for now. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-23d.22.9&s=speaker%3A10040#g41.0 | |
| Order. The hon. Member for West Ham (Lyn Brown) does not have to provide us with a passable imitation of Bruce Forsyth. There is no requirement for that. She has asked her question with her usual pugnacity, and should now await the reply. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-23d.4.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g6.6 | |
| Order. I gently remind the hon. Member for Banbury (Victoria Prentis), who nodded sagely at me to denote her interest in this matter, that on the whole it is prudent to stand, as the Speaker has many qualities but is not psychic. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-23d.10.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g11.7 | |
| On this immigration-related matter, I would call the hon. Member for Linlithgow and East Falkirk (Martyn Day) if he were standing, but if he does not stand, I will not. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-23d.16.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g17.1 | |
| Order. I am sorry, but we must move on. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-23d.17.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g22.7 | |
| Would the Serjeant care to investigate the delay in the voting Lobby?The House divided:Ayes 1, Noes 40. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-20a.1179.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1179.3 | |
| I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his point of order. The short answer is that the recourse available to him—and, I am afraid, the only recourse available to him—is his own quality of persistence. The hon. Gentleman must use the opportunities afforded by the Order Paper, and, indeed, those that he is able to create for himself through the tabling of further questions.As the hon. Gentleman says, those matters are extremely important. However, I have no reason to believe that, at the time when the Minister said that an update would be provided by the end of the year, he intended anything other than to meet that deadline. It has not been uncommon, under successive Governments of all colours, in this country and around the world, for there to be slippage. Where there is slippage, it is not a matter of order for the Chair; it is a matter for a perspicacious Back-Bench Member to continue to raise. The hon. Gentleman has many qualities, one of which is his perspicacity. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-19b.1088.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g1089.1 | |
| I am sure the hon. Gentleman will be in his place on his birthday, which, if memory serves, is 26 June. We look forward to that and to his undertaking his usual interrogation at that time. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-19b.1070.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1076.0 | |
| I gently make the point that the Emirates is a very, very, very special place in London. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-19b.1070.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1082.1 | |
| Ah yes—Mr Bernard Jenkin. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-19b.1070.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1083.2 | |
| I should like to make a brief statement to the House.The House of Commons Service has participated in Stonewall’s workplace equality index for the past five years. Stonewall is the largest charity in Europe in support of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights. This year, Stonewall has announced that we have achieved a place in its index of the top 100 LGBT-friendly employers, ranking 28th with a score of 155 out of 200 points. Colleagues, this is an impressive rise of 88 places on last year’s index ranking of 116th, and the first time that we have been named in the published top 100. In addition to this score, ParliOUT, the parliamentary workplace equality network for LGBT equality, has been named one of Stonewall's “highly commended network groups”. Among its achievements in 2016, ParliOUT members raised money to buy the rainbow flag that flew over Parliament for the first time during London Pride weekend in June.I should like to thank stakeholders from across Parliament for their support in this achievement, led by the redoubtable Anne Foster and her colleagues in the House of Commons Diversity and Inclusion team, and an achievement which I confess I have been passionately championing as Speaker. I hope that this news demonstrates our commitment to being an inclusive employer and institution.We are pleased with the progress and we shall now redouble our efforts in the coming years to improve further upon it. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-19b.1068.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g1069.0 | |
| Or even an incontrovertible fact. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-19b.1046.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g1048.4 | |
| What a delicious choice. Mr William Wiggin. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-19b.1050.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g1051.3 | |
| It is Question 5. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-19b.1050.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g1052.2 | |
| Ah yes, we can learn all about tree planting in Taunton Deane. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-19b.1053.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g1053.9 | |
| On hedgehogs and related matters? https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-19b.1056.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1056.6 | |
| I call Chris Bryant. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-19b.1066.11&s=speaker%3A10040#g1067.0 | |
| Inexplicably, I was not aware of that great matter at the time. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-19b.1066.11&s=speaker%3A10040#g1067.2 | |
| Thank you. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-18a.940.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g950.3 | |
| Order. I say gently to colleagues that progress is far too slow; we need to hasten the pace. Some reduction in the decibel level—not least from the Chair of the International Trade Committee—would be heartily welcomed across the House. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-18a.919.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g921.7 | |
| Order. Mr Docherty-Hughes, you are a very curious denizen of the House. I had you down as a cerebral and academic type, but you are becoming increasingly hysterical—very curious behaviour. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-18a.923.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g924.1 | |
| At this Scotland Office questions, I am pleased to inform the House that I have just been notified that Andy Murray has won his second round match in Melbourne. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-18a.925.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g926.1 | |
| Order. Members of the Scottish National party, led by the right hon. Member for Moray (Angus Robertson) on the Front Bench, who is supposed to be a statesmanlike figure, should demonstrate some calm and reserve while they are being answered by the Prime Minister. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-18a.927.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g932.4 | |
| Order. I am not going to allow an exchange across the Dispatch Box or across the House at this point. The Prime Minister was asked a question [Interruption.] Order. I require no help from the hon. Member for Birmingham, Perry Barr (Mr Mahmood), which is of zilch value. The Prime Minister will answer, and she will be heard with courtesy, including by the hon. Gentleman. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-18a.933.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g938.2 | |
| Order. Before we proceed to the next speaker, we come to the 7 o’clock motion.Debate interrupted (Standing Order No. 9(3)).Motion made, and Question put forthwith (Standing Order Nos. 15 and 41A(3)),That at this day’s sitting—(a) the Motion in the name of Angus Robertson may be proceeded with, though opposed, until 8.00pm, and Standing Order No. 41A (Deferred divisions) shall not apply; and(b) the Second Reading of the Intellectual Property (Unjustified Threats) Bill [Lords] may be proceeded with, though opposed, until any hour.—(Guy Opperman.)Question agreed to.Debate resumed.Question again proposed. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-17a.872.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g883.1 | |
| Order. A three-minute limit is now to apply. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-17a.872.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g882.3 | |
| Just before I call the Labour spokesperson, I inform the House formally, as colleagues that are due to speak have been notified privately, that there will be a time limit of three minutes on Back-Bench speeches in my attempt to ensure—[Interruption.] Order. If the hon. Member for Glasgow South (Stewart Malcolm McDonald) listens, he will learn. The time limit is my attempt to ensure that everybody who sought to speak has the opportunity to do so. Fairness and equality, Mr McDonald. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-17a.872.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g880.0 | |
| I am very grateful to the hon. Gentleman, both for his good grace and for his pithiness in communicating the point, which I think will have been warmly received by colleagues across the House. Thank you. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-17a.828.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g872.1 | |
| I inform the House that I have selected the amendment in the name of the Prime Minister. I also take this opportunity to remind the House that this debate can run only until 8 o’clock. There are 17 colleagues wishing to speak from the Back Benches, and I know that those speaking from the Front Bench will jealously guard the rights and interests of those who wish to speak from the Back. Therefore, the Front Benchers should absolutely not exceed 10 minutes each in their speeches, and if they can speak for less time than that, they will be addressing a grateful nation. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-17a.872.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g873.0 | |
| I am grateful to the hon. Lady for giving me notice of her point of order, to which I was about to respond, but I see that the Minister in question is on the Treasury Bench and is anxious to catch my eye. I do not want to disappoint her. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-17a.822.10&s=speaker%3A10040#g823.1 | |
| That was a gracious acknowledgement of the situation by the Minister, and I feel that honour has been served. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-17a.822.10&s=speaker%3A10040#g823.3 | |
| The nod of the head from the hon. Member for Glasgow North West (Carol Monaghan) confirms that she is content with that outcome. I thank the Minister, and we will leave it there. If there are no further points of order, we come now to the ten-minute rule motion, for which the hon. Member for Enfield, Southgate (Mr Burrowes) has been patiently waiting for nearly two hours. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-17a.822.10&s=speaker%3A10040#g823.5 | |
| Well, not many and not for long. [Interruption.] Order. The hon. Gentleman is a learned, celebrated and cerebral individual, and I do not want to interrupt him, but the convention is that the reply is normally half the length of the statement. I can indulge him modestly—there is usually a bit of latitude—but I was a bit concerned when he said “some examples”, particularly as he is a lawyer. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-17a.791.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g796.0 | |
| It would be good if it were a speaking statue. I fear that otherwise it will not fully capture the richness of the right hon. and learned Member for Rushcliffe (Mr Clarke). https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-17a.791.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g817.1 | |
| I will come to the hon. Lady in a moment.I am most grateful to the Secretary of State for the experience of the last one hour and 46 minutes in which we could treat of these matters, and I am advised that no fewer than 84 Back-Bench Members had the opportunity to question the right hon. Gentleman. I hope there has been a decent exploration of the issues, and I congratulate the right hon. Gentleman on the strength of his knee muscles. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-17a.791.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g822.9 | |
| In my usual way I have been, as I think the House would acknowledge, extremely generous to the hon. Gentleman. He has asked a most interesting question, and he has delivered it with his usual eloquence, but it does suffer from one disadvantage, which is that it has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with the statement made by the Secretary of State. Nevertheless, I have indulged the hon. Gentleman, and he can thank me on a daily basis. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-17a.775.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g780.0 | |
| I gather that this point of order relates to the next immediate piece of business, and therefore, exceptionally, I will take it now. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-17a.775.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g791.1 | |
| I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his point of order. I do not have all the precedents in front of me, but I think that there has been a developing phenomenon in recent decades whereby, under successive Governments, important statements have sometimes been made outside the House that we would have welcomed being made first inside the House. I am pragmatic in these matters and say to the hon. Gentleman and others who might share his concern that when I heard of the Prime Minister’s important speech, scheduled for today, my first concern was that a senior member of the Government should come to the House on the same day to address us on the same matter. I had contact with the powers that be to make precisely that point. I am pleased to say that we have in our midst, and in my line of vision, the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, whom, I rather imagine, the hon. Gentleman will wish in due course to interrogate. Meanwhile, let us hear from the Secretary of State. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-17a.775.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g791.3 | |
| I was going to call the hon. Member for Coventry South (Mr Cunningham), but he does not seem to be standing— https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-17a.756.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g758.0 | |
| Go on, get in there man. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-17a.756.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g758.2 | |
| Order. We do need to speed up, so short, sharp questions and comparably pithy replies are the order of the day. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-17a.756.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g760.1 | |
| With particular reference to any concerns about employment in the chemical industry, preferably in— https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-17a.760.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g761.5 | |
| No, the hon. Lady does not need to add anything. I am sure that she meant to mention it in her question. It was an error of omission—only a matter of time. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-17a.760.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g761.7 | |
| On the chemical industry, I feel sure— Mr David Nuttall. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-17a.760.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g761.9 | |
| Oh, we had better get the fellow in; otherwise he will be very unhappy. I do not like to see the hon. Gentleman unhappy. I call Mr Barry Sheerman. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-17a.764.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g765.2 | |
| Order. This is about Peterborough and England, not Kilmarnock and Loudoun—or even Scotland. I am going to save the hon. Gentleman up for a later occasion. We look forward to that with eager anticipation. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-17a.764.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g765.8 | |
| I think what the Chancellor means is that he does not comment on currency movements unless he does. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-17a.766.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g766.3 | |
| The right hon. Gentleman is always very well briefed for these topical questions—reading out the screed! Very good. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-17a.767.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g770.7 | |
| A choice of Berries! A London Berry and a Lancashire Berry. Let us hear from London Berry. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-17a.767.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g771.12 | |
| I think it is Lancashire’s turn. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-17a.767.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g772.5 | |
| The hon. Member for East Lothian (George Kerevan) always looks so happy. We will make him happier by calling him. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-17a.767.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g772.9 | |
| Finally, I call Yvonne Fovargue. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-17a.767.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g774.2 | |
| Order. It might be helpful to the House if I say that there is no time limit on Back-Bench speeches at this stage, but that an informal limit involving a certain self-denying ordinance might help. An informal limit of 10 minutes per Back-Bench Member seems reasonable and well within the capacities of a Kentish knight. I call Sir Julian Brazier. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-16c.687.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g696.0 | |
| A Kentish knight, no less. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-16c.687.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g690.1 | |
| Not everyone was here then, so I thought that that the hon. Gentleman would welcome an encore. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-16c.687.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g690.3 | |
| Order. I would like to save up the hon. Member for Dudley North (Ian Austin)—he is a specialist delicacy. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-16c.684.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g685.1 | |
| The answer is that I have received no indication of an intention for a Government Minister to make a statement on that matter. I have received notification of other intended statements for the coming days, but that is not among their number. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-16c.684.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g685.3 | |
| In the short time—approximately 20 months, I think—for which I have known the hon. Gentleman, I have come to realise what a persistent fellow he is. In response to the last part of his observations—about what can be done, and what facilities or recourses are open to him—let me say that the hon. Gentleman is familiar with the concept of the written question and, I think, with the location of the Table Office, in which he can submit such questions. Knowing the hon. Gentleman, I rather suspect that he will keep raising the matter.I am, of course, grateful to the hon. Gentleman for giving me notice of his intention to raise this matter. He has registered it with force, and what he has said will have been heard on the Treasury Bench. If the Foreign Secretary feels that inadvertently the House has been misled—it is not immediately clear to me that the words were inaccurate; it may be that there has been a change of mind, which is not without precedent in our proceedings—no doubt he will take steps to correct the record. Meanwhile, the hon. Gentleman can go about his business with an additional glint in his eye and spring in his step in the knowledge that he has put his point forcefully on the record. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-16c.684.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g685.5 | |
| I am extremely grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his point of order, and, more particularly, I rather imagine that Professor Anthony King’s widow, Jan, will be especially appreciative when she hears of the noble step that the hon. Gentleman has taken today. Colleagues will doubtless have noted that Professor King died last week, aged 82, after a stellar career and vocation as one of the most distinguished political scientists of this generation. He was a brilliant teacher, he was an outstanding communicator, not least on television when giving his analysis of by-elections, and he was a prodigious and illuminating writer. Personally, I feel every day a sense of gratitude to Tony for what he did for me; and God, I must have been an awkward student to teach 30 years ago—[Interruption.] And, indeed, I still am. He stuck with me, and I am hugely grateful.The hon. Gentleman and I got to know each other at the University of Essex 30 years ago, and I say in affectionate tribute to him that he is as noisy today as he was when he used to heckle me in student union meetings between 1982 and 1985.Tony King was a great man who did wonders for the study and teaching of political science in the United Kingdom, and we should honour his memory. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-16c.684.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g686.1 | |
| I have to notify the House, in accordance with the Royal Assent Act 1967, that the Queen has signified her Royal Assent to the following Acts:Small Charitable Donations and Childcare Payments Act 2017Savings (Government Contributions) Act 2017. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-16c.661.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g661.1 | |
| I appeal to the Secretary of State to face the House, so that we can all benefit from his mellifluous tones. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-16c.663.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g664.4 | |
| The hon. Member for Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport (Oliver Colvile) is very busy. He has many commitments and an extremely full diary. I do not think that anybody doubted the point. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-16c.673.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g674.2 | |
| Order. Short questions and answers, please, because there is a lot of interest. A single sentence will do. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-16c.678.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g679.3 | |
| I want to hear the conscience of Christchurch. I call Mr Christopher Chope. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-16c.678.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g682.7 | |
| I am sorry that we have run out of time. I shall, however, take one more question. I call Imran Hussain. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-16c.678.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g684.2 | |
| My first point is that statements made in the Chamber should always be communicated through the Chair. The second is that people speaking from the Dispatch Box should address and, in so doing, look at the House, rather than behind them at the Member to whom they might be responding. Beyond that I will not venture. If I were uncharitable, I would imagine that the right hon. Gentleman was seeking, against all precedent and expectation of him, to propagandise, but because I am not uncharitable, I cannot imagine that he was seeking to do anything of the kind. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-12b.486.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g487.1 | |
| Off the top of my head, my advice is as follows. My principal suggestion is that the hon. Gentleman go to the Table Office and seek its advice on the nature and terms of the questions to be tabled. [Interruption.] He mutters, I think, that he has already done that. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-12b.486.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g488.0 | |
| If that has not availed him, I am disappointed to hear it. Having had no prior notification of this matter, and therefore off the top of my head, I have two further thoughts. One is that the hon. Gentleman can, without delay, seek an Adjournment debate with the relevant Minister, in which he would have a face-to-face opportunity, over a decent period, to probe the Minister with the relentlessness and tenacity for which he is renowned in all parts of the House. Secondly, he can use freedom of information opportunities to try to ascertain the facts that he wants to ascertain. I have a hunch that, if neither of those approaches helps, he will be raising his concern with me on the Floor again. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-12b.486.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g488.2 | |
| Well! My cup runneth over. To be complimented by a parliamentarian of the repute of the right hon. Gentleman really does cause me, for the rest of the day, to go about my business with an additional glint in my eye and a spring in my step. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-12b.486.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g488.4 | |
| And possibly two inches taller. I am a happy man indeed. I have always liked the right hon. Member for New Forest West (Sir Desmond Swayne), in the 20 years I have known him, and I like him even more now. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-12b.486.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g488.6 | |
| I think the hon. Gentleman had better watch himself a little bit with the Deputy Speakers in the coming days. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-12b.486.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g488.8 | |
| I call Mims Davies. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-12b.460.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g466.4 | |
| Order. I said “Mims” rather than “Philip”. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-12b.460.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g466.6 | |
| I know that the hon. Gentleman has secured election to the Women and Equalities Committee—although he was the only candidate, so his election was not very burdensome. But he should not worry; he will never be overlooked. We will get to him. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-12b.460.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g466.8 | |
| I simply do not wish to wait any longer. The voice of Shipley must be heard. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-12b.460.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g468.2 | |
| This Kiss a Ginger activity is probably perfectly lawful but I have no plans to partake of it myself. It strikes me as a very rum business altogether; as colleagues can probably tell, I have not the slightest idea about what the hon. Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant) was prating, so the matter had to be Googled for me. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-12b.460.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g470.2 | |
| Order. May I gently point out to the House that a further 33 right hon. and hon. Members are seeking to catch my eye? Colleagues know that my normal practice is to facilitate everyone who wishes to take part in the business question, and I am keen to sustain that record, but they should be aware that the debate on Yemen is heavily subscribed and some priority has also to be attached to that. In short, we need short questions and short answers if I am not to leave colleagues disappointed. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-12b.460.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g471.2 | |
| Order. In order to try to accommodate everybody, might I suggest that we now move to single-sentence questions and, of course, pithy replies? https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-12b.460.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g474.7 | |
| We now come to the Select Committee statement. The Chair of the Women and Equalities Committee, the right hon. Member for Basingstoke (Mrs Miller), will speak for up to 10 minutes, during which no interventions may be taken. At the conclusion of her statement, I will call Members to put questions on the subject of the statement and, of course, call Mrs Maria Miller to respond to them in turn. Members can expect to be called only once. Interventions should be questions, and should be brief. Those on the Front Bench may take part in questioning. I remind the House that ordinarily such a statement, and the questioning on it, can be expected to take, in total, approximately 20 minutes. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-12b.481.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g481.2 | |
| Focusing on cross-border matters relating to Wales would help. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-12b.439.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g440.7 | |
| Ah, we are blessed. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-12b.450.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g450.5 | |
| One rather wonders whether the results of the trial were communicated to the right hon. Gentleman’s hero, Cicero. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-12b.450.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g450.9 | |
| Order. This question is about the north-west of England. I am not a geographer, but I say to the hon. Lady that last time I looked, it seemed to me that Taunton Deane was rather a long way from the north-west of England. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-12b.452.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g453.3 | |
| Almost as stylish and elegant as the right hon. Gentleman, I do not doubt. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-12b.453.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g455.2 | |
| Let’s hear from the fella. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-12b.453.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g456.2 | |
| Finally, Mr Nuttall. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-12b.453.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g460.1 | |
| I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for his courtesy in giving me notice of his intention to raise this point of order. I certainly share his view that significant policy announcements by the Government should first be made in this House rather than outside it. I am not familiar with the contents of the Attorney General’s speech today, and I am not in a position to pronounce on whether it amounts to such an announcement of policy change. That said, the right hon. Gentleman has made his concern clear, and it will no doubt have been heard by those on the Treasury Bench. He can be sure that it will be conveyed to the relevant Ministers. The fairest thing I can say is: let us await events. I might add that as the right hon. Gentleman is a former Deputy Leader of the House, he will be well aware of—and personally closely familiar with—the instruments available for Back-Bench scrutiny of the Executive in this place. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-11b.330.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g331.1 | |
| Order. I understand the air of anticipation in the Chamber just before Prime Minister’s questions, but I remind the House that we are discussing matters that affect the poorest people on the face of the planet. They should be treated with respect. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-11b.302.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g302.5 | |
| Order. The Secretary of State’s replies must be heard with courtesy. It is rather alarming when some of her own Back Benchers are not according her the proper respect. She must be accorded the proper respect. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-11b.302.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g303.1 | |
| I call Pauline Latham. The hon. Lady wanted to ask a question earlier. Is she no longer inclined to do so? https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-11b.302.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g304.0 | |
| I call Jeremy Corbyn. [Hon. Members: “Hear, hear!”] https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-11b.304.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g305.3 | |
| Order. There is far too much noise. I must say to the hon. Member for Dewsbury (Paula Sherriff) that if she were behaving like this in another public place she would probably be subject to an antisocial behaviour order. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-11b.310.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g311.5 | |
| Order. Let the hon. Gentleman put his concern on record. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-10c.246.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g252.4 | |
| I am very grateful to the hon. Member for Cardiff South and Penarth (Stephen Doughty) for his point of order and for his courtesy in giving me advance notice of his intention to raise it. I must start by saying that the content of Ministers’ answers is the exclusive responsibility of those Ministers. If a Minister comes subsequently to realise that he or she has erred in saying something incorrect or even in giving an inadvertently misleading impression by failing to include in an answer information that should have been divulged, it is the responsibility of that Minister to correct the record.The hon. Gentleman asks how he can best proceed in this matter. My instinct is that he should, if he feels that there has been a potential breach of the ministerial code, write directly to the Prime Minister, for it is for the Prime Minister who, under our existing constitutional arrangements, decides whether to refer an alleged and claimed breach to the independent adviser on ministerial interests. That therefore is the course that I recommend to him. It may avail him. If it does not, and the matter in his mind and that of others remains unresolved, and he feels that the House is in possession of wrong information that has not been corrected, he can always return to the matter by a variety of means. We will leave it there for now. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-10c.188.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g190.0 | |
| Order. Unsurprisingly, a very significant number of colleagues are seeking to catch my eye. I would like to accommodate most, if not all, of them. My prospects of doing so will be greatly enhanced if colleagues who are customarily addicted to long or multifaceted questions are today able to content themselves with minimal preamble and a simple, pithy inquiry, which I know will enjoy a pithy response from the Secretary of State. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-10c.174.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g178.2 | |
| I admire the hon. Gentleman enormously, but I hope he will not take it amiss if I say that he really is an incorrigible fellow; I thought that his question had concluded, but I had heard only the first third at that point. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-10c.174.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g182.1 | |
| I am not sure that I detected a question in that stream of consciousness from the hon. Gentleman—[Interruption.] I hear him now chuntering from a sedentary position, “Does he agree?” https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-10c.174.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g188.2 | |
| I have no plans to close that office. To my very great life impoverishment, I have to admit that I am not aware of having been to Workington to date, and I certainly would not take it upon myself to presume to close something that I have not even visited. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-10c.162.9&s=speaker%3A10040#g167.2 | |
| Order. Of one thing we should be clear: that the Minister has a grasp of parliamentary protocol. He cannot accuse somebody of disingenuously misleading the House; both words are wrong, and both must be withdrawn. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-10c.139.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g142.3 | |
| If somebody is disingenuous there can be nothing inadvertent about it, which I would have thought the hon. Gentleman was well-educated enough to recognise; do try to get it right, man. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-10c.139.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g142.5 | |
| Progress, apart from anything else, has been glacial—far, far too slow—so we need to speed up. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-10c.139.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g143.0 | |
| Order. I am sorry, because these are very important matters, but I must say that progress is lamentably slow, so long questions will be cut off from now on, because there are people lower down the Order Paper who must be reached. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-10c.146.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g148.3 | |
| I call Virendra Sharma. Not here. Where is the feller? I am becoming accustomed to having to say this every day; it is very unsatisfactory. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-10c.146.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g149.2 | |
| I call a Kentish knight, Sir Julian Brazier. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-10c.151.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g151.8 | |
| I could not be more grateful to the Minister. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-10c.154.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g154.8 | |
| I call Mr Virendra Sharma. Has the feller now manifested himself? No, sadly not. Never mind. He is not here, but Rebecca Pow is. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-10c.155.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g155.4 | |
| All questions and answers from now on need to be extremely brief, irrespective of how distinguished those who put the questions are or judge themselves to be. I call Mr Alex Salmond. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-10c.155.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g156.0 | |
| As I have just been advised by our most esteemed procedural expert in the House, we do not need a lecture in each of these cases. We need a pithy question and a pithy reply. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-10c.155.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g156.5 | |
| I very much doubt that the proposition that the Foreign Secretary is an exotic individual would be subject to a Division of the House. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-10c.155.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g160.7 | |
| Finally, a cerebral and immensely patient Member of the House who is unfailingly courteous at all times, Jeremy Lefroy. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-10c.155.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g162.1 | |
| I am sorry to disappoint remaining colleagues. This Question Time session probably enjoys a greater demand than any other, but I am afraid supply is finite. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-10c.155.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g162.5 | |
| Two hours, the Minister chunters from a sedentary position. I certainly would not object to that. He is a member of the Executive. If the Government want to table such a proposition, I think there might be very substantial support for it. I try to expand the envelope, but there are limits: if we do not have a longer session people will have to be briefer in questions and answers.We now come to the urgent question. I call John McDonnell. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-10c.155.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g162.7 | |
| With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:New clause 2—Representative panels—‘(1) The Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education shall establish—(a) a panel of persons undertaking approved English apprenticeships; and(b) a panel of persons undertaking study towards approved technical education qualifications.(2) A panel under subsection (1)(a) shall be established by 1 April 2017 and shall advise the Board of the Institute on all matters concerning approved English apprenticeships.(3) A panel under subsection (1)(b) shall be established by 1 April 2018 and shall advise the Board of the Institute on all matters concerning technical education qualifications.’This new clause would establish representative panels of apprentices and of learners in technical education who are not doing apprenticeships.New clause 4—Careers education: duty to publish strategy—‘(1) The Secretary of State shall publish a strategy for the purposes of improving careers education for persons receiving education or training—(a) in the course of an approved English apprenticeship;(b) for the purposes of an approved technical education qualification; or(c) for the purposes of approved steps towards occupational competence.(2) The strategy shall be laid before Parliament.(3) The strategy shall specify provisions under which the Secretary of State will seek to—(a) ensure that persons receiving education or training under subsection (1) receive information, advice and guidance relating to their future careers, and that such information, advice and guidance is delivered in a way which meets each person’s needs and is impartial;(b) ensure that such information, advice and guidance may be taken into account by relevant authorities and partners to meet the needs of local or combined authority areas;(c) ensure parity of esteem between technical, further and higher education; and(d) monitor the outcomes of such information, advice and guidance for recipients.(4) The provisions specified in subsection (3) shall have specific regard to particular needs of different groups of persons receiving education or training under subsection (1), including—(a) persons with special educational needs;(b) care leavers;(c) persons of different ethnicities;(d) carers, carers of children, or young carers, as defined by the Care Act 2014; and(e) persons who have other particular needs that may be determined by the Secretary of State.(5) The strategy shall include guidance for the purposes of improving careers education, to which the following bodies shall have regard—(a) the Office for Standards in Education, Children‘s Services and Skills;(b) the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education; and(c) the Office for Students.(6) The Secretary of State shall by regulations designate relevant authorities and partners for the purposes of subsection (3)(b).(7) The Secretary of State may by regulations designate—(a) further groups of persons under subsection (4)(e); and(b) further national authorities or bodies under subsection (5).(8) Regulations made under this section—(a) shall be made by statutory instrument; and(b) may not be made unless a draft has been laid before and approved by a resolution of each House of Parliament.(9) For the purposes of this section, “careers education” means education about different careers and occupations and potential courses or qualifications to attain those careers and occupations.’This new clause would establish a statutory requirement for the Government to produce a strategy on careers education, which shall be taken to be the “Careers Strategy”.Amendment 4, in schedule 1, page 21, line 13, at end insert—‘(4) The Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education in performing its functions must have regard to the need to promote equality of opportunity in connection with access to, and participation in, education or training provided in a form specified in subsection (6).’This amendment would ensure that the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education must have due regard for widening access and participation.Amendment 5, page 21, line 13, at end insert—‘(4) The Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education in performing its functions must co-operate with the Apprenticeship Delivery Board on progression into, and delivery of, apprenticeships.’This amendment would ensure that the Institute has a duty to co-operate with the Apprenticeship Delivery Board.Amendment 6, page 21, line 13, at end insert—‘2A After section ZA2 (general duties) insert—“ZA2A Expenditure by the InstituteIn the discharge of its duties and functions under this Chapter, the Institute shall in any one year expend a sum no less than the sum projected to be raised under the Apprenticeship Levy in that year.”’Amendment 7, page 22, line 2, after “to” insert “state-funded”.Amendment 8, page 22, line 23, at end insert—‘(1A) In making determinations under subsection (1)(a) on occupations relating to apprenticeships, the Institute shall attach particular importance to the needs of apprentices aged between 16 and 24.’.This amendment would ensure the mapping of occupation groups has particular regard for people aged 16-24 taking apprenticeships.Amendment 9, page 23, line 2, at end insert—‘(2A) Outcomes under subsection (2)(b) shall include recognised technical qualifications.’.This amendment would ensure that all apprenticeship standards include a recognised technical qualification.Amendment 10, page 28, line 6, leave out “course document” and insert“standard or technical assessment design specification”.Amendment 11, page 28, line 9, leave out “another person” and insert “other persons”.Amendment 12, page 28, line 10, leave out “another person” and insert “other persons”.Amendment 13, page 28, line 12, leave out section A2IA(4).Amendment 14, page 28, line 17, after “education” insert “route”.Amendment 15, page 28, line 28, after “education” insert “route”.Amendment 17, page 28, line 30, leave out section A3A(2)(c).Amendment 16, page 28, line 32, after “education” insert “route”.Amendment 18, page 28, line 39, after “Ofsted” insert “, the QAA”.Amendment 19, page 29, line 1, after “Ofsted” insert “, the QAA”.Amendment 20, page 29, line 3, after “England,” insert“including those offered by Higher Education Institutions,”.Amendment 21, page 29, line 13, at end insert—‘“QAA” means the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education.’Amendments 18, 19, 20 and 21 would ensure that the QAA would be included in the list of organisations required to share information and that degree apprenticeships were fully covered by this requirement. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-09a.70.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g70.4 | |
| The short answer to the hon. Gentleman is that I have not received any indication of an impending statement by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on the matter to which he refers. I appreciate that it will of course be of great interest to many Members of the House. The fairest thing I can say is that we must await the development of events. I am conscious that there is a Westminster Hall debate tomorrow afternoon. The possibility of an oral statement by the Government must clearly exist. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-09a.68.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g68.2 | |
| This is an extremely sensitive situation, and I do not want to say anything that adds to that sensitivity. Suffice it to say that the hon. Lady inquired as to what other avenues are open to ensure discussion of this matter. In using the word “other”, I assume that she is referring to other avenues beyond the possibility of a Government statement, which, of course, it would be for the Government to decide whether to make. She is well familiar with the mechanisms available for scrutiny of the Executive in this place. The fairest thing I can say is that I would be extremely surprised if this matter were not fully aired in the next few days in this Chamber. As Speaker, I would want to facilitate the House if that is what is desired. My senses are that it will be desired and that it will happen. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-09a.68.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g68.4 | |
| I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for his point of order and for notice of it. At this stage, in direct response to his inquiry, I am not aware of anything that has happened that is a matter for the Chair. If it transpires that something has happened that is a matter for the Chair, I will of course consider what action to take. The matter of concern is serious—I do not dispute that for one moment—but it is important to be accurate in the use of terms and language. To the best of my knowledge and belief—I do not doubt the good intentions of the right hon. Gentleman—the individual to whom he has indirectly referred has not been an employee of this House. The individual concerned was an employee of a number of institutions and people. My understanding is that she has resigned from one full-time post and from another part-time post. The part-time post, which had caused her to work administratively with a Member of the House, has ended and the pass that was available to her is being returned. I think that is a pretty full answer to the right hon. Gentleman, which it is intended to be, and I hope that it is helpful, but I do not think that it would be helpful further to dwell on the matter now. I thank him for raising the matter, which is obviously of concern to him.I do not want to invite trouble, but the hon. Member for Worthing West (Sir Peter Bottomley), who is a very senior Member of the House—I know that he would not take liberties—is looking at me in a state of great perturbation. If he really wants to raise a point of order, I am not going to stop him. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-09a.68.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g68.6 | |
| He does not. What a remarkable display of self-restraint by the hon. Gentleman. It might catch on—you never know. I think that colleagues would probably say to me, “Good luck with that one.” https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-09a.68.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g69.1 | |
| I hope that the hon. Lady will not take offence—she has vast experience in this field—if I say that her questions must be judged to be rhetorical, because I did not observe any question marks, although I am sure we will in future. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-09a.36.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g42.1 | |
| Yes, but that was then, and this is now. That was when I was a badly behaved Back Bencher like the hon. Gentleman. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-09a.36.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g42.3 | |
| In wishing the hon. Members for Morley and Outwood and for Filton and Bradley Stoke all the best in the weeks and months ahead, I call Andrea Jenkyns. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-09a.36.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g44.0 | |
| In wishing the hon. Member for Liverpool, Wavertree all the best in the period ahead, I call Luciana Berger. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-09a.36.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g45.2 | |
| Order. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-09a.36.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g45.5 | |
| I am grateful to the Secretary of State and to colleagues across the House. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-09a.36.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g67.0 | |
| Before we proceed, let me just say this. The hon. Gentleman has raised an extremely serious matter on the back of very considerable knowledge and research, and he has aired it in this House with great sensitivity. I did not wish to interrupt him—not least for that obvious reason—but perhaps I can announce to the House a new year’s resolution: from now on we must, without fail, stick to the established time limits for urgent questions. The hon. Gentleman was notified of the two-minute limit and he took over three minutes. That is the first point. A lot of more experienced Members will be well aware of my second point, but perhaps I can just underline it. The briefest preamble of description is fine, but an urgent question is supposed to be just that: neither a speech nor a contribution to debate, but a series of questions. I know the hon. Gentleman well and he will not, I am sure, take offence. He has raised very important matters. In future, however, doing so must be done in accordance with the proper form and time. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-09a.24.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g27.0 | |
| Splendid! The hon. and learned Lady elided into a question just in time. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-09a.24.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g30.0 | |
| We earlier heard a Cherry, and now we can hear a Berry. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-09a.24.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g32.1 | |
| I call Mr Gerald Jones. Where is the fella? He is not here. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-09a.1.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g1.3 | |
| That is very welcome. We do not need to take up unnecessary time, but I appreciate the spirit of the hon. Gentleman’s suggestion. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-09a.6.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g6.4 | |
| All of us in the Chamber can learn about the merits of brevity from the right hon. Member for New Forest West, who will not disappoint me. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-09a.10.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g11.0 | |
| Order. On this question, I would call on the hon. Member for Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock (Corri Wilson) if she were standing, but as she is not, I cannot. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-09a.16.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g17.1 | |
| As she is standing now, I will call on her. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2017-01-09a.16.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g17.3 | |
| The means by which a Minister seeks to clarify a matter that is the subject of parliamentary interest is for that Minister. Sometimes a Minister will sense that the salience of the issue or the inquisitorial appetite of the House is such that a statement, rather than simply an answer to a written parliamentary question, might be judicious, but that is a judgment for him or her to make, not the Chair.On the closure of the Child Poverty Unit, I note that the hon. Gentleman has a Westminster Hall debate on that matter this very afternoon. It would be surprising, to say the least, if he did not raise and ventilate fully his concern, on this and related matters, on that occasion. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-20a.1322.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1322.2 | |
| The hon. Lady is so illustrious that I am going to save her up. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-20a.1322.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1322.5 | |
| Order. May I very gently say to the hon. Gentleman that I do not think the House requires the full details of the statement that he is clearly very keen to share with us? The matter to which he alludes is certainly important, but it did not require rehearsal in the Chamber today. That is why it is not being aired today in the way that, for example, another matter has been aired very fully.I say to the hon. Gentleman that various vehicles are open to him to pursue the issue. Knowing him as I do, I feel certain that he possesses the ingenuity to use one or other of those vehicles. I shall be looking with great interest to see how he does so, after he has had a brief break over the Christmas period. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-20a.1322.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1322.7 | |
| I would not want to impute any particular motive to any Member of the House, including the Secretary of State. What I would say to the hon. Lady is that I understand her irritation—I was going to say “frustration”—on this matter. The Secretary of State has interpreted her responsibility, in the way she described to the House, very narrowly, which she is entitled to do. Colleagues on either side of the argument can make their own assessments of how the Secretary of State responded to the various inquiries put to her. I feel sure that significant numbers of Members will want to return to this matter in the new year. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-20a.1322.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1323.1 | |
| We now come to the ten-minute rule motion. I say that with a degree of interest, because it means that the hon. Gentleman has up to 10 minutes only in which to articulate his case. I feel sure he will do so with an eloquence worthy of Demosthenes. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-20a.1323.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g1324.1 | |
| We are grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his sedentary chunter. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-20a.1314.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g1321.5 | |
| The constituency of the hon. Member for Bassetlaw (John Mann) was just mentioned and he came in on cue. Unfortunately, he was not within the curtilage of the Chamber at the material time. No doubt we will hear from him at a later date, to which we look forward with eager anticipation. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-20a.1291.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g1293.2 | |
| In relation to evidence-based medicine. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-20a.1293.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g1294.2 | |
| Order. The hon. Gentleman has rather cheekily brushed aside the part of the question that does not suit his purposes. Only to focus on half a question is very cheeky; we will allow him to get away with it on this one occasion only. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-20a.1296.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g1296.8 | |
| Order. The hon. Member for West Ham (Lyn Brown) should not chunter from a sedentary position in an attempt to hector the Minister, who should glide seamlessly above the attempted provocation. Minister, continue. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-20a.1299.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g1299.6 | |
| He has finished his answer. Very well; I call Alistair Burt. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-20a.1299.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g1299.8 | |
| I have just been advised by a very sagacious source that in supplementary questions and answers to this question some reference to winter is desirable. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-20a.1301.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g1302.3 | |
| Order. This question is about England, rather than Scotland or Wales. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-20a.1304.8&s=speaker%3A10040#g1305.3 | |
| We now feel considerably better informed. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-20a.1306.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g1307.0 | |
| Let us hear the sound of Shipley— Mr Philip Davies. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-20a.1306.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g1307.6 | |
| Alex Chalk. Where is the fella? https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-20a.1307.9&s=speaker%3A10040#g1310.1 | |
| It is always useful to have a bit of additional information. We are greatly indebted to the Minister. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-20a.1307.9&s=speaker%3A10040#g1312.6 | |
| Order. We are short of time, but I am in a generous mood. We can manage only one more, so 46 years, six months and two days after his first election to the House, I call Mr Dennis Skinner. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-20a.1307.9&s=speaker%3A10040#g1313.1 | |
| Thank you. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-20a.1307.9&s=speaker%3A10040#g1314.1 | |
| With the leave of the House, we will take motions 2 to 6 together.Ordered, https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-19c.1283.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g1283.2 | |
| Order. I appreciate that the hon. Gentleman is the illustrious Chair of the Select Committee covering these matters, and that he does not wish any concept which at any time might be in any way material to be excluded from his interrogation, but I advise other Members that, although they may seek to emulate his erudition, they should not seek to rival his length. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-19c.1201.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g1206.0 | |
| Order. I appreciate that the hon. Member for Hexham (Guy Opperman), now an illustrious Government Whip, is very excited in the approach to his wedding; I advise him that the descent on him of a Zen-like calm will aid his preparations. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-19c.1201.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g1210.5 | |
| Order. I appreciate that the right hon. Member for Delyn (Mr Hanson) is an illustrious former prisons Minister, eager to make his point with great force and alacrity—[Interruption.] Order. Mr Gyimah, I know that you are trying to aid matters, but you are disadvantaging me in seeking to facilitate good order. Your assistance might be required at some unspecified point in the future, but it is not required at the moment. We must hear the answers from the Secretary of State. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-19c.1201.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g1211.1 | |
| Before he beetles off to some other no doubt important commitment, let us hear the fellow from Wrexham. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-19c.1201.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g1211.5 | |
| Book sales will no doubt increase manifold. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-19c.1201.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g1212.0 | |
| The hon. Gentleman is a noted thespian and I know he will therefore greatly enjoy the warm acclamation he receives when he now rises again from his seat. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-19c.1201.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g1213.8 | |
| Order— https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-19c.1201.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g1214.4 | |
| I hope this is not a continuation of the debate, but the right hon. Gentleman has an honest face and I will give him a chance. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-19c.1201.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g1214.6 | |
| Order. The right hon. Gentleman has made his own point in his own way. We must hear the response of the Secretary of State, if she wishes to offer one. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-19c.1201.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g1214.8 | |
| Order. There is quite a lot of eccentric gesticulation going on, and the hon. Member for Wolverhampton South West (Rob Marris) is shaking his head feverishly. I simply say to Members: consult the record. It will be very useful to read and digest the Official Report tomorrow morning over breakfast. The hon. Gentleman will probably find that therapeutic. I am grateful to the Secretary of State. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-19c.1201.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g1214.10 | |
| Ah, yes, the good doctor. Dr Julian Lewis. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-19c.1176.9&s=speaker%3A10040#g1187.4 | |
| In the pursuit of a soothing, emollient and understated voice, I call Philip Davies. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-19c.1176.9&s=speaker%3A10040#g1192.2 | |
| Order. The Prime Minister could always introduce an addendum to her last answer, which would doubtless bring great happiness into the life of the hon. Member for Rhondda. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-19c.1176.9&s=speaker%3A10040#g1195.0 | |
| Ah yes—a notable legal egghead. Mr Robert Neill. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-19c.1176.9&s=speaker%3A10040#g1198.6 | |
| Order. The hon. Lady has made her point with great force and eloquence, but it does not need to be made at any greater length. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-19c.1156.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g1157.7 | |
| I hope the hon. Gentleman is encouraged by the power of his own question tabling. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-19c.1158.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g1158.7 | |
| Order. If the Minister knows that he is going to answer the next question, he is very welcome to remain standing at the Dispatch Box. No one would think that there was anything disorderly or unreasonable about that, and he should feel welcome to do so. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-19c.1165.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g1165.5 | |
| We are all very much better informed. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-19c.1169.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g1170.3 | |
| The Minister is too modest in declining to take the opportunity to say that he has, over many years, led by example through his repeated and impressive marathon running, with which the whole House should by now be well familiar. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-19c.1170.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g1171.0 | |
| The hon. Gentleman is genuinely a hero in his own times. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-19c.1170.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g1171.3 | |
| Order. The hon. Lady will resume her seat. I am sorry, but if we are going to have a right for the Opposition Front Bench to come in on topicals—I make this clear now, with immediate effect—it must be done very briefly; otherwise, it completely absorbs the time that is for Back Benchers. A single sentence from the hon. Lady will suffice. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-19c.1171.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g1172.1 | |
| Order. Shortage of time is good reason to call a master of brevity: Mr John Redwood. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-19c.1171.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g1176.1 | |
| Finally, whether she is a mistress of brevity or not, I call Fiona Mactaggart. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-19c.1171.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g1176.5 | |
| Well done. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-19c.1171.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g1176.8 | |
| I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his point of order. The short answer to him is no: I have received no indication that a Minister has any plan to come to the Chamber today. But I have known the hon. Gentleman a long time, and he is nothing if not a persistent woodpecker—that is a compliment—so my very strong hunch is that he will be in his place on Monday, using such devices as are available to him to try to secure the presence of a Minister to answer on this important matter. Meanwhile, I hope the hon. Gentleman has an enjoyable, and moderately restful, weekend. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-16a.1072.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1080.2 | |
| I am grateful to the hon. Lady for her point of order, but I fear that she invests me with powers I do not possess. Every Member is responsible for the veracity or otherwise of what he or she says. If any Member feels that he or she has made an incorrect statement in the House, it is open to that Member to correct it, and it should, indeed, be corrected. Where there are matters of debate and argument, I do not think that it is appropriate for me to intrude.Suffice it to say that I think the hon. Lady has found her salvation and, no doubt, done what she thinks is right by the fine employees of the Library by raising this point of order, which is now on the record and which, I trust, will be seen by the very Library staff whom, if I may say so without excessive pun, she has just championed. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-16a.1071.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1071.2 | |
| Order. Before I call the right hon. Member for Gordon (Alex Salmond), I should inform the House that he received the Coppieters award last night in Brussels. I feel sure that the House will want to know that the Coppieters awards are an initiative of the Centre Maurits Coppieters to honour individuals and organisations that stand out in defence of cultural and linguistic diversity, intercultural dialogue, self-determination, the rights of minorities, peace, democracy and a united Europe. I hope that, in the circumstances, the right hon. Gentleman deservedly feels and will sound even more chipper than usual. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-15a.957.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g964.4 | |
| Order. I have indulged the hon. Gentleman for the duration of his question, but I am glad that he has now taken that hat off. I sincerely hope he will not put it on again—preferably not at any time, but certainly not in the Chamber. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-15a.957.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g966.4 | |
| I call Brendan O’Hara. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-15a.957.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g974.4 | |
| I call Alan Brown. [Interruption.] https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-15a.957.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g974.8 | |
| I have just been informed of a most remarkable, almost novel development in the House, namely that an hon. Member has beetled out of the Chamber and not asked his question on the ground that it had already been asked—that has never normally stopped Members! It has to be said that the hon. Member for Dunfermline and West Fife (Douglas Chapman) is a most unusual denizen of the House. Let me also say that I am most grateful to the Leader of the House and to colleagues.Just before I call the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government to make his statement, I will just say this: I understand that a copy of the statement was provided to the Opposition spokesman only approximately 15 minutes ago, and that is, frankly, a discourtesy, not only to the Opposition, but to the House. It is also a departure from a very long-standing and almost invariably adhered to convention in this place. I must say to the Secretary of State, in all courtesy, that I had considered, in the circumstances, a brief suspension of the House, but after consultation and on reflection, I am persuaded, not least in the light of other business with which we have to deal today, that it is probably best for the House to press on. That said, this must not happen again.Moreover, I very gently say to the Secretary of State one further thing: he inquired of my office earlier whether it would be acceptable for his statement to be of 15 minutes’ length rather than the normal 10, because he wished to provide the House with as much detail as possible. It is acceptable for him to do that on this occasion, but of course compensation must be granted to the Opposition spokesperson in terms of the length of his reply. All of that said, I nevertheless would like to wish the Secretary of State, the Opposition spokesman and of course all colleagues a very merry Christmas. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-15a.957.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g975.0 | |
| Surely the decision for the filming to take place in the constituency of the hon. Member for Kettering (Mr Hollobone) was quite deliberate, on account of his prodigious efforts. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-15a.934.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g935.4 | |
| Order. We are not as slow as all that. The right hon. Gentleman has made that point with force and eloquence, but it does not improve by being repeated. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-15a.938.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g939.4 | |
| Splendid. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-15a.940.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g940.5 | |
| A very alluring prospect, to be accomplished by the right hon. Gentleman probably not without sweat or emotion. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-15a.946.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g947.0 | |
| I am going to play the role of tie referee and say that the tie of the hon. Member for Brent North (Barry Gardiner) is absolutely beautiful. It is tasteful and interesting, not boring like all too many ties. Now, let us hear from the fellow from Gloucester. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-15a.946.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g948.1 | |
| I call Julie Elliott. Not here. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-15a.946.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g948.6 | |
| Order. I am very conscious that the hon. Member for Bishop Auckland (Helen Goodman) had her question transferred to another Department, and I am sensitive to her plight. If she wishes to give the House the benefit of her thoughts, doubtless she will bob up and down during topical questions and we will all be grateful for that. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-15a.950.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g951.6 | |
| May I very gently say to the hon. Member for Brent North (Barry Gardiner), whom I hold in the highest esteem, that I hope, in due course, his PhD thesis will be published? https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-15a.951.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g952.3 | |
| Order. On account of the number of would-be contributors to this debate, I am afraid there will have to be a five-minute time limit on Back-Bench speeches with immediate effect, but we will do our best to accommodate everybody. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-14a.857.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g873.2 | |
| Wishing the fellow a full recovery, I call Mr Julian Knight. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-14a.797.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g806.1 | |
| It slightly pains me to call an Everton supporter today, but I do so nevertheless. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-14a.797.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g806.5 | |
| I do not think anyone is concerned about the size of Lords, but possibly they are about the size of the House of Lords. It is quite important to be accurate about these matters. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-14a.776.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g777.1 | |
| We are very grateful to the Minister for his history lesson, which I accept he is in a good position to provide, but we must move on. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-14a.776.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g778.3 | |
| John Cryer. Where is the feller? Dear, oh dear. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-14a.780.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g782.2 | |
| Order. There is far too much noise in the Chamber. We have heard the question, but I want to hear the Prime Minister’s answer. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-14a.782.9&s=speaker%3A10040#g783.0 | |
| Order. I want to hear the voice of Cannock Chase. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-14a.782.9&s=speaker%3A10040#g783.3 | |
| For the benefit of those observing our proceedings from outside, I should state that the Prime Minister was, of course, referring to the outstanding parliamentary rock band MP4. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-14a.782.9&s=speaker%3A10040#g784.0 | |
| With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:New clause 3—Review of compulsory purchase—“Before exercising his powers under section 35(1) the Secretary of State must carry out a review of the entire compulsory purchase order process.”This amendment ensures that there is clarity on appeal routes, pre-completion and pre-occupation conditions.New clause 12—Rates of interest and advance payments—“Within 14 days of the Neighbourhood Planning Bill receiving Royal Assent the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government and the Chancellor of the Exchequer must bring forward outstanding regulations relating to Clauses 192 to 198 of the Housing and Planning Act 2016 and Clauses 19 to 21 and 33 to 35 of the Neighbourhood Planning Bill.”The Housing and Planning Act includes measures requiring further regulations in order to come into force. This new clause requires that, once the Neighbourhood Planning Bill receives Royal Assent, these regulations should be brought into force to ensure that all farmers, business owners and landowners benefit from the Government’s commitment to improve interest rates on late payments as soon as possible.Amendment 26, in clause 15, page 14, line 12, leave out“as well as, or instead of, compulsory acquisition”and insert“or compulsory acquisition, but not both”.This amendment would ensure that where an acquiring authority seeks temporary possession rights it cannot at the same time also seek permanent possession rights. It would not stop the acquiring authority at a later date seeking permanent acquisition rights via a fresh compulsory purchase order should it be required to complete the project.Government amendment 21.Amendment 27, page 25, line 36, leave out clause 28.This would remove changes which would prevent landowners who have land compulsorily purchased for a particular purpose seeking additional compensation should the land end up being used for a different purpose. It ensures that, where the original calculation of compensation that was paid did not take into account the possibility of the development that the land is now being used for, the claimant receives the correct level of compensation. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-13b.673.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g673.4 | |
| It would absolutely be open to the Government to return to the matter, and to put before the House a substantive motion for a debate and a vote. Such an opportunity most certainly exists. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-13b.639.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g672.0 | |
| All I can say to the hon. Lady is that I have just heard the Foreign Secretary indicate from a sedentary position that he will write to her. Might I politely ask that the Foreign Secretary place a copy of the letter in the Library of the House, because I think his answer will be of interest not only to the hon. Lady, but to many Members on both sides of the House? https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-13b.639.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g672.2 | |
| I am not sure there is anything further, but I will indulge the right hon. Gentleman. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-13b.639.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g672.4 | |
| He might. I say to the right hon. Gentleman and any other Member who feels that his or her point has been inadequately addressed, or not addressed at all, that I am sure that the Foreign Secretary will study what has been said by colleagues and that, if he feels there are points that are unaddressed, he will write to all such colleagues. I am quite sure that the Foreign Secretary will do that.We have to leave it there for now. We cannot continue the debate at this time, although there is plenty of scope for doing so subsequently. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-13b.639.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g672.6 | |
| Order. The hon. Gentleman, whom I am about to call, needs to sit down by 3.23 pm so that I can call the Foreign Secretary, from whom I think the House will very much want to hear. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-13b.639.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g665.1 | |
| “Tat” rather than “Hat”. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-13b.639.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g655.4 | |
| Order. The time limit on Back-Bench speeches will for now be reduced to six minutes. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-13b.639.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g651.1 | |
| Order. We will begin with an eight-minute limit on Back-Bench speeches. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-13b.639.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g647.3 | |
| I am very grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his point of order, and indeed for his courtesy in giving me advance notice of it. I can confirm that I have received the letter to which he refers, and I shall reply to it in due course. Any attempt to impede an hon. Member going about his or her parliamentary business is potentially a contempt, and in such circumstances I would ask the hon. Member to write to me about this matter in the first instance. I hope that that is helpful both to the hon. Gentleman and more widely to the House. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-13b.635.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g636.1 | |
| There are some very clever people in Wycombe, you know. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-13b.597.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g598.3 | |
| The hon. Gentleman bears a striking resemblance to an exploding volcano. Let us hear the fella. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-13b.606.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g607.3 | |
| We are, in fact, grouping this question with Question 18. Ministers have to keep their eye on the Order Paper. The numbers change over a period, for reasons that I think will be fairly obvious to the Minister. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-13b.612.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g613.0 | |
| If the hon. Gentleman will be very brief, I will take him now, but if he won’t, I won’t. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-13b.612.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g613.6 | |
| I promise not to buy my dictionary from where the hon. Gentleman got his. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-13b.612.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g613.8 | |
| Order. Members need to understand that topical questions were always intended to be briefer. We cannot have these three, four and five sentence questions. What one wants is a quick question. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-13b.614.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g614.6 | |
| The hon. Gentleman can now breathe. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-13b.614.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g616.4 | |
| The final words in respect of this group of amendments are for the hon. Member for Harrow West (Mr Thomas). https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-12b.529.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g554.2 | |
| Order. The Minister is clearly not giving way. It is apparent to everybody else in the Chamber and I am sure that it is now apparent to the hon. Gentleman. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-12b.529.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g553.5 | |
| With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:New clause 2—Impact review: automatic enrolment and pensions savings—“(1) The Treasury must review the impact of Lifetime ISAs on workplace pensions automatic enrolment and pensions savings within one year of this Act coming into force and every year thereafter.(2) The conclusions of the review must be made publicly available and laid before Parliament.”This new clause would place a duty on HMRC to review annually the impact of Lifetime ISAs on automatic enrolment.New clause 3—Lifetime ISAs: Advice for applicants—“(1) The Treasury must, by regulations, make provision for all applicants for a Lifetime ISA to have independent financial advice made available to them regarding the decision whether or not to save in a Lifetime ISA.(2) Any applicant that opts in to the services offered under subsection (1) shall be given a signed declaration by that service provider outlining the financial advice that the applicant has received.(3) Any provider of a Lifetime ISA must confirm whether an applicant—(a) intends to use the Lifetime ISA for the purposes of paragraph 7(1)(b) of Schedule 1,(b) has a signed declaration of financial advice under subsection (2), or(c) is enrolled on a workplace pension scheme or is self-employed.(4) Where the provider determines that the applicant is—(a) self-employed and does not participate in a pension scheme,(b) not enrolled on a workplace pension scheme,(c) does not intend to use the Lifetime ISA for the purposes of paragraph 7(1)(b) of Schedule 1, or(d) does not have a signed declaration of financial advice under subsection (2),the provider must inform the applicant about the independent financial advice available to them under subsection (1).”This new clause would place a duty on the Treasury to make regulations that ensure all applicants for a Lifetime ISA have independent financial advice made available to them.New clause 4—First-time residential purchase: research and impact assessment—“(1) Within one year of this Act coming into force the Treasury must conduct a review into the potential impact of provisions within paragraph 7(1)(b) of Schedule 1 on—(a) house prices in the UK, and(b) the operation of the housing market.(2) The findings of the review must be made publicly available and laid before Parliament.”This new clause would require a review of the Bill’s effect on the UK housing market/house prices.New clause 5—Distributional analysis of the impact of the Lifetime ISA and Help to Save—“(1) Within six months of this Act coming into force the Treasury must conduct an analysis of the distribution of benefits of Lifetime ISAs and Help-to-Save accounts including between—(a) households at different levels of income,(b) people of different genders,(c) people with disabilities, and(d) black and minority ethnic groups.(2) The findings of the analysis conducted under subsection (1) must be laid before Parliament.”New clause 6—Lifetime ISA and Help-to-Save: value for money—“(1) Within six months of this Act coming into force the Treasury must assess the value for money provided by the Lifetime ISA and Help-to-Save scheme.(2) The assessment must in particular include—(a) the cost to the Exchequer of the measures,(b) the number of individuals who have benefited from the measures, and(c) the average tax deduction received by an individual as a result of the measures.(3) The findings of the assessment must be made publicly available.”New clause 7—Advice for applicants—“The Treasury must make provision by regulations to ensure all providers of Lifetime ISAs or Help-to-Save accounts provide applicants, at the point of application, with advice about the suitability of the product in question for each individual applicant.”This new clause would require advice to be provided to applicants for LISAs or Help-to-Save accounts which must include information on automatic enrolment and workplace saving schemes.Amendment 15, in clause 1, page 1, line 1, leave out clause 1.See explanatory statement for amendment 16.Amendment 17, in clause 3, page 2, line 17, leave out “1 or”.Amendment 18, page 2, line 19, leave out “Lifetime ISA or”.Amendment 19, page 2, line 23, leave out “Lifetime ISA or”.Amendment 20, in clause 4, page 2, leave out lines 32 to 36.Amendment 21, page 3, leave out lines 9 to 11.Amendment 22, in clause 5, page 3, leave out line 23.Amendment 6, in clause 6, page 3, line 36, leave out from “on” to end of line 37 and insert “30 April 2019”.This amendment would delay the commencement of the Bill until the end of April 2019, when all firms will be auto-enrolled and the increase in minimum contributions to eight per cent. will be completed.Amendment 16, page 5, line 1, leave out schedule 1.This amendment, together with amendments 15 and 17 to 22, would remove provisions for the Lifetime ISA from the Bill.Government amendment 3.Amendment 1, in schedule 2, page 16, line 3, leave out “48” and insert “24”.Amendment 12, page 16, line 31, at end insert—“(1A) The conditions specified under subsection (1) shall not include the condition that the individual be over 25 years old if that individual meets all other specified conditions relating to the working tax credit.”Currently those aged under 25 only qualify for Working Tax Credits if they work at least 16 hours a week. This amendment would ensure any individual aged under 25 would qualify for a Help-to-Save account if they met other specified criteria.Amendment 2, page 17, line 36, at end insert—“(d) a credit union.”Amendment 8, page 18, line 16, leave out “maximum” and insert “average”.See explanatory statement for amendment 11.Amendment 9, page 18, line 19, leave out “maximum” and insert “average”.See explanatory statement for amendment 11.Amendment 10, page 18, line 19, after “means”, insert “an average of”.See explanatory statement for amendment 11.Amendment 11, page 18, line 19, after “£50”, insert“across every two month period within the maturity period”.Together with amendments 8, 9 and 10, this amendment would allow HTS to provide for “top-up” monthly payments above £50 so long as the average payment for every two months is £50.Government amendment 4.Amendment 14, page 19, line 2, at end insert—“(e) provision for eligible persons to be auto-enrolled into Help-to-Save accounts through deductions from salaries or benefit entitlements unless the individual chooses to opt-out.”This amendment would enable an ‘auto-enrolment’ workplace saving scheme which would see an individual automatically signed up to a Help-to-Save account. He or she must opt-out to stop money being deducted from their pay or benefits into a savings account.Government amendment 5.Amendment 13, page 19, line 31, at end insert—“(3A) Where a bankruptcy order is made against a person with a Help-to-Save account any bonus paid into the Help-to-Save account will not form part of a debtor’s estate during insolvency proceedings.(3B) Any bonus paid into a Help-to-Save account shall not be liable to be taken as repayment via third party debt orders.”Amendment 7, page 20, line 23, at end insert—“(ba) for a bonus in respect of a Help-to-Save account to be paid after six calendar months beginning with the calendar month in which the account is opened and at six month intervals thereafter;”.This amendment would reduce the time before the holder of a Help to Save account would receive a government bonus to six months. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-12b.529.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g529.4 | |
| The right hon. Member for Sutton Coldfield (Mr Mitchell) asks leave to propose a debate on a specific and important matter that should have urgent consideration, namely international action to protect civilians in Aleppo and more widely across Syria. I have listened carefully to the application and I am satisfied that the matter raised by him is proper to be discussed under Standing Order No. 24. I now put it to the House.Application agreed to. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-12b.526.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g528.0 | |
| The right hon. Gentleman has obtained the leave of the House. The debate will be held tomorrow, on Tuesday 13 December, as the first item of public business. I must simply remind the House, as the prelude to what I am about to say, that there is other important scheduled business to follow and there is flexibility and discretion with the Chair in terms of the timing of such debates. I have decided that the debate will last for two hours, and will arise on a motion, “That the House has considered the specified matter,” as set out in the right hon. Gentleman’s application. I hope that that is helpful to the House.I am hinting to the House, by the way, that if lots of Members who are showing up today also show up tomorrow, there is no reason why they should not be called to speak. If it is helpful to the House, the emphasis will perhaps be on hearing pithy speeches from several people. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-12b.526.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g528.1 | |
| First, I think the hon. Gentleman has gone some distance towards achieving that recognition and commemoration by virtue of his ingenious use of the device of the point of order. Secondly, it is open to the hon. Gentleman, with colleagues, to table an early-day motion on the matter. My hunch is that he will not find it difficult to identify colleagues who are willing to assist him. Thirdly, if the hon. Gentleman is still not satisfied with what will by then be his prodigious efforts, it is always open to him to seek an Adjournment debate in which the matter can be more fully marked. I hope that is helpful to him. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-12b.526.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g528.3 | |
| From memory—I apologise if I am incorrect, but I do not think that I am—there are questions to the Secretary of State for Health before we rise for the Christmas recess. That is extremely fortuitous as far as the hon. Lady is concerned. I predict with complete confidence that she will be in her place on that occasion bobbing with the required intensity to be called to put this matter to a relevant Minister. If she does so, I do not think that it is the revelation of a state secret to say that she is likely to be successful. I hope that that is helpful in relation to what—all levity aside—is an extremely serious matter. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-12b.526.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g526.2 | |
| I appreciate the great pithiness of the right hon. Member for Leicester East (Keith Vaz) in referring to the urgent question of which he had given the Minister advance notice, but in the name of transparency and for the benefit of those attending to our proceedings from outside the Chamber, I should advise that the question is “To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement to clarify the United Kingdom’s policy on the conflict in Yemen.” https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-12b.515.10&s=speaker%3A10040#g516.2 | |
| A point of order on cluster musicians? Very well, I will take it now. [Interruption.] Not on musicians, no—I am sorry if I misspoke. It is on cluster munitions, which was what Jack Straw would have called the gravamen of the right hon. Gentleman’s concern. Let us hear it. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-12b.515.10&s=speaker%3A10040#g525.2 | |
| The answer to the right hon. Gentleman is twofold. If what he wants is personal reassurance, I suggest that his appropriate recourse is to sidle up to the junior Minister and ask to have a cup of tea with him. Secondly, if he is concerned for the benefit of the House as a whole and he wants something formally on the record—as a former Deputy Leader of the House, I doubt he particularly needs my advice, but I will proffer it—he should table a written question on this substantive point upon which he requires clarification, and I think he will probably find his salvation coming pretty soon. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-12b.515.10&s=speaker%3A10040#g525.4 | |
| A helpful nod from a sedentary position from the Minister confirms that my expectation is correct. If there are no further points of order, I shall in a moment call— https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-12b.515.10&s=speaker%3A10040#g525.6 | |
| I do beg the hon. Lady’s pardon. Patience is a virtue, and I thank her for waiting. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-12b.515.10&s=speaker%3A10040#g525.8 | |
| Order. I should advise the House that there are three urgent questions to be taken today and I want all to be properly contributed to, but it is important that we also provide time for subsequent business, so I am looking at finishing the UQs by 5.30 or thereabouts. Perhaps colleagues could tailor their contributions accordingly. We will be led in this matter by Mr Andrew Selous. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-12b.502.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g503.2 | |
| I call an Eagle—Maria Eagle. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-12b.502.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g507.4 | |
| I do not want to see a festering sibling rivalry. Angela Eagle. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-12b.502.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g507.8 | |
| I call Sir George Howarth. Where is he? I call Mr Bob Stewart. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-12b.479.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g480.3 | |
| That was a lot of questions to which I am sure a dextrous and pithy reply will trip forth from the tongue of the Secretary of State. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-12b.479.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g482.0 | |
| I had thought that the hon. Member for Charnwood (Edward Argar) was stirring in his seat. If he were standing, I would call him, but if he is not, I will not. He is not, so I will not. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-12b.482.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g483.4 | |
| The hon. Gentleman is a very excitable burgher of this House. I am not sure that he has quite attained the apogee of statesmanship to which he should aspire. He must try to calm himself and take some sort of soothing medicament. That will probably do the trick. Let us hear from a calm person. I call Maria Miller. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-12b.484.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g486.0 | |
| Notably in relation to operations in Iraq and Syria, to which I am sure the hon. Lady intended to allude but did not quite get round to doing so. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-12b.486.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g487.0 | |
| Order. I am sure the hon. Member for Esher and Walton (Mr Raab) is as interested in hearing other contributions on his question as he was in hearing his own views. It is customary for colleagues to remain until the end of the exchanges on their own question, which does not seem unreasonable. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-12b.490.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g491.0 | |
| I think we will hear the voice of Gainsborough on this matter. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-12b.491.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g493.4 | |
| That is very generous-spirited of the right hon. Gentleman. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-12b.493.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g494.7 | |
| One of the great merits of having the Clerk in front of me is that I am on the receiving end of his specialist advice. May I say, for the benefit both of the right hon. Member for New Forest West (Sir Desmond Swayne), who takes an interest in these matters, I know, and of the House, that the letter to which reference was made is strictly speaking a letter to the House and for its benefit? Notwithstanding the motivation of the right hon. Gentleman in saying, “You need not write,” may I with the greatest respect say to the right hon. Gentleman, a distinguished former Minister, that that is not for him to judge—the letter is for the House’s benefit. He may be disinterested in it, but others may be interested. We will leave it there. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-12b.494.8&s=speaker%3A10040#g495.1 | |
| The hon. Gentleman chunters from a sedentary position, “How will we see it?” Toddle along to the Library and you will find it, man. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-12b.494.8&s=speaker%3A10040#g495.3 | |
| A very good croak indeed in the circumstances. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-12b.495.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g498.3 | |
| Ah yes, the good doctor—the Chair of the Select Committee no less: Dr Julian Lewis. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-12b.495.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g500.2 | |
| Exceptionally, as I understand that it flows in some way legitimately from the exchanges that have already taken place, I will hear the point of order now. I am sure that the hon. Gentleman will not abuse his privilege. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-12b.495.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g500.6 | |
| No response from the Secretary of State is required. The hon. Member for West Dunbartonshire (Martin Docherty-Hughes) had, a moment ago, a beaming countenance, as he obviously felt he had unearthed a crucial nugget. If he is satisfied with his prodigious efforts, I am glad to bring a little happiness into his life. We will leave it there for now. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-12b.495.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g500.9 | |
| I thank the hon. Lady for what she has said and the way in which she said it, which has left an indelible impression upon us all. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-08a.398.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g410.0 | |
| Order. We will come to the right hon. Member for Gordon (Alex Salmond). There are various points of order, and first I will take those of which I have had notice. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-08a.392.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g392.2 | |
| I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his courtesy in giving me advance notice of his intended point of order. I have a twofold answer. First, every Member of this House is responsible for the veracity of what he or she says in it, and it is incumbent upon a Member, upon discovery of a mistake, to correct it; that applies to Ministers as it applies to anybody else. Secondly, the hon. Gentleman will understand why I do not wish to delve into the detail of the matter, and I certainly do not seek to adjudicate between the hon. Gentleman making an accusation and any Minister who might seek to defend himself or herself against it. All I would say, perhaps delphically, is that what the hon. Gentleman has said about a political motivation and what the Minister has said are not necessarily mutually exclusive. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-08a.392.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g392.4 | |
| I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for that point of order, and of course I remember well the exchanges to which he refers as they took place only three days ago. My off-the-cuff response is twofold. First, the absence of comprehensive answers to questions posed, under Governments of a variety of complexions, is not without precedent. Secondly, it is difficult to know—and it is not for the Speaker to judge—at what point a Government have decided on a policy and decided to communicate it. However, it does seem a tad strange if something is not communicated in the House in response to a specific question but is then communicated to the media a very short time afterwards. As I have said, it is not for me to judge in each case, but I really do think that if Ministers wish to avert the potentially embarrassing scenario of another urgent question being tabled on the same matter, with the possibility of a Minister having to come to answer it a second time, it would be wise for them to factor that consideration into their calculations of how to conduct themselves. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-08a.392.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g393.0 | |
| I think that that is the fairest way in which I can deal with this question, but the right hon. Gentleman was a co-applicant for the urgent question the other day, and his constituency is directly affected by this matter, so of course I will hear what he has to say. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-08a.392.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g393.2 | |
| Notwithstanding the right hon. Gentleman’s desire to invest me with great wisdom and powers in these matters, I am not sure that I am best placed to advise him on this. He is a former Deputy Leader of the House and he will be well aware of the upcoming debate on matters to be raised before the Adjournment, to which he may wish to contribute, although he might be perturbed by the absence of a responsible departmental Minister to give him a substantive reply. If he wants substantively to raise this issue and to obtain a reply, an Adjournment debate of his own might be his best salvation. I have a hunch that he will shortly be beetling across to the Table Office to make such an application, and he might find that his application is successful. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-08a.392.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g393.4 | |
| The hon. Lady is in a state of some perturbation, and she did give me notice of her point of order, so let us hear it. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-08a.392.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g393.6 | |
| I am grateful to the hon. Lady for her point of order, and I can offer her some comfort in the matter. The short answer is that the obligation most certainly does apply to Ministers, and I am frankly staggered to hear it suggested— https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-08a.392.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g394.1 | |
| The hon. Gentleman says he finds it shocking that anyone would suppose otherwise. I thought that this was very well known in the House.Let me give the hon. Lady a substantive reply. It is a long-standing convention that Members should notify each other before visiting others’ constituencies in a public capacity. Obviously, if one Member is going to another’s constituency for a private dinner party, the obligation does not apply, but we are talking about the conduct of public business. The requirement for Ministers is enshrined in the ministerial code, and Ministers really ought to be familiar with and ready to adhere to it. I agree that it is a most unsatisfactory situation when notice is not given, and I urge Members on both sides, and Ministers in particular, to observe that traditional courtesy. The point has been made, and I know that the Leader of the House, who is extremely assiduous and highly respected in this place for his courtesy—I can say that with some personal knowledge as he has been my constituency neighbour for the best part of two decades—takes these matters very seriously and that he will do all he can to ensure that other Ministers behave with the courtesy that he customarily exhibits. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-08a.392.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g394.3 | |
| The Leader of the House is entitled to respond if he wishes. If he does not wish to do so, it is fair to say that it is very much the norm that the Government should come forward with the appropriate resolution. It is not strictly a matter for the Chair if that does not happen, but knowing the right hon. Gentleman as I do and how familiar he is with that long-standing requirement, and knowing his tendency, quite prudently, only to ask a question when he already knows the answer, any member of the Government is taking some risk in persisting failing to do what is expected. I sense that the right hon. Gentleman will, to put it bluntly, keep banging on about the matter until he gets what he wants. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-08a.392.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g395.0 | |
| To some extent, the hon. Gentleman has obtained his own salvation in airing his discontent on the Floor of the House. The relevant Minister is not in a position immediately to reply so that the hon. Gentleman would be able to establish some facts on the ground that are to his advantage. I was not familiar with the point of detail that the hon. Gentleman highlighted about two matters being the subject of consultation rather than the full eight. I hope that he will forgive me if I say that that really is not a matter for me. I cannot be expected to get into the interstices of the system, but it is normal in matters of this kind that affect constituencies for the Members affected to be given the courtesy of advance notification rather than having to read about matters in the newspapers. It may well be that some rather greater discipline within ministerial offices is required to avoid a repetition of that rather unfortunate occurrence. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-08a.392.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g395.2 | |
| I must confess that I suffer from some ignorance on that matter. It is an enormously important point, but not one on which I have any knowledge. The hon. Gentleman asks whether there is any recourse for him, and the answer is yes: he should table a written question, narrowly focused on that matter, to try to extract a substantive answer. He is quite a terrier and I am sure that this is not beyond him. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-08a.392.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g396.0 | |
| Order. We are indescribably grateful to the hon. Gentleman for raising these important matters. No one could accuse him of excluding from his attempted point of order any point that he thinks might be, in any way, at any time or anywhere, judged to be material. There is a comprehensiveness about his approach that is as impressive as it is infuriating. I do not think I have ever said this before: there is a sense in which I share his pain, but there are very few new precedents in this place. He says with open-eyed astonishment that he put down several questions which were treated as a sort of job lot by the Minister, but I very much doubt his experience is any worse than mine. Many, many years ago, long before I had the privilege of occupying the Chair, I tabled 60 questions to the then Minister for Europe, who had the extreme temerity to provide me with a dismissive one-word reply to all 60. I simply returned to the drawing board and came up with a further series of questions, on the basis that I could thereby occupy the Minister’s attention in such a way that he would be doing less damage responding to me than he might be doing in other ways.What I say to the hon. Gentleman is that the content of ministerial answers is the responsibility of the Minister concerned. If a Minister felt, with hindsight, that an answer had been inaccurate, it would be open to him or her to correct the record. I realise that the hon. Gentleman finds the answers he has received unsatisfactory, but I am afraid that that is not a point of order for the Chair. He asks how he can get decent answers out of Ministers. That is a question that has taxed many of us, myself included, over the years, but the best approach is for the hon. Gentleman to use persistence and ingenuity, both of which he has demonstrated he possesses in abundance. Moreover, I suggest to him that he should seek the advice of the Table Office. One thing I learned early in my time in this place is that the staff of the Table Office are there to help. If he is told that his approach is not in order or is not the best approach, he should then proceed to ask the follow-up question, “How can I best go about the matter of inquiry?” The Table Office staff are both public spirited and expert, and they will be able to help him. His visits there will profit him. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-08a.392.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g396.2 | |
| I think the hon. Lady is requesting a statement on the matter. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-08a.371.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g376.1 | |
| I feel very confident that, by one means or another, we will hear about Yemen in the Chamber next week. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-08a.371.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g381.0 | |
| I think the hon. and learned Gentleman seeks to group Question 1 with Questions 6 and 8. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-08a.349.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g349.6 | |
| Good; and the hon. Gentleman may be learned, but if not, I am sure it is only a matter of time. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-08a.349.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g349.10 | |
| I call James Cleverly. Not here. I assume the hon. Gentleman was notified of the intended grouping. In that case, where on earth is the fella? https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-08a.349.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g350.0 | |
| No doubt. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-08a.349.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g350.2 | |
| It is very good to see the hon. Gentleman back in his place. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-08a.349.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g351.1 | |
| I realise that, as a distinguished lawyer, the hon. and learned Gentleman’s speciality is words—preferably a large number of them—rather than numbers. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-08a.351.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g352.4 | |
| I hope that three points satisfy the hon. Gentleman’s palette. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-08a.353.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g354.6 | |
| It is a very important question, but, unfortunately, it is somewhat different from the question on the Order Paper. That may explain the Minister’s need to undertake some important research, the fruits of which I am sure we will witness in due course. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-08a.357.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g358.4 | |
| It is good of the Leader of the House to drop into his own questions session. We are immensely grateful. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-08a.367.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g368.2 | |
| Order. That is absolutely fascinating material, especially in Taunton Deane, but I question whether it has any particular relationship with the issue of Barnett consequentials. I am sure that that is a matter to which the hon. Lady will devote her grey cells in the hours that follow. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-08a.367.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g368.4 | |
| We certainly do not want the right hon. Gentleman to go to the cellars and stay there until 2022; we would miss him greatly. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-08a.367.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g369.5 | |
| That has nothing to do with sitting in September 2017. The House is in a very curious mood today; questions are very interesting, but they suffer from the disadvantage of bearing little, or absolutely no, relation to the matter on the Order Paper. But the Deputy Leader of the House is a barrister, so if he cannot respond, nobody can. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-08a.367.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g369.7 | |
| I have no idea who this Chairman person is, but I will give the matter a bit of thought and see if I can work it out. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-08a.370.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g370.6 | |
| I thank colleagues very warmly for what they have said, and I think they will be thanked outside this place as well. Follow-through is key of course. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-07b.338.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g344.0 | |
| Order. May I just point out to the hon. Gentleman that he has just spoken and he is going to prevent other people from speaking, which is discourteous? https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-07b.220.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g314.1 | |
| Order. Matt Warman is the next speaker. We have eight would-be contributors and I would like to accommodate them all, so the time limit will have to be reduced, with immediate effect, to three minutes. Colleagues are absolutely welcome to intervene on each other, but if they do, somebody will not get in. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-07b.220.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g315.0 | |
| Order. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-07b.220.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g289.0 | |
| It is right that all of us should be held to account, including the Chair. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-07b.220.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g270.2 | |
| Order. I think the hon. Gentleman has been notified of this, but I should notify the House that, although the clock can be stopped at this point, the time limit for Back-Bench speeches is being reduced to five minutes, with immediate effect. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-07b.220.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g255.1 | |
| Indeed. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-07b.220.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g249.2 | |
| Order. I was momentarily distracted by another hon. Member speaking to me. The right hon. Gentleman was a beneficiary for a few seconds, but I am afraid his time has now elapsed. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-07b.220.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g247.0 | |
| Order. On account of the number of would-be participants in the debate it is necessary to impose a time limit. We will start with a time limit of eight minutes on Back-Bench speeches, but I give due notice that that is not likely to endure for very long. Members can help each other, however. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-07b.220.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g244.1 | |
| Order. The Secretary of State is clearly not giving way at present—a point that is so blindingly obvious that only an extraordinarily clever person could fail to grasp it. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-07b.220.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g233.0 | |
| Before the hon. and learned Gentleman responds, may I politely say that the intervention is absolutely legitimate but this is a helpful guide: if Members who are hoping to speak intervene more than once, in accordance with very long-standing practice they will be relegated on the list? That is only fair if I am to try to secure equal opportunities for all Members. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-07b.220.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g220.4 | |
| Order. I recognise that the hon. Gentleman is an illustrious Member of the House as Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, but even so the intervention was too long. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-07b.220.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g228.1 | |
| I inform the House that I have selected amendment (a) in the name of the Prime Minister. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-07b.220.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g220.1 | |
| Order. The hon. Gentleman is asking about protections for Northern Ireland in respect of the Good Friday agreement. I say to the hon. Member for North East Hampshire (Mr Jayawardena) that this is a very important matter that the hon. Member for Belfast South (Dr McDonnell) should be able to articulate for his constituents with a respectful audience. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-07b.203.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g204.1 | |
| Order. Both the questions and the answers will be heard. If the juvenile behaviour could stop, that would be really helpful to the scrutiny process. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-07b.205.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g207.3 | |
| Order. There is far too much noise. I want to hear the words flowing. There is no reason why the Chair should be denied the hearing of these matters. It is very important. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-07b.205.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g208.4 | |
| Order. I want to hear about these activities. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-07b.205.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g214.5 | |
| Order. We come now to the 10-minute rule motion, and I want to point out very gently—and, I hope, with proper courtesy—to the hon. Member for North East Hampshire (Mr Jayawardena) that 10 minutes is the maximum speaking time. There is another matter for debate today that is somewhat preoccupying the House, and there is no obligation on the hon. Gentleman to speak for the full 10 minutes if he does not feel inclined to do so. The House would be very sympathetic and understanding if he refrained. We will see. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-07b.205.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g216.2 | |
| Well! A one-word answer. Absolutely magnificent. I very much doubt that we shall hear a one-word question, but we can always ask the Chair of the Justice Committee, who is himself an accomplished lawyer. There is a hint there. I call Mr Robert Neill. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-06b.110.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g115.5 | |
| I think we will conclude with another dose from Shipley. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-06b.110.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g116.4 | |
| I think this show will run—probably for some years to come. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-06b.110.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g116.7 | |
| Order. I know how to deal with such matters. Members are taking too long. The Minister finished just in time, but I am afraid that the hon. Gentleman exceeded his time. We must establish a discipline that if it is two minutes, that means two minutes or under, not two minutes, two and half minutes or three minutes. I am sorry, but we have to stick to those procedures. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-05c.26.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g28.2 | |
| Order. The shadow Secretary of State must take some sort of soothing medicament, which will have the effect of calming him. He will be aware that I suggested to one of his north-east colleagues some time ago that it might be advisable to take up yoga, because it would have a therapeutic effect. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-05c.26.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g29.3 | |
| Or even yogurt. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-05c.26.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g29.5 | |
| I thank the hon. Member for North Thanet (Sir Roger Gale) for his great courtesy. May I gently tell him that I now realise why, 20 years ago, he was affectionately described to me by a very near constituency neighbour of his as “peppery”. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-05c.26.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g30.6 | |
| The hon. Gentleman has given new meaning to the description “delayed journey” and we are deeply grateful to him. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-05c.26.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g32.2 | |
| Absolutely hopelessly long. Sorry, but that was really hopeless and we have to do a lot better. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-05c.1.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g1.9 | |
| Perhaps the Chair of the Home Affairs Committee can be the author of the textbook. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-05c.1.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g1.11 | |
| I am sure there is no suggestion that anybody would be anything other than honest in this Chamber. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-05c.4.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g5.4 | |
| Well, one can always come to the Chamber to be illuminated by the hon. Gentleman. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-05c.4.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g5.9 | |
| We are past 3.15, but that has never bothered me, and it would be unkind to the point of cruelty to exclude the hon. Member for Chippenham (Michelle Donelan), from whom the House will wish to hear. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-05c.16.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g17.3 | |
| I trust that we shall be hearing about it in the House before very long. In fact, I think I can say that with complete certainty. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-05c.18.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g22.7 | |
| Order. These chaps have already spoken. I think I will call Alison Thewliss. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-05c.18.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g23.3 | |
| That is very reassuring. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-05c.18.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g23.8 | |
| Order. I always listen with the keenest interest to the right hon. Gentleman. From now on, however, interventions should be brief, and I think that we have now treated adequately of the matter of South Thanet. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-02a.1785.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g1787.2 | |
| I have no system, so mine is not broken, but that of others might be or might not be. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-02a.1785.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g1792.4 | |
| No. However, I know that Members of the Scottish National party attend in large numbers principally because of the vast range of issues that they perfectly properly wish to raise on this occasion and secondly, doubtless because they enjoy my company. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-01c.1688.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g1689.1 | |
| I am coming to the hon. Lady—I am saving her up. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-01c.1688.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g1689.4 | |
| Members are responsible for the veracity of what they say in the House, but I have a sense—I may be mistaken but I doubt that I am—that the hon. Gentleman on this occasion is less interested in what anybody else has to say to him, and rather more interested in what he has to say to them. He has made his point in his own way with his usual force and alacrity, and it is on the record. Doubtless it will be communicated ere long to large numbers of his constituents, which I imagine will cause him to go about his business with an additional glint in his eye and spring in his step that would otherwise perhaps have been lacking. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-01c.1688.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g1689.6 | |
| The hon. Gentleman’s experience was obviously different from and, according to his own lights and probably those of the hon. Lady, preferable to hers. I am grateful to the hon. Lady for giving me notice of her point of order as well as for its substantive content. I appreciate her concern. She is of course right that the petitions procedure is quite separate from planning law. Furthermore, it is a matter of public record that the petition she presented on behalf of her constituents did not request that the application be called in.In setting out the facts of the case today, the hon. Lady may well feel that she has achieved her objective of putting the record straight. Moreover, I have little doubt that her concerns about the process will have been heard on the Treasury Bench, and that they will be conveyed to the relevant Minister. I hope that that is helpful. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-01c.1688.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g1690.1 | |
| We now come to Backbench business. The first item is a motion in the name of Ian Blackford.Since this is only the second occasion upon which these procedures have been invoked, it might be helpful to the House if I explain what is happening. This is an identical motion to that which was debated in Westminster Hall on Tuesday 15 November. When the question was put in Westminster Hall, the Chair’s opinion as to the decision of the question was challenged. As the motion has now been brought before this Chamber, under Standing Order No. 10(13) I am required to put the question on the motion without debate. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-01c.1690.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g1691.0 | |
| Order. The Leader of the House is a renowned intellectual, noted not merely for carrying books around the place, but even for being seen reading them. However, may I gently say that, in accordance with my usual practice, I do want to accommodate all would-be contributors to the business statement, but I remind the House that there are two subsequent debates to take place under the auspices of the Backbench Business Committee, both of which are more than adequately subscribed and all of the contributors to which I am very keen to accommodate, too? So there is a premium on brevity from Front and Back Benches alike, now to be brilliantly exemplified by Mrs Maria Miller. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-01c.1668.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g1673.3 | |
| I was going to call Mr Spellar. Where is the right hon. Gentleman? Oh dear. The fellow has beetled out of the Chamber. It is a great pity. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-01c.1668.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g1677.2 | |
| I am sure that the column will be a literary hit of the very highest quality. I expect nothing less from the hon. Member for Peterborough. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-01c.1668.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g1678.0 | |
| We need to speed up, as progress is very slow. I want an extremely short, one-sentence question from Mr Michael Tomlinson. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-01c.1649.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g1651.2 | |
| I do not know why the right hon. Gentleman says that he needs to make an important point; all points made by Secretaries of State ought to be important, as should the points made to them. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-01c.1658.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g1659.0 | |
| Order. I do not wish to disorientate the right hon. Gentleman, but it had been an earlier ambition on his part, as communicated to my office, to group this question with question 22. I hope that he is still happy with that vaulting ambition. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-01c.1661.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g1661.8 | |
| On the principle of humanitarian assistance to the involuntarily delayed, I call Mr Henry Smith. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-01c.1662.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g1666.7 | |
| Preserving the habits of a lifetime, I feel sure. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-01c.1662.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g1667.2 | |
| Order. We must now move on. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-12-01c.1662.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g1668.4 | |
| Order. Members should not use the intervention opportunity as the chance of a compressed—but not very compressed—speech. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-30b.1585.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1605.1 | |
| Order. On account of the number of would-be contributors to the debate, I am afraid that it is necessary to impose with immediate effect a five-minute limit on each Back-Bench speech. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-30b.1585.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1603.5 | |
| Order. In a moment I shall call the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to move the amendment in the name of the Prime Minister, but first I must advise the House that no fewer than 13 Back Benchers wish to contribute to the debate, and they should be heard. The Secretary of State, equally, will want to respond, and probably comprehensively, to what he has heard, which is perfectly proper. I therefore ask Members to have some regard for the interests of each other. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-30b.1585.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1595.1 | |
| Bill to be read a Second time on Friday 24 February— https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-30b.1523.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g1526.0 | |
| We have no intelligence on the question whether it will be televised—well, actually we do, and it very likely will. [Laughter.] https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-30b.1523.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g1526.2 | |
| Order. A lot of very noisy private conversations are taking place. I must advise the House that we have many distinguished visitors here today, not only from across the country, but from Iraq and Egypt. We wish to show them that in our ancient democracy we can, when we try, conduct ourselves with due decorum, which will now be brilliantly exemplified by Mr Nigel Huddleston. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-30b.1507.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1508.0 | |
| I am happy to hear the voice of North East Hampshire on question 7. Mr Jayawardena, get in there. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-30b.1508.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g1510.0 | |
| I warmly welcome the hon. Member for Blyth Valley (Mr Campbell) back to his place. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-30b.1510.9&s=speaker%3A10040#g1519.3 | |
| Order. The hon. Gentleman has had his five minutes. I do not know whether he was then proposing to put questions, but I gently say to Members that in these matters there is a form to be followed—a procedure to be adhered to—and although I have listened to the hon. Gentleman with great care and attention, he has contributed in the manner of a debate rather than a response to a statement. Ordinarily, I would be very happy to hear his questions, but Members cannot make a long preamble and exceed their time, and then almost as an afterthought get around to some questioning. So I think we will for now have to conclude that the hon. Gentleman has concluded his contribution. But I am sure the Secretary of State will find in the commentary some implied questions, using the great intellectual dexterity for which he is renowned in all parts of the House. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-29b.1407.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g1410.0 | |
| Order. As I have mildly castigated the hon. Member for Norwich South (Clive Lewis), I should say that it must be admitted that that would have been helpful. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-29b.1407.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g1411.1 | |
| Order. I would like to accommodate the substantial interest in the statement, but if I am to do so, given that there are two notable pieces of business to follow, pithiness will be required from those on the Back and Front Benches alike. That pithiness is first to be exemplified by Mr Michael Gove. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-29b.1407.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g1413.2 | |
| I observe in passing that there is an undiluted sea of men seeking to catch the eye of the Chair. If a female Member were to stand, she would be called, but at the moment she is not, so she will not. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-29b.1407.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g1414.3 | |
| If that was a serious bid, I call Victoria Atkins. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-29b.1407.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g1414.5 | |
| She is not a barrister for nothing. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-29b.1407.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g1414.8 | |
| I have to notify the House, in accordance with the Royal Assent Act 1967, that the Queen has signified her Royal Assent to the following Act:Investigatory Powers Act 2016. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-29b.1377.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g1377.2 | |
| Order. We are discussing concern for coastal areas. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-29b.1377.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g1378.3 | |
| Order. I remind colleagues that topical questions are supposed to be sharply shorter, and the same goes for the replies. We made remarkably slow progress in the first session this morning, and we really need to do rather better. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-29b.1392.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g1392.4 | |
| I am sure the hon. Gentleman will be wearing that excellent pullover as he does so. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-29b.1392.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g1393.0 | |
| Order. I am sorry to disappoint remaining colleagues, but I have extended the envelope as far as I felt it in any way reasonable to extend it. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-29b.1392.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g1398.6 | |
| With this it will be convenient to discuss Government new clause 29—On-demand programme services: specially restricted material.New clause 1—Power to require the blocking of access to pornographic material by internet service providers—“(1) Where the age-verification regulator determines that a person has made pornographic material available on a commercial basis on the internet to persons in the United Kingdom—(a) in contravention of section 15(1), and(b) the person has been the subject of a financial penalty or enforcement notice under section 20 and the contravention has not ceased,the age-verification regulator may issue a notice to internet service providers requiring them to prevent access to the pornographic material that is provided by the non-complying person.(2) A notice under subsection (1) must—(a) identify the non-complying person in such manner as the age verification regulator considers appropriate;(b) provide such further particulars as the age-verification regulator considers appropriate.(3) When the age-verification regulator gives notice under this section, it must inform the non-complying person, by notice, that it has done so.(4) An internet service provider who fails to comply with a requirement imposed by subsection (1) commits an offence, subject to subsection (5).(5) No offence is committed under subsection (4) if the internet service provider took all reasonable steps and exercised all due diligence to ensure that the requirement would be complied with.(6) An internet service provider guilty of an offence under subsection (4) is liable, on summary conviction, to a fine.(7) In this section “internet service provider” has the same meaning as in section 124N of the Communications Act 2003 (interpretation).”This new clause gives a power to the age-verification regulator to require internet service providers to block pornography websites that do not offer age-verification.New clause 3—Safety responsibilities of social media sites—“(1) This section applies to a person who operates an internet site for commercial purposes which requires a user to create a personal account to fully access the internet site.(2) A person under subsection (1) must—(a) undertake and publish an online safety impact assessment in respect of their account holders,(b) inform the police if they become aware of any threat on its internet site to physically harm an individual,(c) remove any posts made on its internet site that are deemed to be violent or that could incite violence.”New clause 10—Internet pornography: requirement to teach age requirement and risks as part of sex education—“After section 403(1A)(b) of the Education Act 1996, add—“(c) they learn about the risks and dangers of internet pornography, and the legal age requirement to access internet pornography under Part 3 of the Digital Economy Act 2017.””This new clause would mean that the Secretary of State would have to include in guidance to maintained schools that pupils learn as part of sex education the risks and dangers of internet pornography and the legal age requirement to access it, as provided for under Part 3.New clause 13—Code of practice for commercial social media platform providers on online abuse—“(1) The relevant Minister must issue a code of practice about the responsibilities of commercial social media platform providers in dealing with online abuse.(2) The code of practice must include guidance on—(a) how a commercial social media platform providers shall respond to cases of a person being victim of online abuse on its internet site;(b) quality service standards expected of the commercial social media platform providers in determining, assessing, and responding to cases of online abuse; and(c) the setting and enforcement of privacy settings of persons aged 17 or under, where deemed appropriate.(3) A commercial social media platform providers must comply with the code of practice.(4) The relevant Minister may from time to time revise and re-issue the code of practice.(5) As soon as is reasonably practicable after issuing or reissuing the code of practice the relevant Minister must lay, or arrange for the laying of, a copy of it before—(a) Parliament,(b) the Scottish Parliament,(c) the National Assembly for Wales, and(d) the Northern Ireland Assembly.(6) In this section “commercial social media platform providers” means a person who operates an internet site on a commercial basis on which people can interact.”New clause 32—Approval of Age-verification providers—“(1) Age-verification providers must be approved by the age-verification regulator.(2) In this section an “age-verification provider” means a person who appears to the age-verification regulator to provide, in the course of a business, a service used by a person to ensure that pornographic material is not normally accessible by persons under the age of 18.(3) The age-verification regulator must publish a code of practice to be approved by the Secretary of State and laid before Parliament.(4) The code will include provisions to ensure that age-verification providers—(a) perform a Data Protection Impact Assessment and make this publicly available,(b) take full and appropriate measures to ensure the accuracy, security and confidentiality of the data of their users,(c) minimise the processing of personal information to that which is necessary for the purposes of age-verification,(d) do not disclose the identity of individuals verifying their age to persons making pornography available on the internet,(e) take full and appropriate measures to ensure that their services do not enable persons making pornography available on the internet to identify users of their sites or services across differing sites or services,(f) do not create security risks for third parties or adversely impact security systems or cyber security,(g) comply with a set standard of accuracy in verifying the age of users.(5) Age-verification Providers must comply with the code of practice.(6) To the extent that a term of a contract purports to prevent or restrict the doing of any act required to comply with the Code, that term is unenforceable.”Amendment 27, in clause 15, page 18, line 7, after “material” insert “or adult material”.This amendment and amendments 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 and 34 would require all providers of internet content which is not suitable for children to put in place a robust age-verification system. In the offline world, children are not allowed to view material which the BBFC has classified to be only suitable for adults. This amendment ensures that these restrictions apply equally to the online world.Amendment 28, page 18, line 11, after “material” insert “or adult material”.See explanatory statement for amendment 27.Amendment 29, page 18, line 18, after “material” insert “or adult material”.See explanatory statement for amendment 27.Amendment 30, page 18, line 24, after “material” insert “or adult material”.See explanatory statement for amendment 27.Amendment 2, page 18, line 36, at end insert—“(7) The Secretary of State must make regulations to ensure that the definition of specially restricted material in section 368E(5) of the Communications Act 2003 is amended to reflect the definitions in this Part.”The amendment requires the making of regulations to ensure that there is a parity of protection for children using different online media. The regulations would amend the definition of specially restricted material for UK based video on demand programming and extend it to 18 material as well as R18 material.Amendment 31, in clause 16, page 19, line 17, at end insert—“16 (1A) In this Part “adult material” means any of the following—(a) a video work in respect of which the video works authority has issued an 18 certificate;(b) any other material if it is reasonable to assume from its nature that any classification certificate issued for a video work including it would be an 18 certificate; and(c) any other material if it is reasonable to assume that the video works authority would determine that a video work including it was not suitable for a classification certificate to be issued in respect of it.”See explanatory statement for amendment 27.Government amendments 35 and 36.Amendment 32, in clause 19, page 21, line 9, after “material” insert “or adult material”.See explanatory statement for amendment 27.Amendment 1, in clause 20, page 22, line 26, at end insert—“(13) Where a person is—(a) based in a country outside the United Kingdom, and(b) refusing to comply with the requirements of the age-verification regulator, the age-verification regulator shall notify Ofcom that the relevant person is refusing to comply with its requirements.(14) Following a notification made under subsection (13), Ofcom shall direct internet service providers in the United Kingdom to block public access to the material made available by the person on the internet.(15) An internet service provider that fails to comply with subsection (14) within a reasonable period would be subject to financial penalties imposed by the age-verification regulator under section 21.”Amendment 33, in clause 22, page 24, line 33, after first “material” insert “, adult material,”.See explanatory statement for amendment 27.Government amendment 37.Amendment 34, in clause 23, page 25, line 5, after first “material” insert “, adult material,”.See explanatory statement for amendment 27.Government amendments 38 to 42.New clause 7—Bill limits for all mobile phone contracts—“(1) A telecommunications service provider supplying a contract relating to a hand-held mobile telephone must, at the time of entering into such a contract, allow the end-user the opportunity to place a financial cap on the monthly bill under that contract.(2) A telecommunications service provider under subsection (1) must not begin to supply a contracted service to an end-user unless the end-user has either—(a) requested the monthly cap be put in place and agreed the amount of that cap, or(b) decided, on a durable medium, not to put a monthly cap in place.(3) The end-user should bear no cost for the supply of any service above the cap if the provider has—(a) failed to impose a cap agreed under subsection (2)(a);(b) introduce, or amend, a cap following the end-user’s instructions under subsection (2)(b); or(c) removed the cap without the end-user’s instructions or has removed it without obtaining the consumer’s express consent on a durable medium under subsection (2).”New clause 14—Impact assessment of macro not-spot roaming—“(1) Within three months of this Act coming into force, the Secretary of State must commission an impact assessment of enabling a system of macro not-spot roaming in the UK, and shall lay the report of the impact assessment before each House of Parliament.(2) In this section “macro not-spot roaming” means the ability for hand-held mobile telephone users based in relatively large areas of non or partial broadband coverage to access coverage from networks other than their own.”This new clause calls for an impact assessment of macro not-spot roaming in the UK, in line with the recommendations of the British Infrastructure Group report on mobile coverage.New clause 20—Ability of end-user to cancel telephone contract in event of lack of signal at residence—“A telecommunications service provider must allow an end-user to cancel a contract relating to a hand-held mobile telephone if, at any point during the contract term, the mobile telephones is consistently unable to obtain a signal when located at the end-user’s main residence.”New clause 21—Use of emergency serve network wireless telegraphy infrastructure by multiple network providers—“After section 8(4) of the Wireless Telegraphy Act 2006, insert—“(4A) A licence issued in respect of a wireless telegraphy station or apparatus that is used for the purposes of emergency service network shall stipulate that more than one network provider can use the station or apparatus.””New clause 22—OFCOM power to enforce structural separation of BT Openreach—“After section 49C of the Communications Act 2003 insert—“(49D) OFCOM has the power to enforce the structural separation of BT Openreach, should OFCOM consider this necessary.””New clause 25—Ability of end-user to cancel mobile telephone contract in event of lack of signal at residence and place of employment—“A telecommunications service provider must allow an end-user to cancel a contract relating to a hand-held mobile device if, at any point during the contract term, the mobile device is consistently unable to obtain a signal when located at the end user’s main residence or main place of employment.”New clause 26—Wireless telegraphy licences and medical or hearing technology—“After section 14(4) of the Wireless Telegraphy Act 2006, insert—“(4A) Before granting a wireless telegraphy licence, Ofcom shall carry out tests to identify the risk of any interference with any medical or hearing technology and publish its findings.(4B) Ofcom shall not grant a licence if tests carried out under section 14(4A) have found there is a risk of interference with medical or hearing technology unless—(a) action is taken to eliminate the risk; or(b) a fund is set up to meet the costs of replacing all medical or hearing technology affected by the interference.(4C) Where a fund is set up under section 14(4B), Ofcom shall require that any person who is granted a licence takes action to inform its customers of the risk that its devices may lead to interference with medical or hearing technology.””This new clause would place a duty on Ofcom to carry out tests in advance of the sale of radio frequencies to ensure that any interference identified with medical or hearing devices is made public. Where a risk of interference is identified, Ofcom shall not grant a wireless telegraphy licence unless action is taken to remove the risk of interference or a fund established to cover the cost of replacing medical or hearing technology affected. This new clause is supported by the National Deaf Children’s Society.New clause 27—Introduction of broadband connection voucher scheme as alternative to universal service order provision—“The Secretary of State shall introduce a broadband connection voucher scheme to allow an end-user to access broadband other than that supplied by the provider of the universal service order, under Part 2 of the Communications Act 2003.”Although most individuals are likely to choose the standard universal service order offering, this new clause would provide individuals with the option of a voucher scheme that empowers them to take up an alternative solution.Government amendments 23 and 24. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-28a.1268.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g1269.1 | |
| I am grateful to the hon. Lady for her point of order and for her courtesy in offering me some advance notice of it. The short answer to the inquiry towards the end of her point of order as to whether I have received any indication of a likely ministerial statement on the matter is no. However, she has sought my advice more widely, and I am very happy to try to oblige. There is, I believe, a range of options open to her. Tomorrow we have oral Treasury questions when hon. Members may, if they wish, raise this matter with the Minister responsible for HMRC. I anticipate that a plentiful supply of colleagues will be in their places looking to do precisely that, doubtless including no less august a figure than the hon. Lady herself.It is a little while until the next Work and Pensions questions—that is regrettable but it is a fact. However, there will be opportunities to seek debates in Westminster Hall on the matter, or alternatively end-of-day Adjournment debates in the Chamber—a matter in which, as the hon. Lady knows, I take a keen and ongoing interest—in December. Alternatively, she may wish to gather support for a bid to the Backbench Business Committee, with whose Chair she will be well familiar. I have no doubt that the hon. Lady will pursue one, or perhaps more than one, of those options with her usual persistence and vigour. I hope that this reply is helpful not only to her but to other Members in various parts of the House who feel very strongly about this matter. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-28a.1266.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1266.2 | |
| Order. I entirely understand that passions are running high. It might help the House to know that I intend to call everyone, so there is no need for any hon. Member to speak from her seat, when she will have the opportunity to speak on her feet in due course. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-28a.1246.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g1252.1 | |
| The hon. Member for Thirsk and Malton (Kevin Hollinrake) must know something about these matters. He is an estate agent. Let us hear from him. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-28a.1224.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g1226.2 | |
| It is obviously a very remarkable facility if it is situated in the high street; it certainly has to be acknowledged. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-28a.1227.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g1228.8 | |
| I gently remind right hon. and hon. Members that they should not leave the Chamber until all the exchanges on the question to which they have contributed have been concluded. One fellow has just beetled out of the Chamber having popped his question, taking precisely zilch interest in anybody else’s. I am sure that the discourtesy was inadvertent, but it is in breach of a long-standing convention of this House, of which all Members ought to be aware. Modesty and kindness forbid me to mention the name of the offending individual on this occasion. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-28a.1232.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g1232.8 | |
| I am loth to come between sisters, especially twins, but I call Angela Eagle. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-28a.1236.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g1237.4 | |
| I call Maria Eagle. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-28a.1236.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g1237.7 | |
| To speak with exemplary brevity, I feel sure, I call Mr Andrew Slaughter. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-28a.1238.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g1239.0 | |
| The hon. Gentleman can now breathe. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-28a.1238.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g1239.2 | |
| Order. I do hope that the hon. Gentleman will speak as freely as he ordinarily does. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-25a.1141.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g1152.0 | |
| Order. May I gently say to the right hon. Member for New Forest East (Dr Lewis), who chairs the Defence Committee with such aplomb and distinction, that his intervention was somewhat longer than the list? https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-25a.1141.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g1153.5 | |
| I intend to ask the Leader of the House if he wants to say anything. He is not obliged to do so, but he might choose to do so, because these are essentially political matters. I have some comments to make to the right hon. Member for Gordon (Alex Salmond) in due course, but not before we have heard from Mr Peter Bone. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-24a.1044.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g1045.3 | |
| I am very grateful to the Leader of the House. I think it might be helpful, both to the right hon. Member for Gordon, who raised the original point of order, and to all who have subsequently taken part in this brief exchange, if I say the following. Ministers are, of course, responsible for what they say, as are other right hon. and hon. Members. Let me, however, confirm two things. First, the decision as to whether a Bill requires a money resolution is for the Clerk of Legislation, not the Treasury. I understood the meaning of the Leader of the House’s remarks earlier to be to the effect that it was for Treasury Ministers to decide on tabling a money resolution. He may not have said precisely that, but that is what I interpreted as being his meaning, and I confirm that it is, indeed, for them to decide upon the tabling. The question of the requirement is determined, as I have said, by the Clerk of Legislation. I hope that that response helps both distinguished Privy Counsellors in this matter. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-24a.1044.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g1046.1 | |
| The short answer is yes. The Clerk of Legislation has so decided. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-24a.1044.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g1046.3 | |
| Order. We are not going to have an extended conversation on the matter—at least, no more extended than the one we have already had. I think I have made the position clear. People can seek advice from whomsoever they wish, and the Government may choose to seek advice from the Treasury. In my experience, the Treasury is invariably ready to offer its advice, whether its advice is wanted or not. The Treasury may very well offer its advice, and people in the Government may want its advice, but the fact is that it is the Clerk of Legislation who decides whether a money resolution is required. Thereafter, let me go so far as to say that it is overwhelmingly the norm that the tabling then follows. I do not think that the Leader of the House has sought to gainsay that. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-24a.1044.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g1046.6 | |
| The Leader of the House confirms, by a very helpful shaking of the head, that he has not sought to gainsay that. I hope that that will suffice for the purposes of the right hon. Member for Gordon.If there are no further points of order—if the point of order appetite of hon. and right hon. Members has been duly satisfied, at least for today—we will move on. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-24a.1044.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g1046.8 | |
| I thank the Leader of the House for what he has just said. The power and beauty of those words will resonate with all of us. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-24a.1025.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1026.0 | |
| I do not know whether the hon. Gentleman wants a statement or a debate on the matter. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-24a.1025.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1042.5 | |
| I assure the hon. Gentleman that I did indeed watch both Andy and Jamie several times last week. He will not be surprised to know that I bellowed on regular occasions in their support, albeit, as he would expect, in an entirely orderly manner. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-24a.1025.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1043.3 | |
| What is more, if the hon. Member for Stirling (Steven Paterson) wants a debate on the matter— https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-24a.1025.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1044.0 | |
| I cannot take part, as the hon. Gentleman rightly observes from a sedentary position, but if the hon. Member for Stirling wants an Adjournment debate on the matter, I have a hunch that he might secure it. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-24a.1025.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1044.2 | |
| Ah, young Gove. Where is the fellow? https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-24a.1008.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g1008.2 | |
| It is an indescribable delight to see the right hon. Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove). My surprise was merely at the fact that he has perambulated to a different part of the Chamber from that which he ordinarily inhabits. I am sure that we will enjoy the same eloquence as usual. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-24a.1008.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g1008.5 | |
| I have always thought of the right hon. Gentleman sitting and reading Proust, rather than having a knees-up, so one’s imagination is challenged a bit—but there you go, it is probably good for us. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-24a.1012.8&s=speaker%3A10040#g1016.1 | |
| Order. I think the hon. Gentleman wishes to group this question with question 4, does he not? https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-24a.1017.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g1017.8 | |
| Very good. Well done. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-24a.1017.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g1017.10 | |
| It does not show. “Honourable” is the hon. Gentleman’s middle name. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-24a.1017.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g1017.12 | |
| That is very good news, because she is an excellent woman, as everybody in the House can testify, and, if I say so myself, a fine appointment by me. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-24a.1023.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g1024.2 | |
| The hon. Gentleman has just found his own salvation, as the puckish grin on his face suggests he realises. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-23c.944.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g944.2 | |
| I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his point of order. All Members, including Ministers, are responsible for the veracity of what they say in this House. The hon. Gentleman has formed his own view about this. There are a variety of methods open to him to draw attention to his views, which I know are very important, especially to him, but it is on the whole preferable that it should not be done through incessant points of order for the Chair when, whatever the merits of the case, they are in fact nothing of the kind. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-23c.944.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g944.4 | |
| The short answer is no. I have received no such indication. However, knowing what an assiduous and eager beaver the hon. Gentleman is, I feel sure that he will be in his place for the business question tomorrow and veritably leaping to his feet in order to request a statement or a debate on this important matter. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-23c.944.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g945.1 | |
| Order. Let me say now that if Members from either side want to shout out, they should not bother to stand, because they will not be called. I say that to Members on both sides—stop it. It is juvenile, low grade and hugely deprecated by the public, whose support we should be seeking and whom we should try to impress, not to repel. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-23c.899.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g911.0 | |
| That was a splendidly pithy answer, but questions are becoming rather long. There are still nearly 50 Members seeking to contribute, and I am keen to accommodate them, but I can do so only if people can—to put it bluntly—abandon the preamble and get on with the pithy, preferably single-sentence, inquiry. I am sure that we can led in this by Caroline Lucas. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-23c.899.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g928.2 | |
| One sentence if it involved the abandonment of punctuation. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-23c.899.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g928.4 | |
| I must advise the House that I have noticed a growing split within the Chamber between the glowerers and the smilers—Members deploying different techniques in a bid to be called. Some have very beatific smiles and others— https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-23c.899.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g930.7 | |
| A smile is more effective. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-23c.899.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g930.9 | |
| From the abundance of smiling Scottish nationalist countenances, I choose Mr George Kerevan. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-23c.899.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g932.4 | |
| Order. I want to hear about this house. It sounds very interesting indeed. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-23c.899.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g905.0 | |
| Order. The House is in a great state of emotion. Some people are very easily humoured. I am glad they are so humoured, but we must hear the Chancellor. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-23c.899.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g910.0 | |
| The hon. Gentleman was a bit tardy in standing, but we will hear the fellow anyway. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-23c.879.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g880.1 | |
| The answer should relate specifically to SMEs, which I am sure the hon. Gentleman intended to mention. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-23c.882.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g883.6 | |
| I call Stuart C. McDonald. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-23c.885.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g885.6 | |
| Spit it out, man. Come in on this question; yours was similar. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-23c.885.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g885.8 | |
| Order. There is far too much noise in the Chamber. A number of very loud private conversations are taking place. Let us have some order for a very senior and respected Member of the House of 33 years’ standing, Sir David Amess. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-23c.885.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g886.6 | |
| Order. I do not think that the hon. Lady has ever fully realised the extent of her own popularity on the Government Benches. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-23c.886.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g887.4 | |
| With reference to the work of the Independent Fiscal Commission, I call the Minister to answer. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-23c.887.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g888.1 | |
| Order. Members must not shout down or attempt to shout down the Prime Minister. The question has been asked and was heard, and the answer must be heard. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-23c.888.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g891.4 | |
| Order. This is very discourteous. The hon. Gentleman has a legitimate question and it and every other question should be heard fully and with politeness. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-23c.888.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g892.1 | |
| Order. I am sorry, but the time limit on Back-Bench speeches must now be reduced to five minutes with immediate effect. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-22b.756.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g784.1 | |
| Order. On account of the level of demand, there is a requirement for the imposition of a time limit. We will begin with a six-minute limit on Back-Bench speeches. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-22b.756.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g772.1 | |
| He is also a staunch Arsenal fan, which makes him an even greater man. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-22b.756.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g758.3 | |
| We now come to the Opposition day motion on education and social mobility. I inform the House that I have selected the amendment in the name of the Prime Minister. I should advise the House that a very substantial number of Back Benchers have applied to speak—no fewer than 28, if memory serves. Realistically, I imagine, the debate will not run beyond 4 pm or, at the latest, 4.30 pm. Of course there is no time limit on Front-Bench speeches. Front Benchers tend to take significant numbers of interventions, perfectly properly, and that is favoured by the House, but I am sure that those on both Front Benches will wish to tailor their contributions in the light of what I have said. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-22b.756.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g756.1 | |
| I call James Cleverly. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-22b.731.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g732.1 | |
| It is far too early for question 13. If the hon. Gentleman wants to ask a question, it should be about the relationship between the United Kingdom and the United States, but that now requires a certain dexterity and fleetness of foot from him. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-22b.731.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g732.3 | |
| I think the right hon. Gentleman might want to be the ambassador to the United States. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-22b.731.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g732.9 | |
| I would have called the hon. Member for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich (Dr Poulter), who has a very similar question, if he were standing, but he wasn’t, so I won’t. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-22b.731.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g733.2 | |
| He is, so I might. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-22b.731.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g733.4 | |
| I believe neither that, nor the opposite. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-22b.738.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g739.2 | |
| I am sure the hon. Gentleman will be pleased to hear that the Palace of Westminster will be lit up in red as well. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-22b.741.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g742.1 | |
| Until the hon. Gentleman named the name, I thought he was about to make a job application. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-22b.747.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g748.4 | |
| I am sorry to disappoint remaining colleagues, but demand today has been exceptionally high. We must now move on. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-22b.747.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g752.5 | |
| I can now inform the House of my decision about certification. For the purposes of Standing Order No. 83L(2), I have certified clause 81 of the Higher Education and Research Bill as relating exclusively to England and Wales and within devolved legislative competence; and clause 56 and schedule 5 as relating exclusively to England and within devolved legislative competence. Under paragraphs (4) and (5) of Standing Order No. 83L, I have also certified the following amendments as relating exclusively to England: amendments 109, and 243 to 245 made in Public Bill Committee to clause 80 of the Bill as introduced (Bill 4), now clause 81 of the Bill as amended in the Public Bill Committee (Bill 78). Copies of my certificate are available in the Vote Office.Under Standing Order No. 83M, consent motions are therefore required for the Bill to proceed. Does the Minister intend to move the consent motions? https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-21b.710.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g710.3 | |
| Our consideration having been completed, I will now suspend the House for no more than five minutes in order to make a decision about certification. The Division bells will be rung two minutes before the House resumes. Following my certification, the Government will table the appropriate consent motions. Copies of the consent motions will be available shortly in the Vote Office and will be distributed by the Doorkeepers.Sitting suspended.On resuming— https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-21b.710.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g710.2 | |
| With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:New clause 3—Student loans: regulation—“(1) Any loan granted under section 22(1) of the Teaching and Higher Education Act 1998, (“student loans”) irrespective of the date on which the loan was granted, shall be regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.(2) Any person responsible for arranging, administering or managing, or offering or agreeing to manage, student loans shall be regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.”New clause 5—Revocation of the Education (Student Support) (Amendment) Regulations 2015—“The Education (Student Support) (Amendment) Regulations 2015 (Statutory Instrument No. 1951/ 2015) are revoked.”This new clause would revoke the Education (Student Support) (Amendment) Regulations 2015, which moved support for students from a system of maintenance grants to loans.New clause 6—Higher Education loans: restrictions on modification of repayment conditions—“(1) A loan made by the Secretary of State to eligible students in connection with their undertaking a higher education course or further education course under the Teaching and Higher Education Act 1998 shall—(a) not be subject to changes in repayment conditions retroactively without agreement from both Houses of Parliament;(b) not be subject to changes in repayment conditions in the event of the loan being sold to private concerns, unless these changes are made to all loans, in the manner prescribed above;(c) be subject to beneficial changes, principally to the repayment threshold, in line with average earnings.(2) In section 8 of the Sale of Student Loans Act 2008, for subsection (1) substitute—‘(1) Loans made in accordance with regulations under section 22 of the Teaching and Higher Education Act 1998 (c. 30) are to be regulated by the Consumer Credit Act 1974 (c. 39).’”This new clause would ensure no retroactive changes could be made to student loan repayment conditions without agreement from both Houses of Parliament.New clause 8—Access to support for students recognised as needing protection—“(1) Within six months from the day on which this Act comes into force, the Secretary of State must, by regulations made under the Higher Education Act 2004 and the Teaching and Higher Education Act 1998,make provision for financial support for higher education courses offered to students with certain immigration statuses.(2) The regulations specified in sub-section (1) must include, but shall not be restricted to—(a) provision for persons who have been brought to the UK under the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Relocation Scheme, or any equivalent scheme, and their family members to access student loans on the same basis as refugees recognised in-country, and(b) provision for persons who have claimed asylum and been granted a form of leave to remain in the UK to be eligible for—(i) home fees for a higher education course if they have been ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom and Islands since being granted leave, and(ii) student loans for a higher education course, if—(a) they have been ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom and Islands since being granted leave, and(b) are ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom and Islands on the first day of the first academic term of that course.(3) In this section—‘home fees’ means fees for a higher education course charged to persons considered as ‘qualifying persons’ under regulations made under the Higher Education Act 2004;‘student loans’ means loans made to students in connection with their undertaking of a higher education course under the Teaching and Higher Education Act 1998.”This new clause would allow all refugees resettled to the UK, as well as people seeking asylum granted forms of leave other than refugee status, to access student finance and home fees.New clause 10—Student support: requirement to assess repayment terms—“(1) The Teaching and Higher Education Act 1998 is amended as follows.(2) In Section 22 (new arrangements for giving financial support to students)—(a) in subsection (3)(b), after “and” insert “subject to subsection (3A)”(b) after subsection (3) insert—‘(3A) Regulations under subsection (3)(b) must include a level of earnings below which a person shall not be required to make repayments of such a loan.’(3) After Section 22 insert—‘(22A) Duty to assess consumer prices in determining terms for loan repayments(1) In relation to regulations made under section 22(3A) the Secretary of State must, for each tax year, review UK consumer price inflation for the period since the last review under this sub-section.(2) If the review concludes that consumer prices for the previous tax year have increased, the Secretary of State shall, by order, amend the level of earnings specified in regulations made under sub-section 22(3A) by the same percentage increase as consumer price inflation determined under sub-section (1).(3) If the Secretary of State is not required to make an order under this section, the Secretary of State shall lay before each House of Parliament a report explaining the reasons for arriving at that determination.(4) For the purpose of this section—‘consumer prices’ means the Consumer Price Index;‘consumer price inflation’ refers to the annual assessment made by the Office for National Statistics in the UK consumer price inflation Statistical bulletin.’”Government amendments 14 to 16 and 20. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-21b.650.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g651.1 | |
| With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:New clause 4—Committee on Degree Awarding Powers and University Title—“(1) The OfS must establish a committee called the “Committee on Degree Awarding Powers and University Title”.(2) The function of the Committee is to provide advice to the OfS on—(a) the general exercise of its functions under sections 40, 42, 43 and 53 of this Act, and section 77 of the Further and Higher Education Act 1992;(b) particular uses of its powers under section 40(1) of this Act; and(c) particular uses of its powers under section 77 of the Further and Higher Education Act 1992.(3) The OfS must seek the advice of the Committee before—(a) authorising a registered higher education provider or qualifying further education provider to grant taught awards, research awards or foundation degrees under section 40(1) of this Act;(b) varying any authorisation made under section 40(1) of this Act so as to authorise a registered higher education provider or qualifying further education provider to grant a category of award or degree that, prior to the variation of the authorisation, it was not authorised to grant; and(c) providing consent under section 77 of the Further and Higher Education Act 1992 for an education institution or body corporate to change its names so as to include the word “university” in the name of the institution or body corporate.(4) The OfS must also seek the advice of UKRI before authorising a registered higher education provider or qualifying further education provider to grant research awards under section 40(1) of this Act.(5) The OfS does not need to seek the advice of the Committee before—(a) revoking an authorisation to grant taught awards, research awards or foundation degrees; or(b) varying any authorisation to grant taught awards, research awards, or foundation degrees so as to revoke the authorisation of a registered higher education provider or qualifying further education provider to grant a category of award that, prior to the variation of the authorisation, it was authorised to grant.(6) Subsection (4) applies whether the authorisation being revoked or varied was given—(a) by an order made under section 40(1) of this Act;(b) by or under any Act of Parliament, other than under section 40(1) of this Act; or(c) by Royal Charter.(7) In providing its advice to the OfS, the Committee must in particular consider the need for students, employers and the public to have confidence in the higher education system and the awards which are granted by it.(8) The OfS must have regard to the advice given to it by the Committee on both the general exercise of its functions referred to in subsection (2) and any particular uses of its powers referred to in subsection (3).(9) The majority of the members of the Committee must be individuals who appear to the OfS to have experience of providing higher education on behalf of an English higher education provider or being responsible for the provision of higher education by such a provider.(10) In appointing members of the Committee who meet these criteria, the OfS must have regard to the desirability of their being currently engaged at the time of their appointment in the provision of higher education or in being responsible for such provision.(11) The majority of the members of the Committee must be individuals who are not members of the OfS.(12) Schedule 1 applies to the Committee on Degree Awarding Powers and University Title as it applies to committees established under paragraph 8 of that Schedule.”This new clause would create a committee of the OfS which fulfils much the same functions as the current Advisory Committee on Degree Awarding Powers.New clause 7—Automatic review of authorisation—“(1) The OfS must consider whether to vary or revoke an authorisation given under section 40(1) if—(a) the ownership of the registered provider is transferred,(b) the owner of the registered provider has restrictions placed on its degree-awarding powers in relation to another registered provider under its control or ownership, or(c) for any other reason considered to be in the interest of students enrolled at the institution or the public.(2) A decision taken under sub-section (1) to vary or revoke an authorisation shall be carried out in accordance with section 43.”This new clause would ensure that a review of a provider’s degree awarding power would be triggered if the ownership of a provider changes, if the owner of the registered provider faces restrictions to its degree awarding powers in another jurisdiction or if the OfS deems a review necessary to protect students or the wider public interest.New clause 9—OfS report: international students—“(1) The OfS shall, in accordance with information received under paragraph 8(1)(ba), produce an annual report for the Secretary of State on—(a) EU (excluding from the UK), and(b) non- EUstudents enrolled with English higher education providers.(2) A report under subsection (1) must include an assessment of—(a) the number of international students, and(b) the financial contribution of international students to English Higher Education providers.(3) The Secretary of State shall lay the report produced under subsection (1) before each House of Parliament.”New clause 12—Prohibition: use of quality of higher education when determining a visa application—“An assessment made of the quality rating of a higher education provider in the United Kingdom under section 25 of this Act may not be used when assessing a person’s eligibility for leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom under Part 1 of the Immigration Act 1971.”New clause 14—Post Study Work Visa: evaluation—“(1) Within six months of this Act coming into force, UKRI must commission an independent evaluation of the matters under subsection (1B) and shall lay the report before the House of Commons.(1B) The evaluation under subsection (1A) must assess—(a) the effect of the absence of post study work visas for persons graduating from higher education institutions in the United Kingdom on—(i) the economy, efficiency and effectiveness of the higher education sector, and(ii) the UK economy, and(b) how post study work visa arrangements might operate in the UK, including an estimate of their effect on—(i) the economy, efficiency and effectiveness of the higher education sector, and(ii) the UK economy.”This new clause would require UKRI to commission research on the effects of the absence of arrangements for post study work visas and assess how such arrangements could operate in the UK and their effect on the higher education sector and the UK economy.New clause 15—Standing Commission on the integration of higher education and lifelong learning—“(1) The Secretary of State shall establish a Standing Commission on the integration of Higher Education and Lifelong Learning.(2) The terms of reference of the Commission shall include the following purposes—(a) to report on progress being made in respect of the opportunities available to individuals, employers and communities to integrate higher education with lifelong learning in England;(b) to consider the potential to update and review the range of higher education qualifications available for mature students at all registered higher education providers;(c) to evaluate current funding systems for registered higher education providers with respect to the opportunities available to individuals, employers and communities to integrate higher education with life-long learning, in England;(d) to examine and report on the introduction of personal learning accounts to be used for higher education—(i) funded on the contributory principle from employers, individuals and structures of devolved local and national government; and(ii) on the arrangements that will operate to facilitate input from corporate or trade union bodies, which can be used to support lifelong learning and adult education;(e) to examine and report on the potential to develop education and skills accounts (ESAs), including the possibility of a single lifetime higher education entitlement; and(f) to examine and report on the establishment of a national credit rating, accumulation and transfer system as a mechanism to improve flexible learning in further and higher education, including for mature students, and on the feasibility of a digital credit system, which could also facilitate where appropriate the integration of work-based learning and higher education.(3) The Commission will make the following reports on the matters set out at subsection (2) to be laid before Parliament—(a) within 12 months of its establishment; and(b) thereafter annually.(4) When the report in respect of ESAs required at subsection (2)(e) has been made, the Secretary of State may authorise the OfS to work with higher education providers, employers and financial institutions to develop a framework for ESAs.”New clause 16—Migration Statistics: students—“When the Secretary of State publishes statistics on the immigration of people to the United Kingdom, the relevant publication must provide—(a) the figures net and gross of those people who are students studying in the UK, or(b) a note indicating how many students included in the total immigration figures are students studying in the UK.”Government amendment 1.Amendment 51, in clause 5, page 4, line 9, at end insert—“(1A) Subject to subsection (1C), initial registration conditions of all providers under paragraph (1)(a) must include a requirement that every provider—(a) provides all eligible students with the opportunity to opt in to be added to the electoral register through the process of enrolling with that provider, and(b) enter into a data sharing agreement with the local electoral registration officer to add those students to the electoral register.(1B) For the purposes of subsection (1A)—(a) a “data sharing agreement” is an agreement between the higher education provider and their local authority whereby the provider shares—(i) the name,(ii) address,(iii) nationality,(iv) date of birth, and(v) national insurance data of all eligible students enrolling and/or enrolled with the provider who opt in within the meaning of subsection (2A)(a);(b) “eligible” means those persons who are—(i) entitled to vote in accordance with section 1 of the Representation of the People Act 1983, and(ii) a resident in the same local authority as the higher education provider.(1C) Subsection (1A) does not apply to the Open University and other distance learning institutions.”This amendment would ensure that the OfS includes as a registration condition for higher education providers the integration of electoral registration into the student enrolment process. Distance-learning providers are exempt.Amendment 37, page 4, line 17, after “providers” insert “, staff and students”.This amendment would ensure consultation with bodies representing higher education staff and students.Amendment 52, in clause 8, page 5, line 35, at end insert—“(ba) a condition that requires the governing body of the provider to provide the OfS with information on the number of international students enrolled on a higher education course at that institution and the fees charged to those students,”Amendment 38, page 5, line 39, at end insert—“and(d) an access and participation plan condition, as defined in section 12.”This amendment would make access and participation plans mandatory for all higher education providers.Government amendment 2.Amendment 39, in clause 9, page 6, line 13, at end insert—“(iv) age band,(ii) people with disabilities, and(iii) care leavers.”This amendment would include the number of people with disabilities and care leavers, as well as the age of applicants, in the published number of applications.Government amendments 3 and 4.Amendment 46, in clause 25, page 15, line 25, at beginning insert “Subject to subsection (7),”.See the explanatory statement for amendment 47.Amendment 49, page 15, line 32, at end insert—“(1A) The scheme established under subsection (1) shall have two ratings—(a) meets expectations, and(b) fails to meet expectations.(1B) Each year, after the scheme established under subsection (1) comes into force the OfS must lay a report before Parliament on the number of international students—(a) applying to, and(b) enrolledat the Higher Education Providers that have applied for a rating within the meaning of subsection (1).”This amendment provides for a pass/fail only Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) rating, and requires the OfS to report on the number of international students applying to and attending Higher Education providers each year from the coming into force of the TEF.Amendment 47, page 16, line 23, at end insert—“(7) No arrangements for a scheme shall be made under subsection (1) unless a draft of the scheme has been laid before and approved by a resolution of both Houses of Parliament.”This amendment and amendment 46 would ensure TEF measures were subject to scrutiny by, and approval of, both Houses of Parliament.Amendment 50, page 16, line 23, at end insert—“(7) In making arrangements under sub-section (1), the OfS must make an assessment of—(a) the evidence that any proposed metric for assessing teaching quality is correlated to teaching quality, and(b) the potential unintended consequences that could arise from implementing the scheme including proposals on how such risks can be mitigated.(8) Prior to making an assessment under subsection (7) the OfS must consult—(a) bodies representing the interests of academic staff employed at English higher education providers,(b) bodies representing the interests of students enrolled on higher education courses, and(c) such other persons as the OfS considers appropriate.(9) The assessments made under subsection (7) must be published.”This amendment would require an assessment of the evidence of the reliability of the TEF metrics to be made and for the assessment to be published.Government amendments 5 to 11.Amendment 40, in clause 40, page 23, line 22, at end insert—“(c) the OfS is assured that the provider is able to maintain the required standards of a UK degree for the duration of the authorisation; and(d) the OfS is assured that the provider operates in students’ and the public interests.”This amendment requires the OfS to be assured about the maintenance of standards and about students’ and the public interest before issuing authorisation to grant degrees.Amendment 41, page 23, line 47, at end insert—“(9A) In making any orders under this section, and sections 41, 42 and 43, the OfS must have due regard to the need to maintain confidence in the higher education sector, and in the awards which they collectively grant, among students, employers, and the wider public.”This amendment would ensure that the granting and removal of degree awarding powers would be linked to a need to maintain confidence in the sector, and with a view to preserving its excellent reputation.Amendment 58, in clause 51, page 31, line 41, at end insert—“(A2) The power described in subsection (A1) may be exercised so as to include the word “university” in the name of the institution only if the institution can demonstrate that—(a) it offers access to a range of cultural activities, including, but not restricted to—(i) the opportunity to undertake sport and recreation, and(ii) the opportunity to access a range of student societies and organisations,(b) it provides students support and wellbeing services including specialist learning support,(c) it provides opportunities for volunteering,(d) it provides the opportunity to join a students’ union, and(e) it plays a positive civic role.”Government amendments 12, 13, 18 and 19.Amendment 36, in schedule 1, page 69, line 37, at end insert—“(h) being an employee of a higher education provider, particularly in the capacity of teaching or researching.”This amendment would ensure the Secretary of State had regard for the experience of higher education employees, teaching or research staff.Amendment 48, page 69, line 37, at end insert—“(h) representing or promoting the interests of employees in higher education establishments.”This amendment requires that at least one of the ordinary members of the OfS has experience of representing or promoting the interests of employees in higher education.Government amendments 21 to 34. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-21b.615.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g615.6 | |
| First, I should just point out that I was not asking any question, as the Chair does not do so. Secondly, notwithstanding the evident and audible frustration of the hon. Member for Wrexham (Ian C. Lucas), I simply make the point that there has been a full exchange today, but these matters will inevitably be returned to on the Floor of the House, possibly on innumerable occasions, and either the hon. Lady or some other Minister will toddle along to the Dispatch Box to respond. The matter will go on and on. I feel sure of that. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-21b.604.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g614.4 | |
| Members will note that I have, unusually, selected some starred amendments. I have done so in the circumstances applying to this particular Bill—the hon. Member for Southport (John Pugh), following his point of order on this matter, will be conversant with the issues—because the deadline for tabling amendments had already passed when today’s business was announced last week. In those circumstances, it seemed to me sensible and helpful to the House to proceed in this way.New Clause 1 https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-21b.615.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g615.2 | |
| I hope that colleagues in all parts of the House will want to join me in congratulating Andy Murray on winning the ATP world tour finals last night in London and on finishing the year as the world men’s singles No. 1. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-21b.583.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g583.1 | |
| Notably in relation to older workers. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-21b.583.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g584.5 | |
| If the hon. Member for Boston and Skegness (Matt Warman) can overcome his natural shyness, we will hear him. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-21b.593.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g594.4 | |
| I call Kelvin Hopkins. Not here. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-21b.598.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g599.7 | |
| I was hoping there would be time for the remaining two questioners. There is not, but it will have to be found anyway. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-21b.598.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g604.0 | |
| Order. I am sorry to advise the right hon. Gentleman that I do not have a verbatim recall of his maiden speech. It might greatly sadden him, but it has the advantage of being true. I gently say to him that I agreed to call him early in the debate because I was advised that he was suffering from a heavy cold and sore throat and was keen to speak sooner rather than later. From that, I deduced that he would not wish to exacerbate his malady by speaking at inordinate length. I feel confident both because of that and because at least 14 other Members wish to catch the eye of the Chair that before very long he might approach his peroration. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-18a.499.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g512.4 | |
| Order. I remind the House that interventions must be brief. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-17b.413.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g417.0 | |
| Order. I advise the House that, on account of the number of would-be contributors, we need to start with a limit on individual Back-Bench speeches of eight minutes, and we will see how we get on. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-17b.413.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g417.3 | |
| To move the motion, in a contribution that should not exceed 15 minutes in total—I make this point by way of reminder, as there has been slippage in recent times—I call Mr Neil Gray. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-17b.413.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g413.1 | |
| I am sure that the hon. Gentleman feels enormously privileged at the prospect of a meeting with the Minister of State, as of course would most sane people. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-17b.364.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g365.4 | |
| I think that the question was rhetorical in nature, but if the Minister wants briefly to reply, he may. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-17b.370.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g371.3 | |
| Sticking to Sussex, I call Pat Glass. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-17b.372.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g372.6 | |
| Let us hear the voice of Pudsey. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-17b.374.8&s=speaker%3A10040#g375.3 | |
| Order. Wolverhampton has much to commend it, but it is a long way from Leeds. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-17b.374.8&s=speaker%3A10040#g375.9 | |
| This is about light rail schemes for the city of Leeds, which is a very considerable distance from the constituency so ably and eloquently represented by the hon. Gentleman. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-17b.374.8&s=speaker%3A10040#g376.1 | |
| I do not have any plan on this matter. The hon. Gentleman is a well-meaning fellow, but the question was too long. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-17b.376.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g378.0 | |
| Hoping for laser-like precision and succinctness, I call Mr Drew Hendry. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-17b.376.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g378.2 | |
| I think that we can agree that Disraeli did not drive a Nissan. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-17b.378.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g379.1 | |
| I never cease to be impressed by the varied life experience of the hon. Member for Wolverhampton South West (Rob Marris). https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-17b.380.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g384.1 | |
| Order. I am sorry, but we must move on. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-17b.380.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g384.7 | |
| Order. The limit on Back-Bench speeches has now to be reduced, with immediate effect, to six minutes. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-16a.303.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g327.1 | |
| I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman, both for his point of order and for his characteristic courtesy in giving me advance notice of it. I have heard what he has said and my response is as follows: it is the responsibility of each and every Member of the House faithfully to communicate what he or she regards as facts and to take responsibility for their own statements. I hope that the hon. Gentleman will understand that I do not think that it is right for me to be drawn into the matter any further. I understand entirely what he has said. I think that I also understand the Prime Minister’s position in relation to Scotland’s status within the United Kingdom and what the alternative to that status might entail. Therefore, notwithstanding the hon. Gentleman’s insistence that the matter is a straightforward one of facts, as with many things the situation lends itself to a number of different interpretations. If any Minister, including the Prime Minister, thinks that she has erred and needs to correct the record, it is incumbent on the Member to do so. Meanwhile, the hon. Gentleman can go about his business with an additional glint in his eye and spring in his step, in the safe knowledge that he has articulated his concerns and that they are on the record, both for the people of Scotland and for the world to see. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-16a.252.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g253.1 | |
| I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman. Members are gifted, but, as he rightly observes, they are not psychic. However, I hope that he will not take great umbrage if I remind the House and communicate to the world the fact that he does at least have the advantage of being a noted philosopher. That may aid him in seeking to decipher matters, or it may not avail him. We shall see.I had not heard bruited what apparently has winged its way to the hon. Gentleman about the likely business for next Monday. Admittedly, I had not inquired about that business. It may be so. In general terms, it is clearly desirable for the House to have the maximum possible notice of upcoming business. It is, in all likelihood, going to fall to the Leader of the House at business questions on Thursday to specify Monday’s business.What I will say to the hon. Gentleman in respect of the point about the deadline for amendments is this: I, from the Chair, always seek, within such powers as I have, to facilitate the House. If the House ends up being disadvantaged by lack of notice, it is open to the Chair to consider, exceptionally, manuscript amendments. I make the point and I am sure that the hon. Gentleman, who is a sagacious and perceptive fellow, will have got it. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-16a.252.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g253.3 | |
| That is not a point of order, as the barely concealed grin of the hon. Gentleman in raising the matter eloquently testifies. Nevertheless, what I will say to the hon. Gentleman, who is certainly a quick learner in the House, because he entered only last year, is that, as he knows, he has now found his own salvation. I have a feeling that his clarification in the Chamber may well communicate itself, or be communicated, to media outlets across Torbay and possible elsewhere. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-16a.252.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g254.1 | |
| The short answer is that it is up to the Government to decide whether the matter warrants an oral statement or a written statement, and that is not for the Chair to judge. What I will say to the hon. Gentleman, however, is that it is highly undesirable for there to be a significant time lag between public disclosure and parliamentary opportunity. He will know that other business has so far occupied us today. But that is true of today. The written statement that he legitimately anticipates has not yet been made. Doubtless it will be, and that may well lead Members to want to raise the matter in coming days, particularly if there has been no substantial parliamentary discussion of it beyond the brief exchange at Prime Minister’s questions. I am sure that the hon. Gentleman will be ready to explore what utensils are available to him. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-16a.252.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g254.3 | |
| I am grateful to the hon. Lady for her point of order, and for notifying me in advance of her intention to raise it. Moreover, I gather that she did notify the hon. Member for Morecambe and Lunesdale (David Morris), who is in his place. He can hear what I have to say, and we can judge whether it requires any further comment today.What I will say to the hon. Lady is that this is not a point of order relating to conduct in the Chamber. That said, as Members who have been here for a long time know, the Speaker will always encourage Members to observe the usual courtesies in informing others if they intend to visit, for political purposes, other colleagues’ constituencies, and they should do so in a timely way. I think the point about visiting is also applicable to communication with another Member’s constituents. The truth of the matter is that, especially in the run-up to potential boundary changes, there have often been, if I may put it this way—I do not mean this disobligingly—spats of this kind. It is much better if such spats are avoided, and the whole House and all its Members benefit if these courtesies are observed.If the hon. Gentleman particularly wants to say anything—I am not sure that the nation needs to hear it—as I have heard from the hon. Lady, I am happy briefly to hear him as well. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-16a.252.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g255.1 | |
| I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his response. I note what he says about not using parliamentary notepaper and so on. We are certainly most grateful for that, because that would have been very wrong. I thank him for being characteristically up-front.What I would say to the hon. Gentleman, for the benefit of all Members, is that we have to take responsibility for conduct in our name by our staff or volunteers who are, or might reasonably be thought to be, acting on our behalf. Beyond that, I have no wish to intrude into this matter, and I hope that people of good will who represent neighbouring constituencies and who are doing their honest best can try to observe these courtesies. I have a sense that that is what the public would expect of us, or—let me put it this way—that that is what the public would like to be able to expect of us. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-16a.252.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g255.3 | |
| Mr Turner, your chuntering from a sedentary position, “Say sorry!” does at least represent a welcome change from your usual sedentary utterance, which several times a week, as you know, tends to be: “Shocking! It is a disgrace.” That does not render it any more orderly, however. We will leave the matter there for now, and I thank colleagues for what they have said. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-16a.252.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g256.1 | |
| I am very glad that the hon. Member for Kingston and Surbiton (James Berry), after his earlier consternation and excitement, is now displaying veritably a Buddha-like calm. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-16a.240.9&s=speaker%3A10040#g246.2 | |
| We are discussing education for girls in developing countries, which was, I am sure, what the hon. Lady had very much in the forefront of her mind. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-16a.221.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g222.1 | |
| Order. There are far too many very noisy private conversations taking place while we are discussing the fate of some of the most vulnerable people on the planet. The message is quite clear: hush or, alternatively, leave the Chamber. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-16a.226.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g227.0 | |
| Order. There is far too much noise in the Chamber. I say to the hon. Member for Kingston and Surbiton (James Berry), calm yourself, man. You should seek to imitate the calm and repose of your right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Rushcliffe (Mr Clarke), who is setting an example for all Members of the House. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-16a.228.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g230.5 | |
| Order. It is always interesting to hear the thoughts of the right hon. Member for Slough (Fiona Mactaggart) but they should not be articulated from a sedentary position and will have to wait for another occasion. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-16a.228.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g232.0 | |
| Order. [Interruption.] Order. Mr Docherty-Hughes, you are in a very emotional condition. I normally regard you as a cerebral denizen of the House. Try to recover your composure, man! https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-16a.228.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g233.0 | |
| Order. Members should not seek to shout down the Prime Minister. The question was asked, and the answer has been provided. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-16a.237.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g237.5 | |
| Order. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-16a.237.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g239.5 | |
| Order. I say to expectant hon. Members who are itching to raise points of order that points of order come after urgent questions. I am sure that they can restrain their appetites for a period. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-16a.237.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g240.8 | |
| The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State is clearly a very lucky fellow indeed; I am sure that he much enjoyed orating to the said conference. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-15b.131.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g139.1 | |
| I hope I am a lot happier just after 2.30 this Saturday afternoon than the Secretary of State, who knows my allegiance in this matter. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-15b.131.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g149.3 | |
| The question was about the prevention of excess deaths, so the hon. Member for Bolsover (Mr Skinner) was entirely in order in his interpretation of the question. It was not about flu vaccinations, and nobody should mislead the House, however inadvertently. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-15b.101.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g102.6 | |
| Or even admonition. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-15b.101.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g103.2 | |
| Order. These exchanges, not untypically, are taking far too long, and part of the reason for that is that the Secretary of State keeps dilating on the policies of the Labour party. If he does so again, I will sit him down straight away. [Interruption.] Order. There are a lot of colleagues who want to ask questions. We want to hear about Government policy, not that of the Opposition. I have said it, it is clear— please heed it. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-15b.104.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g106.3 | |
| That was very dextrous handling of a very broad interpretation of the question on the Order Paper, but I hope that honour has been served. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-15b.115.8&s=speaker%3A10040#g116.4 | |
| Hoping for an un-lawyerlike brevity, I call Mr Alistair Carmichael. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-15b.116.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g117.3 | |
| The right hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr Carmichael) is in line for an award. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-15b.117.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g117.9 | |
| Order. I am sorry but we must move on. Demand at Question Time tends to exceed supply. I recognise the intense interest in these matters, but it would help if questions and answers were shorter—or maybe the Government want to propose a larger allocation of time for Health questions? But there is much interest and only limited time in which to accommodate it. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-15b.117.10&s=speaker%3A10040#g122.8 | |
| As a former Deputy Leader of the House, the right hon. Gentleman is a very ingenious Member, well-versed in the mechanisms available to him to register his constituents’ concerns. He has just used one of them. If I were to engage with his point directly, I would say only that Ministers must judge when it is proper to come to the House to make a statement. In fairness, I do not think it is incumbent upon a Minister to do so immediately after the publication of a report that might comment on, or even have implications for, Government policy. There are probably dozens or even hundreds of such reports produced within the course of a month. They do not necessarily require an immediate oral response, but some might do so and the right hon. Gentleman will use his powers of discernment to conclude, at least for himself, which merit a response and which do not. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-14e.40.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g40.2 | |
| Order. Just before I call the shadow Minister, I am most grateful to the Minister for his statement, in terms both of the content and the way in which he delivered it. I feel a duty to inform the House that two commis chefs in the service of the House were among those injured in the tram incident last Wednesday. On behalf of all colleagues, I have written to both to express the hope that they will enjoy a full and, if possible, speedy recovery. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-14e.31.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g32.1 | |
| Order. Mr Opperman, you are a cerebral figure in the House. You now occupy high office as a Government Whip. Chuntering from a sedentary position and gesticulating—even under provocation—is not quite the statesmanlike posture that we have come to expect from a man of your exalted status. I call Mr James Cartlidge. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-14e.22.9&s=speaker%3A10040#g26.5 | |
| The hon. Member for Hexham (Guy Opperman) is also a proud product of the University of Buckingham in my own constituency, which is another consideration to boot. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-14e.22.9&s=speaker%3A10040#g27.1 | |
| Forgive me, but I think the grouping is with Question 17 rather than Question 15—not that I wish to be pedantic; I just wish to be precise. [Interruption.] I think I have the advantage of being correct in this case, incredible though the hon. Lady may judge that to be. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-14e.6.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g7.0 | |
| Splendidly succinct. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-14e.18.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g21.7 | |
| I call Mr Stephen Doughty to wind up the debate, very briefly. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-08c.1448.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g1486.0 | |
| It is always useful to have a bit of additional information. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-08c.1448.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g1468.1 | |
| I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his point of order. The short answer is: no, I have received no such indication. It is only fair to remind the House, and to point out to others who might not have been aware of the fact in the first place, that there was a statement by the Secretary of State last week—last Thursday, if my memory serves me correctly. It is true enough that there have been further incidences of violence since then, but there has not been a request to make a statement today. Doubtless these matters will be returned to, as appropriate, in due course. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-08c.1404.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g1405.1 | |
| I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his point of order. The short answer to him is that if a Minister wished to make an oral statement to the House, I would have received notification of that intention by now. Therefore, there is no reason to suppose that a Minister is looking to make a statement to the House today. I am familiar with the issue to which the hon. Gentleman alludes. It would not be proper for me to enter into a debate about it. I note the particular facts that he places on the record, but I am aware of counter arguments to which Ministers subscribe. It is only fair to point out that this matter has been the subject of discussion over a considerable period; in other words, it has not suddenly arisen now. It does not seem likely that it will be treated of today by anyone other than the hon. Gentleman, but he has used the parliamentary mechanism open to him to register his concern. Doubtless, given that he is a tenacious terrier, he will return to the subject after he has rested himself. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-08c.1404.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g1406.0 | |
| He may, indeed, attract further signatures in the process, as the hon. Gentleman helpfully observes from a sedentary position. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-08c.1404.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g1406.2 | |
| Order. I would like to think that the House of Commons is public. I think I understand that the hon. Lady would like further elaboration, but I hope we are public here, and I must say that the Minister has not knowingly been understated over the years or inclined to express himself quietly in the background—unlike me. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-08c.1398.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1399.1 | |
| Before we come to the urgent question, I should like to make a brief statement.As the House will know, one of my priorities as Speaker is to support the development of emerging and developing democracies around the world. I believe that we all have a duty, as parliamentarians, to support and to champion those who are fighting for democracy in what are often difficult and challenging situations. Accordingly, I am pleased to inform the House that I am today launching a new initiative, the Speaker’s Democracy Award. The intention is to allow the House to recognise and celebrate individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to the development of democratic societies and institutions across the world. I will be writing to all Members later today with more information about the award, and to invite colleagues to suggest the names of individuals who should be considered for it.I should like to thank, very warmly, the right hon. and learned Member for Camberwell and Peckham (Ms Harman) and the hon. Members for Congleton (Fiona Bruce) and for Ochil and South Perthshire (Ms Ahmed-Sheikh) for agreeing to serve with me on the Committee that will make the award, as well as the hon. Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant), who initially suggested the idea to me. I hope that colleagues will nominate candidates, and thereby support this initiative to recognise those who are doing so much for the cause of democracy. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-08c.1397.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1397.1 | |
| The Chair of the Select Committee, no less: Mr Iain Wright. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-08c.1389.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g1389.7 | |
| Order. The hon. Gentleman should not chunter from a sedentary position. We have to start the wind-ups at 9.40 pm. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-07a.1301.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g1357.2 | |
| Order. We have about an hour left and eight Members wish to speak: they can do the arithmetic for themselves. I thank the hon. Member for Great Grimsby (Melanie Onn) for keeping to the informal limit, but I think it should now be nearer to eight minutes. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-07a.1301.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g1342.1 | |
| The right hon. Gentleman is a specialist delicacy to whom I will come in due course. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-07a.1300.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1300.3 | |
| I am sorry that the hon. Gentleman is to be shocked, but I am afraid that he will be because, to the best of my knowledge and belief, I have received no indication of any intention on the part of the Government to make a statement on this matter in the way and of the kind that he wants. I am grateful to him for giving me notice that he wished to raise the matter. Let me say this: as I repeatedly remind the House, the content of Ministers’ answers to parliamentary questions is a matter not for the Chair but for the Minister concerned. I am sure that the hon. Gentleman’s point has been heard by those on the Treasury Bench and will be relayed with alacrity to the Minister of State. If the Minister finds that his answer was inaccurate—that was not altogether clear to me—and therefore essentially agrees with the hon. Gentleman’s analysis, I am sure he will take steps to correct the record. It may be—I am not saying it is—that the Minister takes a different view of the facts of the matter, but I cannot arbitrate between different views. Meanwhile, however—we await events—the hon. Gentleman has succeeded in placing his concern on the record. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-07a.1300.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1300.5 | |
| The short answer to the right hon. Gentleman is that there is and he has identified it, namely to raise in eloquent terms a point of order drawing attention to the failure thus far of a Minister to appear, or apparently to agree to appear, and to register the dissatisfaction presumably both of the right hon. Gentleman in his capacity as Chairman of the Defence Committee and presumably of other members of the Committee at that failure or refusal. The question of whether a Minister appears before the Committee is not in the first instance—and arguably not in the last—a matter for the Chair. However, I have known the right hon. Gentleman now for 33 years, and I am bound to say that if Ministers think they can just ignore his protestations, frankly they do not know him as well as I do. It would be a lot better if they just gave up the unequal struggle and fielded one of these characters—preferably, sooner rather than later—because unless they do, they will not hear the end of the matter. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-07a.1300.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1301.0 | |
| It has been solemnly been pointed out to me that the question was some distance from the defence estate. Nevertheless, as I have had reason to observe previously, I am inclined, on the whole, to enjoy the creative licence of the right hon. Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), provided of course that it is exercised within reasonable limits. He got away with it today. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-07a.1285.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g1292.2 | |
| The hon. Gentleman will know that my natural generosity got the better of me. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-07a.1285.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g1298.2 | |
| Order. Mr Bacon, I always regard you as a cerebral denizen of the House, not the sort of person who would point across the Chamber. That is profoundly discourteous and very un-Bacon-like, if I may say so. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-07a.1254.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g1259.1 | |
| As usual, I want to accommodate the enormous interest of the House in this important statement and will strive to do so, but I must say to the House that questions and answers must be brief from now on. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-07a.1254.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g1261.0 | |
| Order. I am not sure that the right hon. Member for New Forest West (Sir Desmond Swayne) yelling “Answer” from a sedentary position quite constitutes the sort of knightly behaviour that we have come to expect of him. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-07a.1254.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g1281.4 | |
| Order. Just before the Secretary of State responds—which I am disinclined to facilitate him doing—I must just say that although I appreciate that repetition is a common phenomenon in politics and not in itself to be deprecated, there is a bit of a tendency on the Scottish National party’s Benches to keep asking him about matters for which he is no longer responsible. The questioning is to the Secretary of State in his capacity as Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, not in his capacity as someone who previously expressed views from the Back Benches or elsewhere in an earlier incarnation. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-07a.1254.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g1284.2 | |
| Before we get under way with proceedings, I am sure that the whole House will wish to join me in offering our warmest congratulations to Andy Murray on becoming the men’s singles world No. 1—the first British man to do so since the inception of the ATP rankings in 1973. It is a tribute to his talent, to his big-match temperament and to his tireless endeavour over many years. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-07a.1235.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g1235.3 | |
| While it is always a pleasure to hear from the hon. Member for Berwick-upon-Tweed (Mrs Trevelyan), she has already had a substantive question. She can have another go in topicals, but Members cannot speak twice in substantives, I am afraid. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-07a.1242.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g1243.7 | |
| Order. It is bad enough for the hon. Member for Argyll and Bute (Brendan O'Hara) to ask a question that is too long, but for him to rant for too long and then, when the Minister gets up to reply, to continue ranting is not statesmanlike behaviour by the hon. Gentleman, for whom I previously had high hopes. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-07a.1244.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g1245.7 | |
| Order. We are all extremely interested in the views of the hon. Gentleman on fee-paying education and other, related matters. Given that he has been addressing the House for 33 minutes with an eloquence worthy of Demosthenes, to which we have been listening with rapt attention, and in the light of the fact that the Bill contains three substantive clauses and another formal clause on the short title, commencement and scope, I wonder whether he is going to proceed relatively soon to a description of one or other of the three substantive clauses. I am very eager to hear what he has to say on those important matters. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-04a.1155.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g1166.0 | |
| Order. Let me say very gently to the hon. Gentleman that I have not expressed any concerns at all—the debate goes through the Chair. The hon. Member for Elmet and Rothwell (Alec Shelbrooke) may well have done so, and to judge from experience he may wish to dilate further on them before giving the hon. Members for Bury North (Mr Nuttall), for Shipley (Philip Davies) and for Louth and Horncastle (Victoria Atkins), and possibly the hon. Member for South Thanet (Craig Mackinlay) himself, the opportunity to do so. It is important to be accurate about these matters. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-04a.1155.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g1168.4 | |
| Order. This is an extremely important and sensitive matter, but may I just point out to the House that there are several Members on both sides of the House who entered the Chamber after the Foreign Secretary began his statement, but who apparently, in defiance of all convention, expect to be called, which they should not? Although this is incredibly important, we have important further business to which to proceed, so I appeal to Members to please ask brief, single-sentence supplementary questions without preamble no matter how elevated their status in the House. I call Mr Crispin Blunt. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-03a.1077.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1082.2 | |
| I call John Redwood. [Interruption.] It is very unusual for him not to be here—[Interruption.] He was here, indeed. I call Sir Henry Bellingham. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-03a.1077.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1084.1 | |
| What a splendid troika. Tom Tugendhat. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-03a.1077.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1088.2 | |
| I am most grateful to the Foreign Secretary and to colleagues. In the presence of the Foreign Secretary, I should advise him that in his absence in the Robing Room on Tuesday afternoon, the Colombian President acknowledged in the most approving terms his book on Churchill. I trust that, as a result of that, the right hon. Gentleman will go about his business for the remainder of the day, as he should, with an additional glint in his eye and spring in his step. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-03a.1077.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1088.9 | |
| We now come to the Select Committee statement. Dr Sarah Wollaston, the Chair of the Health Committee, will speak on the subject for up to 10 minutes, during which—I remind colleagues of this relatively new procedure—no interventions may be taken. At the conclusion of the statement, the Chair will call Members to put questions on the subject of it and call Dr Wollaston to respond to them in turn. Members can expect to be called only once each. Interventions should be questions and should be brief. Those on the Front Bench may take part in questioning. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-03a.1089.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g1089.3 | |
| Order. I thank the hon. Gentleman very much indeed. I gave him an extra half minute, which I think was fair. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-03a.1067.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1070.0 | |
| I call the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs. It is good that he has beetled into the Chamber just in time. We are greatly obliged to him. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-03a.1077.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1077.1 | |
| Order. The House will decide its sitting hours—that is a matter for colleagues—pursuant to what the right hon. and learned Member for Rushcliffe (Mr Clarke) has said. I simply underline the point that I am a servant of the House, and whatever hours the House wants to sit to debate important matters, I am very happy to be in the Chair. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-03a.1051.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g1056.2 | |
| Order. Given the pressure on time, to which I referred earlier, I should now appreciate single, short supplementary questions. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-03a.1051.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g1059.1 | |
| It is being chuntered from a sedentary position that the right hon. and learned Gentleman is a lawyer. He is indeed a very distinguished lawyer, but I fear that we will have to wait for the next question to get a brief one. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-03a.1051.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g1059.3 | |
| The right hon. and learned Gentleman is also a Member of Parliament, and we have heard him with great courtesy and, indeed, a degree of charity. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-03a.1051.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g1059.5 | |
| I aim to move on to the next business at midday. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-03a.1051.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g1060.2 | |
| Truly, the hon. Gentleman has established himself as a hedgehog fetishist. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-03a.1051.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g1065.3 | |
| I trust the hon. Member for Leeds North West (Greg Mulholland) will now impress us with a single sentence inquiry. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-03a.1051.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g1066.2 | |
| I thank the Leader of the House and colleagues. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-03a.1051.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g1066.5 | |
| Order. The hon. Gentleman is chuntering about diesel cars and who might be occupying them, but we have a Minister at the Dispatch Box, and she is a doctor as well. We are going to hear from her. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-03a.1040.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g1041.4 | |
| Order. I gently remind colleagues that the business statement will follow these exchanges and after that there are two further ministerial statements before we reach the first of the two debates to take place under the auspices of the Backbench Business Committee. Therefore there is a premium upon time, necessitating brevity from Back and Front Benches alike, now to be brilliantly exemplified, I am certain, by Mr Jason McCartney. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-03a.1040.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g1047.3 | |
| By the way, there will also be up to 20 minutes on the Select Committee statement, which merely serves to underscore the force of what I have just said. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-03a.1040.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g1047.5 | |
| indicated assent. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-03a.1040.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g1050.6 | |
| It is a very good headline: “Minister wants more questions”. The hon. Lady is setting a splendid precedent. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-03a.1040.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g1051.0 | |
| What a fortunate and apparently prosperous fellow the hon. Member for Isle of Wight (Mr Turner) is! We are always pleased to get a bit of additional information. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-03a.1019.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g1020.5 | |
| Very briefly, Gavin Newlands. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-03a.1024.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1024.5 | |
| Of course I think of little else. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-03a.1025.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g1025.6 | |
| I hope I enjoy Sunday lunchtime more than the hon. Lady does. I say to the hon. Member for Taunton Deane (Rebecca Pow) that I am, of course, a fanatical Arsenal fan. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-03a.1025.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g1027.3 | |
| Natalie McGarry—not here. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-03a.1025.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g1027.8 | |
| Ah, yes. Marathon man—Mr Graham Evans. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-03a.1025.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g1028.3 | |
| Before I call the right hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington (Tom Brake), I am moved to congratulate him on his achievement in winning the yellow jersey for his performance yesterday on the British Legion stationary bicycle. It was a remarkable athletic feat on his part. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-03a.1031.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g1032.2 | |
| Certainly, the right hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington beat me, as he is signalling from a sedentary position. I did my best, but he was far superior and I pay him due tribute. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-03a.1031.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g1032.5 | |
| Order. We must not expand the length of questions, I am afraid. I am sure it is a very important point, but let us have the answer. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-03a.1036.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g1036.6 | |
| Not least we will bear in mind the importance of referring to international trade in responding to the right hon. Lady. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-03a.1036.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g1040.1 | |
| Order. I am sorry to disappoint remaining colleagues—demand invariably outstrips supply—but we will return to these important matters ere long. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-03a.1036.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g1040.4 | |
| Order. I thank very warmly the hon. Member for Batley and Spen (Tracy Brabin) for a quite outstanding maiden speech, and I would like in turn very warmly to thank the hon. Member for Shipley (Philip Davies) for a typically gracious and poignant response to it.I am afraid that it will be necessary now to impose a very tight time limit to try to accommodate colleagues, for which I apologise. Some senior Members are affected, but I think they are gracious in acknowledging the need. Four minutes. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-02b.955.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g979.1 | |
| Perhaps the hon. Member for Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport (Oliver Colvile) could detach himself from his device for a matter of seconds. It is very good of him to drop in on us and to take a continuing interest in our proceedings. They certainly interested him greatly a few seconds ago. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-02b.897.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g906.0 | |
| Order. I think it is fair to say that the Minister is being what I would call—if it does not sound a contradiction in terms—courteously harangued to give way, but it is perfectly evident to me that he is not giving way at the moment. Members will therefore have to exercise their judgment as to the frequency with which they make further attempts. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-02b.897.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g909.1 | |
| I inform the House that I have selected the amendment tabled in the name of the Prime Minister. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-02b.897.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g897.1 | |
| I hope that the Youth Parliament will be sitting under my encouraging chairmanship rather than under my command, but I am extremely grateful to the Minister for the sentiment that he has expressed. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-02b.869.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g870.0 | |
| It was difficult to detect a question there, but the intellectual dexterity of the Minister will enable him briefly to reply. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-02b.872.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g873.3 | |
| Order. I can scarcely hear the hon. Gentleman. He must be heard. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-02b.872.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g874.9 | |
| I know the House will want to join me in congratulating the Minister on the recent arrival of his second child, a brother for Wilfred. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-02b.875.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g875.4 | |
| Far too many noisy private conversations are taking place, which is very unfair to Members who want to ask questions and Ministers who want to answer them. Let us hear the voice of the Vale of Clwyd, Dr James Davies. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-02b.876.10&s=speaker%3A10040#g878.1 | |
| West country cheese! I think we are clear. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-02b.879.11&s=speaker%3A10040#g886.3 | |
| We are always grateful for a bit of extra information, and we have now had it. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-02b.879.11&s=speaker%3A10040#g887.2 | |
| It is a very curious state of affairs to which the hon. Gentleman alludes. If he has a wider concern about overall response rates to questions it is of course open to him to write to the hon. Member for Broxbourne (Mr Walker), the Chair of the Procedure Committee, which keeps an eye on these matters. In relation to this particular question, the situation seems rather curious. However, experience tells me that when a Member raises his or her disquiet about a lengthy delay in securing a reply to a parliamentary question, that reply is, thereafter, ordinarily forthcoming very quickly. If the hon. Gentleman is in any doubt on that matter, he can always have a word with his right hon. Friend the Member for Manchester, Gorton (Sir Gerald Kaufman), who has found it expedient to complain from time to time and has then secured very quick replies. The Leader of the House will have the hon. Gentleman’s interests at heart and I think a solution will be found, possibly within hours. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-02b.892.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g893.1 | |
| If I may very politely say so, that observation was superfluous, in the sense that I do not think that any Member of the House would have expected anything less of the hon. Gentleman. He is nothing if not persistent and tenacious to a fault. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-02b.892.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g893.3 | |
| With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:Lords amendment 12, and Government motion to disagree.Lords amendment 13, and Government motion to disagree.Lords amendment 14, and Government motion to disagree.Lords amendment 15, and Government motion to disagree.Lords amendment 338, and Government motion to disagree.Lords amendment 339, and Government motion to disagree. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-01a.815.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g815.2 | |
| Before we come to the first group of amendments, may I say that, as the House knows, there are 377 Lords amendments to the Investigatory Powers Bill, which were passed to this House yesterday evening? I must inform the House that none of the Lords amendments is certified—it says here “are certified”, but that is quite wrong; “none” takes the singular—under the EVEL Standing Orders. The Scottish Parliament passed a legislative consent motion on 6 October, copies of which are available with the Bill documents online and in the Vote Office. I must also inform the House that two of the Lords amendments—270 and 271—engage Commons financial privilege. If they are agreed to, I will cause the customary entry waiving Commons financial privilege to be entered in the Journal. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-01a.813.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g814.1 | |
| I am very grateful to the hon. Gentleman for advance notice of his point of order. Might I just mention in passing that his exegesis of the legislation, and his courtesy and regard for the principle of courtesy in respect of other Parliaments, are impeccable, as is invariably the case.As the hon. Gentleman will know—I welcome this opportunity to clarify the position, and it does require clarification—section 2 of the Scotland Act 2016 enshrined in legislation the statement that:“the Parliament of the United Kingdom will not normally legislate with regard to devolved matters without the consent of the Scottish Parliament.”That does not prevent the House from considering amendments that the Scottish Parliament has not consented to.We are just about to come to the first debate on a group of Lords amendments that, as the hon. Gentleman rightly observes, includes Lords amendment 15, and it is, I believe, with that that he is overwhelmingly concerned. The Government have given notice of their intention to disagree with Lords amendment 15, among others. We will have to wait in order to learn from the debate why the Minister takes that view. I am giving due notice that the House will certainly expect an explanation on that matter—whether the House as a whole does, I feel absolutely certain that the hon. Member for North East Somerset will.If the hon. Gentleman’s thought about Scottish consent had not already occurred to Ministers, or those advising them, I surmise from the attentive attitudes of right hon. and hon. Members on the Front Bench, including much nodding of heads and expressions of sagacity, that it will have done so now. I hope that will do at least for now. I thank the hon. Member for North East Somerset because he has done the House a service. These conventions matter, and he has reminded us of that point.Clause 8 https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-01a.813.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g814.3 | |
| Thank you. I am extremely grateful to the hon. Gentleman, as will the House be. The matter is now firmly on the record. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-01a.808.12&s=speaker%3A10040#g809.1 | |
| I do not think it would be right for me to engage in public exhortation, and certainly it is for Ministers to decide when to make an oral statement and when to make a written statement. That said, the hon. Lady has made an interesting observation about what appears to represent a change of heart, and indeed of intended policy. In such circumstances, it is commonplace, and invariably appreciated by the House, if a Minister chooses to come to it formally to announce that and to be open to questioning on the matter.The hon. Lady has made her point with her usual force and eloquence and it will have been heard by those on the Treasury Bench. At this stage, I say let us await the development of events.There are no further points of order now, although I have a feeling that one is brewing and we will hear it erelong, at a time the hon. Member in question thinks apposite in relation to upcoming business. Before we get to that, we have a ten-minute rule Bill. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-01a.808.12&s=speaker%3A10040#g809.3 | |
| Order. Questions are rather long. Perhaps we can get pithiness from a classicist and a philosopher. I call Sir Oliver Letwin. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-01a.797.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g803.1 | |
| Bob Stewart. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-01a.797.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g806.9 | |
| The hon. Gentleman does not have to look quite so surprised. He was standing. Therefore, I did think he wanted to contribute. It is not surprising, if he then rises to his feet, that I call him. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-01a.797.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g807.0 | |
| Order. I must say that the capacity of hon. and right hon. Members for misguided self-pity is unlimited. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-01a.797.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g807.2 | |
| We will come to the hon. Gentleman in a moment. The wine will mature. Do not worry. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-01a.797.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g808.8 | |
| Order. I recognise that this is a subject that arouses very strong feeling, but the House knows me well enough by now to know that I will facilitate the fullest possible questioning on the matter from Members in all parts of the House. However, I ought to be able to say without fear of contradiction that the hon. Member for Shipley will be heard. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-01a.780.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g783.0 | |
| Order. There is so much yelling from each side of the Chamber that it was difficult for me to hear the hon. Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant), who should be heard by the House—and, indeed, by the world. I also need to hear the response from the Minister, which should also be widely heard. I say to Members on both sides: please, hold your noise. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-01a.780.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g796.1 | |
| Order. Just before we take the question, I am very pleased to announce that today we are joined by Lobsang Sangay, the Sikyong or Prime Minister of the Tibetan Government in exile. It is a pleasure and a privilege, Sir, to welcome you to the House of Commons. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-01a.759.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g759.9 | |
| I am extremely grateful to the Secretary of State. I call Fiona Mactaggart. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-01a.759.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g762.0 | |
| Order. We really do need to make progress. This is very slow. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-01a.762.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g762.5 | |
| Order. I say very gently to the hon. Member for Dumfries and Galloway (Richard Arkless) that I am sure his constituency has many magnificent merits but it is a long way from Chelmsford. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-01a.762.9&s=speaker%3A10040#g763.2 | |
| We are grateful to the Minister for that reply, but I think he may want to take question 15 with question 4. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-01a.763.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g763.6 | |
| It is very good of the right hon. and learned Gentleman the Minister to be willing to do what he asked me for permission to do; that is extraordinarily gracious of him. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-01a.763.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g763.8 | |
| This question is to be taken with No. 7. There is something missing from the right hon. and learned Gentleman’s briefing today. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-01a.765.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g765.6 | |
| I noted—I am sure colleagues did—that the prince of pithiness was about to leave the Chamber, and I think it ought to be noted. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-01a.775.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g776.1 | |
| We learn a lot more about the opinions of the hon. Member for Bassetlaw (John Mann) on a vast miscellany of matters—of that he can rest assured. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-01a.775.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g777.8 | |
| Finally, the Chair of the Select Committee on Justice, Mr Robert Neill. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-11-01a.775.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g780.1 | |
| It is the House that appoints to the Committee, and it is for the House to decide. It is on that basis that these matters are brought to the House and subject to motions moved by the Committee of Selection. Of course, as the right hon. Gentleman’s long experience will tell him, it is normal and commonplace for these matters to go through without objection, but it is perfectly orderly for someone to object if he or she so wishes. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-31b.743.8&s=speaker%3A10040#g745.0 | |
| Order. I will come to the hon. Gentlemen —he will continue his speech in a moment. He himself anticipated the possibility that the Chair might take an interest if he were to cross the line between what was legitimate and orderly to say and what was not. Thus far, the hon. Gentleman has observed that distinction and, on that basis, I am content for him at this stage to continue. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-31b.743.8&s=speaker%3A10040#g745.2 | |
| I entirely understand what the right hon. Gentleman is saying. I am not insensitive to him or to his point, which he has made with his usual force and eloquence. That said, a convention is one thing and a binding rule is another. I must simply make the point that, at this stage, the hon. Member for North West Leicestershire (Andrew Bridgen) is in order. He may have offended the sensibilities of the right hon. Gentleman, and indeed departed from what is normal convention in this place, but he is at this stage in order. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-31b.743.8&s=speaker%3A10040#g745.4 | |
| Order. Mr McCartney, calm yourself. Be quiet, young man. We do not need to hear from you. You add nothing and you subtract from the proceedings. Mr Bridgen is perfectly capable of addressing these matters to the best of his ability and according to his own lights. He does not require a sedentary interjection from you. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-31b.743.8&s=speaker%3A10040#g745.8 | |
| Order. The hon. Gentleman will resume his seat. He will know that I take advice on these matters. Having treated of matters that are very much within the public domain until now, his speech has strayed from there. I have consulted on the matter and he is now treating of matters that are not in the same category. He must desist. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-31b.743.8&s=speaker%3A10040#g746.1 | |
| Order. The hon. Gentleman will resume his seat. Let me say clearly to the hon. Gentleman, and in terms that brook no contradiction, that he would be unwise to go into those matters. He has written to me and I have written back to him. I explained to him factually—factually—in a manner that cannot be disputed or gainsaid that it is not for the Speaker of this House to seek to persuade someone to step down as the Chair of a Committee because of suspicions that some people might have about him. That is not the role of the Speaker of the House of Commons. If the hon. Gentleman were a more experienced Member, he would probably be aware of that fact. I urge the hon. Gentleman to focus on those matters which it is proper and legitimate for him to raise, and not upon those which it is not. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-31b.743.8&s=speaker%3A10040#g747.0 | |
| Order. That is nothing to do with the debate, as I have just been advised by the Clerk of the House. Don’t frown at me, Mr Berry. I know the facts and you’re about to learn them. That is nothing to do with the debate tonight—point one. Secondly, there is no uncertainty or dubiety whatsoever about the correspondence between the hon. Gentleman and me. Indeed, I do not think there is any uncertainty at all about the advice that was proffered not just by me but by the Clerk of the House. Whether he wishes and is astute enough to take that advice is another matter. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-31b.743.8&s=speaker%3A10040#g747.3 | |
| With the leave of the House, we will take motions 19 to 25 together.Ordered, https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-31b.750.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g750.1 | |
| We now come to motions 5 and 6, which relate to new Committees of the House. I suggest that they be taken together.Ordered, https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-31b.742.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g742.3 | |
| We now come to motions 7 to 25. I understand that there is a wish to take motion 18 on the Justice Committee separately. With the leave of the House, we will therefore take motions 7 to 17 together. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-31b.742.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g742.8 | |
| Order. I do apologise to the right hon. and learned Gentleman, but when he leant down like that, I thought it was because he was approaching his peroration. That may have been a triumph of optimism over experience. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-31b.697.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g728.0 | |
| Indeed. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-31b.697.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g728.3 | |
| Order. There is much interest in this subject, and I want to accommodate it. Single, short supplementary questions—preferably a single sentence without preamble—and the Secretary of State’s customarily pithy replies are required. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-31b.679.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g682.1 | |
| Order. I am sorry, but we must press on. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-31b.679.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g683.1 | |
| Order. The Secretary of State has no responsibility either for Opposition policy or for Oscar Wilde—although we always enjoy the poetic licence of the right hon. Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove). https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-31b.679.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g684.4 | |
| Order. Given extensive interest and the pressure on time, I am looking for single, short supplementary questions without preamble, and, of course, for pithy replies from the Secretary of State. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-31b.665.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g672.1 | |
| Order. Understandably, there is extensive interest in this subject. Accommodating anywhere near the number of would-be contributors will require brevity, to be exemplified—I hope and if he is true to form—by Mr Philip Hollobone. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-31b.648.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g653.2 | |
| Order. We require pithiness personified. I think that calls for Sir Desmond Swayne. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-31b.648.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g656.5 | |
| I would like to conclude these exchanges by 4.30 pm because there is other pressing business. If people take a long time, they are preventing their colleagues from contributing. I am sorry, but it is as simple as that. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-31b.648.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g660.5 | |
| Order. I did not hear the offending term, but if it has been reported to me accurately, and the Clerks are invariably accurate in these matters, it seems to me to be a matter of taste, rather than of order. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-31b.648.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g663.6 | |
| Or that my generosity is not abused by a Member asking two questions, rather than one. It seems a bit rum. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-31b.637.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g637.8 | |
| With unlawyer-like brevity, Mr Alistair Carmichael. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-31b.637.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g639.5 | |
| I must say to the Minister, who is a very forgiving soul, that gratitude to the hon. Member for Bassetlaw is not always a commodity in plentiful supply. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-31b.640.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g640.5 | |
| Order. I am sorry to disappoint colleagues, but we must move on. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-31b.641.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g648.1 | |
| Order. No fewer than 29 Back-Bench Members are seeking to contribute to the debate, meaning there is a premium upon economy. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-28a.539.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g553.1 | |
| Very wise. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-27a.424.8&s=speaker%3A10040#g431.1 | |
| Order. We have had an enjoyable Cook’s tour of South East Cornwall, but I am not quite sure it constituted a business question. Nevertheless, it is permanently on the record, and colleagues can study it in the long winter evenings that lie ahead. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-27a.424.8&s=speaker%3A10040#g432.2 | |
| A further 25 right hon. and hon. Members are seeking to catch my eye. I am keen to try to conclude proceedings on this statement by 11.30 am, so there is a premium on brevity from both Back Benchers and Front Benchers. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-27a.424.8&s=speaker%3A10040#g434.1 | |
| Especially the hon. Gentleman, who is grassroots sports parliamentarian of the year, which he is too modest to mention, although I can do so on his behalf. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-27a.424.8&s=speaker%3A10040#g434.7 | |
| The hon. Member for Lichfield (Michael Fabricant) is a notable practitioner of what I call the shoehorning technique, which is to shoehorn the matter of concern to oneself into any question whether it naturally fits or not. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-27a.421.9&s=speaker%3A10040#g422.3 | |
| I call Mr Laurence Robertson. Not here. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-27a.423.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g424.7 | |
| Order. I did not say anything about what I would like to see in Scotland. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-26a.337.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g377.0 | |
| There might be human forces involved as well! https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-26a.337.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g368.0 | |
| Order. We are tremendously grateful to the hon. Gentleman, but I feel that he has surely concluded his intervention. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-26a.285.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g297.0 | |
| Order. There are far too many noisy private conversations taking place in the Chamber. I could scarcely hear the dulcet tones of the hon. Member for Harrow East (Bob Blackman), and I feel considerably disadvantaged. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-26a.268.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g268.6 | |
| Order. We are discussing matters appertaining to Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland Members must be heard. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-26a.268.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g268.8 | |
| If I may say politely to the hon. Member for East Londonderry (Mr Campbell): spit it out succinctly, man. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-26a.269.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g269.8 | |
| Mr Cleverly, calm yourself. You are imperilling your own health, man, which is a source of great concern to me. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-26a.271.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g273.1 | |
| Well over 50 colleagues are still seeking to catch my eye and I am keen to accommodate them, but doing so will be brevity-dependent. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-25b.161.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g173.3 | |
| Order. I am grateful to the Doorkeeper, who was beetling around the Chamber looking for the wallet of some hapless fellow, poor chap. Geoffrey Clifton-Brown. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-25b.161.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g180.5 | |
| It is a great pleasure to be able to move on to the ten-minute rule motion. Without wishing to embarrass the hon. Member for Banbury, she must find it encouraging to have paternal support so nearby. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-25b.190.8&s=speaker%3A10040#g191.1 | |
| Order. I intend to terminate exchanges on the urgent question 30 minutes after they started. I would like to accommodate all colleagues, but extreme brevity is required. We will be led in this exercise by Mrs Cheryl Gillan. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-25b.152.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g155.3 | |
| Jolly good thing, too. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-25b.152.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g160.3 | |
| Order. That last point has absolutely nothing to do with the Procedure Committee report. I am sure that the coming off of the topic was entirely inadvertent on the part of the hon. Gentleman, and it therefore requires no reply. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-25b.152.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g161.4 | |
| I wish the hon. Member for Solihull (Julian Knight) a speedy recovery. He may ask his question from his seat. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-25b.131.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g133.2 | |
| That had an extremely tangential relationship with the matter of manufacturing industry, therefore meriting an extremely pithy response. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-25b.135.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g136.9 | |
| Order. May I remind colleagues of the merits of the blue pencil? https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-25b.142.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g142.7 | |
| Pithiness personified. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-25b.142.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g142.9 | |
| Order. I think the hon. Lady should leave a full version of her question in the Library of the House. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-25b.144.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g144.5 | |
| Michael Fabricant—not here. That is unprecedented in the history of my being in the Chair. I have never known the hon. Gentleman not to be here, but, fortunately, Mr Philip Davies is here. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-25b.146.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g150.4 | |
| I am afraid that this will be the last topical question. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-25b.146.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g152.3 | |
| I thank the hon. Gentleman for his point of order. He did sidle up to the Chair earlier to indicate that he had written to me about this matter, and I do not dispute that for one moment, but I have to say to him that I have not yet seen his email. It would be prudent for me to study it and to reflect carefully upon the matter and take advice before pronouncing on it. Of course I well remember the sequence of events to which he has referred. If memory serves me, it principally concerned Members from the governing party. In this instance, I think he is concerned about his own party’s delegation. I do not interfere in the choice of members of the delegation. That is not a matter for me. If memory serves me, however, I do have a responsibility to notify the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe of the decision made here, and of course I would not wish to do anything that was procedurally improper. I will have to satisfy myself that what I am being asked or instructed to do is procedurally proper. I will not be sending any letter until I have so satisfied myself. I hope that that is helpful. Of course, in the pursuit of that duty, I will study the letter from the hon. Gentleman. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-24a.70.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g71.1 | |
| Order. I imagine colleagues will want to congratulate the right hon. Member for Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford (Yvette Cooper) on her election as Chair of the Home Affairs Committee. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-24a.54.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g62.1 | |
| Somebody is chuntering about the fact that the hon. Gentleman has had two questions, but I have to say, in fairness to him, that it takes him less time to ask two questions than it takes a lot of people to ask one. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-24a.54.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g70.3 | |
| There is much to be said for a bit of repetition, which is not a novel phenomenon in the House of Commons. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-24a.25.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g45.1 | |
| I call Martin Docherty-Hughes. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-24a.25.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g54.1 | |
| The “hon. Gentleman over there” was the hon. Member for Lichfield (Michael Fabricant). https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-24a.7.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g9.0 | |
| Order. I think the Minister meant outside the Chamber. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-24a.10.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g10.7 | |
| We note the sedentary approval for that proposition from the hon. Member for Lichfield (Michael Fabricant). https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-24a.12.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g13.1 | |
| I had thought that the right hon. Member for Leigh (Andy Burnham) would require a degree of intellectual dexterity to relate the question to Leigh or Manchester, but he might have been saved by the Secretary of State’s referring, perhaps gratuitously, to all regions. I think that the right hon. Gentleman is a beneficiary of that. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-24a.12.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g13.7 | |
| Order. I wish to hear the hon. Lady, at such point as she has had the opportunity to regain the necessary composure. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-24a.15.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g16.0 | |
| Order. The hon. Member for Pendle has perambulated from one part of the Chamber to the other, but we are nevertheless happy to hear from him. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-24a.19.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g20.3 | |
| We are extremely grateful to the hon. Gentleman, but the extinguisher has run out of water. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-24a.19.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g22.6 | |
| I would call the hon. Member for South East Cambridgeshire if she were standing, but she is not and so I cannot. She is now, so I call Lucy Frazer. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-24a.19.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g22.8 | |
| Order. We will come to points of order later, but in the usual way. I am very happy to attend to a point of order at a later time. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-24a.25.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g25.3 | |
| Order. Two points. First, Members who arrived after the start of the statement should not expect to be called. Secondly, there is extensive interest in this important statement—interest that I am keen to accommodate—but as I emphasised earlier there are to follow two heavily subscribed debates under the auspices of the Backbench Business Committee. Therefore, there is a premium upon brevity. We will be led in our brevity mission by one of the most senior and illustrious Members of the House, Sir Alan Haselhurst. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-20a.969.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g974.1 | |
| My apologies to the hon. Lady; I call Dr Philippa Whitford. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-20a.969.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g975.0 | |
| I am most grateful to the Minister and to colleagues for their helpful co-operation in facilitating progress on this important matter. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-20a.969.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g980.6 | |
| I should inform the House that I have selected amendment (a), in the name of Mr Richard Fuller and others. In a moment, I shall ask the right hon. Member for Birkenhead (Frank Field) to move the motion. May I just emphasise that there are 14 Back-Bench Members who wish to contribute to the debate, and so even those who are not subject to a time constraint in any formal sense will doubtless wish to tailor their contributions to take account of the level of interest in the House? https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-20a.981.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g981.2 | |
| Order. As usual, a very large number of hon. and right hon. Members are seeking to catch my eye. As colleagues will know, my normal practice is to call everybody on these occasions, but there are exceptions. Today, there is a statement on community pharmacy to follow, and there are two very heavily subscribed debates to take place under the auspices of the Backbench Business Committee. Therefore, it may not be possible to call everyone today, but if I am to have any chance of doing so, there is a premium upon brevity, which will be brilliantly exemplified by Mr Philip Davies. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-20a.954.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g958.1 | |
| What is now required, in each case, is a short question without preamble and a characteristically pithy reply from the Front Bench. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-20a.954.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g960.2 | |
| Order. What is needed now are questions in single short sentences. If those are forthcoming they will be heard; if not, they will not be. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-20a.954.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g967.1 | |
| Order. I do not want a speech read out, I want a one-sentence question. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-20a.954.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g968.0 | |
| I thank the House for its co-operation. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-20a.954.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g969.1 | |
| I have always done my homework, and I strongly resent any suggestion to the contrary. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-20a.936.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g938.6 | |
| Order. I would call the hon. Member for Rutherglen and Hamilton West (Margaret Ferrier) if she were standing, but she is not, so I will not. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-20a.943.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g945.2 | |
| Ah! She is. Enlightenment has dawned. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-20a.943.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g945.4 | |
| The hon. Member for Stafford looks very happy. Presumably, like me, he is celebrating Arsenal’s 6-0 victory last night. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-20a.949.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g952.5 | |
| Finally and extremely briefly, Jim Shannon. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-20a.949.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g954.4 | |
| Order. I am not entirely clear whether the Deputy Leader of the House concluded his oration or whether he was giving way. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-19c.875.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g890.5 | |
| Very well, but it is very unusual. I do not think the word exists to “unconclude” one’s speech, but if it possible to do so, the hon. Gentleman has done it. Let us hear the hon. Lady’s intervention. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-19c.875.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g890.7 | |
| Before I call the next speaker, let me explain that the time limit on Back-Bench speeches will begin at six minutes. Dependent on progress, it may have to be reviewed. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-19c.875.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g891.0 | |
| Order. The hon. Member for Perth and North Perthshire (Pete Wishart) has been generous to a fault in giving way, and I think that that is appreciated by the House. May I very gently make the point that 11 Back-Bench Members wish to contribute, and the Chair will be looking to call the Front-Bench wind-ups at approximately 6.40 pm? There will have to be a very tight time limit on Back-Bench contributions, a fact of which I know the hon. Gentleman will wish to take account in the continuation and conclusion of his eloquent contribution. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-19c.875.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g885.4 | |
| I can now announce the results of the Select Committee Chair elections held today. Nominations for the five vacant Select Committee Chairs closed yesterday and elections were held by secret ballot today.No ballot was necessary for the International Trade Committee, for which a single nomination had been received. The Chair of that Committee will be Angus Brendan MacNeil.In the four contested elections, a total of 546 ballot papers were submitted, the ballots being counted under the alternative vote system. The following candidates were elected:Culture, Media and Sport Committee: Damian CollinsExiting the European Union Committee: Hilary BennHome Affairs Committee: Yvette CooperScience and Technology Committee: Stephen Metcalfe.The full breakdown of voting in each contest indicating the votes attributable to each candidate after each redistribution of the votes of eliminated candidates is set out in a paper available from the Vote Office. The Members so elected take up their positions immediately, except in the case of the Chairs of the Exiting the European Union and International Trade Committees, who will formally take up their positions when their Committees have been nominated by the House. I warmly congratulate all the right hon. and hon. Members concerned. I should like to thank—on behalf of the House, I am sure—all the candidates who participated in the elections, and I know that the House will want to join me in thanking very warmly all the staff of the House who so efficiently facilitated the conduct of the elections. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-19c.875.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g875.1 | |
| Order. The hon. Member for Airdrie and Shotts (Neil Gray) will resume his seat. We will be with him in a moment. There is a point of order from Mr David T.C. Davies. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-19c.821.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g822.2 | |
| Order. I did not judge the remark to be disorderly, although it needs to be made briefly. I did not and do not think it was disorderly, but I give the hon. Member for Monmouth (David T. C. Davies) the assurance, which he is entitled to seek, that he will have an opportunity in his remarks to respond as he thinks fit. No one should deny him that opportunity. Briefly, Mr Gray; let us hear it. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-19c.821.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g822.4 | |
| Order. These are all very serious and worthy interventions, but they suffer from the disadvantage of being too long. This must not continue. We must try to restore some sort of order to this debate. I do not want to embarrass him unduly, but if Members would model themselves in terms of brevity on the right hon. Member for Wokingham (John Redwood)—or on the right hon. Member for Birmingham, Edgbaston (Ms Stuart)—they would serve the House well. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-19c.821.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g823.1 | |
| Order. I did not interrupt the Minister in his flow, but may I ask that from now on we avoid the use of the word “disingenuous” or “disingenuously”? There is an imputation of dishonour and we should avoid that. The Minister is a dextrous fellow with, I am sure, an extensive vocabulary and he can deploy some other term to get his point across. On the subject of those with dexterity and great vocabulary, I call Sir Desmond Swayne. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-19c.808.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g810.2 | |
| I thank the hon. Gentleman for giving me notice that he intended to raise this point of order. What Members say in this House—I often have to make this point, but it bears repetition—is their individual responsibility. This applies to Ministers, and indeed to Opposition Front Benchers, as it does to other right hon. and hon. Members. The hon. Gentleman believes that Ministers have been inaccurate in what they said yesterday—or, specifically, that the response to the shadow Foreign Secretary was inaccurate. He has made that view clear, and he has done so on the record. I am sure that it will have been heard by those on the Treasury Bench, and that it will be relayed to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. I am also sure that if the Foreign Secretary and the Minister feel that the House has been inadvertently misled, the relevant Minister will take swift steps to correct the record. It is only fair to say, as it is not for me to umpire on whether a clarification is required, that a Minister may take a view of the facts of the matter that differs from that of the hon. Gentleman. As to whether that is the case, we will have to await events. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-19c.816.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g817.1 | |
| That is a most interesting point, but it is not germane to the hon. Gentleman’s responsibilities. A brief sentence in response to the right hon. Lady will suffice. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-19c.788.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g789.4 | |
| Order. The hon. Gentleman has a very personal constituency reason for wishing to acknowledge the anniversary of the Aberfan tragedy. Let us hear him with the courtesy he warrants. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-19c.792.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g793.5 | |
| Order. I want to hear what is coming next. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-19c.795.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g796.1 | |
| Order. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-19c.795.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g801.2 | |
| Order. Progress today has been very slow, so I appeal to colleagues to speed up. I call Stephen Pound. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-19c.795.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g802.2 | |
| It is fitting that we finish with a question from Mr Gerald Jones. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-19c.795.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g808.2 | |
| Order. The hon. Member for South Leicestershire (Alberto Costa) is a very excitable denizen of the House, and he is a very keen and assiduous parliamentarian, but he does not enrich his case for intervention by repeating it. He should not seek to harangue people. A polite inquiry—with his insistent air, of course—is legitimate. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-18c.693.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g755.5 | |
| I am grateful to the Chair of the Public Accounts Committee, both for her point of order and for her courtesy in providing me with advance notice of it. There is a clear expectation that Government Departments should co-operate fully with Select Committee inquiries, not least inquiries of the Committee of Public Accounts, and that they should furnish information in a timely fashion. That does not appear to have happened in this case. If for any reason there is a problem, the Department should communicate it promptly to the Committee so that it can, if it so wishes, adjust its schedule. I am sure that the hon. Lady’s concerns have been heard on the Treasury Bench and that they will be conveyed to the relevant Ministers. Meanwhile, she has made her point clearly, and she has done so on the record.Quite how the hon. Lady and her Committee wish now to proceed in the light of the untimely provision of a vast tranche of information is, of course, for them to consider. Upon the whole, one would expect that a Committee would undertake its work without also considering Chamber devices for scrutiny of Ministers. The two, however, are not automatically and necessarily mutually exclusive, so if at some point the hon. Lady, a member of her Committee or any other Member wishes to probe a Minister in the Chamber on the substance of the issue or the reason for what appears to be an excessive delay, it is open to them to seek that route. I make no promise as to whether it would be successful, but it is open to Members.The key point is that Committees hold the Government to account, and it is up to the Government to co-operate with the Committee, not only in accordance with the letter, if you will, but in accordance with the spirit. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-18c.688.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g689.1 | |
| I had no advance notice of this and I know that the right hon. Gentleman is inclined to invest me with sagacity and powers that perhaps I do not possess. I am disinclined to respond substantively on the matter at this time, but my advice to the right hon. Gentleman, which I hope he will welcome, is that at this stage his best course is to write to the Secretary of State and seek either to elicit a written reply, which he can then study and evaluate, or alternatively to request a meeting to discuss the matter. If that route does not avail him, he can come back to Chamber, and I have a strong hunch that he will do so.If there are no further points of order and the appetite has been satisfied, at least for now, we come to the ten-minute rule Bill. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-18c.688.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g690.1 | |
| No one can dispute the comprehensiveness of the Minister’s answers, for which we are grateful, but we do have time constraints. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-18c.662.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g663.4 | |
| Order. I am saving the hon. Member for Huddersfield (Mr Sheerman) up. I call Alison McGovern. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-18c.664.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g664.9 | |
| I call the Foreign Secretary. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-18c.664.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g665.2 | |
| Order. I rather thought that the right hon. Gentleman had finished. That was a fairly long inquiry, but if he has a short sentence, will he please blurt it out? https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-18c.664.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g665.4 | |
| We are short of time, but I want to hear Kelly Tolhurst. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-18c.665.8&s=speaker%3A10040#g666.5 | |
| I understand that this is being grouped, at the request of the Government, with Question 15. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-18c.666.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g666.9 | |
| Indeed. That was what I was volunteering. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-18c.666.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g666.11 | |
| Order. I am sure that the word “inadvertent”, or the word “inadvertently”, was in there somewhere. One cannot accuse other Members of misleading the House.We now come to topical questions. I remind the House that topical questions are supposed to be brief, and so are the answers. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-18c.666.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g668.0 | |
| I have not heard the right hon. Gentleman sing, but I feel sure that it would be melodic and that it is only a matter of time. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-18c.668.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g671.2 | |
| Order. I indulged the hon. Gentleman and the least he could do was to be brief. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-18c.668.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g672.8 | |
| Order. We have overrun, but I am keen to accommodate colleagues. The last person whom I will be able to accommodate is Mr Rob Marris. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-18c.668.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g673.2 | |
| I am grateful to the hon. Lady for giving me notice of her point of order. Moreover, I understand her concern if the veracity of what she volunteered in good faith to the House has subsequently been called into question. Specifically, she asks me what recourse she has in these circumstances. In response, I make a number of points. First, if anybody was seeking to intimidate the hon. Lady as she goes about her parliamentary business, any such attempt has manifestly failed. Moreover, on the basis of my knowing her for the past 17 months, it seems entirely obvious that any such attempt would be doomed to fail. The sooner that point becomes clear to everyone outside the Chamber as well as within it, the better.Secondly, I think that the hon. Lady has found her own salvation in that she has taken this opportunity to raise a point of order with me on the Floor of the Chamber in which she has registered her discontent as well as putting the record straight in terms that appear to brook no contradiction. If she thinks that any further clarification or airing of the issue is required, various parliamentary avenues are open to her, and I do not doubt that she will pursue them with that combination of forensic precision and terrier-like tenacity for which she has become renowned in all parts of the House. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-17a.604.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g604.2 | |
| I am grateful to the hon. Member for Huddersfield (Mr Sheerman) for his sedentary contribution to our proceedings, helpful as it was. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-17a.604.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g604.4 | |
| The hon. Gentleman is a dogged and assiduous Member of the House at all times, and I say to him that if the Secretary of State judges it necessary to return to the Chamber to clarify the position or seeks to insert a corrigendum in the Official Report, it is open to that Minister to do so. Whether that will happen remains to be seen. Meanwhile, the hon. Gentleman has put the record straight with crystal clarity, doubtless to his own satisfaction but perhaps more importantly to that of the constituents whom he seeks to represent. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-17a.604.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g605.1 | |
| I thought that the hon. Gentleman was going to ask me that age-old question: “What does ‘shortly’ mean?” As we know, in Parliament the term “shortly” has a degree of elasticity associated with it. The Minister has heard the hon. Gentleman make his point. Before he became a Minister, he was an extremely active and effective parliamentarian who took pride in his responsibility to the House, and I am sure that he continues to do that. It is unimaginable that he would do anything other than come to the Chamber in those circumstances. In so far as the point needed to be underlined, however, it has been duly underlined by the notable campaigner from Leicester. I thank the Minister for his persistence and his courtesy in responding to the urgent question. I gently say to him that, now and again, he said that all he could do was to repeat his previous answer. He said it with great good humour and a degree of world-weary resignation. As I have often had reason to observe in the Chamber, repetition is not a novel phenomenon in the House of Commons. We will leave it there for now. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-17a.604.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g605.3 | |
| I did not say anything about any impact assessment, but the Minister might have done for all I know. I have a feeling we are about to learn about it. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-17a.592.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g598.0 | |
| I have no wish to be disobliging to the Home Secretary, but for the record, and for the propriety of these proceedings, I should just mention that in no meaningful sense of the term was she making a statement to the House, which is a matter of conscious and deliberate choice by the Government. The right hon. Lady was responding—she has done so timeously—to an urgent question, which I have granted. In other words, the Home Secretary is here because she has been asked to be here, not because she asked to be here. That is quite an important distinction, which we ought to respect in the language that we use. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-17a.580.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g581.2 | |
| It is very cheeky for an hon. Member to use the word “finally” in what I might call the Hughes sense—a reference to the former Member for Bermondsey and Old Southwark, who was wont to follow that word with several further sentences. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-17a.580.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g582.1 | |
| Order. I fear it is rather discourteous for the hon. Gentleman to suggest or imply that the Home Secretary might be “economical” with what she knew. That comes fairly close to crossing the line. Given that he has a prepared text, and therefore had full knowledge of what he was going to say, may I suggest that, for the future, he ought to phrase things rather differently? https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-17a.580.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g585.2 | |
| Order. Unless I am much mistaken, the hon. Member for Lewes (Maria Caulfield), who is a most assiduous attender at our proceedings, was not here at the start of these exchanges in the Chamber. [Interruption.] If she was, that is fine. I had been advised that she was not, but her word is good enough. If she says she was, that is good enough for me. Was she here at the start of the exchanges on this matter? https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-17a.580.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g589.9 | |
| Very good. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-17a.580.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g590.1 | |
| I call Mr Virendra Sharma.Where is the fellow? He was here a moment ago, and now he has beetled out of the Chamber. All this beetling out of the Chamber is a very unhealthy phenomenon when an hon. Member has a question on the Order Paper. Members should look at the Order Paper a bit more carefully. I call Caroline Flint. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-17a.574.9&s=speaker%3A10040#g576.2 | |
| Order. I am sorry, but we must now move on. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-17a.574.9&s=speaker%3A10040#g580.5 | |
| I think that the Leader of the House went to school in Elstree, if memory serves me correctly. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-13b.448.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g457.0 | |
| The excitement in the Secretary of State’s life knows no bounds. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-13b.428.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g429.6 | |
| Order. The hon. Member for Huddersfield (Mr Sheerman), who is an extremely senior and cerebral Member of the House, keeps chuntering from a sedentary position about buried money—just in case colleagues had not heard what he was chuntering about. It would be good if he ceased chuntering. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-13b.435.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g435.5 | |
| I call Mrs Caroline Spelman. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-13b.435.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g436.3 | |
| I apologise: I should have referred to the right hon. Lady properly—Dame Caroline Spelman. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-13b.435.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g436.5 | |
| I am shocked by the Secretary of State’s mother’s observations. I have a vivid imagination, but I find that utterly inconceivable. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-13b.438.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g438.5 | |
| I would call the right hon. Gentleman who is intently studying his iPad, but as he does not seem keen to engage we will leave him out for now. I am giving him due notice—he had his opportunity. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-13b.438.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g440.6 | |
| I call Barry Sheerman. Where is the fella? He has beetled out of the Chamber. That is very unlike the hon. Gentleman. I call Mr David Hanson. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-13b.444.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g445.4 | |
| Order. We come now to petitions. [Interruption.] It strikes me as unimaginable that Members do not wish to listen to the right hon. Member for New Forest West (Sir Desmond Swayne) as he presents his petition, but if they are disinclined to do so, perhaps they could do him and me and the House the courtesy of leaving quickly and quietly, so that the rest of us can enjoy, however briefly, his oratory. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-12b.313.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g415.0 | |
| Order. I am afraid that the limit on Back-Bench speeches has to be reduced to four minutes with immediate effect. The first person to be subject to that limit, the hon. Member for Grantham and Stamford (Nick Boles), has had notice of the change. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-12b.313.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g378.5 | |
| Order. Mr MacNeil, you are an exceptionally boisterous fellow, and in the course of your boisterous behaviour appear to be chewing some sort of gum. It is very eccentric conduct. I have great aspirations for you to be a statesman, but your apprenticeship still has some distance to travel. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-12b.313.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g338.6 | |
| Order. We will begin with a 10-minute limit on Back-Bench speeches, from which a number of hon. and right hon. Members will benefit, but I give due notice to the House that that limit will have to be sharply lowered, probably relatively early. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-12b.313.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g343.0 | |
| For the avoidance of doubt—to be absolutely clear for the benefit of all Members, the Secretary of State will move the amendment. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-12b.313.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g324.3 | |
| I inform the House that I have selected amendment (b) in the name of the Prime Minister. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-12b.313.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g313.1 | |
| Order. I will come to the hon. Member for Islington South and Finsbury (Emily Thornberry), and indeed, most certainly, to the hon. Member for Lichfield (Michael Fabricant) as well. First, I call Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-12b.306.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g307.4 | |
| I thank the hon. Lady for giving me notice of her point of order.What Ministers, and other right hon. and hon. Members, say in the House is, of course, their individual responsibility. If a Minister has inadvertently misled the House, I would expect that Minister to correct the record, and I am sure that the Financial Secretary would do so if she felt this to be the case. She will have an opportunity to hear and study what the hon. Lady has said today.The hon. Lady asked for my advice on how she could hold Ministers to account for their statements on this matter. The answer is that there are a number of routes that she might usefully follow. However, she may particularly wish to note that a debate on the performance of Concentrix in dealing with tax credit claimants, nominated by the Backbench Business Committee, is scheduled to take place next Tuesday at 9.30 am in Westminster Hall. I confidently predict that the hon. Lady will be in Westminster Hall at that time. Although I will not be chairing the debate, because the Speaker does not chair such debates, I have a keen sense that her chances of being heard on that occasion are pretty high. Meanwhile, she has made her concern clear, and it is on the record. We will leave it there for now. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-12b.306.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g307.6 | |
| We cannot continue the debate, but the hon. Member for Lichfield (Michael Fabricant), who asked his question most powerfully, has raised his concern, to which there has been a response. I cannot be expected to be the arbiter of the respective value of the contributions. The House will be reassured to know that nothing disorderly has occurred. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-12b.306.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g308.1 | |
| That is not a point of order for the Chair. It is, however, very interesting, notably to the hon. Member for Islington South and Finsbury (Emily Thornberry). Because I take an anorakish interest in the pronouncements of each and every Member, it is also of considerable interest to me, so I am very grateful to her for what she has said. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-12b.306.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g308.3 | |
| The day would not be complete without a point of order from the hon. Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant). https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-12b.306.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g308.5 | |
| It is not my responsibility, but I am perfectly willing to write. He cannot currently be heard in this place. When he was here, he was heard—fully, sometimes loudly and with very considerable eloquence—but he is no longer a Member of Parliament and I am happy to put that on record. If there continues to be ambiguity, or if misleading impressions are given, they must be corrected. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-12b.306.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g308.7 | |
| My initial advice would have been to tell the hon. Gentleman to make his point in the presence of the Leader of the House, but he seems to have anticipated me. That is exactly what he has done, and the Leader of the House was listening intently as he raised his concern. There is a responsibility on Ministers to provide timely and substantive answers to questions. Previously, Leaders of the House have chased Government Departments that have fallen down in that regard, and knowing the esteem in which the present Leader of the House holds this place, I know that he will do the same. I hope that that will broker a step change in performance to the satisfaction of the hon. Gentleman. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-12b.306.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g309.1 | |
| The Secretary of State and his daughter did a fantastic job as well, as did the constituency Member of Parliament. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-12b.285.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g285.8 | |
| Order. There is far too much noise in the Chamber. The Minister is a debutante at the Box. He ought to be heard. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-12b.293.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g293.2 | |
| Order. I want to hear about the right hon. and learned Member for Rushcliffe. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-12b.294.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g297.3 | |
| I call Alex Chalk. Where is the fella? I call Scott Mann. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-11d.261.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g266.7 | |
| I call Douglas Chapman. Is the fella not here? No. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-11d.261.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g268.6 | |
| That was all very efficiently completed by my colleagues in under half an hour. Thank you very much indeed for your co-operation. We come now to the Adjournment. May I appeal to Members who are leaving the Chamber to do so quickly and quietly, so that the hon. Member for Halifax (Holly Lynch) can present her case and be heard? https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-11d.261.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g274.4 | |
| I will now announce arrangements for electing Chairs for the Select Committees on Culture, Media and Sport, Exiting the European Union, Home Affairs, International Trade, and Science and Technology. Nominations should be submitted in the Table Office by 12 noon on Tuesday 18 October. If a post has more than one candidate the ballot will take place on Wednesday 19 October from 10 am to 1.30 pm in Committee Room 16. Briefing notes with more details about the election will be made available to Members and published on the intranet. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-11d.260.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g260.4 | |
| There are a large number of petitions to be presented, and I hope that it will be of assistance to the House if I set out how we shall proceed. Once the first petition relating to implementation of the 1995 and 2011 Pension Acts has been read to the House, with its prayer, subsequent petitions on the same topic should not be read out in full—not that anybody would wish to do so, of course. Members should give a brief description—I emphasise “brief description”—of the number and location of the petitioners, and state that the petition is “in the same terms.” Members presenting more than one petition should of course present them together.When Barbara Keeley has presented her petitions, she should proceed to the Table and hand her first petition to the Clerk, who will read out the title in the usual way. For subsequent petitions—what a wonderful script this is—I will call the Member to present the petition briefly and then the Member should proceed directly to the petitions bag at the back of the Chair. I will call the next Member immediately after the previous Member has finished speaking.Members who have been in the House for a while might recall that there is a precedent that was set—although it is not obliged in any sense to be repeated—for a half-hour limit on the presentation of petitions—[Interruption.] No, not half an hour for each petition. Far be it for me instinctively to want didactically to adopt that approach at this stage. I do not wish to do so and I am quite happy to keep it more open. However, there are a very large number of petitions and it will in no way be acceptable for Members to speak to their petition for even one minute. I am asking colleagues to speak for around 10 seconds so that we can make timely progress. I hope that is clear and that colleagues will wish to co-operate, in the interests of efficiency and of the prospect of reaching the Adjournment debate secured by the hon. Member for Halifax (Holly Lynch) on police officer safety. To present her petition, I call Barbara Keeley. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-11d.260.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g260.5 | |
| We are debating this motion separately. If the Leader of the House wants to respond briefly to the hon. Member for Reigate (Crispin Blunt), he is of course welcome to do so. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-11d.255.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g258.0 | |
| May I thank colleagues for taking part in the debate and for the succinct and comprehensive way in which they have addressed this important issue? https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-11d.165.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g212.2 | |
| If colleagues who are leaving, unaccountably, could do so quickly and quietly, that would be greatly appreciated. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-11d.213.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g213.2 | |
| That is the gravamen of the point, for which we are grateful. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-11d.165.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g207.1 | |
| I thank the hon. Lady for her speech. There have been some exceptionally powerful speeches in the debate already.As I am keen to accommodate everybody and for everybody to have the chance to make a decent length speech, and in anticipation of us all wanting to hear the Foreign Secretary respond comprehensively to others’ speeches, I appeal to colleagues to try to stick to seven minutes each. I call Mr Gavin Robinson. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-11d.165.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g194.0 | |
| Order. The hon. Member for Islington South and Finsbury (Emily Thornberry) made a succinct speech from the Front Bench; that is the length of speech that I know the Scottish National party spokesperson will seek to imitate. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-11d.165.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g179.3 | |
| Order. Before we proceed further, I have seen how many people wish to contribute. I do not want to impose a time limit on Back-Bench speeches at this stage, but if, by voluntary co-operation, we can achieve the objective, that would be better. If each Back Bencher spoke for no more than seven minutes, everybody would get in, and there should be general contentment. There is never universal contentment, but I would settle for general contentment. We will be led in this mission by no less a figure than Mr Alistair Burt. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-11d.165.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g176.1 | |
| I am extremely grateful to the hon. Lady. She is nothing if not persistent and she has put that thought on the record. I say to her in all courtesy, however, that she is not the first person to do this—I probably did it myself in the very distant past—and I do not suppose she will be the last. It is a very interesting point, but it is a continuation of debate. There is no matter for the Chair here. For that reason, and that reason alone, I must ask her to desist at this stage, but I have a feeling she will find ingenious ways of returning to her point on other occasions.Perhaps we can leave it there, because we are short of time and I want to proceed. Unless there are further points of order—I am not exactly looking for them—then we will come on to the ten-minute rule motion. I call Conor McGinn. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-11d.160.8&s=speaker%3A10040#g161.1 | |
| I am extremely grateful to the Minister for his response on that matter. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-11d.145.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g146.2 | |
| The Minister’s challenge is to relate that very important matter to the equally important issue that happens to be the subject of the question: procurement. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-11d.146.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g147.1 | |
| And have a cup of tea with the fella. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-11d.154.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g154.5 | |
| The other doughty champion of the hospital is of course the right hon. Member for Chorley (Mr Hoyle), who regularly deputises for me in this Chair. I am sure the House will want to acknowledge that important fact. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-11d.154.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g158.2 | |
| I am sorry, but, rather as in the health service under any Government, demand has exceeded supply and we must move on. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-11d.154.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g160.5 | |
| I was keeping the hon. Lady waiting for only a moment, so that there was a due sense of anticipation in the House. That sense now definitely exists. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-11d.154.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g160.7 | |
| I thank the hon. Gentleman for notice of his point of order. However, the “Question Time” to which he refers is on the BBC, not in the House of Commons. While my responsibility extends to the latter, it does not do so in respect of the former, as I dare say he knows very well. None the less, his views are on the record. I do not treat what he has said in any way with levity or disinterest, but as a matter of fact it does not fall within the remit of the Chair to handle. We shall have to leave it there for now. I thank the hon. Gentleman for registering his views on the record. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-10b.73.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g73.2 | |
| I have listened carefully to the application from the right hon. Gentleman and I am satisfied that the matter raised by him is proper to be discussed under Standing Order No. 24. Does the right hon. Gentleman have the leave of the House?Application agreed to. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-10b.72.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g72.3 | |
| The right hon. Gentleman has obtained the leave of the House. The debate will be held tomorrow, Tuesday 11 October, as the first item of public business. The debate will last for three hours and will arise on a motion that the House has considered the specified matter set out in the right hon. Gentleman’s application.Members leaving the Chamber after these substantial exchanges should do so quickly and quietly. There is a point of order on its way and I wish to hear it. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-10b.72.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g72.4 | |
| The hon. and learned Gentleman asks leave to propose a debate on a specific and important matter that should have urgent consideration, namely the terms upon which the Government are proposing to conduct negotiations with the European Commission for the exit of the United Kingdom from the European Union.I have listened carefully to the application. I am not persuaded that this matter is proper to be discussed under Standing Order No. 24. In determining whether a matter is urgent, I am directed by Standing Order No. 24(5) to“have regard to the probability of the matter being brought before the House in time by other means.”As of now, I have reason to expect—I believe that the hon. and learned Gentleman himself might well now be aware also—that there is a strong prospect of a debate on this matter as early as this Wednesday. Needless to say, I say to the hon. and learned Gentleman and for the benefit of the House that there will doubtless be many other opportunities to debate these matters through various vehicles in the House. It is perfectly right and proper that those various vehicles should be used as is appropriate. I am grateful to the hon. and learned Gentleman, and hope that that is clear to the House. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-10b.70.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g71.0 | |
| I gently implore the Secretary of State to face the House so that we can all benefit from his mellifluous tones. [Interruption.] Somebody chunters rather ungraciously from a sedentary position or otherwise. “You pays your money and you takes your choice,” but the right hon. Gentleman must be heard. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-10b.39.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g49.0 | |
| In wishing her a very happy birthday, I call Lucy Powell. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-10b.3.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g4.0 | |
| Order. I had thought that the Secretary of State was seeking to group this question with Question 12, from the hon. Member for Banbury, whom we do not wish arbitrarily to exclude from our deliberations. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-10b.11.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g11.7 | |
| I call Victoria Prentis. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-10b.11.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g12.1 | |
| There is some sort of screed written in front of the Minister of State. He may find it profitable for himself and others to deposit it in the Library, where colleagues can consult it if they wish in the long winter evenings that lie ahead. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-10b.16.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g17.6 | |
| The Secretary of State clearly does not wish to be outdone by her hon. Friend the Minister of State. That much is clear. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-10b.18.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g18.3 | |
| I want to call several more colleagues in these exchanges. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-10b.18.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g21.1 | |
| Order. Shrieking from a sedentary position is very unfair on the Member who is trying to secure a hearing from the House. Let us hear Karin Smyth. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-10b.18.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g23.1 | |
| Order. I am sorry to disappoint colleagues, but as usual demand has exceeded supply. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-10-10b.18.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g24.2 | |
| The short answer to the hon. Gentleman’s inquiry is yes. It would be courteous if such announcements were made at an earlier point, not shortly before the House ceases to sit with minimal opportunity in parliamentary terms for the hon. Gentleman to explore the matter. I suggest that he uses his remaining time today to look at the options for asking parliamentary questions or for seeking a debate on this important matter. He would have every prospect of securing such a debate, and although it would be at a later point than he would wish, I guess it would be better than nothing.I hope that Ministers will take account of what the hon. Gentleman said, because this concern can be felt by Members on both sides of the House. It is not clever when Ministers behave in this way. If it is done without malice or forethought, it is simply thoughtless. If it is done on the basis of knowing that it will disadvantage or inconvenience a Member, it is rank, inconsiderate and disrespectful not merely to the Member but, at least as importantly, to his or her constituents. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-15c.1077.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1077.2 | |
| I am grateful for the hon. Lady’s point of order. I entirely understand her disappointment and irritation. I hope that it will be possible when we return from the conference recess for the matter to be explored on the Floor of the House—there are a number of possibilities in that regard.It is of course a matter of judgment for the Government as to whether a ministerial statement should be made orally or in writing. Although I understand her view that the matter merited an oral statement, I will mention en passant that there were two oral statements today as well as business questions. I have no way of knowing what exchanges took place within the Government, but it is by no means unknown for a Minister to want or, at any rate, to be prepared to make an oral statement but to be prevented from doing so because of competing priorities. I have no idea whether that was the case in this instance.I simply say in response to the hon. Lady’s request for guidance that she can pursue the matter at the next Work and Pensions oral questions on Monday 17 October. I absolutely appreciate that that is a considerable time away, but it is one possibility. There are other forms of questioning that can take place in the course of the day, as she knows, and it is open to the Opposition to choose this matter for a debate on a future Opposition day. I am sure that she will find a way to pursue the matter and, insofar as it is proper, the Chair will be her friend in that process. Meanwhile, she has at least put her concern and extreme dissatisfaction on the record. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-15c.1077.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1078.0 | |
| If there has been no opportunity to explore the matter in the Chamber before the recess, we return in October and there would be an early opportunity at that point. I have already referenced one of those opportunities, which is already provided for in the known timetable of oral questions. But if it is felt strongly by a Member, or possibly by a number of Members, that the matter warrants more thorough scrutiny than a couple of questions at monthly questions would allow, I would certainly be open to that possibility. The right hon. Gentleman asks me whether I had had any indication that Ministers had been planning to make an oral statement on this matter, and I must answer by saying no, I have received no such indication. In fairness, it is not unreasonable for me to observe that absence of evidence does not constitute evidence of absence. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-15c.1077.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1078.2 | |
| I thank the hon. Gentleman. He has set the record straight, doing so pithily and the with the courtesy for which he is renowned in all parts of the House. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-15c.1077.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1079.1 | |
| I am not sure that there is any mechanism for securing satisfaction for the right hon. Gentleman today. It may be that the right hon. Member for Haltemprice and Howden (Mr Davis), whom he has in mind—the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union—would be enthusiastic beyond words about the possibility of appearing before the House, and engaging with, hearing from and responding to the right hon. Gentleman. However, I think the Backbench Business Committee, under whose auspices two debates are about to take place, may take a different view. I know that the right hon. Gentleman is an eager and assiduous Member of Parliament, but I think it unlikely that he will spend all of the conference recess reflecting on this matter—it would be a bit sad if he were to do so. If he comes back in October and remains similarly vexed and anxious for clarity, I hope he will use the mechanisms available to him. I think we had better leave it there for now, as we have had a considerable feast of points of order today. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-15c.1077.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1080.0 | |
| Order. I think that the hon. Gentleman has concluded his remarks, because his time is up. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-15c.1065.11&s=speaker%3A10040#g1069.0 | |
| Order. As I mentioned to the House earlier, there is another statement to follow and then two debates to take place under the auspices of the Backbench Business Committee, to which the first is notably well subscribed, so there is a premium upon brevity. May I appeal to colleagues, even distinguished and cerebral Back-Bench Members, to avoid discursive commentary or lengthy preamble and instead just to get to a pithy inquiry, to which I know there will be a pithy reply from the Secretary of State? https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-15c.1054.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g1059.1 | |
| Order. The hon. Gentleman is out of his time, but I am sure he is finishing his sentence. It needs to be a very short sentence. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-15c.1054.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g1060.0 | |
| Order. I do not think that the hon. Gentleman is seeking to intervene on this statement, although it is very likely that he will wish to intervene on the next. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-15c.1054.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g1065.8 | |
| Indeed. I am grateful. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-15c.1054.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g1065.10 | |
| I thank the hon. Gentleman for what he has said and, indeed, for the way in which he has said it. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-15c.1053.8&s=speaker%3A10040#g1054.1 | |
| Order. As colleagues know, ordinarily it is my practice to call everyone in this set of exchanges, and I should like to do so again today, but I am very conscious that there are two statements to follow, and then two debates under the auspices of the Backbench Business Committee, of which the first is notably well subscribed. There is, therefore, a premium on brevity, which I know will be exemplified by Sir Edward Leigh. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-15c.1037.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g1040.1 | |
| The right hon. Member for New Forest East (Dr Lewis) would certainly be able to do that, but whether that would meet the needs of his case is a matter for him to judge. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-15c.1037.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g1045.4 | |
| I am grateful to the Leader of the House and to colleagues. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-15c.1037.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g1053.7 | |
| On the front page of today’s Order Paper, it is noted:On 15 September 1916, Lieutenant-Colonel The Honourable Guy Victor Baring, 1st Battalion The Coldstream Guards, Member for Winchester, was killed in action during the Battle of the Somme, France.On 15 September 1916, Lieutenant-Colonel Charles William Reginald Duncombe, Viscount Helmsley, 21st Battalion King’s Royal Rifle Corps (Yeoman Rifles), Member for Thirsk and Malton from 1906 to 1915, was killed in action at Courcelette during the Battle of the Somme, France.On 25 September 1916, Lieutenant Gerald Archibald Arbuthnot, 1st Battalion The Grenadier Guards, Member for Burnley in 1910, was killed in action during the Battle of the Somme, France.We remember them today. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-15c.1013.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1013.1 | |
| I hope that the right hon. Member for Saffron Walden (Sir Alan Haselhurst) realises how lucky he is to have the prospect of further conversations with the Minister of State. Not all of us are in that category. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-15c.1013.10&s=speaker%3A10040#g1015.1 | |
| And you found it. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-15c.1018.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1018.6 | |
| Order. We need shorter questions. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-15c.1019.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g1020.0 | |
| Order. We started late because of the preliminary announcements, so we can run on slightly, but we must have much shorter questions from now on. To be honest, questions today have been simply far too long. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-15c.1024.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g1026.3 | |
| The Minister felt a compelling need to read out part B of the brief, but we are grateful and we are better informed. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-15c.1028.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1028.5 | |
| I call Stephen Kinnock. What has happened? The hon. Gentleman has bunked off. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-15c.1029.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g1030.7 | |
| I call Parliament’s grassroots sports champion of the year, Mr Tom Pursglove. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-15c.1029.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g1033.1 | |
| I always thought, having known him for 30 years, that it was the defining characteristic of the right hon. Gentleman. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-15c.1029.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g1034.11 | |
| I have to notify the House, in accordance with the Royal Assent Act 1967, that the Queen has signified her Royal Assent to the following Acts:Finance Act 2016Haberdashers’ Aske’s Charity Act 2016. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-15c.1037.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1037.1 | |
| It is quite cheeky of the right hon. Gentleman to ask two questions and to declare so openly his intention to do so, although it is perhaps not quite as cheeky as the hon. Member for Sheffield, Heeley (Louise Haigh), who asked five questions without making any such explicit declaration at all. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-14c.904.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g908.2 | |
| No. I think one will suffice. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-14c.904.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g916.5 | |
| I fear the hon. Lady has caught what might be called “the Burnley condition”. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-14c.904.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g916.7 | |
| It is a matter for Ministers. Announcements can be made during recess periods, and frequently are, but if the Government know what they intend to announce, I would hope that they would be sensitive to the prior claim of Members of this House to be informed first, rather than the information being disseminated through the media or to some other less deserving source. I hope that that deals with the issue for now; I am genuinely grateful to the hon. Gentleman for raising it.These matters usually end up having to be announced to the House anyway. We had a case of that some days ago, when, frankly, it would have been better for an earlier statement to be made to the House on grammar schools. It was not made as early as it should have been, but when it was eventually delivered to the House, I did ensure that everyone questioned the relevant Minister, and a considerable allocation was therefore required. It is always better, really, if the Government anticipate these things in the first place, rather than waiting until later than is necessary. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-14c.918.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g918.2 | |
| Truly, the hon. Member for Swansea West (Geraint Davies) will prove to be a busy bee. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-14c.919.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g919.4 | |
| The hon. Gentleman is buzzing away now, as he helpfully and originally points out.We now come to the ten-minute rule motion, which the hon. Member for Dover (Charlie Elphicke) has been so patiently waiting to move. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-14c.919.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g919.6 | |
| Order. I had hoped to be able to announce today the timetable for the elections to vacant Chairs of Select Committees. It is my understanding—I may, of course, be wrong—that discussions on these matters in the usual channels have concluded, but the Government have still to table the various motions required. I very much hope that they will be tabled very soon. It may be helpful to Members to know that if the House agrees to those motions, it is my fervent hope and expectation that the elections for Chairs may take place on Wednesday 19 October. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-14c.901.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g901.1 | |
| Not now. I will come to the hon. Gentleman. [Interruption.] It may be on that matter, but there is something else that I want to say first. It is always good to keep the hon. Gentleman in reserve; it builds up a sense of eager anticipation in the House.Michael Carpenter, Speaker’s counsel, retires from the House service at the end of September. Michael was seconded to the House of Commons from the Treasury Solicitor’s Department in October 2000 as counsel for European legislation, and he subsequently became an employee of the House. Michael became Speaker’s counsel in October 2008. He has served this House and, if I may say so, colleagues, he has served me, magnificently. I shall always be grateful to him, and the House should be thankful for his sense of duty, for his immense ability and for his stoicism and fortitude under pressure. I am sure that the House would wish to send its best wishes to Michael and to his family following his retirement. [Hon. Members: “Hear, hear!”]I am pleased to announce that, following fair and open competition, Saira Salimi will take on the role of Speaker’s counsel in October. Saira is currently the deputy official solicitor to the Church Commissioners, a role that she has held for the last five years. Before that, Saira was a member of the office of the parliamentary counsel for eight years, and she comes to us with a detailed knowledge of the legislative process. I am sure that the House will want to wish Saira well in her new and important role. [Hon. Members: “Hear, hear!”] https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-14c.901.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g901.3 | |
| I will take points of order now, before we come to the urgent question. I saw the hon. Member for Wellingborough first, and I am slightly anxious that he will burst if he does not have his opportunity ere long. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-14c.901.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g901.6 | |
| It seemed to me, I must say to the House, that there was very good reason to make expeditious progress on this matter in any case. I am sure that there was absolutely no hint of underlying sarcasm in the hon. Gentleman’s observation when he expressed the confident expectation that the Whips on both sides would want to make progress in the establishment of the new Committee and in the election of the vacant Chairs of all the Committees, because of course they will want the Government to be subject to proper and thorough scrutiny. There is very good reason to proceed expeditiously anyway, but the fact that 19 October is also the hon. Gentleman’s birthday provides an added incentive.The hon. Gentleman asks what can be done. The short answer, as I think he knows, is that I am doing what I can, not very subtly, to indicate that the usual channels really ought to progress this matter sooner rather than later. So far as I am concerned, that means by tomorrow. I hope we are clear. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-14c.901.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g902.0 | |
| It has to be said that the hon. Gentleman is an ingenious fellow, and he has regularly demonstrated his ingenuity since his election to the House. I do not blame him for seeking to shoehorn in his current preoccupation when we are discussing the timetable for elections to the vacant Chairs of Committees. However, the proper answer for me to give him is that it is not a matter for the Chair. It will be a matter for the Committee concerned to decide. If the hon. Gentleman were afflicted by a sudden bout of self-doubt or reticence, causing him to be reluctant or unable to express his view on this matter, I would be concerned, but he will not be, and therefore I am not. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-14c.901.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g902.2 | |
| The Leader of the House is not under any such obligation. It has to be said that normally—I speak with some authority on this matter, as I have known him for 30 years, and we have been next-door constituency neighbours for the best part of 20 years—he is the most accommodating of colleagues. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-14c.901.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g903.0 | |
| I have a feeling that the right hon. Gentleman is about to prove the point. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-14c.901.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g903.2 | |
| I think that is very encouraging. I do not want to embarrass the right hon. Gentleman, but may I just say that he is in some danger, if he is not careful, of being held aloft by Members from all parts of the House? We will leave the matter there for now. I thank the Leader of the House for what he has said, which is encouraging. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-14c.901.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g903.4 | |
| I always hear the Secretary of State’s words. I have been hearing them for at least 20 years. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-14c.884.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g884.8 | |
| Order. These are extremely important matters affecting some of the most vulnerable people on the face of the planet. They really do deserve—[Interruption.] Order. They really do deserve a more attentive audience. It would show some respect to very vulnerable people if we listened to the questions and to Ministers’ answers. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-14c.885.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g886.4 | |
| Order. I really do think that this question in respect of the seriousness of the situation in Syria, and in deference to our late colleague Jo Cox, should be heard in silence. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-14c.886.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g888.5 | |
| Thank you, colleagues. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-14c.886.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g888.8 | |
| Order. May I just point out to the House that progress today at this Question Time session has been absurdly slow? I ask the House on behalf of our constituents to show some respect for those colleagues who want to question the Prime Minister, and I am determined to get down the list. I call Craig Williams. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-14c.889.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g893.2 | |
| Order. The intervention was too long. A lot of Members wish to speak in the debate. It is very selfish behaviour. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-13a.771.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g775.4 | |
| The amendment has not been selected. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-13a.771.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g771.2 | |
| I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his suggestion through the device of a point of order. I ought, first of all, to say that there is nothing wrong with being fat—at any rate, it is certainly not for the Chair to pass judgment on these matters, and I would get into hot water, and very properly so, if I were to start casting aspersions on body shape. I will simply say, although I am sure the hon. Gentleman was not seeking my approbation, and he has no need of it, that he himself is slim, assiduous and endlessly energetic, as his continued re-election by the people of Huddersfield for the last 37 years, I think, readily testifies. At any rate, he appears to enjoy their enthusiastic approval. We will leave it there for now. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-13a.766.12&s=speaker%3A10040#g767.1 | |
| I must inform the House that I have today received notification from the Chair of the Home Affairs Committee, the right hon. Member for Leicester East (Keith Vaz), of his wish to resign from the Chair. In accordance with Standing Order No. 122C, I therefore declare that the Chair of the Home Affairs Committee is vacant. I shall announce the arrangements for the election to this post, alongside the elections for the vacant Chairs of the Culture, Media and Sport and Science and Technology Committees, and any other new Chairs to be created as a result of recent changes in the machinery of government, as soon as practicable. I hope that it will be possible to hold those elections very soon after the House returns in October. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-13a.745.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g745.4 | |
| Order. The hon. Gentleman should try not to use the word “you” in the Chamber. Debate goes through the Chair. I am not expressing any view on these matters, but I think I know what the hon. Gentleman had in mind. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-13a.745.8&s=speaker%3A10040#g748.0 | |
| The right hon. Gentleman came in on Question 1, which I have not forgotten, even if he has. We will save him up for later and keep him in the microwave. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-13a.749.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g751.0 | |
| In relation to laser pens, rather than the speaking engagements or otherwise of Lord O’Neill. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-13a.757.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g758.3 | |
| The hon. Member for Huddersfield (Mr Sheerman) is a well-known exponent of what I might call the shoehorning technique. Whatever he wants to raise, he shoehorns it into a question somehow. He could probably write a book on the subject—and probably will. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-13a.757.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g758.6 | |
| Order. One sentence. Very briefly. We have got a lot to get through. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-13a.760.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g763.5 | |
| Order. Let me say in all kindness and charity to the hon. Gentleman that he was at his best at the end of the first sentence. A blue pencil should thereafter have been applied. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-13a.760.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g764.5 | |
| The Minister is very good for colleagues’ knee muscles—or not, as the case may be. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-13a.760.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g764.11 | |
| Order. I am genuinely sorry to disappoint remaining colleagues. I have extended the envelope rather substantially, but we must now move on. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-13a.760.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g766.11 | |
| I hope the hon. Gentleman will do the Hansard writers the great courtesy of providing them the text of that which he has just so eloquently read to the House. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-12b.725.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g729.0 | |
| With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:Government amendments 3 to 7.Amendment 60, in clause 1, page 2, leave out lines 4 to 9 and insert— https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-12b.634.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g635.1 | |
| Order. I think the shadow Secretary of State is bringing her remarks to a close. I have been generous, but she is a little over her time and I think she has either finished or is approaching her last sentence—a pithy one. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-12b.601.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g605.0 | |
| I think that the full Shelbrooke world-view should be deposited in the Library of the House, preferably by the end of the week. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-12b.601.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g620.0 | |
| Order. We cannot have a series of side conversations and Members chuntering from a sedentary position across the Chamber in evident disapproval of what the other is saying while the Secretary of State is trying to respond to questions. I was speaking to a very large group of school students in Ochil and South Perthshire on Friday, and the habitual refrain—[Interruption.] Order. I am sure that the hon. Member for Sutton and Cheam (Paul Scully) will be interested in this, and if he is not, he ought to be. The habitual refrain of quite a number of the pupils was, “Why is it sometimes in Parliament that Members are discourteous to each other?” We should try to set a good example. What is required is the statesmanlike demeanour personified by the Minister for Schools, the hon. Member for Bognor Regis and Littlehampton (Mr Gibb), who is sitting in a solemn and reflective manner. There are many examples of Labour Members who are sitting in a similar way. We should learn from them. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-12b.601.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g628.2 | |
| The hon. Gentleman has obviously used the long wait to allow his thoughts to fructify in his mind. We are deeply obliged to him. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-12b.601.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g633.0 | |
| I thank the Secretary of State and all colleagues who have taken part in this important series of exchanges. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-12b.601.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g633.2 | |
| Order. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-12b.601.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g602.0 | |
| Order. The Secretary of State must be heard. Everybody, I think, on both sides of the House knows that, when ministerial statements are delivered, I, almost without exception, allow everyone who wants to contribute the chance to do so, and, believe me, today will be no exception—I am very sensitive to the differences of opinion in the House. Everyone will have a chance to question the Secretary of State, but meanwhile she should and must be heard with courtesy. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-12b.601.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g602.2 | |
| Of course, the hon. Gentleman is too modest to reveal to the House that although he is not himself a Normandy veteran, as is demonstrably apparent, he does hold the honour. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-12b.582.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g583.0 | |
| I call the good doctor, Dr Julian Lewis. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-12b.594.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g598.5 | |
| Very prudent and wise of the Secretary of State, I am sure. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-12b.594.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g598.8 | |
| I do not want the hon. Member for Chesterfield (Toby Perkins) to be sad or to feel isolated or excluded. Let him have a go. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-12b.594.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g600.1 | |
| Order. I would prefer to save the hon. Member for Reigate (Crispin Blunt) as a specialist delicacy of the House. We will come to him in due course. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-08a.502.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g502.3 | |
| Is it further to that? Is it on that very theme? https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-08a.502.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g502.6 | |
| In that case, let us hear from the hon. Member for Shipley (Philip Davies), and then I will respond to both. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-08a.502.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g502.8 | |
| I am very grateful to both hon. Members for raising their points of order. Let me seek to deal, in so far as they require to be dealt with, with each in turn. First, in relation to the point of order from the hon. Member for Broxbourne, who is, as we all know, the illustrious Chair of the Procedure Committee of the House, I remind colleagues that the hon. Gentleman asked the Chair by what means he could register his concern. As the hon. Gentleman knows, because he is a perceptive and sagacious fellow, he has found his own salvation. He has made his own point with his own inimitable eloquence, and it is on the record. I know how strongly he feels about it, and I know there are many Members across the House who feel very strongly about it, and these matters will doubtless be further debated.Secondly, in relation to the hon. Member for Shipley, I note the force of his point about reductions in the number of MPs needing, as he sees it, to be accompanied by reductions in the number of Ministers. The hon. Gentleman has got such a long-established good memory for what people have said in the past that I feel sure that, although he did not say it today, he will be well aware that I myself expatiated on this matter on 19 January 2011 in a lecture to the Institute for Government. On that occasion, I made the point that it would be a rum business to reduce the number of MPs but not to cut the number of Ministers. I said it then and was right then, and therefore I am very happy to say it again, five and a half years later, and to be right a second time.We had better leave it there. I am not sure that either of them was a point of order, but they were jolly good fun. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-08a.502.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g502.10 | |
| It would be rather disturbing, it has to be said, if a Minister of the Cabinet Office were unaware of the imminent publication in his, or a departmental colleague’s, name of such a report. I find that very hard to credit. It might well be regarded as discourteous; that is, to some extent, a matter of opinion. What I can safely say is that it was, at the very least, unhelpful. There is a general principle that ministerial answers should be as informative as possible, so it was unhelpful. I think I can say—possibly at the risk of irritating a Cabinet Office Minister, which I will have to bear with stoicism and fortitude—that at the very least it was extremely unimaginative of the Minister answering not to consider providing more information or, alternatively, to consider and then to decline. Very unsatisfactory—he really ought to be able to do better than that.The great thing that we have on our side is that the new Leader of the House—there have been lots of illustrious Leaders of the House—as was flagged up a moment ago, is, of course, I think twice a winner on “University Challenge”, with a gap of, I think, 30 years in between. It used to be said that the former Member for Havant, in the previous Parliament, was “Two Brains”. I leave colleagues to speculate or, indeed, to compute how many brains the Leader of the House has. He is a very cerebral fellow, and I am sure that he can spawn more imaginative and considerate thinking among his ministerial colleagues. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-08a.502.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g503.1 | |
| Oh, very well. I call Kevin Brennan, and we will then come to the Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-08a.502.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g504.1 | |
| I must admit that I did not know that, but I do now, and I promise not to forget it. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-08a.502.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g504.3 | |
| The hon. Lady has made the best case she can, and I thank her for that. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-08a.502.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g504.5 | |
| I am grateful to the hon. Member for Reigate (Crispin Blunt) and the right hon. Member for New Forest East (Dr Lewis) for their points of order.With respect to what the right hon. Gentleman said, I am intimately conscious that I cannot and should not intervene or overly pronounce on the way in which Select Committees of the House conduct their affairs. From my own experience as a member of several Select Committees before being elected to the Chair, I can say that it was certainly my normal and satisfied expectation that before draft reports were produced, there would be a period of considerable discussion by the Committee not only about chapter headings, but, more substantively, about the direction of travel that colleagues could anticipate, even in the first draft. In other words, the process would be Member-led, rather than Chair-decreed, still less official-determined. I therefore understand the sense of angst that the right hon. Gentleman has conveyed in a very reasonable, balanced way. I think colleagues would do well to consider what he has said.More widely, I would say—if colleagues want to come back on this, they will—that the Committees on Arms Export Controls carry out extremely valuable work. To do so, they rely on the co-operation and consensus of the Chairs and members of four Select Committees. I very much hope that this co-operation can be maintained so that the House can benefit from their important work.The Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee focused very much on the matter of the leak and what might flow from that. Let me just say that it is for the Committees concerned to investigate the cause of the apparent leak to decide whether it constitutes a substantial interference with their work—a matter on which Members not on the Committees may also have a view—and to inform the Liaison Committee, seeking its views in the process. Thereafter, it would be sensible for them to decide—indeed, it will inevitably be decided—whether to make a special report that would stand referred to the Committee of Privileges.The hon. Gentleman asked me about the use of private investigators. I can only say that I do not know whether that would be effective in this instance, although it is perfectly conceivable that it might be. Probably the best approach for me to take is to say: let the Liaison Committee, which is an established and respected Committee within the House, make a judgment. It is perfectly legitimate for colleagues to make representations to the Liaison Committee about what they think should happen. Rather than for the Speaker to say what the Liaison Committee should do, the Liaison Committee should consider the matter carefully, taking note of these points of order in deciding how to proceed.This is a very serious matter, indeed. If the Committees of this House are to work effectively, we cannot have a situation in which individual members of a Committee leak information, in advance, to advance a particular point of view or to retard the progress of another. That is wholly against the spirit of the operation of the Select Committees of this House. I thank colleagues for what they have said, and for the spirit in which they have said it. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-08a.502.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g505.1 | |
| I think that will be very welcome in the House. The danger otherwise is that there is a recipe for disappointment. There is always unsatisfied demand, but it was very striking this morning. There were huge numbers and a lot were disappointed. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-08a.485.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g497.2 | |
| I call Dr Julian Lewis. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-08a.468.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g476.3 | |
| Order. I realise that the right hon. Member for New Forest West (Sir Desmond Swayne) may experience some teething problems as he makes his adjustment to Back-Bench life. We look forward to hearing from him on a regular basis, but unfortunately as he is no longer a Minister he does not have a guaranteed slot. However, an expectant nation will hear him now. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-08a.468.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g477.1 | |
| I think we should hear from a philosopher. I call Dr John Pugh. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-08a.468.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g478.1 | |
| What a choice! Mr Peter Bone. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-08a.468.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g483.4 | |
| On the front page of today’s Order Paper it is noted that on 9 September 1916, Lieutenant Thomas Michael Kettle, Royal Dublin Fusiliers, Member for East Tyrone from 1906 to 1910, was killed in action at Ginchy during the Battle of the Somme.We remember him today. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-08a.445.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g445.1 | |
| The earnestness of the Minister cannot be surpassed. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-08a.451.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g455.1 | |
| I am sure we all remember Tony Benn’s adage that it is not about personalities but about the issues. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-08a.459.8&s=speaker%3A10040#g460.2 | |
| Order. Lastly in this category, I call Mr Roger Mullin. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-08a.462.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g463.3 | |
| Switzerland also has its own unique selling point, called Roger Federer. Just thought I would mention that. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-08a.464.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g466.0 | |
| I will not call people for topical questions if they abuse the system. The hon. Gentleman is a very good parliamentarian, and that question was not just too long but far too long. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-08a.464.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g466.4 | |
| Order. I know that we have overrun, but I want to accommodate remaining questions if they are extremely brief. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-08a.464.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g467.2 | |
| I am most grateful to the Secretary of State and to colleagues. There is no shortage of demand in this session, and I dare say that that will continue. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-08a.464.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g468.5 | |
| I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his point of order. What he says about the seriousness with which leaks of copies, or draft copies, of Select Committee reports are taken is absolutely true. He is quite right about that: it is a very serious matter. I do not know whether there has been such a leak or whether there is merely speculation, but I am happy to make inquiries into the matter, and knowing the dogged and tenacious character of the hon. Gentleman, I have a feeling that if I do not get back to him, he will probably return to it. We will leave it there for now, and I am most grateful for him for the public service that he has done in mentioning it. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-07b.362.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g363.1 | |
| I am very happy to confirm that the Boundary Commission operates, and has always been expected to operate, on the basis that the hon. Gentleman suggests. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-07b.362.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g363.3 | |
| As the right hon. Gentleman has taken twice as much time as he was allocated—punctuated by some interruptions, it is true—I trust that his last sentence will be a pithy one. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-07b.335.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g342.0 | |
| That is an extremely important matter, but it is not obvious to me how it appertains to the G20. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-07b.335.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g342.2 | |
| The hon. Gentleman must be the oldest and most long-serving Member in the history of the House of Commons. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-07b.335.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g357.5 | |
| I am extremely grateful to the Prime Minister and to all colleagues. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-07b.335.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g362.3 | |
| Order. This is very unfair. The hon. Lady is asking a question about help for victims of domestic violence who wish to register to vote anonymously. I really think the House should be attentive to this matter. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-07b.318.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g319.1 | |
| Order. If the House were as courteous to the Minister as the Minister is to the House, that would be a great advance for all of us. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-07b.320.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g320.10 | |
| Order. The situation is intolerable. The hon. Gentleman is entitled to be heard and Ministers are struggling to do so. I want to hear the hon. Gentleman—he can be assured of it. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-07b.320.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g322.1 | |
| Order. The right hon. Gentleman must be heard, and he will be heard. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-07b.323.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g328.3 | |
| Order. Just as I said that the right hon. Gentleman must be heard, so must the Prime Minister’s answer be heard, and it will be. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-07b.323.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g328.6 | |
| Order. Progress is very slow and there is far too much noise. The hon. Gentleman will be heard. It is as simple as that. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-07b.323.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g329.6 | |
| I can now inform the House that I have completed certification of the Bill, as required by the Standing Order. I have confirmed the view expressed in my provisional certificate issued on 5 September. Copies of my final certificate will be made available in the Vote Office and on the parliamentary website.Under Standing Order No. 83M, as modified by Standing Order No. 83S, a consent motion is therefore required for the Bill to proceed. Copies of the motion are available in the Vote Office and on the parliamentary website, and have been made available to Members in the Chamber. Does a Minister intend to move the consent motion? https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-06a.290.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g290.5 | |
| Our consideration having been completed, I shall now suspend the House for no more than five minutes in order to make a decision about certification. The Division bells will be rung two minutes before the House resumes. Following my certification, the Government will table the appropriate consent motion, copies of which will be made available in the Vote Office and will be distributed by Doorkeepers.Sitting suspended.On resuming— https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-06a.290.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g290.4 | |
| With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:Amendment 174, page 167, line 40, leave out clause 82.Government amendments 149 to 151.Amendment 175, in schedule 14, page 481, line 36, at end insert—‘(12) Section 169Z makes provision about the expiration of this Chapter.”Amendment 176, page 499, line 15, at end insert—“169VZ Expiration of Chapter 5 provisions(1) The provisions of this Chapter shall remain in force until six years after their commencement and shall then expire, unless continued in force by an order under subsection (2).(2) The Secretary of State may by order made by statutory instrument provide—(a) that all or any of those provisions which are in force shall continue in force for a period not exceeding 12 months from the coming into operation of the order; or(b) that all or any of those provisions which are for the time being in force shall cease to be in force.(3) No order shall be made under subsection (2) unless—(a) a draft of the order has been laid before and approved by a resolution of both Houses of Parliament,(b) the Secretary of State has commissioned a review of the operation of Investor’s Relief and laid the report of the review before both Houses of Parliament.” https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-06a.218.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g218.5 | |
| Order. I am grateful to the Minister and to colleagues. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-06a.206.10&s=speaker%3A10040#g214.4 | |
| I call Richard Burgon. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-06a.185.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g186.8 | |
| Order. I do apologise; I had not realised that the hon. and learned Lady wanted a second bite of herself. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-06a.185.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g187.1 | |
| Order. We now need to make progress as there are a lot of questions. Progress thus far has been slow, so we can be speeded up by Mr John Mann. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-06a.185.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g188.2 | |
| Minister at the Dispatch Box. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-06a.191.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g191.2 | |
| We might be faced with longer questions as well, but we are immensely indebted to the hon. Gentleman nevertheless. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-06a.194.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g194.7 | |
| Order. Huntingdon is a splendid part of the world that deserves to be represented effectively by the hon. Gentleman, whom I have known for a quarter of a century, but it is a long way from Bury, to which this question exclusively relates. [Interruption.] Order. The question is about Bury, I say to the young fellow. He can come in later—we look forward to hearing from him. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-06a.194.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g195.5 | |
| I gently say to the Minister that I wrote a little report on this matter in 2008, a copy of which I dare say he will find either on the internet or in the House of Commons Library, if it is of interest to him. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-06a.198.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g199.7 | |
| I am sure he does. We are immensely grateful to him. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-06a.198.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g200.1 | |
| I think that the right hon. Member for Wantage (Mr Vaizey) is overcome with emotion. What a happy day for the feller! https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-06a.200.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g200.11 | |
| Order. We are running late, so extreme brevity is now required. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-06a.200.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g201.1 | |
| Contributions to topical questions must be brief, whether from the Back Benches or the Front. There is a lot to get through and not much time in which to do so. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-06a.201.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g202.6 | |
| I was not psychic; I now realise what the hon. Gentleman was driving at earlier. I am glad that he was persistent. Persistence pays. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-06a.201.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g204.7 | |
| I am sorry to disappoint some colleagues but, as usual, demand has exceeded supply. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-06a.201.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g206.9 | |
| Does the hon. Member for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath (Roger Mullin) wish to respond, which he is permitted, but not required, to do? https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-05a.128.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g150.0 | |
| That was a commendably pithy speech from the hon. Gentleman, for which I think the House is almost audibly grateful, if I may put it that way.Question put, That the clause be read a Second time.The House divided:Ayes 248, Noes 304. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-05a.128.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g150.2 | |
| With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:Amendment 140, in clause 125, page 205, line 32, leave out from “after” to end of subsection and insert “1 January 2017”.Amendment 142, page 205, line 32, leave out “such” and insert“1 April 2017, or on any prior”.Amendment 144, page 205, line 32, leave out “such” and insert“1 April 2018, or on any prior”.Government amendment 161. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-05a.160.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g160.7 | |
| With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:New clause 10—Review of the operation of the Patent Box—“(1) The Chancellor of the Exchequer shall, within six months of the passing of this Act, lay an independent report of the value for money provided by, and the efficacy of, the Patent Box legislation before both Houses of Parliament.(2) The report shall—(a) assess the size and nature of the companies taking advantage of the Patent Box legislation;(b) assess the impact of the Patent Box legislation on research and innovation in the UK, including supporting evidence; and(c) assess the cost effectiveness of the Patent Box legislation in incentivising research and development compared to other policy options.”New clause 11—Assessment of taxation regime for securitisation companies—“The Chancellor of the Exchequer shall, within six months of the passing of this Act, commission an independent assessment of the efficacy of the taxation regime to which securitisation companies are subject and lay the assessment before both Houses of Parliament.”Amendment 177, page 87, line 6, leave out clause 44.Amendment 162, page 87, line 8, ‘leave out clause 45.Government amendments 152, 153, 1 to 29, 154, 31, 155, 33 to 59, 156, 61 to 113, 157, 115 to 117, 158, 159, 119 to 128, 160, 129 to 131. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-05a.91.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g91.5 | |
| Order. For clarification, I must emphasise that there is no concept of giving way in respect of a statement. Although this might resemble a debate to those who are attending our proceedings from beyond the confines of the Chamber, it is a statement with a response. There are no interventions. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-05a.75.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g79.1 | |
| We are always grateful to the hon. Member for Worthing West (Sir Peter Bottomley) for whatever counsel he might wish to proffer, even if it is done from a sedentary position. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-05a.75.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g79.3 | |
| As always, I am keen to accommodate everybody who wants to take part, but I think it not unreasonable, given the relatively small number, for me to hope that we might conclude these exchanges by 10 past 7—quarter-past at the latest. Brevity is of the essence. We do not need long narratives. We just need questions and short answers. We will be led in that mission by the Chair of the Health Committee. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-05a.75.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g82.0 | |
| I call Dr (post-war strategic military planning) Julian Lewis. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-05a.75.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g86.3 | |
| It may be the first occasion upon which the hon. Member for Shipley (Philip Davies) has vouchsafed to the House that he is a Guardian reader. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-05a.75.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g89.0 | |
| Order. I am most grateful to the Secretary of State and to colleagues. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-05a.75.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g90.0 | |
| A most exotic delicacy in the House, Mr Michael Gove. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-05a.37.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g51.3 | |
| May I gently ask the Secretary of State to face the House? Sometimes his answers are not fully heard. They are heard by the person at whom he is looking, but not by the House. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-05a.37.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g53.1 | |
| Yes! I call Mr Frank Field. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-05a.37.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g53.3 | |
| The Secretary of State is an immensely cerebral denizen of this House, and therefore there is no need for him at any time to imitate a turnstile. That is best avoided. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-05a.37.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g59.3 | |
| I do not think we want too much information on that front. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-05a.37.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g61.2 | |
| Order. I thank the Secretary of State, the Opposition Front-Bench spokespersons, and all 85 Back Benchers who had the opportunity to question the right hon. Gentleman. I am sure that other instalments will follow in due course. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-05a.37.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g74.3 | |
| Order. Will the right hon. Gentleman resume his seat for just a moment? There is quite a lot of unseemly and, dare I say it, somewhat unstatesmanlike noise from a sedentary position. Someone was muttering, “Too long!” It is not too long at all. The right hon. Gentleman is perfectly in order. Let me remind the House that it has always been my practice to facilitate the fullest and most extensive interrogation of the relevant Minister, and that will happen today. Everyone will have his or her opportunity. But it would be a good thing if people would listen respectfully. If they can manage a beaming countenance reminiscent of that of the Foreign Secretary that will be a bonus, but it is not obligatory. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-05a.37.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g40.0 | |
| Order. The hon. Member for Perth and North Perthshire (Pete Wishart) is an aspiring statesman. His aspiration may be a little way from fulfilment. I want to hear the Secretary of State’s peroration. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-05a.37.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g41.0 | |
| I would just make the point that it is not uncommon for the same point to be raised more than once in the course of an interrogation of a Minister, a fact with which I am sure the hon. Gentleman is intensely familiar. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-05a.24.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g34.7 | |
| On the front page of today’s Order Paper it is noted that on 4 September 1916, Lieutenant Colonel Duncan Frederick Campbell DSO, Duke of Wellington’s Regiment (West Riding), Member for North Ayrshire, wounded at the first battle of Ypres, November 1914, and again on the western front in 1916, died from his wounds in Southwold, Suffolk. We remember him today. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-05a.1.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1.1 | |
| Order. I understand the natural inclination to look at one’s interlocutor, but if the Home Secretary and other Ministers could address the House, that would be greatly appreciated. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-05a.4.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g5.6 | |
| Order. We must now try to speed up, as we have a lot to get through and I would like to accommodate colleagues. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-05a.10.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g11.2 | |
| Well done. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-05a.11.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g12.1 | |
| Order. We are running late and I fear that colleagues are making up for unspoken words in August with spoken words in September. That said, I am very keen to accommodate two further inquiries. I call Mr Simon Hoare. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-05a.16.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g17.5 | |
| Finally, I call Karl McCartney. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-05a.17.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g18.2 | |
| The general consensus is, I think, that on the whole it is better to be ahead than behind. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-05a.18.8&s=speaker%3A10040#g22.2 | |
| Order. Sadly, we must move on. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-09-05a.18.8&s=speaker%3A10040#g24.3 | |
| I am grateful, on behalf of the House, to the Deputy Leader, whose warmth and good grace have been hugely appreciated. The same goes for the shadow Leader. It seems a fitting conclusion to our proceedings and I wish everybody a very relaxing and revitalising summer break.Question put and agreed to.Resolved,That this House has considered matters to be raised before the forthcoming adjournment. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-21b.1025.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1074.0 | |
| My first advice to people who raise points of order is that the point of order should be brief. Secondly, I say to the hon. Gentleman that it is not a matter for the Chair, but that he has registered his dissatisfaction very forcefully through his point of order. Fortunately for him, he has done so, as he knows, in the presence of the Leader of the House and of the Deputy Leader of the House together with a number of representatives of the Patronage Secretary as well. My further observation is that if the hon. Gentleman is able to contribute to the second Adjournment debate this afternoon—it is up to him whether he seeks to do so—he might elicit a response from the Government to the points that he has raised. Admittedly, he will not have a responsible departmental Minister to answer today, but he might, as there is collective responsibility in Government, be able to attract some sort of response. I can tell that he is extremely dissatisfied, but we cannot let the best be the enemy of the good. In a pragmatic sense, I think that that is the best that he can hope for today. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-21b.998.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g999.1 | |
| I thank the shadow Leader of the House. The Leader of the House is indeed perhaps our most illustrious egghead. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-21b.976.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g979.0 | |
| Order. I will just gently say that everybody will get in. The hon. Member for Huddersfield (Mr Sheerman), who is a very, very, very fine man, is the human equivalent of a smouldering volcano as he sits waiting to be called with ever-growing frustration at the fact that he has not yet been called. I simply say that the hon. Gentleman will get in. He has been here long enough to know that it did not always use to be that way and that people did not always get in. Much as I enormously admire the hon. Gentleman, he has—if I may politely say so—a slightly underdeveloped sense of others, and I cannot help but think that if he spoke three times in the day, he would think, “Why on earth didn’t I get called to speak a fourth?” He will get in, but he will just have to be a bit patient. We are saving him up—he is a specialist delicacy in the House. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-21b.976.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g994.4 | |
| I must tell the House that I have just been advised by a distinguished bewigged counsellor to the Chair that alternatives to “smouldering volcano” are “pregnant volcano” and “imminently explosive volcano”. I call Mr Barry Sheerman. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-21b.976.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g995.3 | |
| I thank the Leader of the House and all colleagues who took place in those exchanges. I wish colleagues a very enjoyable and stimulating, but restful—we hope—recess. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-21b.976.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g998.2 | |
| The hon. Gentleman makes a very perceptive observation about the make-up of the Front Benches. The merit of his making it is that it is now on the record in Hansard forever. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-21b.955.9&s=speaker%3A10040#g957.1 | |
| Order. As a result of the extreme seriousness of the matter I let the hon. Lady complete her question, but never again must she ask such a long question. I am afraid it was not just too long, but far too long, albeit very important. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-21b.955.9&s=speaker%3A10040#g958.0 | |
| The Minister has put the bigoted fellow in his place pretty comprehensively. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-21b.955.9&s=speaker%3A10040#g958.2 | |
| We now have the statutory male on the Government Front Bench. If the Minister for Schools had not turned up, I might have been tempted to invite the hon. Member for Shipley (Philip Davies) to make an appearance on the Front Bench, but I suspect that would have been a divisible proposition. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-21b.960.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g960.5 | |
| Indeed. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-21b.960.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g960.7 | |
| Order. I think the hon. Gentleman is trying to tell the House that his constituency is naturally upmarket and requires no artificial input. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-20a.929.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g930.2 | |
| I call Mark Menzies to present a petition. Not here. Where is the fella? https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-20a.927.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g927.7 | |
| Order. There is no concept of giving way in respect of exchanges on ten-minute rule motions, a factor of which the right hon. Gentleman with his long experience ought to be aware. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-20a.833.10&s=speaker%3A10040#g837.1 | |
| Order. I am grateful to the hon. Lady, but I am afraid that she has exceeded her time. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-20a.826.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g829.0 | |
| Order. We really must establish the principle that a time limit on an urgent question is a time limit on an urgent question. I do not want to single the hon. Lady out, but her question was too long. Forgive me. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-20a.826.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g829.2 | |
| Order. Presentation of Bill, Geraint Davies—where is the chappie? He is not here. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-20a.826.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g833.2 | |
| Better late than never. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-20a.826.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g833.4 | |
| We need great brevity as there are a lot of questions to reach. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-20a.808.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g811.2 | |
| Splendid. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-20a.808.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g811.4 | |
| Order. We are discussing very serious matters, including the security of Northern Ireland, to which exchange the hon. Member for Pendle (Andrew Stephenson), who has a related question, might wish to contribute now. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-20a.813.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g814.2 | |
| I call Fabian Hamilton. Where is the fella? He is not here. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-20a.814.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g815.4 | |
| Order. Answering Question 9, Secretary of State. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-20a.815.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g815.8 | |
| Order. The hon. Member for Foyle (Mark Durkan) must be heard on matters that pertain directly to his constituents. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-20a.815.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g816.0 | |
| There will be more. I call Sir Edward Leigh. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-20a.816.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g820.1 | |
| Finally, I call Mr Tim Farron. [Interruption.] https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-20a.816.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g826.2 | |
| Order. I appeal to Members who are leaving the Chamber to do so quickly and quietly, in the manner of the hon. Member for Kensington (Victoria Borwick), who is giving a fine example of seemly conduct to colleagues. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-19b.795.13&s=speaker%3A10040#g795.15 | |
| I am bound to say two things to the right hon. Gentleman. First, I am no great enthusiast for over-zealous surveillance. Secondly, within whosesoever competence the matter might fall, it is not a prerogative of the Chair, but I have a sense, and I am sure the right hon. Gentleman will not take exception to my saying this, that on this occasion his inquiry was substantially rhetorical, and he was more interested in what he had to say to me than in anything that I might have to say to him. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-19b.698.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g699.1 | |
| Well! The hon. Gentleman is in some danger of rising in the House’s league table of colleagues who specialise in complimentary remarks, but there is a fine line between being complimentary and being Uriah Heepish or oleaginous. May I very gently suggest that the hon. Gentleman have a word with his right hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove) about the dangers of over-indulgence in that regard? We will leave it there for today.I thank all colleagues for taking part. Very sincerely, may I thank the Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the right hon. Member for Rutland and Melton (Sir Alan Duncan), for attending so courteously and with such good humour to the inquiries from colleagues across the House on that very important matter? https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-19b.698.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g699.3 | |
| Or even in Sutton Coldfield. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-19b.684.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g688.5 | |
| On the matter of diversity, the Minister of State and I share shortness. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-19b.684.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g691.5 | |
| I must inform the House that I have received written notification from the Chair of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee, the hon. Member for Hereford and South Herefordshire (Jesse Norman), and from the Chair of the Science and Technology Committee, the hon. Member for Oxford West and Abingdon (Nicola Blackwood), of their wish to resign from the Chair following their ministerial appointments. In accordance with Standing Order No. 122C, I therefore declare that the Chairs of those two Committees are vacant. I shall announce the arrangements for the elections to those two posts as soon as practicable. I hope that it will be possible to hold those elections during the September sitting. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-19b.663.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g663.1 | |
| In the hope that the hon. Gentleman will provide a masterclass in the asking of a question, I call Mr Jacob Rees-Mogg. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-19b.663.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g665.3 | |
| Despite his sudden shyness, the man in the cream suit has an identical question, and I want to give him his opportunity. Mr Alec Shelbrooke. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-19b.673.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g674.2 | |
| No, spit it out now, man! https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-19b.673.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g674.4 | |
| Splendid. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-19b.673.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g674.6 | |
| Order. I am sorry to disappoint remaining colleagues, but we have had 20 topical questions, and we must now move on. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-19b.678.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g684.2 | |
| I now ask the Whip to move the motion for the Adjournment. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-18b.660.11&s=speaker%3A10040#g660.13 | |
| The right hon. Gentleman was rather late in rising—I had already started to put the question—but I will let him off on this occasion. He is a callow youth. We will deal with him. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-18b.660.11&s=speaker%3A10040#g660.15 | |
| Well, some people might think that it was the Lewis effect.The right hon. Gentleman was not orderly in doing that, but he has done it. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-18b.660.11&s=speaker%3A10040#g661.1 | |
| Order. Three remaining hon. Members are seeking to catch my eye, and the Front-Bench winding-up speeches must begin at 9.40 pm. Three colleagues from the same party can, I am sure, be sufficiently collegiate to work it out for themselves. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-18b.558.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g647.2 | |
| Order. There are quite a lot of noisy private conversations taking place, including by hon. Members who have already addressed the House, and it is frankly rather discourteous to those who are waiting to do so. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-18b.558.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g646.1 | |
| Order. Mr Shelbrooke, I want you to aspire to the apogee of statesmanship, but shrieking from a sedentary position, despite your magnificent suit, is not the way to achieve it. Calm yourself, man; I am trying to help you, even if you don’t know it. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-18b.558.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g574.0 | |
| Order. I think the right hon. Gentleman has signalled an intention to take an intervention, but before he does—[Interruption.] Order. I just make the point that there is a lot of noise, but at the last reckoning—[Interruption.] Order. I will tell the hon. Member for Bolsover (Mr Skinner) what the position is, and he will take it whether he likes it or not. Fifty-three Members wish to speak in this debate, and I want to accommodate them. I ask Members to take account of that to help each other. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-18b.558.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g575.2 | |
| I apologise for having to interrupt the right hon. Gentleman, but we have a point of order. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-18b.558.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g576.0 | |
| The answer to the hon. Gentleman is that it is up to each right hon. and hon. Member to read the motion, interpret it as he or she thinks fit, and make a judgment accordingly. It is not a matter for the Chair. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-18b.558.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g576.2 | |
| Order. In accordance with usual practice, no time limit on Back-Bench speeches will apply until after all the Front-Bench opening speeches have been made. That said, sensitivity to the very large demand is of the essence, and extreme self-discipline is required. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-18b.558.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g576.5 | |
| Order. People ought to show some sensitivity to the mores of the House. Forgive me, but that question was far too long. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-18b.544.9&s=speaker%3A10040#g558.3 | |
| Order. I am sure that the whole House will join me in expressing sympathy and solidarity with the French people following Thursday’s horrific events in Nice. A short silence was held at 11 o’clock across the parliamentary estate to remember those involved. I have written to my counterpart, Claude Bartolone, this morning expressing condolences. I should also like to inform the House that I have received a letter from the President of the Chamber of Deputies of Italy telling me that her Chamber has established a cross-party committee on intolerance, xenophobia, racism and hate crime and has decided to name it the Cox Committee after our colleague, Jo Cox. In the President’s words:“Through this act, we will contribute to keeping the memory of Jo Cox, and of what she stood for, alive”. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-18b.525.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g525.1 | |
| Very tenuous—ingenious, but tenuous. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-18b.525.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g526.2 | |
| We are all very glad that the Minister enjoyed himself so much. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-18b.528.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g529.0 | |
| Well, it is always useful to have a bit of information. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-18b.531.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g532.4 | |
| I call Minister Andrew Percy. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-18b.538.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g539.1 | |
| We are running late, but we must hear the voice of Shipley. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-18b.538.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g541.0 | |
| The Whip will certainly need to be a natural optimist. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-18b.541.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g541.6 | |
| Order. I am sorry but we must move on. We have a very heavily subscribed set of exchanges today. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-18b.541.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g544.8 | |
| I call the Minister of State for Policing, Crime, Criminal Justice and Victims, at the Home Office and at the Ministry of Justice, to reply to the debate. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-14b.519.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g521.0 | |
| I am extremely grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his point of order, which obviously was unsolicited. It is something for which I am very grateful and I thank colleagues for their response. As far as I am concerned, it is a matter of duty. I feel it is important and I want to hear what people have to say. It is my privilege to hear colleagues. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-14b.442.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g507.3 | |
| Order. There are still quite a few conversations going on in the Chamber. The Secretary of State for Defence is, I think, going to reply to the debate and it would be a courtesy if Members would listen. There is some middle-ranking Minister sitting next to him and wittering away from a sedentary position, which is not a great sign of intelligence and is discourteous. It is very obvious. The hon. Lady will be heard with courtesy. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-14b.442.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g497.0 | |
| Order. Members should not use the word “disingenuous”. The hon. Member for Southend West thinks that there has been a misrepresentation, which I am sure he thinks is inadvertent. We will leave it there. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-14b.442.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g476.3 | |
| Order. To try to accommodate all remaining colleagues, there will now be a 10-minute limit on Back-Bench speeches, with immediate effect. [Interruption.] I hardly think that is a cause for the exhalation of air; 10 minutes is perfectly adequate. I know that what colleagues have to say is immensely important, but I dare say they can do it in 10 minutes each. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-14b.442.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g472.1 | |
| I am extremely grateful to the right hon. Member for New Forest East (Dr Lewis), who very helpfully gave the House the product of his lucubrations and interpreted my guidance loosely. He had to take lots of interventions—that is certainly true. There is no time limit. I am leaving the House to regulate itself, but Members will want to take account of the fact that people might try to intervene on them. I say in all sincerity that we want everybody to get in. I thank the right hon. Gentleman. The next contributor will be Ben Bradshaw. [Interruption.] No, the right hon. Gentleman does not now wish to contribute. I rather hope that Mr Pat McFadden does. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-14b.442.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g448.1 | |
| I am grateful to the hon. Lady, to whose point of order I will, in a moment, respond in very truncated terms, but the Leader of the House is signalling a desire to contribute, and it is important that we should hear from the right hon. Gentleman. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-14b.440.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g440.3 | |
| I am extremely grateful to the Leader of the House for saying what he has said. Traditionally, we do not discuss security on the Floor of the House, for very good reasons. That said, the Leader of the House has just pointed out the extent of the work that is taking place behind the scenes, and it is only right that Members should know that what the right hon. Gentleman has said about co-operation between senior colleagues is, of course, absolutely pertinent and on the money.The Leader of the House, I and the Chairman of Ways and Means are in regular discussion about these matters and, indeed, co-operated only a matter of a few days ago in putting together a letter to register our concerns and constructive proposals—that letter being to another senior colleague. It is also true, as the right hon. Gentleman has said, that these matters will be broached at the meeting of the House of Commons Commission on Monday. By definition, I cannot elaborate, because the discussion is to be had, but it is important that Members know that we are not in any way hermetically sealed from the rest of our colleagues; we share and take very seriously these concerns. Moreover, those of us who are quite fortunate in our living accommodation are very conscious of those who are not, to whom we have a very particular sense of responsibility.So far as the hon. Lady is concerned today, I just make the point that if any individual Member has particular personal concerns as of now, the best course of action is to approach the parliamentary security director for his best advice. He is immensely experienced and better placed at a practical level to give guidance than any of us laypersons could be. I hope that that is helpful, but doubtless there will be further updates in due course. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-14b.440.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g440.5 | |
| There are procedures available for that purpose—procedures with which some very experienced Members of the House are well familiar. I think that for now my best advice to the hon. Gentleman is that he should go to the Table Office, where the staff will be very well able to point him to the approach or mechanism that might enable him to pursue his objective. It would be a profitable visit for the hon. Gentleman, and it would consume—he will know the whereabouts of the office in question—very little energy. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-14b.440.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g441.1 | |
| Before I call the first speaker—from the Back Benches, as this is a continuation of the debate that began yesterday—I should say to the House that at this stage I have not imposed a time limit on speeches. The House will be aware that there will have to be wind-up speeches from the Opposition Front Bench and the Government Front Bench tonight, for which I have to allow, but beyond that, I will wait to see how things go. My best advice to colleagues is that if each feels able to contribute for 10 minutes, but not much more than that, it may not be necessary to have any formal limit. There is therefore a burden on the shoulders of distinguished colleagues as they commence their contributions. That burden, I am sure, will be keenly felt by the Chair of the Defence Committee, the right hon. Member for New Forest East (Dr Lewis). https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-14b.442.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g442.2 | |
| Was the hon. Lady present at the start? https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-14b.425.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g436.7 | |
| In that case, I am afraid that the hon. Lady’s words of wisdom—I do not doubt they will be just that—will have to be put into storage and used on another occasion, to which we all look forward with bated breath and beads of sweat upon our foreheads in eager anticipation. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-14b.425.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g437.0 | |
| The Deputy Leader of the House has other important responsibilities and she knows that. As far as the men sitting on the Front Bench are concerned, they all look absolutely fine and are doing the right thing—simply nodding in the appropriate places. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-14b.408.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g408.5 | |
| I call Mr Barry Gardiner. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-14b.413.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g414.6 | |
| The hon. Gentleman looks surprised. This could be a first—is this a question on which he does not wish to give the House the benefit of his views? https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-14b.413.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g414.8 | |
| Splendid. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-14b.413.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g415.0 | |
| Finally, Antoinette Sandbach. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-14b.420.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g421.0 | |
| Order. Before I put the Question, I thank colleagues for their stoicism and their succinctness. I would like particularly to thank the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) for his typical understanding and good grace. He was not heard today, by way of a speech, but he will be heard tomorrow, and of that he can rest assured.Ordered, That the debate be now adjourned.—(George Hollingbery.)Debate to be resumed tomorrow. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-13a.316.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g395.0 | |
| Order. My apologies to the hon. Lady, but I should have done her the courtesy of telling her what I think she knows, which is that the time limit is now four minutes. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-13a.316.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g390.1 | |
| Order. I am trying to accommodate as many colleagues as possible, and after the next speaker it will be necessary to reduce the time limit to six minutes. I am sorry, but this is inevitable. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-13a.316.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g365.3 | |
| I am sorry to have to announce this to the House, but on account of the number of would-be contributors there will now be a 10-minute limit on Back-Bench speeches with immediate effect. That limit may have to be reviewed, but it is 10 minutes for now. I call Mr David Davis. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-13a.316.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g359.1 | |
| Order. We cannot conduct debate with people yelling from a sedentary position in a disorderly manner, and the hon. Member for Birmingham, Selly Oak (Steve McCabe) must not do that. If the right hon. Member for Gordon (Alex Salmond) wants to give way later, he will, and if he does not, he will not. We will see how things go. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-13a.316.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g345.7 | |
| Order. The House must come to order. The right hon. and learned Gentleman has made it perfectly plain that at this point he is not giving way. Therefore, the House must listen to the development of his argument. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-13a.316.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g338.3 | |
| Order. I want to hear not only the Minister of State’s peroration, but application. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-13a.305.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g315.0 | |
| I am extremely grateful—and I think the House will be—to the right hon. Gentleman, in light of the pressure on time, for his addressing us with the eloquence of Demosthenes and with a pithiness that is all his own.Question put and agreed to.Resolved,That the draft Terrorism Act 2000 (Proscribed Organisations) (Amendment) (No. 2) Order 2016, which was laid before this House on 11 July, be approved. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-13a.305.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g315.2 | |
| Order. If the Minister of State wishes briefly to respond, he is at liberty to do so, but he is under no obligation to do so. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-13a.305.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g312.1 | |
| The House will bear that with stoicism and fortitude, and may even experience excitement in the process. We shall see. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-13a.305.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g312.3 | |
| Order. The hon. Member for Shipley (Philip Davies) is exercising his democratic rights as a parliamentarian, so he must be heard—preferably with courtesy, but certainly without noise. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-13a.296.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g300.0 | |
| It sounds a rum business, I am bound to say, but it is not a matter for the Chair. It is a matter that will have to be pursued with a terrier-like tenacity, and knowing the hon. Gentleman—as I have done for 30 years, since our robust skirmishes in the students’ union of the University of Essex—I can testify to his possession of that quality in a high degree. I therefore rather imagine that he will pursue the matter until he gets what he wants. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-13a.296.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g302.1 | |
| I thank the hon. Lady for her point of order. She has devoted close attention to this issue and raised it many times in the House, not least, if memory serves me correctly, on 26 March 2015, to give but one example. I think it is only fair to say to her that tomorrow is likely to be heavily subscribed, being the second day of the two-day debate on the Iraq inquiry, so I suspend judgment on whether tomorrow is necessarily the best day for the purpose. However, I am happy to say to her that from my vantage point, and knowing the extent and breadth of interest in the issue across the House, I think it would show a sensitivity to parliamentary feeling if there were an oral statement, rather than merely a written statement. I hope that that is helpful and constitutes an answer in the mind of the hon. Lady. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-13a.296.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g296.2 | |
| Order. We are grateful to the hon. Gentleman. We have got his drift. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-13a.279.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g280.2 | |
| Order. I think the people of Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney at the very least will want to hear the hon. Gentleman. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-13a.280.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g280.8 | |
| The voice of Montgomeryshire must be heard. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-13a.282.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g282.6 | |
| Finally, Mr Kenneth Clarke. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-13a.284.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g293.5 | |
| Order. I will come to the hon. Lady—how could I forget her? Her point of order will be heard, but we will first deal with the presentation of Bills. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-13a.284.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g294.2 | |
| The Minister says that he has concluded his speech.Question put and agreed to.House adjourned. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-12a.261.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g274.3 | |
| Order. I did not interrupt while the hon. Gentleman was in full flow, but I must point out that by very long-standing convention, we cannot have interventions from Opposition Front-Bench Members in Adjournment debates. It looks as though the hon. Gentleman was not aware of that convention, but he is now. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-12a.261.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g264.1 | |
| The Minister is not intervening that early, although some people might think that the hon. Gentleman was approaching the conclusion of his preliminary remarks. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-12a.175.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g180.1 | |
| I thank the hon. Gentleman for his point of order. It is not strictly in any procedural sense a matter for the Chair, but it is in one respect because, in common with all colleagues, the Chair believes in democracy and the peaceful exchange of opinion. We are a pluralist society, and if people think that they will get their way through violence, threats and intimidation, they will soon find themselves wrong. If I may say so, no one is more suited to making that point than someone who has served as a democratic parliamentarian for as long as the hon. Gentleman. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-12a.168.9&s=speaker%3A10040#g169.1 | |
| I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his point of order. He has the advantage of being right on both counts. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-12a.168.9&s=speaker%3A10040#g169.3 | |
| A junior Government Whip chunters from a sedentary position that the hon. Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant) is not right always, but the same could be said of junior Government Whips. On this matter, however, the hon. Gentleman is right in both respects: motion 5 on today’s Order Paper is posited on the assumption that there will be a debate on Monday 18 July on the UK’s nuclear deterrent; and this debate has not been notified to the House, other than via a passing reference to it yesterday by the Secretary of State for Defence in the course of the statement on the recent NATO summit. I make no complaint about what the Prime Minister might have been thinking or what he intended, or if he was caused or tempted to comment elsewhere—I am not focusing on that point. What I am focusing on is that if there is to be a change of business, there should be a supplementary business statement. That is the way we do our work in this place.If I may say so, the usual channels, whatever their opinions on the merit of the issue, really ought to be aware of that point, which is blindingly obvious and brooks no contradiction—it is very, very, very straightforward. We cannot get into a situation in this place in which we do business in a disorderly fashion. The procedures of this House are for the protection of this House and all Members ought to take that very seriously. They certainly ought to be aware of the significance of that and some sort of remedial training is required for those who are not. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-12a.168.9&s=speaker%3A10040#g169.5 | |
| Well, I confess I do not know what press offices get up to in these matters, but suffice it to say that ultimately the Secretary of State in a Department is always everywhere and for everything responsible in that Department. We probably should not dwell on this further, but let us try to learn from it for the future. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-12a.168.9&s=speaker%3A10040#g170.1 | |
| I am in a benign and generous mood, so I will allow a further point of order from the hon. Member for Rhondda. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-12a.168.9&s=speaker%3A10040#g170.3 | |
| The short answer to the hon. Gentleman is twofold. First, it would be better if there were a supplementary business statement. I would have thought that the terms in which I have answered him make that so clear that the point needs simply to waft from the scholarly cranium of the junior Whip on duty to the powers that be in the relevant Government Department. Secondly, in the absence of any such supplementary business statement, which I really would regard as a considerable discourtesy to the House, the hon. Gentleman and other hon. Members can be assured that it will be possible to table amendments on Thursday. I have not thought about the precise chronology of events, but if it is necessary for me to allow manuscript amendments, because of circumstances not of the hon. Gentleman’s devising, they certainly will be allowed, subject only to those amendments, in terms of content, being orderly. I think the Whip has got the message. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-12a.168.9&s=speaker%3A10040#g170.5 | |
| I hope it is a point of order and not the sort of thing that the hon. Gentleman used to chunter when he was heckling me 30 years ago at the University of Essex student union. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-12a.168.9&s=speaker%3A10040#g171.1 | |
| The hon. Gentleman must speak for himself.I very much appreciate what the hon. Member for Dudley North (Ian Austin) has just said. If it is possible for me to pop in, I will try to do so, although I am not sure what the hours of this event are. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-12a.168.9&s=speaker%3A10040#g171.4 | |
| I will do what I can, and I encourage other Members to do likewise.We come now to the ten-minute rule motion, for which the right hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington (Tom Brake) has been so patiently waiting. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-12a.168.9&s=speaker%3A10040#g171.6 | |
| I am extremely grateful to the Minister for what he said, which is warmly welcomed in the House. More than anyone in this House, the hon. Gentleman knows of what he speaks, and I thank him. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-12a.145.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g145.10 | |
| I think the hon. Lady had in mind the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, the right hon. Member for West Dorset (Mr Letwin). I am not sure I recognised the name she mentioned. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-12a.148.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g149.1 | |
| I am sorry, but the questions and answers are taking too long. [Interruption.] Order. What we need now is a couple of pithy inquiries, not elongated ones. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-12a.151.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g154.1 | |
| So would we all. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-12a.161.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g161.7 | |
| It is a pleasure to welcome back to the House the hon. Member for Hampstead and Kilburn, Tulip Siddiq. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-12a.161.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g165.1 | |
| We have run out of time, but my appetite for hearing my colleagues is almost insatiable. I call Kevin Foster. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-12a.161.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g166.5 | |
| I thought I had detected emissions of steam from Slough. That is a fate better avoided, I think. I call Fiona Mactaggart. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-12a.161.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g167.3 | |
| I am sorry that I cannot accommodate all colleagues, but I will take Joanna Cherry. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-12a.161.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g168.0 | |
| I will call the hon. Member for Livingston (Hannah Bardell) who I think wishes to raise a constituency matter, but that really will be the last question. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-12a.161.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g168.4 | |
| Order. I know we have overrun, but Foreign Office questions tend to break box office records and Ministers should take some pride in that fact—the other way of looking at it is that I am giving them additional speaking opportunities. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-12a.161.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g168.8 | |
| With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:Clauses 23 to 27 stand part.Amendment 74, in clause 36, page 29, line 17, leave out from “wind” to end of line 18.This amendment removes the 350 megawatts limit on the Welsh Government’s legislative competence in the field of energy.Amendment 75, page 29, line 21, leave out from “zone” to end of line 22.See amendment 74.Amendment 76, page 30, line 2, leave out paragraph (c).This amendment is consequential on amendments 74 and 75.Amendment 77, page 30, line 16, leave out from “waters” to end of line 21.This amendment is consequential on amendments 74 and 75.Amendment 78, page 30, line 37, leave out from “waters” to end of line 39.This amendment is consequential on amendments 74 and 75.Amendment 79, page 30, line 40, leave out sub-paragraph (a)(ii).This amendment is consequential on amendments 74 and 75.Amendment 80, page 30, line 47, leave out from “waters” to end of line 48.This amendment is consequential on amendments 74 and 75.Clause stand part.Clause 37 stand part.Government amendments 47 to 49.Clause 38 stand part.Amendment 158, in clause 39, page 32, line 23, leave out “or (4A)” and insert “to (4D)”.See amendment 160.Amendment 159, page 32, line 27, at beginning insert“subject to subsections (4B) to (4D),”.See amendment 160.Amendment 160, page 32, line 31, at end insert—“(4B) Where Welsh Ministers are minded to grant planning consent for the construction or extension of a station generating electricity from wind which would have a capacity greater than 50 megawatts, they must not determine the application unless—(a) they have sent to the Secretary of State—(i) a copy of any representations made to them in respect of the application;(ii) a copy of any report on the application prepared by an officer of the Welsh Government;(iii) a statement of the decision they propose to make; and(iv) where they propose to grant consent, a statement of any conditions they propose to impose and a draft of any planning obligation they propose to enter into and details of any proposed planning contribution; and(b) either—(i) a period of 14 days has elapsed beginning with the date notified in writing by the Secretary of State to Welsh Ministers as the date on which he received the documents referred to in paragraph (a); or(ii) the Secretary of State has notified Welsh Ministers in writing that he is content for them to determine the application in accordance with the statement referred to in sub-paragraph (a)(iii) and, if applicable, the matters referred to in sub-paragraph (a)(iv).(4C) Within the period of 14 days set out in paragraph (4B)(b)(i) the Secretary of State may direct Welsh Ministers empowered to determine the application for the construction or extension of a station generating electricity from wind which would have a capacity greater than 50 megawatts—(a) to withhold consent for a further period up to six months;(b) to provide further information about the application; and(c) where he makes a direction under paragraph (4C)(a) within the period specified in the direction to direct them to—(i) grant consent subject, if necessary, to the conditions set out at paragraph (4B)(a)(iv); or(ii) refuse consent.(4D) The Secretary of State may give a direction to Welsh Ministers that applications for consent for the construction or extension of stations generating electricity from wind which would have a capacity less than 51 megawatts must be determined by local planning authorities and must not be called in or determined by Welsh Ministers.”Clause 39 would devolve powers for onshore wind development approval to the Welsh Assembly. This amendment empowers the Secretary of State to be notified and veto projects considered a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP). The Secretary of State would be given two weeks to inform Welsh Ministers that he wished to consider a project and he would have up to six months to direct refusal of the application. The amendment also empowers the Secretary of State to require Welsh Ministers to devolve approval for projects not considered a NSIP to local council level.Clause stand part.Clauses 40 to 43 stand part.Amendment 81, in clause 44, page 34, leave out line 37 to line 5 on page 35 and insert—“Omit sections 114 and 152 of the Government of Wales Act 2006.”This amendment removes the power of the Secretary of State to veto any Welsh legislation or measures that might have a serious adverse impact on water supply or quality in England.Amendment 125, in clause 44, page 34, line 38, leave out from “(1),” to end of line 40 and insert “omit paragraph (b).”This amendment removes both the extension of the power in section 114 of the Government of Wales Act 2006 that would be introduced by clause 44(1) and the power in section 114 to block Assembly Bills in respect of water matters.Amendment 126, page 34, line 41, leave out subsection (2) and insert—‘( ) Omit section 152 of the Government of Wales Act 2006 (intervention in case of functions relating to water etc).”This amendment removes both the extension of the power in section 152 of the Government of Wales Act 2006 that would be introduced by clause 44(2) and the power in section 152 of the Government of Wales Act 2006 to intervene in the exercise of devolved functions in respect of water matters.Clause stand part.Clause 45 stand part.Amendment 130, in clause 46, page 35, line 33, leave out “consult” and insert “obtain the consent of”.Clause 46 would require the Secretary of State to consult the Welsh Ministers before establishing or amending a renewable energy scheme as it relates to Wales. This amendment would require the Secretary of State to obtain the consent of the Welsh Ministers instead.Amendment 132, leave out lines 1 to 3.New section 148A(3) of the Government of Wales Act 2006 (as inserted by Clause 46) provides an exception to the consultation requirement for renewable energy schemes in respect of any levy in connection with such a scheme. This amendment is partly consequential upon amendment 130, but it would also mean that there would be a requirement for the Secretary of State to obtain the consent of the Welsh Ministers for any levy in connection with a renewable energy scheme as it relates to Wales.Amendment 131, page 36, line 17, leave out subsection (2).This amendment is consequential upon amendment 130.Clause stand part.Clauses 46 to 50 stand part.Amendment 144, in clause 51, page 39, line 2, at end insert—“( ) If a statutory instrument containing regulations under subsection (2) includes provision within devolved competence or provision modifying a devolution enactment, the Secretary of State must send a copy of the instrument or, if subsection (8A) applies, a draft of the instrument to the First Minister for Wales and the First Minister must lay it before the Assembly.”This amendment and amendments 145, 146 and 147 are intended to apply appropriate Assembly procedures to regulations which make provision within the Assembly’s competence or which adjust the Welsh devolution settlement by modifying the Government of Wales Act 2006 or the Wales Act 2014 and provide for regulations containing provisions of this kind that amend primary legislation to be subject to an affirmative Assembly procedure, and for regulations containing provisions of the same kind which modify subordinate legislation to be subject to a negative Assembly procedure.Amendment 147, page 39, line 2, at end insert—“( ) In this section ‘devolution enactment’ means a provision contained in—(a) the Government of Wales Act 2006 or an instrument made under or having effect by virtue of that Act;(b) the Wales Act 2014 or an instrument made under or having effect by virtue of that Act.( ) For the purposes of this section—(a) ‘modifying’ includes amending, repealing and revoking;(b) ‘within devolved competence’ is to be read in accordance with subsections (7) and (8) of section 17, but no account is to be taken of the requirement to consult the appropriate Minister in paragraph 11(2) of Schedule 7B.”See the statement for amendment 144.Amendment 150, page 39, line 4, leave out “primary legislation” and insert “an Act of Parliament”.The amendment introduces separate provisions for the use of the power in clause 51 in relation to an Act of Parliament.Amendment 82, page 39, line 6, after “Parliament” insert“and the National Assembly for Wales.”This amendment ensures that when exercising the power to amend, repeal, revoke or modify any Acts or Measures of the National Assembly for Wales, the Secretary must seek the permission of the National Assembly, as well as both Houses of Parliament.Amendment 145, page 39, line 6, at end insert—“(6A) A statutory instrument containing regulations under subsection (2) that includes—(a) provision within devolved competence modifying any provision of primary legislation, or(b) provision modifying any devolution enactment in primary legislation,may not be made unless a draft of the instrument has been laid before and approved by a resolution of the Assembly.”See the statement for amendment 144.Amendment 151, page 39, line 6, at end insert—“(6A) A statutory instrument containing regulations under subsection (2) that includes provision amending or repealing any provision of a Measure or Act of the National Assembly for Wales may not be made unless a draft of the instrument has been laid before and approved by a resolution of each House of Parliament and the Assembly.”The amendment provides that where the Secretary of State uses the power in clause 51 to make regulations that amend or repeal an Assembly Act or Assembly Measure, then the regulations must be approved by the Assembly and each House of Parliament.Amendment 152, page 39, line 7, at beginning insert “Subject to subsection (7A),”.The amendment is linked to the provision that where the Secretary of State uses the power in clause 51 to make regulations that amend or revoke subordinate legislation made by the Welsh Ministers or the Assembly, the regulations would be subject to annulment by the Assembly and each House of Parliament.Amendment 146, page 39, line 9, leave out“, is subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament”and insert“or the Assembly, is subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of—(a) either House of Parliament, and(b) if it includes provision that would be within devolved competence or provision modifying a devolution enactment, the Assembly.”See the statement for amendment 144.Amendment 153, page 39, line 10, at end insert—“(7A) A statutory instrument containing regulations under subsection (2) that includes provision amending or revoking subordinate legislation made by—(a) the Welsh Ministers, or(b) the National Assembly for Wales as constituted by the Government of Wales Act 1998,if made without a draft having been approved by a resolution of each House of Parliament and the Assembly, is subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament or the Assembly.”The amendment provides that where the Secretary of State uses the power in clause 51 to make regulations that amend or revoke subordinate legislation made by the Welsh Ministers or the Assembly, the regulations would be subject to annulment by the Assembly and each House of Parliament.Amendment 154, page 39, line 11, leave out subsection (8).The amendment removes the definition of “primary legislation”.Clause stand part.That schedule 5 be the Fifth schedule to the Bill.Clause 52 stand part.Government amendments 59 and 60.That schedule 6 be the Sixth schedule to the Bill.Government amendments 50 to 52.Amendment 12, in clause 53, page 40, line 8, at end insert—‘(4) Section 16(6) comes into force on the day appointed by the Treasury by order under section 14(2) of the Wales Act 2014 for the coming into force of sections 8 and 9 of that Act.”The new limits proposed by New Clause 6 on borrowing by the Welsh Ministers are calculated by reference to the financial consequences of commencing the income tax provisions of the Wales Act 2014. This provision ensures that the new borrowing limits come into effect at the same time as commencement of the income tax provisions.Clause stand part.Clause 54 stand part.New clause 4—Assignment of VAT—“(1) The Government of Wales act 2006 is amended as follows.(2) In section 117 (Welsh Consolidated Fund), after subsection (2) insert—‘(2A) The Secretary of State shall in accordance with section 64A pay into the Fund out of money provided by Parliament any amounts payable under that section.’(3) After that section insert—‘117A Assignment of VAT(1) Where there is an agreement between the Treasury and the Welsh Ministers for identifying an amount agreed to represent the standard rate VAT attributable to Wales for any period (“the agreed standard rate amount”), the amount described in subsection (3) is payable under this section in respect of that period.(2) Where there is an agreement between the Treasury and the Welsh Ministers for identifying an amount agreed to represent the reduced rate VAT attributable to Wales for that period (“the agreed reduced rate amount”), the amount described in subsection (4) is payable under this section in respect of that period.(3) The amount payable in accordance with subsection (1) is the amount obtained by multiplying the agreed standard rate amount by—10SRwhere SR is the number of percentage points in the rate at which value added tax is charged under section 2(1) of the Value Added Tax Act 1994 for the period.(4) The amount payable in accordance with subsection (2) is the amount obtained by multiplying the agreed reduced rate amount by—2.5RRwhere RR is the number of percentage points in the rate at which value added tax is charged under section 29A(1) of the Value Added Tax Act 1994 for the period.(5) The payment of those amounts under section 64(2A) is to be made in accordance with any agreement between the Treasury and the Welsh Ministers as to the time of the payment or otherwise.’(4) The Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005 is amended as follows.(5) In subsection (2) of section 18 (confidentiality: exceptions) omit ‘or’ after paragraph (j), and after paragraph (k) insert ‘, or(l) which is made in connection with (or with anything done with a view to) the making or implementation of an agreement referred to in section 117A(1) or (2) of the Government of Wales Act 2006 (assignment of VAT).’(6) After that subsection insert—‘(2B) Information disclosed in reliance on subsection (2)(l) may not be further disclosed without the consent of the Commissioners (which may be general or specific).’(7) In section 19 (wrongful disclosure) in subsections (1) and (8) after ‘18(1) or (2A)’ insert ‘or (2B).’”This new clause would allow the payment into the Welsh Consolidated Fund of half the receipts of Value Added Tax raised in Wales, on the lines of section 16 of the Scotland Act 2016.New clause 5—Tax on carriage of passengers by air—“(1) In Part 4A of the Government of Wales Act 2006, after Chapter 4 insert— https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-11c.99.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g99.2 | |
| I am grateful to the hon. Lady for notice of her point of order, and she is correct—that is the basis on which these matters are handled. I am conscious that the passes of the staff of several Members were incorrectly suspended temporarily on Friday. [Interruption.] Order. As soon as the error came to light, the passes were reinstated. We do not discuss security matters on the Floor of the House, so I do not propose to say anymore on the matter. Moreover, I do not need to do so because I have given the information that the hon. Lady sought, and I have specifically answered her point of order about where locus lies. Let us leave it there for now. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-11c.52.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g53.1 | |
| I am sure the right hon. and learned Gentleman is keenly interested in the contents of the speech, and it may be a sentiment more widely shared. If that supposition on my part is judged to be accurate, perhaps the Secretary of State will place copies of the said speech in the Library of the House. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-11c.36.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g41.4 | |
| A considerable burden has been placed by the hon. Lady on Minister Penrose’s shoulders. It is a burden that he seems to bear stoically and with fortitude, but it would be good if we could actually hear his response. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-11c.22.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g24.1 | |
| I expect that the Minister also defers to his hon. Friend on the matter of knowledge of kings. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-11c.22.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g29.2 | |
| Order. I want to hear the hon. Gentleman—[Interruption.]. Order. I do not care whether other people do; we are going to hear the hon. Gentleman. It is as simple as that. I do not care how long it takes. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-11c.22.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g30.2 | |
| Michelle Thomson—not here. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-11c.8.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g9.3 | |
| I did not study geography at university, but the hon. Gentleman’s constituency is a little way away from East Anglia. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-11c.15.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g16.0 | |
| I am in a generous mood. I have known the hon. Gentleman for 30 years, and if he wants to persuade me that Bedford and Kempston is a hop, skip and a jump away from the constituency of the hon. Member for North West Norfolk (Sir Henry Bellingham), he has a taxing task, but let us hear it. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-11c.15.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g16.2 | |
| I would never have done anything like what the hon. Gentleman has just done when I was a Back Bencher. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-11c.15.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g16.4 | |
| I am extraordinarily grateful to the Minister for giving me my cue. First, let me take this opportunity on behalf of the House warmly to congratulate Gordon Reid on his great success at Wimbledon yesterday. Secondly, I am sure the whole House will want to join me in congratulating most warmly Andy Murray on an outstanding performance in winning his second Wimbledon title and his third grand slam so far. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-11c.18.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g20.7 | |
| I call Nick Smith. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-07b.1025.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g1026.4 | |
| Order. As a Member has just left the Chamber while exchanges on the question to which he contributed were ongoing, may I gently point out to the House that Members should stay in the Chamber until all the exchanges on their question, or the question to which they contributed, have been completed? It is quite an elementary courtesy. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-07b.1025.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g1027.3 | |
| I am grateful to the Minister for his erudite treatise. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-07b.1029.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g1031.2 | |
| Finally and very briefly, Mark Menzies. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-07b.1029.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g1033.7 | |
| Order. We come now to questions to the Second Church Estates Commissioner, the right hon. Member for Meriden (Mrs Spelman), representing the Church Commissioners, and to the right hon. Member for South West Devon—[Interruption.] I mean the hon. Member for South West Devon (Mr Streeter)—it is only a matter of time—representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-07b.1029.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g1034.2 | |
| I hope the whole House wishes to congratulate Tomlinson junior. That is now on the record. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-07b.1038.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1038.8 | |
| Let us hear the views of Mr Mann on the matter of toilets. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-07b.1039.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g1040.1 | |
| The House is very expectant. We really want to hear this answer. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-07b.1039.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g1040.3 | |
| The right hon. Gentleman is not only an experienced member of the Cabinet but a very seasoned parliamentarian, and I think he is well attuned to the feeling in the House, as I am sure that other colleagues will now also be—not that I am hinting or anything. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-06b.980.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g987.4 | |
| That is not a point of order, but the hon. Gentleman has put his point on the record and the Minister is welcome to reply if she wishes and not if she does not. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-06b.937.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g977.1 | |
| Just before we proceed to the second of the Opposition day debates, I move to say to the Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department, the hon. Member for Staffordshire Moorlands (Karen Bradley), that it was typically gracious and kind of her to say that she was pleased to see me in the Chair. Perhaps I could say that the sentiment is reciprocated—I was highly delighted to see her at the Dispatch Box. I would of course be so in any circumstances, but especially now as I come to the Chamber having just celebrated with some enthusiasm the truly stunning comeback victory at Wimbledon of my all-time tennis hero, Roger Federer, who saved three match points before getting through to the semi-final for the 11th time. The hon. Lady will understand why I am in such good spirits. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-06b.937.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g980.0 | |
| Order. We cannot have a running commentary on the statements made from the Front Bench. Members of this House know me well enough to know that I will allow all opinions to be expressed. If that means that the Prime Minister has to be here for quite a long time, he is accustomed to that. The right hon. Gentleman is entitled to be heard with courtesy. If people want to witter away, they should leave the Chamber. It is boring and we do not need you. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-06b.883.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g890.0 | |
| Order. Somebody has just moaned about not being called to ask a question. I try to call everybody, but although what each individual has to say is enormously important to him or her, it is not necessarily any more important than what anybody else has to say. [Interruption.] Order. I do not need any help in the discharge of my duties. I will call colleagues, but colleagues need to be patient, and I am sure that none of them, for one moment, would be self-important—that is unimaginable. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-06b.883.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g915.4 | |
| The hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) is one of the most humane and, rightly, well-liked Members of the House—indeed, I think that he is almost loved in many parts. I say to him very gently that my long-term ambition is to persuade him not to use the word “you” in exchanges in the House, but we will leave it there for today. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-06b.883.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g916.6 | |
| I thank the Prime Minister and all colleagues who have taken part in these exchanges. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-06b.883.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g922.1 | |
| I am extremely grateful to the hon. Member for Havant (Mr Mak), who posed the question succinctly but comprehensively, and to the Minister for succinctly but comprehensively answering it, so that it is now time for Prime Minister’s questions. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-06b.871.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g871.8 | |
| Order. I need a single-sentence question. Forgive me, but there are a lot of other colleagues who want to take part. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-06b.871.11&s=speaker%3A10040#g877.1 | |
| Order. The hon. Member for Worcester is entitled to be heard and his constituents are entitled to be represented. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-06b.871.11&s=speaker%3A10040#g879.4 | |
| With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:Clause 8 stand part.Clause 9 stand part.Clause 10 stand part.Clause 11 stand part.Amendment 33, in clause 12, page 12, line 24, at end insert—“(a) for a sum paid out of the Welsh Consolidated Fund not to be applied for any purpose other than that for which it was charged or (as the case may be) paid out”.The amendment sets out that Welsh legislation must provide that the Assembly has to authorise any drawing from the Consolidated Fund and that such funds can only be utilised for the purposes for which they were authorised.Clause 12 stand part.Clause 13 stand part.Clause 14 stand part.Amendment 38, in clause 15, page 14, line 3, leave out “translation of references” and insert “consequential provision”.The amendment replaces “translation of references” with “consequential provision”, to reflect the overall effect of Clause 15.Amendment 39, page 14, line 5, at end insert—“( ) Cynulliad Cenedlaethol Cymru,”.The amendment clarifies that any references in legislation, instruments and documents to “Cynulliad Cenedlaethol Cymru” is also to be read as a reference to the new name, in Welsh.Amendment 40, page 14, line 6, at end insert—“( ) Comisiwn Cynulliad Cenedlaethol Cymru,”.The amendment clarifies that any references in legislation, instruments and documents to “Comisiwn Cynulliad Cenedlaethol Cymru” is also to be read as a reference to the new name, in Welsh.Amendment 41, page 14, line 7, at end insert—“( ) Deddfau Cynulliad Cenedlaethol Cymru, or”.The amendment clarifies that any references in legislation, instruments and documents to “Deddfau Cynulliad Cenedlaethol Cymru” is also to be read as a reference to the new name, in Welsh.Amendment 42, page 14, line 11, after “to”, insert “Cynulliad Cenedlaethol Cymru,”.The amendment provides that if the Assembly changes its name then any reference in legislation, instruments and documents to the “Cynulliad Cenedlaethol Cymru” is to be read as a reference to the new name.Amendment 43, page 14, line 12, after first “Wales,” insert “Comisiwn Cynulliad Cenedlaethol Cymru,”.The amendment provides that if the Assembly changes its name then any reference in legislation, instruments and documents to the “Comisiwn Cynulliad Cenedlaethol Cymru” is to be read as a reference to the new name.Amendment 44, page 14, line 12, after “Commission,” insert “, Deddfau Cynulliad Cenedlaethol Cymru”.The amendment provides that if the Assembly changes its name then any reference in legislation, instruments and documents to “Deddfau Cynulliad Cenedlaethol Cymru” is to be read as a reference to the new name.Amendment 45, page 14, line 17, after “name”, insert“in Welsh or English (as the case may be).”The amendment clarifies that the clause applies to any new names listed in the clause be they in English or Welsh.Clause 15 stand part.Clause 16 stand part.Amendment 14, in clause 17, page 15, leave out lines 29 to 31.This amendment and amendment 15 make provision for the definition of devolved competence in Clause 17 to be applied for the purpose of the amendments made to Clause 19 by amendment 13.Amendment 15, page 15, line 35, at end insert—“( ) In this section and section 58B ‘within devolved competence’ and ‘outside devolved competence’ are to be read in accordance with subsections (7) and (8); but for the purposes of section 58AB no account is to be taken of the requirement to consult the appropriate Minister in paragraph 11(2) of Schedule 7B.”See the explanatory statement for amendment 14.Clause 17 stand part.Clause 18 stand part.Amendment 13, in clause 19, page 17, line 27, at end insert—“(2) After section 58A of that Act (inserted by section 17(1) of this Act) insert—‘58B Transfer of functions within devolved competence(1) Functions conferred on a Minister of the Crown by virtue of any pre-commencement enactment or pre-commencement prerogative instrument, so far as they are exercisable within devolved competence by a Minister of the Crown, are to be exercisable by the Welsh Ministers instead of a Minister of the Crown.(2) Provision for a Minister of the Crown to exercise a function with the agreement of, or after consultation with, any other Minister of the Crown ceases to have effect in relation to the exercise of the function by a member of the Welsh Government by virtue of subsection (1).(3) In this section “pre-commencement enactment” means—(a) an Act passed before or in the same session as this Act and any other enactment made before the passing of this Act;(b) an enactment made, before the commencement of this section, under such an Act or such other enactment; “pre-commencement prerogative instrument” means a prerogative instrument made before or during the session in which this Act was passed.’”Clause 19 makes provision about transfer of Ministerial functions. The amendment provides for the transfer of all functions currently exercisable by Ministers of the Crown within devolved competence to the Welsh Ministers.Clause 19 stand part.That schedule 3 be the Third schedule to the Bill.Amendment 16, in clause 20, page 18, line 8, at end insert—“(ab) section 58B,”.Clause 20 amends the power in section 58 of the Government of Wales Act 2006 to make provision by Order in Council for the transfer of functions to the Welsh Ministers to authorise provision to be made in respect of “previously transferred functions”. This amendment extends the definition of “previously transferred functions” to include functions transferred by the general transfer proposed by amendment 13.Clause 20 stand part.Clause 21 stand part.New clause 2—Welsh thresholds for income tax—“(1) Part 4A of the Government Wales Act 2006 is amended as follows.(2) In section 116A(1)(a) (overview), after ‘of’ insert ‘and thresholds for’.(3) After section 116D insert—‘116DA Power to set Welsh thresholds for Welsh taxpayers(1) The Assembly may by resolution (a “Welsh threshold resolution”) set one or more of the following—(a) a Welsh threshold for the Welsh basic rate,(b) a Welsh threshold for the Welsh higher rate,(c) a Welsh threshold for the Welsh additional rate.(2) A Welsh threshold resolution applies—(a) for only one tax year, and(b) for the whole of that year.(3) A Welsh threshold resolution—(a) must specify the tax year for which it applies,(b) must be made before the start of that tax year, and(c) must not be made more than 12 months before the start of that year.(4) If a Welsh threshold resolution is cancelled before the start of the tax year for which it is to apply—(a) the Income Tax Acts have effect for that year as if the resolution had never been made, and(b) the resolution may be replaced by another Welsh threshold resolution.(5) The standing orders must provide that only the First Minister or a Welsh Minister appointed under section 48 may move a motion for a Welsh threshold resolution.’”This new clause would allow the National Assembly for Wales to determine the income thresholds at which income tax is payable by Welsh taxpayers.New clause 3—Income tax receipts—“(1) Section 120 (destination of receipts) of the Government of Wales Act 2006 is amended as follows.(2) The Comptroller and Auditor General must certify for each tax year that Her Majesty’s Commissioners for Revenue and Customs have transferred the full amount of income tax paid by Welsh taxpayers in that tax year into the Welsh Consolidated Fund.”This new clause would require the receipts from income tax paid by Welsh taxpayers to be paid into the Welsh Consolidated Fund. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-05a.803.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g803.2 | |
| Order. I do not wish to disrupt the flow of the hon. Gentleman’s eloquence or the eloquence of his flow, but at this point all he needs to do is ask his urgent question. His more detailed supplementary will come after he has heard what the Minister has to say, in which I am sure he is extremely interested. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-05a.750.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g750.2 | |
| I will come to the hon. Lady’s point of order, but first let me say that although that is a relatively unconventional way of expressing appreciation, the Minister of State was typically courteous in signalling in advance to me his wish to do so, and I simply want to say to the right hon. Gentleman—I think I can say it without fear of contradiction, and it was evident from the response to his point—that he is an extremely popular and respected Minister who commands widespread affection and loyalty in all parts of the House. We very much look forward to his continuing contributions, albeit in the future from the Back Benches. I thank him for what he said and the way in which he said it. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-05a.748.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g749.2 | |
| That is extremely welcome and I thank the hon. Lady for what she has said. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-05a.748.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g749.4 | |
| Order. Progress has been rather slow today, but I want to accommodate one further inquiry. I call Karin Smyth. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-05a.739.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g740.6 | |
| We are most grateful to the Minister for his thesis. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-05a.740.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g741.2 | |
| Order. Despite the fact that we are late, I am keen to try to satisfy the inquisitorial appetite of colleagues, but can do so best if they are each now very brief. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-05a.740.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g746.2 | |
| Last, I call Mhairi Black. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-05a.740.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g747.1 | |
| Order. If I am to accommodate most colleagues, there will be a premium upon brevity, to be exemplified by the right hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Sir Eric Pickles). https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-04a.606.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g611.2 | |
| Order. Members are in a very excitable state. [Interruption.] Normally, the hon. Member for Stoke-on-Trent Central is a very cerebral and well behaved fellow. He must take some sort of soothing medicament, because I am sure he wants to listen to his hon. Friend the Member for Denton and Reddish (Andrew Gwynne). https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-04a.606.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g620.0 | |
| I am sure the hon. Gentleman will bear up stoically and with fortitude under the burden. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-04a.583.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g584.1 | |
| Order. Progress this afternoon is very slow. I will take a couple of supplementaries, but they must be very brief and so must the replies. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-04a.589.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g592.2 | |
| I call Karl McCartney. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-04a.594.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g594.7 | |
| I can authoritatively pronounce from the Chair that the screeds written for Ministers at Education questions are significantly longer than those written for other ministerial Question Times. That is not a compliment. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-04a.600.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g604.7 | |
| Just. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-04a.600.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g605.3 | |
| Order. I am sorry, but, as usual, demand exceeds supply, and we must now move on. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-04a.600.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g606.5 | |
| Order. At this stage there is no formal time limit. The first of the 11 Back-Bench Members I shall call is Mr John Stevenson. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-30a.487.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g493.1 | |
| I am grateful to the hon. Lady for her point of order. I am not aware, as things stand, of any imminent intention on the part of a Minister to make a statement on this matter, but I have taken careful note of what she says. I rather imagine that her concern will be shared in all parts of the House. Suffice it to say that I think it not unreasonable to hope—and, perhaps, to expect—that a ministerial statement will be forthcoming early next week. If that proves not to be the case, or if there are those who seek an insurance policy in case it does not transpire, she will be aware of the instruments available to Members who wish to bring urgent matters to the attention of the House. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-30a.484.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g485.1 | |
| The statutory instrument will come to the House, and one rather imagines that it will do so ere long. The point made by the hon. Gentleman from the Front Bench can be ventilated very fully—possible amplified by others—in the course of that debate. It is not for me to adjudicate on whether the Government are, or are not, in breach of their statutory duty, but he has made his point with considerable force, and it was earlier communicated to me in written form, so I know that he has thought through the matter very fully. I hope that he can elicit a response from the Government through the normal diplomatic channels that exist between the two Front Benches. If, however, he remains dissatisfied, I rather imagine that he will return to the matter early next week. Clearly, it is important that progress on the issue be timely. I hope that that point has been heard on the Treasury Bench. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-30a.484.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g486.0 | |
| I inform those attending to our proceedings that the debate on today’s motion is the first under the auspices of the Backbench Business Committee. I call Mr David Lammy to move the motion. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-30a.487.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g487.4 | |
| Order. The hon. Gentleman is an immensely experienced parliamentarian, and I know that he is just beginning his apprenticeship in this role. I always enjoy listening to him because he speaks with great experience and huge passion, but let me gently say to him that he has exceeded his time. It is his first time at the Box, and I do not wish to cut him off, but he must now bring his remarks to a conclusion, maybe with a couple of pithy questions. Then we will have had our dose for today. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-30a.467.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g469.0 | |
| I am of course proud to have written the preface and to have hosted the launch of the most recent publication by the hon. Member for Newport West (Paul Flynn). It was a very happy occasion indeed. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-30a.467.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g471.0 | |
| I ought to congratulate the hon. Gentleman, somewhat belatedly, on his recent birthday. Off the top of my head—if I am wrong, he will tell me—I think his birthday was last Sunday. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-30a.467.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g473.2 | |
| In my mind, Kettering is principally famous for the hon. Gentleman. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-30a.467.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g476.3 | |
| Colleagues, thank you for that display of respect. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-30a.445.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g445.2 | |
| Order. I think that, as I have just been advised, the rolling stock has rather left the line. I err on the side of generosity, but the hon. Lady’s supplementary was at best tangentially related to the question on the Order Paper. We will let her off on this occasion. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-30a.447.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g449.3 | |
| We are greatly reassured by the Secretary of State’s geographical knowledge. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-30a.452.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g452.8 | |
| It sounds very exciting. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-30a.454.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g455.6 | |
| And finally, Justin Madders. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-30a.459.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g460.1 | |
| I am extremely grateful to the Secretary of State. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-30a.460.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g461.2 | |
| Kevin Foster. Not here. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-30a.460.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g461.5 | |
| Hannah Bardell, not here. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-30a.460.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g462.7 | |
| Order. If all remaining colleagues who are interested in speaking in the debate are to be accommodated, each needs to be speak for no longer than six or seven minutes because we must have the winding-up speeches, and hopefully there will be an opportunity for the hon. Member for South West Wiltshire (Dr Murrison) to wind up. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-29d.395.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g416.1 | |
| I am familiar with “Erskine May”, as the hon. Gentleman would expect, and I am genuinely grateful to him for giving me notice of his point of order. I can confirm that the Labour party currently constitutes the official Opposition and that its leader is recognised by me, for statutory and parliamentary purposes, as the Leader of the Opposition. He will have noticed that I called the Leader of the Opposition earlier to ask a series of questions of the Prime Minister. He will also be aware that today we have Opposition business duly chosen by the Leader of the Opposition, as indicated on the Order Paper. I should perhaps add that in making these judgments and pronouncing in response to points of order, I do give, and have given, thought to the matter, and I have also benefited from expert advice. These matters are not broached lightly. I understand the vantage point from which he speaks, but he raised the question and I have given him the answer. We will leave it there for now. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-29d.340.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g340.3 | |
| I greatly respect what the hon. Lady has said, so I hope she will not be affronted by this in any way. However, it is quite important for the future to bear in mind that we do not refer to unsuccessful urgent question applications on the Floor of the House. There are very good reasons for that. I absolutely understand the strength of feeling and considerable knowledge the hon. Lady brings to bear. As some colleagues perhaps might know—the Government are certainly aware of it—I did indicate to the Government that it would be helpful if there were to be a ministerial statement on this matter today. I hope the House feels that this is a very proper exchange in the circumstances. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-29d.325.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g334.2 | |
| I am extremely grateful to the Minister for her statement and to colleagues for their remarks. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-29d.325.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g339.4 | |
| It was without a shadow of a doubt very good for the European Council as well. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-29d.303.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g309.0 | |
| The hon. Gentleman must practice. We will be hearing from him regularly given the illustrious position that he holds, but I am afraid he must be briefer than that. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-29d.303.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g310.3 | |
| I did not know the Prime Minister had quite such a compendious knowledge of modern music. I am extraordinarily impressed. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-29d.303.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g325.1 | |
| I will call the hon. Member for Harrow East (Bob Blackman) if he undertakes to ask a single, short-sentence question. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-29d.287.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g287.7 | |
| Order. There are a lot of very noisy private conversations taking place. It is incredibly discourteous to the Secretary of State and discourteous to Members treating of matters affecting some of the most vulnerable people on the face of the planet, and I rather doubt it does much good to the reputation of the House at this important time, so if Members who are chattering away privately could stop doing so, that would help. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-29d.287.10&s=speaker%3A10040#g288.4 | |
| Order. The hon. Gentleman will be heard. It is about us and this place, and he will be heard. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-29d.290.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g297.3 | |
| Order. I have enjoyed listening to the hon. Gentleman for 25 years, and I want to continue to hear him. Let us hear Mr Gapes. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-29d.290.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g298.1 | |
| Order. We cannot have people adding their own take on these matters. [Interruption.] Order. The hon. Gentleman has the Floor—[Interruption.] Order. I do not need any help from the Scottish National party Benches; I am perfectly capable of discharging my responsibilities. The hon. Gentleman will be heard, and that is all there is to it. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-29d.290.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g298.5 | |
| Order. I want to hear about these pupils—[Interruption.] Order. I want to hear about these pupils who should rightly be congratulated. Let us hear the hon. Lady. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-29d.290.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g299.3 | |
| I certainly would not discuss on the Floor of the House applications for urgent questions—as colleagues will understand, it is a long-standing convention that those matters are not the subject of exchanges on the Floor—but I can say to the hon. Gentleman that I have received no indication from any Minister of an intention to make a statement on HS2. He will know that I am very conscious of requests from Ministers to make statements, and never would I be more likely to be aware of such an intention than in relation to HS2, but there has been no such notification of intent to my office to date. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-28b.150.9&s=speaker%3A10040#g151.1 | |
| First, may I commiserate with the hon. Gentleman who, as far as I can tell, has undergone an irritating and—some might think—exceptionally tedious experience? I am grateful to him for notice of his point of order. All hon. Members receive large numbers of emails and will have devised ways of dealing with the flow. However, while this is not directly a point of order for the Chair, I do not think it acceptable that Members should be bombarded with emails the content of which is offensive. I will ensure that members of the Parliamentary Digital Service, who have the facility to block certain types of email, are made aware of this issue. Moreover, I shall ensure that they contact the hon. Gentleman. In so responding to him, I emphasise that other right hon. and hon. Members might also wish to avail themselves of this service. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-28b.150.9&s=speaker%3A10040#g151.3 | |
| I call Minister Nicholas Boles. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-28b.135.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g135.5 | |
| I am sorry to disappoint the hon. Gentleman. Perhaps the world should know that his full name is Mr Nicholas Edward Coleridge Boles. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-28b.135.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g135.7 | |
| I think that the hon. Gentleman is seeking to group this with Question 12. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-28b.137.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g137.3 | |
| Very good. Grouping agreed. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-28b.137.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g137.5 | |
| I call Minister Johnson—the only Johnson who matters today. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-28b.140.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g141.0 | |
| I call another, equally important, Johnson—Diana Johnson. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-28b.140.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g142.1 | |
| I am sure that the people of Taunton Deane are in a state of eager anticipation and high excitement at the prospect of a visit from the Minister. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-28b.142.9&s=speaker%3A10040#g143.2 | |
| Ah, splendid: the robust Chair of the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee, Mr Iain Wright. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-28b.145.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g147.4 | |
| I think the hon. Gentleman would like his own dedicated and exclusive Question Time. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-28b.145.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g148.2 | |
| We are blessed to have a second dose of the hon. Gentleman this morning. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-28b.145.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g149.5 | |
| Finally, I do not want the voice of East Antrim to remain unheard. I call Mr Sammy Wilson. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-28b.145.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g150.4 | |
| Order. We must now move on. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-28b.145.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g150.8 | |
| Forgive me, but I must say to the right hon. Gentleman that I do not think that there is a matter contained within that purported point of order that relates to the procedures of the House for the protection of the interests of European Union citizens. Notwithstanding the expression of unrivalled solemnity on the face of a former Deputy Leader of this House as he put that point of order to me, I am still struggling to come to terms with the notion that it is a point of order rather than a point of perfectly legitimate and understandable concern, frustration and anxiety. In so far as it is the latter, the right hon. Gentleman is a sufficiently experienced and accomplished parliamentarian to find several opportunities further to expand on his concerns in the days and weeks that lie ahead. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-27b.63.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g64.1 | |
| As a courtesy, I should hear the hon. Gentleman again. I am not sure the point will improve with repetition, but we can try. I beg his pardon for listening to someone else at the same time. Let him say it again. It was something to do with the Government’s legislative programme, but I am sure it is not tendentious. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-27b.63.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g64.3 | |
| The short answer to that is no. There will be the opportunity of business questions on Thursday, an occasion with which the hon. Gentleman, in view of his Front-Bench responsibilities, is very familiar, but on the question whether I have had any indication about a business statement before then, or an intended revisiting of the business of the House or of the legislative programme, the answer is no. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-27b.63.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g64.5 | |
| I am very grateful to the hon. Gentleman for giving me notice that he wished to raise this matter. I also appreciate, as doubtless will the House, that he has now, albeit somewhat belatedly, put the record straight. Let me thank him on the principle of “better late than never”. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-27b.63.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g65.0 | |
| If the matters of which the hon. Gentleman wishes to treat are contained in the Bill, he may very well have a perfectly good opportunity to air his concerns and undertake his scrutiny today. I am very grateful to him for giving me notice of this point of order. It is perfectly clear that the Government intend to proceed with the Committee stage of the Finance Bill today, and the proceedings will be taken in accordance, as they must be, with the programme order agreed by the House on 11 April. Although the hon. Gentleman is a new Member, he is a very accomplished and experienced person with much life experience. [Laughter.] I mean that he is a person of the world—a cerebral individual. Although debate must focus on the amendments selected, I have no doubt that he will find ways to weave into his contribution some reference to the general concerns that he has just ventilated. I am sure that he will find his own salvation. I have every confidence in him, and he should have every confidence in himself. We will leave it there for now. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-27b.63.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g65.2 | |
| Order. I want to accommodate as many as possible of those colleagues who wish to question the Prime Minister. Matters are just slowed up if people make a lot of noise. I have plenty of time; I do not know whether other people have. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-27b.21.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g25.0 | |
| Order. It is not acceptable for people to make that level of noise. The right hon. and learned Gentleman will be heard and every Member of this House will be heard. Let us accord the right hon. and learned Gentleman the respect to which he is entitled. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-27b.21.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g27.1 | |
| The Prime Minister is not responsible for the hon. Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip (Boris Johnson), and he is probably quite pleased that he is not. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-27b.21.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g40.3 | |
| I am keen to accommodate colleagues, but there is a premium on brevity—to be exemplified, as always, by Mr Douglas Carswell. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-27b.21.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g41.4 | |
| The right hon. and learned Member for Beaconsfield (Mr Grieve) has only just started bobbing, but I think we should hear from him. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-27b.21.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g44.4 | |
| Indeed. I call Mr Dominic Grieve. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-27b.21.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g44.6 | |
| Has the right hon. and learned Gentleman spoken for his chum as well? https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-27b.21.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g44.8 | |
| Oh, well. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-27b.21.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g44.10 | |
| Order. I understand why there are courteous prefaces to many questions, and that, I think, is appreciated in the House, but it would now be really useful if we could have single, short supplementary questions, because the Prime Minister is giving admirably succinct replies. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-27b.21.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g46.7 | |
| A single eloquent sentence from an illustrious QC? I call Sir Edward Garnier. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-27b.21.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g47.7 | |
| Doubly splendid. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-27b.21.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g48.0 | |
| Single-sentence questions. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-27b.21.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g49.9 | |
| Another distinguished QC with a single-sentence question I feel sure—I call Joanna Cherry. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-27b.21.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g51.3 | |
| Order. I am sorry, I am not prepared to have these speeches. [Interruption.] No, I am sorry—it is a speech. What I want is a one-sentence question. [Interruption.] It is no good gesticulating at me; the hon. Gentleman has got to do as he is asked to do—now. Please: one sentence. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-27b.21.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g53.0 | |
| What is the question? https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-27b.21.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g53.2 | |
| If everybody is to get in, the questions now need to be much shorter. Otherwise, I warn people, they will not get in, and then they will be upset. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-27b.21.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g59.3 | |
| Order. The Prime Minister is very robust and perfectly capable of looking after himself, but I do think that when he addresses this House, very comprehensively, and attends to all our questions, he is entitled to a courteous hearing and not to be persistently heckled. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-27b.21.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g61.0 | |
| I thank all colleagues, but in particular the 110 Back Benchers who questioned the Prime Minister. Perhaps I can thank the Prime Minister for the enormous dignity, grace and good humour that he has displayed this afternoon in attending, in detail and at length, to our inquiries. I say very genuinely—I hope on behalf of the whole House—something that we do not say often enough: thank you. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-27b.21.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g63.1 | |
| My arithmetic may be faulty, but I counted six questions, to which I know the right hon. Gentleman will give a single pithy response, because we must make progress to other hon. Members who also have questions on the Order Paper—something it would have been good to remember earlier. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-27b.1.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g6.0 | |
| Briefly, Minister. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-27b.6.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g6.6 | |
| Press on. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-27b.6.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g7.2 | |
| Thank you very much. A brief response from the Minister and we will move on. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-27b.6.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g7.4 | |
| Order. I am awfully sorry, but we have not got time for two examples. I need a single, short supplementary question, with a question mark at the end. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-27b.10.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g10.6 | |
| I call Ian Murray. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-27b.14.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g15.2 | |
| The hon. Member for Sittingbourne and Sheppey (Gordon Henderson) has a question on the Order Paper on this very same subject. Does he wish to intervene and give the House the benefit of his thoughts? https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-27b.15.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g15.11 | |
| Very helpful! https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-27b.15.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g16.1 | |
| The hon. Lady will be delighted to receive such an exultant welcome! https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-27b.16.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g19.5 | |
| Last, I call Greg Mulholland. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-27b.16.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g20.6 | |
| Colleagues, thank you to everyone who has spoken in tribute to Jo and in support of her family. There is a tributes motion and I have to put the Question, but I hope that, when I do so, it will attract the loudest unified response in the history of this House.The Question is that this House has considered the matter of tributes to Jo Cox. As many as are of that opinion, say Aye. [Hon. Members: “Aye!”] To the contrary, No.Resolved,That this House has considered the matter of tributes to Jo Cox.Colleagues, we will adjourn formally in a moment or two. Before we do so, may I invite all right hon. and hon. Members to follow me in processing behind the Serjeant at Arms via Central Lobby and St Stephen’s Entrance to St Margaret’s Church across the road for a service of prayer and remembrance for the life of Jo Cox? Perhaps I can take this opportunity to re-emphasise that our chaplain, the Reverend Rose Hudson-Wilkin, will be at the service and will also be available in days to come to support Members, the staff of Members and the staff of this House. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-20c.1883.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g1900.0 | |
| Colleagues, we meet today in heart-breaking sadness, but also in heartfelt solidarity. Any death in such awful circumstances is an outrage and a tragedy. Yet this death in this manner of this person, our democratically elected colleague, Jo Cox, is particularly shocking and repugnant.All of us who came to know Jo during her all-too-short service in this House became swiftly aware of her outstanding qualities. She was caring, eloquent, principled and wise. Above all, she was filled with, and fuelled by, love for humanity. Devoted to her family and a relentless campaigner for equality, human rights and social justice, Jo was proud to be the Member of Parliament for Batley and Spen, where she had her roots and where she was determined to live life to the full. She succeeded superbly.Jo was murdered in the course of her duty, serving constituents in need. She fought for them just as she fought for others—at home and abroad—who were victims of poverty, discrimination or injustice. An attack such as this strikes not only at an individual, but at our freedom. That is why we assemble here both to honour Jo and to redouble our dedication to democracy. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-20c.1883.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1883.1 | |
| Order. I am afraid that a three-minute limit will need now to apply. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-15b.1764.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g1855.3 | |
| Order. Before the hon. Member for Swansea West (Geraint Davies) intervenes, let me say that Members must not harangue the hon. Member for Hayes and Harlington (John McDonnell). He is generously giving way, but people should not insist on intervening until it has been agreed. I call Mr Geraint Davies. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-15b.1764.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g1766.5 | |
| Order. I have never been bullied by anybody, and I am not all “over the place” on this matter. The Speaker is keeping out of it. I am simply seeking to facilitate fair play, and I remind the hon. Gentleman of the correct parliamentary language. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-15b.1764.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g1769.0 | |
| The supplementary was only tenuously related to the terms of the question, but I am in a generous mood. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-15b.1743.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g1743.8 | |
| The Minister is offering serious thoughts in a cerebral manner on a very important topic, the National Citizen Service. I think he deserves a more attentive audience. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-15b.1746.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1747.6 | |
| Order. I want to hear the hon. Gentleman’s point of order, which I suspect might relate to topical matters. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-15b.1760.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g1761.1 | |
| We are in the realms of speculation here. If there were to be such a Budget, it would have to be delivered here and we would have been notified of it in advance. There is no such declared intention. There are all sorts of briefings, but to my knowledge, there is no such declared intention. If the Chancellor were here and wanted to comment on the matter, he could do so, but he is not, so I fear that he will not. If the Chancellor manifests himself during the course of today’s proceedings —there is quite an important debate taking place in the House today that relates to economic matters—the hon. Gentleman might choose to raise the matter with him. We shall have to await the development of events. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-15b.1760.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g1761.3 | |
| I shall save up the hon. Member for St Albans (Mrs Main) for later. I call Mr David T. C. Davies. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-15b.1760.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g1761.5 | |
| The hon. Gentleman is being a bit cheeky. I know of no such plan. The hon. Gentleman is an assiduous constituency representative and he is a politician. He knows very well that all sorts of things are speculated upon and made the subject of conversation and rumour. All I know is what concerns the business of the House today. What people say outside the House is a matter for them. If people have important things to say on public policy—between now and next Thursday, for example—it would perhaps be prudent and judged to be courteous to say them in the House of Commons. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-15b.1760.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g1761.7 | |
| It is always useful to have a bit of information, but I am not responsible for boats—or indeed for what Hyacinth “Bouquet” used to call “riparian entertainments”. They are not a matter for the Chair. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-15b.1760.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g1762.0 | |
| Order. Some Members are disquieted because they want to get on with the debate. I want to get on with the debate, too, but points of order must be heard. They can be dealt with more quickly if we hear them. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-15b.1760.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g1762.2 | |
| What I would say to the hon. Gentleman, and to those who are attending our proceedings, is that who the Government field to respond to a debate is a matter for the Government. The hon. Gentleman will probably—on the whole—be relieved to know that the matters for which I am responsible do not include the Chancellor’s movements, and I am bound to say that—on the whole—that is a considerable solace to me too.There will be people, and I get the impression that the hon. Gentleman is one of them, who will feel that it is somewhat discourteous if a very senior Minister who is responsible for the policy area in question is not present in the Chamber, but it is not against the rules of the House. I would hope that the Chancellor would have some interest in what Members think about the matter. That would be courteous, and it would show a degree of humility and respect, but beyond that, it is a matter for the Government to choose. I gather that the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs will respond to the shadow Chancellor, and that is perfectly orderly. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-15b.1760.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g1762.4 | |
| I do take note of what the hon. Gentleman tells me, and I take what he has said very seriously. He is an extremely long-serving and serious-minded Member of the House. However, I have already advised the hon. Gentleman—to whose representation I paid very close attention—that I do not think it proper or necessary for me to add anything to what has already been said on this matter. I would simply say to him, and to other Members, that although of course I have my own thoughts on these matters, I do seek wise professional counsel, which is impeccably independent and based on very great experience in the service of the House. That does not automatically mean that it is right, but it does mean that it is serious.I think we must leave it there. I have, I think, very generously given the hon. Gentleman full opportunities to record this thoughts, and they are now recorded. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-15b.1760.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g1763.0 | |
| An amendment was tabled, but I should advise the House that I have not selected it. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-15b.1764.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g1764.3 | |
| Order. Listen to the hon. and learned Lady. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-14b.1632.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g1635.3 | |
| I see in his place the record-setting, long-serving Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee. I call Mr Keith Vaz. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-14b.1632.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g1636.4 | |
| He sounds a very bigoted fellow indeed. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-14b.1632.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g1641.3 | |
| As opposed to shy shrinking violets like the right hon. Gentleman. I presume that that is what he had in mind; I was sort of reading between the lines. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-14b.1611.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g1612.0 | |
| Order. I do not know what the source of merriment is among the little troika on the Back Benches—the hon. Members for Christchurch (Mr Chope), for Shipley (Philip Davies) and for Bury North (Mr Nuttall). I do not know whether some sort of powder has been applied to them, but they are in a very happy state. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-14b.1617.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g1618.5 | |
| Well done. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-14b.1618.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g1620.3 | |
| And put it in the Library—well done. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-14b.1621.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1621.5 | |
| Bad Boys bakers no doubt felt very privileged to be visited by the hon. Gentleman. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-14b.1621.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g1622.5 | |
| I can now inform the House that I have completed certification of the Bill, as required by the Standing Order, and that I have made no change to the provisional certificate issued last week. Copies of my final certificate will be made available in the Vote Office and on the parliamentary website.Under Standing Order No. 83M, consent motions are therefore required for the Bill to proceed. Copies of the motions are available in the Vote Office and on the parliamentary website, and have been made available to Members in the Chamber. Does the Minister intend to move the consent motions? https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-13b.1592.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g1593.1 | |
| Under Standing Order No. 83M(4), the House must forthwith resolve itself into the Legislative Grand Committee (England and Wales), and thereafter into the Legislative Grand Committee (England).The House forthwith resolved itself into the Legislative Grand Committee (England and Wales) (Standing Order No. 83M).[Mrs Eleanor Laing in the Chair] https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-13b.1592.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g1593.3 | |
| Consideration completed. I will now suspend the House for about five minutes in order to make a decision about certification. The Division bells will be rung two minutes before the House resumes. Following my certification, the Government will table the appropriate consent motions, copies of which will be available shortly in the Vote Office and will be distributed by Doorkeepers.Sitting suspended.On resuming— https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-13b.1592.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g1593.0 | |
| With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:Government new schedule 1—Schedule to be inserted as Schedule A3 to the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004.Government new clause 30—Public records.New clause 63—Police and Crime Commissioners: parity of funding between police and families at inquests—“(1) A police and crime commissioner has the duties set out in this section when the police force they are responsible for is a Properly Interested Person for the purposes of—(a) an inquest into the death of a member of an individual’s family, or(b) an inquest into the deaths of members of a group of families,under the Coroners Act 1988.(2) The police and crime commissioner must make recommendations to the Secretary of State as to whether the individual’s family or the group of families at the inquest require financial support to ensure parity of legal representation between parties to the inquest.(3) If a police and crime commissioner makes a recommendation under subsection (2) then the Secretary of State must provide financial assistance to the individual’s family or the group of families to ensure parity of funding between families and the police.(4) The individual’s family or the group of families may use funding authorised under this section solely for the purpose of funding legal representation at the inquest.”This new clause would put into law the principle of parity of funding between police and families at inquests. It would ensure that funding to a bereaved family, or a group of bereaved families, for purposes of legal representation during an inquest is an amount broadly equal to the level of funding that the police force receives. This new clause seeks to place an obligation on the PCC to recommend to the Home Secretary as to whether a bereaved family, or a group of bereaved families requires funding to support their legal representation at the inquest. The Home Secretary must provide such funding if it is recommended.New clause 64—Police complaints and the media—“(1) Subject to subsection (3), the Prime Minister must commission an independent inquiry into the operation of the police complaints system in respect of relationships between the police and media.(2) The inquiry must include, but is not limited, to—(a) how adequately police forces investigated complaints about police officers in dealing with people working within, or connected to, media organisations,(b) the thoroughness of any reviews by police forces into complaints specified in subsection (a),(c) in the cases where a complaint in subsection (a) led to a criminal investigation, the conduct of prosecuting authorities in investigating the allegation,(d) the extent to which police officers took illegal payment to suppress investigations of complaints of relationships between police officers and people working within, or connected to, media organisations,(e) the implications of subsections (a) to (d) for the relationships between media organisations and the police, prosecuting authorities, and relevant regulatory bodies, and recommended actions.(3) The inquiry can only commence once the Secretary of State is satisfied that it would not prejudice any ongoing relevant legal cases.”This new clause would compel the Prime Minister to instigate an independent inquiry such as Leveson 2 into the relationships between the press and police and the extent to which that has operated in the public interest.New clause 65—IPCC functions following complaints about the police’s handling of an event which has led to large scale loss of life—“(1) The Independent Police Complaints Commission (the ‘Commission’) shall undertake the functions set out in subsection (3) to (5) when—(a) there has been an event which has led to large scale loss of life, and(b) the conditions in subsection (2) have been met.(2) Subsection (1) applies when, for that event—(a) the Commission has received complaints of a serious nature about the actions of the police either before, during or in response to the event, or as part of a police investigation into the event,(b) the Commission has been asked to undertake such action by fifty per cent plus one or more of the total of—(i) representatives of those deceased due to the event, and(ii) any injured survivors of the event.(3) The Commission shall report to the individuals identified in section 2(b) during any police investigation into the disaster regarding the progress of the investigation, and how the individuals identified in section 2(b) can assist with it, including, if there are no lawyers representing the individuals identified in section 2(b), the implications of engaging lawyers at that stage.(4) Following a further request to the Commission by fifty percent plus one or more of the representatives of those deceased due to the event, the Commission shall set up a panel (the “Commission’s Panel“) which shall register as a data controller under the Data Protection Act 1998 and review all documentation relating to the event, the deceased and the representatives and report thereon.(5) In establishing the Commission’s Panel under subsection (4), the Commission must consult the individuals identified in subsection 2(b).(6) The Secretary of State must lay a copy of the report in subsection (4) before Parliament.(7) While a review under subsection (4) is in progress, the Commission’s Panel must report to the individuals identified in section 2(b) every three months on the progress of the review.”Government amendments 85, 22 to 30, 86, 87 and 31.Amendment 126, in clause 27, page 42, line 38, leave out from “(a)” to end of subsection, and insert—“(iii) but the period between the allegation first coming to the attention of a person mentioned in paragraph (a) and any initiation of disciplinary proceedings does not exceed the period specified in the regulations.(3A) The regulations under this section must specify that there is no maximum period time after which historic allegation of misconduct cannot be investigated for cases which meet the following conditions—(a) the case involves allegations of gross misconduct,(b) the case is certified by the Secretary of State to be liable to lead to serious loss of confidence in the police service and the Secretary of State determines that investigating and, if appropriate, hearing the case is necessary and proportionate.(3AA) The provisions of this section apply where the alleged misconduct, inefficiency or ineffectiveness took place prior to this Act coming into force.(3AB) Regulations under this section must include sanctions for disciplinary proceedings in respect of a person defined under subsection (3A).”This amendment would provide for disciplinary proceedings to take place a specified period after the allegation first comes to light, instead of a limit based on when the person concerned left a police force. It would also provide for this time period to be extended in cases of serious misconduct. It would also allow for proceedings to apply to retrospective cases and provides for sanctions for disciplinary proceedings.Amendment 127, in clause 31, page 48, line 24, after “the”, insert “Independent”.This amendment would retain the word “Independent” in the Office for Police Conduct (the new title for the current Independent Police Complaints Commission).Amendment 128, page 48, line 28, after “The”, insert “Independent”.Please see explanatory statement for Amendment 127.Amendment 129, page 48, line 33, after “the”, insert “Independent”.Please see explanatory statement for Amendment 127.Amendment 131, page 49, line 6, leave out subsection (6) and insert—“(6) In subsection leave out “chairman of the Commission, or as another member of the Commission” and insert “Director General, or as another member of the Office”.This amendment would ensure that both the Director General of the Independent Office for Police Conduct, and any member of the Office, must not have held any of the roles set out in Section 9(3) of the Police Reform Act 2002.Amendment 130, page 49, line 14, after “the”, insert “Independent”.Please see explanatory statement for Amendment 127.Government amendments 32 to 61, 88, 63 to 84 and 14 to 17.Government new clause 49—Retention of fingerprints and DNA profiles: PACE.Government new clause 50—Retention of fingerprints and DNA profiles: Terrorism Act 2000.Government new clause 51—Extension of cross-border powers of arrest: urgent cases.Government new clause 52—Cross-border enforcement: powers of entry to effect arrest.Government new clause 53—Cross-border enforcement: minor and consequential amendments.New clause 12—Deaths in custody: mental health—“(1) Section 1 of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 is amended as follows.(2) In Section 1(2)(c), at end insert ‘other than while deprived of their liberty under Schedule A1 to the Mental Capacity Act 2005.’”New clause 22—Surrender of travel documentation—“(1) This section applies where—(a) a person is arrested under section 24 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, or under article 26 of the Police and Criminal Evidence (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 (S.I. 1989/1341 (N.I.12) S.I. 1989/1341 (N.I.12), in respect of an offence mentioned in section 41(1) or (2) of the Counter Terrorism Act 2008,(b) the person is released without charge and on bail under Part 4 of the 1984 Act or (as the case may be) Part 5 of the 1989 Order, and(c) the release on bail is subject to a travel restriction condition.(2) If police are satisfied that a person is in possession of travel documents, as a pre-condition of release from custody, the person must surrender their travel documentation.”This amendment would require terrorist suspects to surrender passports and any other travel documentation as a condition of release from custody.New clause 23—Powers to require removal of disguises—“(1) The Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 is amended as follows.(2) Omit section 60AA (Powers to require removal of disguises) and insert—‘Section 60AA Powers to require removal of disguises.’(1) Where a constable in uniform reasonably believes that an offence has been, or is being, committed he may—(a) require any person to remove any item which the constable reasonably believes that person is wearing wholly or mainly for the purpose of concealing his identity;(b) seize any item which the constable reasonably believes any person intends to wear wholly or mainly for that purpose.(2) A person who fails to remove an item worn by him or her when required to do so by a constable in the exercise of his power under this section shall be liable, on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one month or to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale, or to both.(3) The powers conferred by this section are in addition to, and not in derogation of, any power otherwise conferred.(4) This section does not extend to Scotland.’”This new clause would remove the requirement for prior authorisation in existing section 60AA so that where a constable reasonably believes that an offence has been, or is being, committed they may require the removal of items where they are used wholly or mainly for the purpose of concealing identity.New clause 24—Access to Independent Mental Health Advocates—“(1) A person detained in a place of safety under section 135 or 136 of the Mental Health Act 1983 shall have the right to an independent mental health advocate (see section 130A of the Mental Health Act 1983).”This new clause would extend the right to an independent mental health advocate to those detained under sections 135 or 136 of the Mental Health Act 1983.New clause 25—Child sexual exploitation: duty to share information—“The local policing body that maintains a police force shall have a duty to disclose information about children who are victims of sexual exploitation or other forms of abuse to relevant child mental health service commissioners in England and Wales.”This new clause would place a duty on local police forces to store information with their local commissioners of child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) to improve local commissioning of mental health support for victims of child sexual exploitation.New clause 26—Detention under the Mental Health Act 1983: training—“(1) The chief police officer of every police force must ensure that provision is made for training police officers in the exercise the powers granted to them by sections 136 and 137 of the Mental Health Act 1983.(2) The training provided under subsection (1) must include material on—(a) diversity and equality, and(b) cultural issues that police officers should be aware of when exercising power under the Mental Health Act 1983.(3) The chief police officer of each police force must make an annual report to the Home Secretary on the provision they have made to comply with the requirements of this section.”This new clause would require each police force to provide its officers with training on how to exercise power under the Mental Health Act, with particular reference to diversity issues.New clause 29—Access to legal advice—“(1) A person detained against their will in a place of safety under section 135 or 136 of the Mental Health Act 1983 shall have the right to ask for and receive independent legal advice.”This new Clause would ensure the individual detained under section 135 or 136 of the Mental Health Act has access to legal advice.New clause 40—Disallowing use of tasers on psychiatric wards—“A police officer may not use a taser or electroshock weapon during a deployment on a psychiatric ward.”This new clause would prohibit the use of tasers by police officers on psychiatric wards.New clause 42—Deployment of police officers on psychiatric wards: reporting—“(1) Any incident of police officers being deployed on a psychiatric ward must be reported to the Home Secretary by the chief police officer of the relevant force within one week of the incident.(2) The report under subsection (1) must contain the following information—(a) the nature of the incident,(b) the number of police officers who were deployed,(c) the actions taken by the officers during their deployment, and(d) the outcome of the incident.”This new clause would require the Home Secretary to be notified whenever police officers are deployed on psychiatric wards.New clause 43—Use of tasers on psychiatric wards: reporting—“(1) Any incident of a police officer using a taser during a deployment on a psychiatric ward must be reported to the Home Secretary by the chief police officer of the relevant force within one week of the incident.(2) The report under subsection (1) must contain the following information—(a) the reason for the use of the taser,(b) the action taken following the use of the taser, and(c) the process that will be followed for reviewing the incident.”This new clause would require the Home Secretary to be notified whenever a police officer uses a taser on a psychiatric ward.New clause 45—Child sexual exploitation: assessment of needs for therapeutic support—“(1) Where the police or a local authority have a reasonable belief that a child has been sexually exploited or subject to other forms of child abuse, the police or local authority must refer the child to a named mental health service.(2) The named mental health service must conduct an assessment of the child’s needs and where appropriate make necessary arrangements for the child’s treatment or care.(3) The Secretary of State must by regulations—(a) define ‘named mental health service’ for the purpose of this section;(b) specify a minimum level of “necessary arrangements” for the purpose of the section.”This new clause would place a duty on the police or local authority to ensure that children who are believed to have experienced sexual abuse or exploitation are referred to an appropriate mental health service for assessment and appropriate support.New clause 58—Prohibition on using a person’s home as a place of safety—“(1) The Mental Health Act 1983 is amended as follows.(2) In section 136, leave out subsection (1) and insert—“(1) If a person appears to a constable to be suffering from mental disorder and to be in immediate need of care or control, the constable may, if he thinks it necessary to do so in the interests of that person or for the protection of other persons—(a) remove the person to a place of safety within the meaning of section 135, or(b) if the person is already at a place of safety within the meaning of that section, keep the person at that place or remove the person to another place of safety.(c) For the purposes of this subsection, a suitable place as defined by section 135(6) shall not include a house, flat or room where a person is living.””This amendment would prevent a person’s home from being used as places of safety for the purposes of section 136 of the Mental Health Act 1983.New clause 59—Detention under the Mental Health Act 1983: Access to an appropriate adult—“(1) A person detained in a place of safety under section 135 or 136 of the Mental Health Act 1983 shall have the right to an appropriate adult.(2) For the purposes of subsection 1, ‘appropriate adult’ means:(a) a relative, guardian or other person responsible for the detained person’s care;(b) someone experienced in dealing with mentally disordered or mentally vulnerable people but who is not a police officer or employed by the police; or(c) some other responsible adult aged 18 or over who is not a police officer or employed by the police.”This new clause would extend the right to an appropriate adult to those detained under sections 135 or 136 of the Mental Health Act 1983.Government new schedule 2—Cross-border enforcement: minor and consequential amendments.Government amendments 89 to 95.Amendment 123, in clause 75, page 92, line 1, leave out subsection (2) and insert—“(2) In section 135 (warrant to search for and remove patients), leave out subsection (6) and insert—“(6) Subject to section 136A, in this section “place of safety” means residential accommodation provided by a local social services authority under Part III of the National Assistance Act 1948, a hospital as defined by this Act, an independent hospital or care home for mentally disordered persons or any other suitable place.””This amendment is consequential to amendment 124.Amendment 124, page 92, line 33, leave out subsection (6) and insert—“(6) After section 136 insert—‘136A Prohibition on using police stations as places of safety(1) A person may not, in the exercise of a power to which this section applies, be removed to, kept at or taken to a police station as a place of safety.(2) The powers to which this section applies are—(a) the power to remove a person to a place of safety under a warrant issued under section 135(1);(b) the power to take a person to a place of safety under section 135(3A);(c) the power to remove a person to, or to keep a person at, a place of safety under section 136(1);(d) the power to take a person to a place of safety under section 136(3).(3) In this section “person” means a person of any age.’”This amendment would prevent a police station from being used as a place of safety for the purposes of sections 135 and 136 of the Mental Health Act 1983.Amendment 125, in clause 76, page 93, line 25, leave out sub paragraph (i) and insert—“(i) In a case where the person is removed to a place of safety, the time when the constable takes that person into custody (within the meaning of section 137 of the Mental Health Act 1983) in order to remove them to that place.”This amendment would meant that the period of detention started at the point a person was detained rather than the time they arrived at a place of safety.Government amendments 96 to 106, 109, 110, 117 and 118.New clause 66—Guidance: unattributable briefings—“(1) The College of Policing shall issue a code of practice relating to police-media relations.(2) This code should set out clear guidance to ensure that all police media communications are reportable, quotable and attributable unless in exceptional circumstances.(3) The code of practice shall be issued in line with requirements of section 39A of the Police Act 1996.”This new clause would require The College of Policing to issue a code of practice relating to police-media relations. The aim of this clause is to ensure that all police media communications should be reportable, quotable and attributable unless in exceptional circumstances. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-13b.1454.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g1456.1 | |
| Order. No one could accuse the hon. Gentleman of excluding from his intervention anything that he thought might at any time, in any way, to any degree be material, and I have a sense that when he practised law regularly he operated in a similar vein. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-13b.1454.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g1463.1 | |
| I have sought to display my usual generosity of spirit to an exceptionally dedicated and assiduous constituency Member, which the hon. Gentleman undoubtedly is. However, I hope that he will take it in the right spirit if I say that that was not a point of order. Moreover, it was patently not addressed in any meaningful sense to, and could not be intended for, the Chair. It was really a request to the Minister on the Treasury Bench. Accordingly, it is best communicated directly to the Minister in writing or through a meeting, rather than across the Floor of the House. On this one occasion, and this one occasion only—I realise the seriousness of the matter—I will say that if the Minister wants very briefly to respond, even if only to indicate a willingness to engage, so be it, but he is under no obligation to do so. In future, the hon. Gentleman should give me notice of an intention to raise such a point of order, in which case I will wisely counsel him against doing so. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-13b.1452.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g1453.1 | |
| I hope that the hon. Member for Ross, Skye and Lochaber (Ian Blackford) is satisfied for now. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-13b.1452.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g1453.3 | |
| The hon. Gentleman will be reassured to know that the rainbow flag will fly about Portcullis House throughout the appropriate weekend. That was decided some time ago; it is not something that I needed to announce, but it is pertinent to the point he has raised. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-13b.1440.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g1445.1 | |
| If memory serves me, it was in July 2002, so the 14th anniversary thereof will soon be upon us. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-13b.1440.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g1446.6 | |
| Order. I thank the hon. Member for Cardiff South and Penarth (Stephen Doughty), the Home Secretary, the shadow Home Secretary, the spokesperson for the Scottish National party and all colleagues for what they have said over the past 40 minutes or so and for the obviously sincere, eloquent and compelling way in which they have said it. I hope that in the light of the sentiments expressed by colleagues, they will approve when I say that, on their behalf and in all of our names, I intend to write to the mayor of Orlando. In doing so, I write both to convey our profound shock and absolute sympathy, and to underline the fact of our complete solidarity with the LGBTI community in Orlando, with the LGBTI community across the United States, and indeed with all the people of the United States at this exceptionally difficult and trying time. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-13b.1440.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g1452.4 | |
| Colleagues and all of those observing our proceedings—thank you for that display of respect. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-13b.1435.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g1440.6 | |
| Mark Garnier. Not here. [Interruption.] I have no idea about the whereabouts of the chappie, but we must move on. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-13b.1424.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g1425.1 | |
| Newhaven is a considerable distance from the constituency of the hon. Gentleman, but I am sure his ingenuity will avail him. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-13b.1426.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g1427.2 | |
| The hon. Gentleman is going to tell us about Stranraer I dare say. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-13b.1426.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g1427.6 | |
| I gently remind Front Benchers that we must accommodate Back Benchers. I am not having the time eaten up by Front Benchers. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-13b.1435.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g1436.2 | |
| If she can ask her question in one short sentence, I shall call Carol Monaghan. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-13b.1435.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g1440.1 | |
| The Minister has less than 15 seconds to respond. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-13b.1435.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g1440.3 | |
| I am extremely grateful to the Minister. This shows what we can do when we try.In respectful memory of the victims of the homophobic terrorist slaughter in Orlando, I should like to request of colleagues that at 3.30 we observe one minute’s silence. Thank you.The House observed a minute’s silence. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-13b.1435.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g1440.5 | |
| I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for his point of order and for his characteristic courtesy in giving me advance notice of his intention to raise it. The short answer is that I have received no approach from any Minister indicating a desire or intention to make a statement on this matter. Moreover, although a matter of huge interest to him and a great many other people in the House and beyond, it is of course not a matter for the Chair. However, he has put his point very forcefully on the record, and it has been heard by cerebral occupants of the Treasury Bench, and doubtless the thrust of what he has said will wing its way beyond this Chamber to other important persons. We will leave it there for now. I am most grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for what we have just heard. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-09b.1360.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g1381.0 | |
| The hon. Member for Kettering (Mr Hollobone) is a most assiduous Member of the House, and is also extremely particular about adherence to conventions and scope. I therefore do not encourage him to dilate further upon the point that he has just made. He has made it, but I know that he will now wish to focus on the instrument, and not beyond it. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-09b.1360.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g1377.0 | |
| Order. All this shouting from a sedentary position is very unstatesmanlike. It is not the sort of thing that I would ever have done. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-09b.1344.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1349.4 | |
| Or even his assiduity. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-09b.1344.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1353.4 | |
| Order. I intend to run the exchanges on this question until 11 o’clock, but not beyond that. I know that colleagues will take their cue from that advice. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-09b.1336.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g1339.1 | |
| I am sure that the people of Devon and Dorset will soon realise how lucky they are. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-09b.1318.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1320.3 | |
| I am sure that the hon. Gentleman’s performance is greatly enjoyed, not least by the hon. Gentleman. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-09b.1321.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g1323.1 | |
| Colchester also has a very good university. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-09b.1324.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g1325.1 | |
| I call Helen Hayes—not here. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-09b.1334.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g1336.0 | |
| I suppose that even newspapers have the right, now and again, to be stupid. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-08a.1305.8&s=speaker%3A10040#g1309.3 | |
| Order. Before we come to the Adjournment debate, I propose with the agreement of colleagues to suspend the sitting of the House for approximately five minutes in order that a photograph—perhaps more than one photograph—can be taken on what is, I think, a momentous occasion. It is an occasion of commemoration and of celebration. The bells will be rung a minute or two before the sitting is due to resume.Sitting suspended.On resuming— https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-08a.1305.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g1305.7 | |
| Order. In order to try to accommodate all 10 hon. Members who have indicated to me that they would like to catch my eye, I am afraid it is necessary to start with a limit on Back-Bench speeches of six minutes each. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-08a.1257.10&s=speaker%3A10040#g1276.1 | |
| Order. I will call Mr Wishart first. [Interruption.] Order. That is a perfectly proper way to proceed, to which no one should object. I simply say to the House that this statement is on a narrow, although very important, matter. Exchanges are therefore necessarily limited—I will not say circumscribed—to the question of the rescheduling of business tomorrow. This is not an opportunity for a general airing of opinions about overall business, still less for an exchange of views about aspects of the EU referendum question. [Interruption.] I do not know why I thought the hon. Member for Elmet and Rothwell (Alec Shelbrooke) might be so tempted—perhaps it is simply the cheeky expression on his face—but this is purely about the scheduled business for tomorrow, to the narrow confines of which I know the hon. Member for Perth and North Perthshire (Pete Wishart) will stick with rigid propriety, as always. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-08a.1254.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1255.4 | |
| Order. This is purely a question of the scheduling of the business. If people wish to opine on the merits or demerits of the legislation to be brought before the House they will have that opportunity tomorrow. I wonder whether that will burn off a few colleagues. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-08a.1254.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1256.8 | |
| Obviously not you, Mr Gapes. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-08a.1254.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1256.10 | |
| I am grateful to the Leader of the House for his supplementary business statement and to colleagues. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-08a.1254.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1257.9 | |
| I am at a disadvantage by comparison with the hon. Gentleman because I do not enjoy a precise recall of everything that the Prime Minister said at Prime Minister’s Questions earlier, although I rather imagine that the hon. Gentleman does have such a recall and may even be capable of reproducing the verbatim text of prime ministerial answers backwards. Anyone who gives incorrect information to the House is responsible for correcting it. If the Prime Minister judges that he made a mistake, which would naturally be inadvertent, the responsibility is no less great or absolute on him than it would be on any other Member. Knowing the hon. Gentleman as I do, I feel sure that he, too, will not let go of the bone until he receives satisfaction. I will leave it there. His point of order will have been heard on the Treasury Bench, and doubtless its contents will wing their way towards No. 10 Downing Street ere long. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-08a.1206.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g1207.1 | |
| My response is twofold. First, I am not responsible for the consistency of Government statements. It is probably as well that the Chair has never been responsible for the said consistency under any Government of any complexion. Secondly, if the right hon. Gentleman feels that the statements to which he referred cause such confusion or uncertainty as to render an urgent clarification vital, he knows that there are devices available to him. I say this not to flatter him, but as a matter of fact. The right hon. Gentleman is a former Deputy Leader of the House, so he is well versed in the mechanisms available to him. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-08a.1206.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g1207.3 | |
| The hon. Lady asks leave to propose a debate on a specific and important matter that should have urgent consideration, namely the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016. I have listened carefully to the hon. Lady’s application, but I am not persuaded that this matter is proper to be discussed under Standing Order No. 24.I add that if there is significant interest in this matter, either in the House or beyond it, it might be regarded as helpful if, through the usual channels, a debate on it were arranged. I express myself in those relatively careful and understated terms, for it is not within the remit of the Chair. That judgment has to be made elsewhere. The hon. Lady, who is an indefatigable parliamentarian, has made her case with force and eloquence. If I have learned anything about her over the last 11 years when we have served in the House together, I suspect that it is pretty unlikely that she will let go of the bone. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-08a.1204.9&s=speaker%3A10040#g1206.0 | |
| Order. There is no entitlement in these matters for the Chair of a Select Committee to deliver an oration, and a short question is required. I have been mildly indulgent of the hon. Gentleman, because these are exceptional circumstances, but if people could be pithy from now on that would help. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-08a.1192.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g1195.0 | |
| The right hon. Gentleman is smiling benevolently at me, but I would happily call him anyway. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-08a.1192.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g1196.6 | |
| The hon. Gentleman’s point of order arises, I believe, directly out of the matters of which the House has just treated, and therefore it is proper to take it now. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-08a.1192.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g1203.4 | |
| I am in the happy position of agreeing with the hon. Gentleman. It is certainly open to the Government to bring forward business tomorrow, and I have a sense that that would be widely anticipated and enthusiastically supported in the House. To have some advance indication from the Government that that is their intention would be useful, and a supplementary business statement would be the ordinary, though not the only, way of providing the information. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-08a.1192.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g1203.6 | |
| The Minister is all agog and in a state of great excitement. I wish him to feel satisfied before he pops. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-08a.1192.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g1204.1 | |
| I know that discussions will take place between the usual channels behind the scenes. Given the normal courtesy of the Leader of the House, I would certainly expect to be kept apprised of the situation as the afternoon and events unfold. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-08a.1192.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g1204.3 | |
| I will take further points of order if they appertain to this matter. If they are on unrelated matters, they should come after the Standing Order No. 24 application. It is unrelated, so I save up the hon. Member for Stone (Sir William Cash)—[Interruption.] The hon. Gentleman cannot have a commitment that is more important than the Chamber. He is the ultimate parliamentarian. We shall hear from him soon, and I am becoming increasingly excited about the prospect of doing so. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-08a.1192.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g1204.6 | |
| The Minister says “Me, too”, but I do not know whether he will feel the same way at the end of the hon. Gentleman’s point of order. That remains to be seen.In a moment, I shall call the hon. Member for St Albans (Mrs Main) to make an application for leave to propose a debate on a specific and important matter that should have urgent consideration under the terms of Standing Order No. 24. The hon. Lady has up to three minutes in which to submit her application. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-08a.1192.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g1204.8 | |
| I am sure the hon. Lady is delighted to receive such a tumultuous cheer. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-08a.1180.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g1191.5 | |
| Order. I would like to call the Solicitor General no later than 5.48 pm, and there are three people whom I wish to accommodate before then—Members can do the arithmetic for themselves. We have just under nine minutes to go. I call Matt Warman. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-07a.1105.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1133.1 | |
| Order. In fact four colleagues rather than three wish to speak. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-07a.1105.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1134.1 | |
| Order. I wish to say, before the hon. Gentleman develops his case, that although I absolutely understand that he speaks for his party from the Front Bench and is entitled to develop his case, I would gently point out that another seven Members wish to contribute, several of whom sat on the Committee, and I most certainly wish to include the Chair of the Joint Committee on Human Rights. It is not a criticism, but I am sure he will tailor his contribution to take account of that fact. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-07a.1105.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1127.4 | |
| It depends on how many Divisions there are. As the hon. Gentleman will know, only one hour is allocated for Third Reading, and votes will eat into that, so it is a function of the demand for votes. I am sorry that I cannot give him a more precise answer, but I always have his interests uppermost in my mind, and I will try to accommodate him and others. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-07a.1105.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1128.0 | |
| The answer to the right hon. Gentleman, who has considerable experience in these matters, not least from when he was on the other side of the fence, as a very senior Whip, is that it is always open to the Government to table an alternative programme motion. That is not a matter for the Chair. The amendments were, of course, all on the paper at the point at which the House agreed the programme motion.I ought just to say for the avoidance of doubt that the hon. Gentleman who has the floor is not in any way being criticised; I simply wanted to make him aware of the level of demand. I think we ought now to proceed. I would happily sit here all night for colleagues to debate these matters, but I rather doubt there would be the same enthusiasm among Government Whips for such a proposition. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-07a.1105.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1128.2 | |
| With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:Amendment 391, page 96, line 36, leave out clause 120.Amendment 392, page 97, line 15, leave out clause 121.Amendment 393, page 98, line 20, leave out clause 122.Amendment 394, page 98, line 38, leave out clause 123.Amendment 275, in clause 123, page 99, line 10, leave out from “must” to end of line 11, and insert“subject a person’s decision to issue a warrant under this Chapter to close scrutiny to ensure that the objective in issuing a warrant is sufficiently important to justify any limitation of a Convention right”.An amendment to clarify the role of judicial commissioners.Amendment 395, page 99, line 19, leave out clause 124.Amendment 396, page 99, line 24, leave out clause 125.Amendment 9, in clause 125, page 99, line 33, leave out subsection (4) and insert—“(4) The operational purposes specified in the warrant must be ones specified, in a list maintained by the heads of the intelligence services, as purposes which they consider are operational purposes for which intercepted content or secondary data obtained under bulk interception warrants may be selected for examination.”On behalf of the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament, to amend the Bill to provide for a designated list of operational purposes, such that only a purpose on that list may be specified in a warrant relating to bulk powers.Amendment 10, page 99, line 37, leave out from “issued” to end of line 39 and insert“are specified in the list mentioned in subsection (4).(5A) An operational purpose may be specified in the list mentioned in subsection (4) only with the approval of the Secretary of State.(5B) The Secretary of State may give such approval only if satisfied that the operational purpose is specified in a greater level of detail than the descriptions contained in section 121 subsections (1)(b) or (2).”To make clear that the Secretary of State must approve all operational purposes specified on the list.Amendment 11, page 99, line 39, at end insert—“(5C) The list of operational purposes mentioned in subsection (4) must be reviewed at least annually by the Prime Minister.”To ensure that the list of Operational Purposes is reviewed at least annually by the Prime Minister.Amendment 12, page 99, line 39, at end insert—“(5D) The Investigatory Powers Commissioner and Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament (ISC) will be kept informed of any changes to the list of Operational Purposes in a timely manner.(5E) Subject to subsection 201(7), the Investigatory Powers Commissioner must include in his Annual Report a summary of those Operational Purposes which, during the period of his report, have been specified in any warrants issued under Parts 6 and 7.”To ensure that the ISC and Commissioners are kept informed of changes to the list of Operational Purposes. To ensure that a summary of the Operational Purposes are published each year.Amendment 397, page 100, line 2, leave out clause 126.Amendment 398, page 100, line 10, leave out clause 127.Amendment 22, in clause 127, page 100, line 12, leave out“before it would otherwise cease to have effect”and insert “during the renewal period”.See amendment 20.Amendment 23, page 100, line 34, at end insert—“(2A) ‘The renewal period’ means the period of 30 days ending with the day at the end of which the warrant would otherwise cease to have effect.”See amendment 20.Amendment 153, page 101, line 9, leave out clause 128.Amendment 154, page 102, line 25, leave out clause 129.Amendment 401, page 103, line 8, leave out clause 130.Amendment 402, page 103, line 31, leave out clause 131.Amendment 403, page 104, line 19, leave out clause 132.Amendment 404, page 105, line 44, leave out clause 133.Amendment 405, page 106, line 24, leave out clause 134.Amendment 406, page 108, line 1, leave out clause 135.Amendment 407, page 108, line 29, leave out clause 136.Amendment 408, page 108, line 39, leave out clause 137.Amendment 409, page 109, line 16, leave out clause 138.Amendment 410, page 110, line 40, leave out clause 139.Amendment 212, in clause 139, page 110, line 42, leave out“review the Secretary of State’s conclusions as to the following matters”and insert “determine”.Amendment 213, page 111, line 7, leave out subsection (2).Amendment 278, page 111, line 7, leave out from “must” to end of line 8, and insert “subject a person’s decision to issue a warrant under this Chapter to close scrutiny to ensure that the objective in issuing a warrant is sufficiently important to justify any limitation of a Convention right”.An amendment to clarify the role of judicial commissioners. This amendment is an alternative to amendments 212 and 213 (which are a package).Amendment 411, page 111, line 16, leave out clause 140.Amendment 412, page 111, line 21, leave out clause 141.Amendment 413, page 112, line 2, leave out clause 142.Amendment 414, page 112, line 10, leave out clause 143.Amendment 155, page 113, line 9, leave out clause 144.Amendment 156, page 114, line 19, leave out clause 145.Amendment 417, page 115, line 2, leave out clause 146.Amendment 418, page 115, line 25, leave out clause 147.Amendment 419, page 116, line 7, leave out clause 148.Government amendments 44 to 47.Amendment 420, page 116, line 35, leave out clause 149.Amendment 421, page 117, line 11, leave out clause 150.Amendment 422, page 118, line 39, leave out clause 151.Amendment 423, page 119, line 8, leave out clause 152.Amendment 424, page 119, line 36, leave out clause 153.Amendment 425, page 120, line 10, leave out clause 154.Amendment 426, page 121, line 33, leave out clause 155.Amendment 427, page 122, line 4, leave out clause 156.Amendment 428, page 123, line 1, leave out clause 157.Amendment 214, in clause 157, page 123, line 3, leave out“review the Secretary of State’s conclusions as to the following matters”and insert “determine”.Amendment 215, page 123, line 15, leave out subsection (2).Amendment 281, page 123, line 15, leave out from “must” to end of line 16, and insert“subject a person’s decision to issue a warrant under this Chapter to close scrutiny to ensure that the objective in issuing a warrant is sufficiently important to justify any limitation of a Convention right”.An amendment to clarify the role of judicial commissioners.Amendment 429, page 123, line 24, leave out clause 158.Amendment 430, page 123, line 41, leave out clause 159.Amendment 431, page 124, line 34, leave out clause 160.Amendment 432, page 125, line 3, leave out clause 161.Amendment 433, page 125, line 25, leave out clause 162.Amendment 434, page 126, line 3, leave out clause 163.Amendment 157, page 127, line 1, leave out clause 164.Government amendments 127 and 128.Amendment 158, page 128, line 14, leave out clause 165.Amendment 437, page 129, line 1, leave out clause 166.Amendment 438, page 129, line 25, leave out clause 167.Amendment 439, page 130, line 14, leave out clause 168.Amendment 440, page 131, line 33, leave out clause 169.Amendment 441, page 132, line 3, leave out clause 170.Government amendment 129.Amendment 442, page 133, line 30, leave out clause 171.Amendment 443, page 134, line 12, leave out clause 172.Amendment 444, page 134, line 19, leave out clause 173.Government amendment 130.Government new clause 14—Health records.New clause 3—Restriction on use of class bulk personal dataset warrants—“(1) An intelligence service may not retain, or retain and examine, a bulk personal dataset in reliance on a class bulk personal dataset warrant if the head of the intelligence service considers—(a) that the bulk personal dataset includes a large quantity of sensitive personal data, or(b) that the nature of the bulk personal dataset, or the circumstances in which it was created, is or are such that its retention, or retention and examination, by the intelligence service raises issues which ought to be considered by the Secretary of State and a Judicial Commissioner on an application by the head of the intelligence service for a specific BPD warrant.(2) An intelligence service may not retain, or retain and examine, greater than twenty distinct bulk personal datasets in reliance on any class BPD warrant.(3) In subsection (1) ‘sensitive personal data’ means personal data consisting of information about an individual (whether living or deceased) which is of a kind mentioned in section 2(a) to (f) of the Data Protection Act 1998.”On behalf of the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament, to place greater restrictions on the use of Class BPD warrants in relation to the retention/examination of sensitive personal data (relating to race, political opinions, religious beliefs, trade union membership, health, or sexual orientation). To cap the number of datasets which may be covered by any Class warrant.Amendment 445, page 135, line 4, leave out clause 174.Amendment 446, page 135, line 21, leave out clause 175.Amendment 447, page 135, line 37, leave out clause 176.Amendment 448, page 136, line 9, leave out clause 177.Amendment 303, in clause 177, page 136, line 44, at end insert—“(5) Subsection (6) applies where a warrant application under this section relates to ‘patient information’ as defined in s.251(10) of the National Health Service Act 2006, or relating to ‘mental health’, ‘adult social care’, ‘child social care’, or ‘health services’ as defined by the Health and Social Care Act 2012.(6) The Secretary of State may issue the warrant only if—(a) there are exceptional and compelling circumstances that make it necessary to authorise the retention, or (as the case may be) the examination, of material referred to in subsection (5); and(b) specific arrangements have been made for the handling, retention, use, destruction and protection against unauthorised disclosure of such material”.An amendment to restrict the retention of patient information obtained under provisions in this Bill.Amendment 449, page 137, line 1, leave out clause 178.Amendment 24, in clause 178, page 137, line 17, leave out “and” and insert—“(aa) a statement outlining the extent to which sensitive personal data as defined by section [Restriction on use of class BPD warrants] is expected to be part of the bulk personal dataset, and”.On behalf of the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament, to require specific BPD warrant applications to set out the extent to which datasets may include sensitive personal data (relating to race, political opinions, religious beliefs, trade union membership, health, or sexual orientation), in order that the Secretary of State may properly assess the proportionality of obtaining the dataset.Amendment 304, page 138, line 2, at end insert—“(8) Subsection (6) applies where a warrant application under this section relates to ‘patient information’ as defined in s.251(10) of the National Health Service Act 2006, or relating to ‘mental health’, ‘adult social care’, ‘child social care’, or ‘health services’ as defined by the Health and Social Care Act 2012.(9) The Secretary of State may issue the warrant only if—(a) there are exceptional and compelling circumstances that make it necessary to authorise the retention, or (as the case may be) the examination, of material referred to in subsection (5); and(b) specific arrangements have been made for the handling, retention, use, destruction and protection against unauthorised disclosure of such material.”An amendment to restrict the retention of patient information obtained under provisions in this Bill.Amendment 450, page 138, line 3, leave out clause 179.Amendment 216, in clause 179, page 138, line 5, leave out“review the Secretary of State’s conclusions as to the following matters”and insert “determine”.Amendment 217, page 138, line 22, leave out subsection (2).Amendment 284, page 138, line 22, leave out from “must” to end of line 23, and insert“subject a person’s decision to issue a warrant under this Chapter to close scrutiny to ensure that the objective in issuing a warrant is sufficiently important to justify any limitation of a Convention right”.An amendment to clarify the role of judicial commissioners. This amendment is an alternative to amendments 216 and 217 (which are a package).Amendment 451, page 138, line 31, leave out clause 180.Amendment 452, page 139, line 4, leave out clause 181.Amendment 453, page 140, line 1, leave out clause 182.Amendment 454, page 140, line 15, leave out clause 183.Amendment 455, page 141, line 4, leave out clause 184.Amendment 456, page 141, line 26, leave out clause 185.Amendment 159, page 142, line 13, leave out clause 186.Amendment 160, page 143, line 22, leave out clause 187.Amendment 459, page 144, line 7, leave out clause 188.Amendment 460, page 144, line 25, leave out clause 189.Amendment 461, page 146, line 2, leave out clause 190.Amendment 462, page 147, line 5, leave out clause 191.Amendment 463, page 147, line 21, leave out clause 192.Amendment 305, in clause 192, page 147, line 42, at end insert—“(4A) A direction under subsection (3) may only be made for material relating to ‘patient information’ as defined in s.251(10) of the National Health Service Act 2006, or relating to ‘mental health’, ‘adult social care’, ‘child social care’, or ‘health services’ as defined by the Health and Social Care Act 2012 if the Secretary of State considers that—(a) there are exceptional and compelling circumstances that make it necessary to authorise the retention, or (as the case may be) the examination, of such material; and(b) that specific arrangements have been made for the handling, retention, use, destruction and protection against unauthorised disclosure of such material.”An amendment to restrict the retention of patient information obtained under provisions in this Bill.Amendment 464, page 148, line 37, leave out clause 193. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-07a.1049.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g1049.4 | |
| I say to the hon. Gentleman and the House that there is a firm convention that if a Member intends to visit the constituency of another Member on official business, as opposed to purely private or personal business, the Member whose constituency is being visited should be notified in advance. Nothing is written down anywhere, but it would be a courtesy to notify the Member sufficiently in advance that he or she could be present, or at least in the vicinity, in his or her constituency if it was so wished. That would rather depend on the circumstances of the event, but there should be proper notice.In the case of Ministers, the requirement is stipulated in the ministerial code. If that has not been complied with in this case, it is regrettable. The hon. Gentleman has made his point and it will have been heard by those on the Treasury Bench. Doubtless it will be communicated, in the forceful terms in which he typically expresses himself, to the Secretary of State.I hope that it will not be necessary for this point constantly to be raised and then underlined by me from the Chair. It is an elementary courtesy and I think that a lot of people who are listening to our proceedings will think, “Surely colleagues can treat each other in a civil and grown-up way, as would happen in other institutions.” Indeed, I note in the distance some agreement with the point I have just made. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-07a.1046.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1046.2 | |
| I am very grateful to the hon. Lady for her point of order. With reference to her last point about allegedly factually incorrect information being disseminated to her constituents, I am bound to say to her that that is a matter of politics. Although I do not know the people of Great Grimsby, I dare say they can bear with stoicism and fortitude the proffering of views to them with which their locally elected Member of Parliament may disagree. That is not a matter for the Chair. [Interruption.] I do not think it is fishy. However, a visit was undertaken, admittedly not by Ministers, but by Members engaged in professional business, and the hon. Lady should therefore have been notified.Given the context of the EU referendum campaign, I recognise that there will be Members—including doubtless the hon. Members for Wellingborough (Mr Bone) and for Corby (Tom Pursglove)—who may well visit a great many constituencies in a concentrated period. Nevertheless, the convention is an important courtesy and should continue to apply. It is not very difficult or time consuming to comply with it, so I hope that colleagues on both sides of the House will do so from now on. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-07a.1046.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1047.0 | |
| It is certainly open to the hon. Gentleman to seek such a debate—there is nothing improper about it—but I know that he would not seek advance agreement from me in respect of an application that has not yet been made, the terms of which therefore cannot be known to me and upon which it would therefore be wholly unreasonable to expect me to adjudicate. Apart from that, his point was all right. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-07a.1046.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1047.2 | |
| I also say to the hon. Gentleman that, as the Minister mentioned perfectly properly from a sedentary position, the issue is a devolved matter and can therefore be considered elsewhere, as well, but it is perfectly proper for it to be considered here. There are a range of opportunities for its consideration. The mechanism he mentions is a possible approach; there are also Backbench Business Committee debates, Adjournment debates and debates in the name of the relevant Opposition party. I am sure that the hon. Gentleman is on very good terms with the powers that be in his own party; if they judge it a sufficient priority, they might choose to nominate it as a subject for such a debate. Knowing the Minister as I do, I am sure that she would very courteously come along, if it was her responsibility to do so, to listen to the hon. Gentleman’s sonorous tones and speak as appropriate. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-07a.1046.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1048.1 | |
| What a helpful soul the hon. Gentleman is. He is a purveyor of public information, and we owe him a debt of gratitude. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-07a.1046.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1048.3 | |
| I think his Whips are pleased to see the arrival of the right hon. Member for South Holland and The Deepings (Mr Hayes). He has never knowingly been keen to be hurried on anything. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-07a.1036.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g1044.3 | |
| Order. All we need is a question with a question mark at the end of it in one sentence. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-07a.1015.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g1015.8 | |
| Sorry, but that is the way it is. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-07a.1015.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g1015.10 | |
| Order. I must advise colleagues that we are today visited by Mr Kadri Veseli, the Speaker of the Parliament of Kosovo, who is visiting the UK in the year in which that independent nation celebrates eight years of independence. My colleague and his team are warmly welcome in the House. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-07a.1015.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g1016.7 | |
| Order. The Chancellor should remain seated. If that is the sum total of what he has to contribute on his feet in response to that question, frankly it was not worth the breath. It was utterly feeble and constitutionally improper. Learn it—it is very simple! https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-07a.1021.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g1023.4 | |
| Did we get a reference to exports? I am sure that the hon. Gentleman meant to mention it. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-07a.1026.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g1027.2 | |
| Well done. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-07a.1026.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g1027.4 | |
| Order. Let me gently mention that we have already heard from the hon. Member for Newark (Robert Jenrick)—I remember very well his question, and I rather hope he does. It is one per session—[Interruption.] He can try again at topicals, but not in substantives. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-07a.1029.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g1030.5 | |
| Order. Before I call the hon. Member for Denton and Reddish (Andrew Gwynne) to put his urgent question, I should explain that, on account of the subsequent business, its importance and the likely level of subscription to it, the UQ will run for a maximum of half an hour, so the limits on the Front Benchers and Back Benchers involved do need to be observed. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-07a.1031.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g1036.5 | |
| Sadly, I say to the Minister for Security that no oration on that matter was required. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-06b.1005.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g1005.5 | |
| I am sure that colleagues who—unaccountably—are leaving the Chamber will do so quickly and quietly, so that the hon. Gentleman who has the Adjournment debate can make his case and be heard with courtesy and attentiveness. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-06b.1005.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g1006.1 | |
| I will call Mr Cox briefly, but I wish to call the Minister no later than 10.50 pm. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-06b.934.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g980.1 | |
| Order. I know the Minister of State is greatly enjoying his oration, but I am conscious of the fact that the clock in front of him is not functioning, and I want him to know two things: first, that he should face the House, as we continually exhort him to do; and, secondly, that he has a further seven minutes in which to excite the House. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-06b.934.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g982.0 | |
| Order. I wish to listen to the mellifluous tones of the right hon. Gentleman, as some Members do, and people listening elsewhere might conceivably wish to hear his sonorous tones. We would be assisted if he faced the House. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-06b.934.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g975.0 | |
| With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:Government new clause 8—Further provision about modifications.Government new clause 9—Notification of major modifications.New clause 20—Power of Secretary of State to certify warrants—“(1) The Secretary of State may certify an application for a warrant in those cases where the Secretary of State has reasonable grounds to believe that an application is necessary pursuant to section 18(2)(a) (national security) and involves—(a) the defence of the United Kingdom by Armed Forces; or(b) the foreign policy of the United Kingdom.(2) A warrant may be certified by the Secretary of State if—(a) the Secretary of State considers that the warrant is necessary on grounds falling within section 18; and(b) the Secretary of State considers that the conduct authorised by the warrant is proportionate to what is sought to be achieved by that conduct.(3) Any warrant certified by the Secretary of State subject to subsection (1) is subject to approval by a Judicial Commissioner.(4) In deciding to approve a warrant pursuant to this section, the Judicial Commissioner must determine whether—(a) the warrant is capable of certification by the Secretary of State subject to subsection (1);(b) the warrant is necessary on relevant grounds subject to section 18(2)(a) and subsection (1)(a) or (b); and(c) the conduct authorised by the warrant is proportionate to what is sought to be achieved by that conduct.(5) Where a Judicial Commissioner refuses to approve the person’s decision to approve a warrant under this section, the Judicial Commissioner must produce written reasons for the refusal.(6) Where a Judicial Commissioner, other than the Investigatory Powers Commissioner, approves or refuses to approve a warrant under this Section, the person, or any Special Advocate appointed, may ask the Investigatory Powers Commissioner to decide whether to approve the decision to issue the warrant.”Amendment 267, in clause 15, page 12, line 3, leave out “or organisation”.These amendments would retain the capacity of a single warrant to permit the interception of multiple individuals but would require an identifiable subject matter or premises to be provided. This narrows the current provisions which would effectively permit a limitless number of unidentified individuals to have their communications intercepted.Amendment 25, page 12, line 7, leave out “or” and insert “and”.On behalf of the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament, to limit the potentially broad scope of thematic warrants involving people who “share a common purpose” by ensuring that they also must be engaged in a particular activity.Amendment 131, page 12, line 8, after “activity” insert“where each person is named or otherwise identified”.These amendments seek to make more specific the currently very broadly worded thematic warrants in the Bill, to make it more likely that such thematic warrants will be compatible with the requirements of Article 8 ECHR as interpreted by the European Court of Human Rights.Amendment 268, page 12, line 9, leave out “or organisation”.See amendment 267Amendment 132, page 12, line 11, after “operation” insert“where each person is named or otherwise identified”.See amendment 131.Amendment 272, page 12, line 12, leave out paragraph (c).See amendment 267.Amendment 306, page 12, line 13, leave out subsection (3).See amendment 267.Amendment 218, in clause 17, page 13, line 8, leave out “Secretary of State” and insert “Judicial Commissioners”.Amendment 219, page 13, line 10, leave out “Secretary of State” and insert “Judicial Commissioners”.Amendment 220, page 13, line 13, leave out “Secretary of State” and insert “Judicial Commissioners”.Amendment 221, page 13, line 16, leave out subsection (1)(d).Amendment 222, page 13, line 20, leave out “Secretary of State” and insert “Judicial Commissioners”.Amendment 223, page 13, line 22, leave out “Secretary of State” and insert “Judicial Commissioners”.Amendment 224, page 13, line 24, leave out “Secretary of State” and insert “Judicial Commissioners”.Amendment 225, page 13, line 27, leave out “Secretary of State” and insert “Judicial Commissioners”.Amendment 226, page 13, line 3, leave out subsection (2)(d).Amendment 227, page 13, line 35, leave out “Secretary of State” and insert “Judicial Commissioners”.Amendment 228, page 13, line 37, leave out “Secretary of State” and insert “Judicial Commissioners”.Amendment 229, page 13, line 39, leave out “Secretary of State” and insert “Judicial Commissioners”.Amendment 230, page 13, line 42, leave out “Secretary of State” and insert “Judicial Commissioners”.Amendment 231, page 13, line 45, leave out subsection (3)(d).Amendment 232, page 14, line 5, leave out “Secretary of State” and insert “Judicial Commissioners”.Amendment 233, page 14, line 8, leave out “Secretary of State” and insert “Judicial Commissioners”.Amendment 234, page 14, leave out lines 11 and 12.Amendment 235, page 14, line 13, leave out “Secretary of State” and insert “Judicial Commissioners”.Amendment 312, in clause 18, page 14, line 22, leave out paragraph (c).See amendment 313.Amendment 313, page 14, line 24, at end insert—‘(2A) A warrant may be considered necessary as mentioned in subsection (2)(b) and (3) only where there is a reasonable suspicion that a serious criminal offence has been or is likely to be committed.”These amendments would require that there is reasonable suspicion of serious crime for a warrant authorising interception and delete the separate subsection relating to economic well-being of the UK.Amendment 236, page 14, line 30, leave out “Secretary of State” and insert “Judicial Commissioners”.Amendment 237, page 14, line 31, leave out “Secretary of State” and insert “Judicial Commissioners”.Amendment 262, page 14, line 38, at end insert—‘(6) The fact that the information which would be obtained under a warrant relates to the activities in the British Islands of a trade union is not, of itself, sufficient to establish that the warrant is necessary on grounds falling within this section.”This amendment restricts the application of warrants in relation to trade union activity.Amendment 238, page 14, line 39, leave out clause 19.Amendment 208, in clause 21, page 17, line 4, leave out“review the person’s conclusions as to the following matters”and insert “determine”.Amendment 209, page 17, line 10, leave out subsection (2).Government manuscript amendment 497.Amendment 265, page 17, line 10, leave out from “must” to end of line 11, and insert“subject a person’s decision to issue a warrant under this Chapter to close scrutiny to ensure that the objective in issuing a warrant is sufficiently important to justify any limitation of a Convention right”.An amendment to clarify the role of judicial commissioners. This amendment is an alternative to amendments 208 and 209 (which are a package).Government manuscript amendment 498.Amendment 314, in clause 24, page 18, line 39, leave out “Secretary of State” and insert “Judicial Commissioner”.See amendment 316.Amendment 315, page 18, line 41, leave out subsection (b) and insert—“(b) the warrant involves a member of a relevant legislature.”See amendment 316.Government amendment 53.Amendment 316, page 19, line 7, leave out subsection (2) and insert—“(2) Further to the requirements set out elsewhere in this Part, the Judicial Commissioner may only issue a warrant if—(a) there are reasonable grounds for believing that an indictable offence has been committed,(b) there are reasonable grounds for believing that the material is likely to be of substantial value to the investigation in connection to the offence at (a),(c) other proportionate methods of obtaining the material have been tried without success or have not been tried because it appeared that they were bound to fail,(d) it is in the public interest having regard to the democratic interest in the confidentiality of correspondence with members of a relevant legislature.”These amendments would ensure that applications for warrants to intercept the communications of elected politicians would be made to the Judicial Commissioner rather than to the Secretary of State via the Prime Minister. They would also set out additional requirements that the Judicial Commissioner must take into account before granting a warrant.Amendment 1, page 19, line 8, at end insert“and where the member is a member of the House of Commons he must also consult the Speaker of the House of Commons.”This amendment would require the Secretary of State to consult the Speaker before deciding to issue a warrant that applied to an MP’s communications.Amendment 137, page 19, line 8, after “Minister” insert“and give sufficient notice to the relevant Presiding Officer of the relevant legislature to enable the relevant Presiding Officer to be heard at the hearing before the Judicial Commissioner.”Amendment 138, page 19, line 14, at end insert—“(4) In this section “the relevant Presiding Officer” means—(a) the Speaker of the House of Commons,(b) the Lord Speaker of the House of Lords,(c) the Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament,(d) the Presiding Officer of the National Assembly for Wales,(e) the Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly,(f) the President of the European Parliament.”This amendment adds the safeguard of giving the Speaker, or other Presiding Officer, of the relevant legislature, sufficient notice before the Secretary of State decides whether to issue a warrant for targeted interception or examination of members’ communications, to enable the Speaker or Presiding Officer to be heard at the hearing before the Judicial Commissioner.Amendment 139, in clause 25, page 19, line 16, leave out subsections (1) to (3).This amendment removes the power to apply for a warrant the purpose of which is to authorise the interception, or selection for examination, of items subject to legal privilege.Amendment 140, page 19, line 44, leave out subsection (4)(c).See amendment 141.Amendment 141, page 20, line 7, after “considers” insert—“(a) that there are exceptional and compelling circumstances that make it necessary to authorise the interception, or (in the case of a targeted examination warrant) the selection for examination, of items subject to legal privilege, and(b) ”.These amendments introduce a threshold test for the interception or examination of communications likely to include items subject to legal privilege, reflecting the strong presumption against interference with lawyer-client confidentiality.Amendment 307, in clause 27, page 21, line 7, leave out “or organisation”.See amendment 267.Amendment 308, page 21, line 8, leave out “or organisation”.See amendment 267.Amendment 309, page 21, line 13, leave out“or describe as many of those persons as is reasonably practicable to name or describe”and insert“or specifically identify all of those persons using unique identifiers.”See amendment 267.Amendment 310, page 21, line 15, leave out “or organisation”.See amendment 267.Amendment 311, page 21, line 19, leave out“or describe as many of those persons or organisations or as many of those sets of premises, as it is reasonably practicable to name or describe”and insert“all of those persons or sets of premises.”See amendment 267.Amendment 19, in clause 29, page 22, line 25, leave out“before the end of the relevant”and insert “during the renewal”.See amendment 20.Amendment 20, page 23, line 4, at end insert—“(4A) ‘The renewal period’ means—(a) in the case of an urgent warrant which has not been renewed, the relevant period;(b) in any other case, the period of 30 days ending with the relevant period.”On behalf of the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament, to prohibit the possibility of a warrant being renewed immediately. Clauses 28 and 29 would currently theoretically allow for warrants of 12 months duration rather than the intended six.Amendment 21, page 23, line 16, at end insert—“(8A) In this section ‘urgent warrant’ has the same meaning as in section 28.”See amendment 20.Amendment 147, page 23, line 19, leave out clause 30.Government amendments 54 to 57.Amendment 142, in clause 30, page 24, line 45, at end insert—“(10A) Section 21 (Approval of warrants by Judicial Commissioners) applies in relation to a decision to make a major modification of a warrant by adding a name or description as mentioned in subsection (2)(a) as it applies in relation to a decision to issue a warrant; and accordingly where section 21 applies a Judicial Commissioner must approve the modification.”This amendment seeks to ensure that major modifications of warrants require judicial approval.Government amendment 58.Amendment 148, page 25, line 22, leave out clause 31.Government amendments 59 to 73.Amendment 317, page 34, line 21, leave out clause 44.This amendment would delete a Clause which permits the creation of additional interception powers immigration detention facilities.Amendment 15, in clause 45, page 34, line 42, leave out “C” and insert “D”.Consequential upon amendment 16.Amendment 16, page 35, line 7, at end insert—“(3A) Condition C is that the interception is carried out for the purpose of obtaining information about the communications of an individual who, both the interceptor and the person making the request have reasonable grounds for believing, is outside the United Kingdom.”On behalf of the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament, to reinstate the current safeguard in RIPA that the person being intercepted must be outside the UK.Amendment 17, page 35, line 8, leave out “C” and insert “D”.Consequential upon amendment 16.Government amendments 75 to 77.Amendment 299, in clause 51, page 41, line 18, at end insert—“(4) In proceedings against any person for an offence under this section in respect of any disclosure, it is a defence for the person to show that the disclosure was in the public interest.”An amendment to introduce a public interest defence for interception disclosures.Government amendment 74.Government new clause 11—Persons who may make modifications under section 104.Government new clause 12—Further provision about modifications under section 104.Government new clause 13—Notification of modifications.New clause 23—Members of Parliament—“(1) This section applies where—(a) an application is made to the Judicial Commissioner for a targeted equipment interference warrant, and(b) the warrant relates to a member of a relevant legislature.(2) This section also applies where—(a) an application is made to the Judicial Commissioner for a targeted examination warrant, and(b) the warrant relates to a member of a relevant legislature.(3) Where any conduct under this Part is likely to cover material described above, the application must contain—(a) a statement that the conduct will cover or is likely to cover such material,(b) An assessment of how likely it is that the material is likely to cover such material.(4) Further to the requirements set out elsewhere in this part, the Judicial Commissioner may only issue a warrant if—(a) there are reasonable grounds for believing that an indictable offence has been committed, and(b) there are reasonable grounds for believing that the material is likely to be of substantial value to the investigation in connection to the offence at (a), and(c) other proportionate methods of obtaining the material have been tried without success or have not been tried because they were assessed to be bound to fail, and(d) it is in the public interest having regard to:(i) the public interest in the protection of privacy and the integrity of personal data,(ii) the public interest in the integrity of communications systems and computer networks, and,(iii) the democratic interest in the confidentiality of correspondence with members of a relevant legislature.”This new clause would ensure that applications for a targeted equipment interference warrant or targeted examination warrant in relation to Parliamentarians are granted on application only to a Judicial Commissioner, removing the role of Secretary of State and applies additional safeguards to the correspondence of parliamentarians when a warrant for hacking is sought.New clause 24—Audit trail of equipment interference—“Any conduct authorised under a warrant issued under this Part must be conducted in a verifiable manner, so as to produce a chronological record of documentary evidence detailing the sequence of activities (referred to hereafter as ‘the audit trail’).”See amendment 387.Amendment 178, in clause 90, page 68, line 24, leave out subsection (1)(b).See amendment 186.Amendment 133, page 68, line 26, after “activity” insert“where each person is named or otherwise identified”.See amendment 131.Amendment 134, page 68, line 29, after “operation” insert“where each person is named or otherwise identified”.See amendment 131.Amendment 179, page 68, line 31, leave out subsection (1)(e).See amendment 186.Amendment 180, page 68, line 33, leave out subsection (1)(f).See amendment 186.Amendment 181, page 68, line 35, leave out subsection (1)(g).See amendment 186.Amendment 182, page 68, line 38, leave out subsection (1)(h).See amendment 186.Amendment 187, page 68, line 40, at end insert—“(1A) A targeted equipment interference warrant may only be issued in relation to any of the matters that fall under subsection (1) if the persons, equipment, or location to which the warrant relates are named or specifically identified using a unique identifier.”This amendment would ensure that all targets of hacking are properly named or otherwise identified.Amendment 352, page 68, line 44, leave out paragraph (b).See amendment 357.Amendment 135, page 68, line 45, after “activity” insert“where each person is named or otherwise identified”.See amendment 131.Amendment 136, page 68, line 47, after “operation” insert“where each person is named or otherwise identified”.See amendment 131.Amendment 353, page 69, line 1, leave out paragraph (d).See amendment 357.Amendment 354, page 69, line 3, leave out paragraph (e).See amendment 357.Amendment 188, page 69, line 4, at end insert—“(2A) A targeted examination warrant may only be issued in relation to any of the matters that fall under subsection (2) if the persons, equipment, or location to which the warrant relates are named or specifically identified using a unique identifier.”This amendment would ensure that all targets of hacking are properly named or specifically identified.Amendment 239, in clause 91, page 69, line 9, leave out “Secretary of State” and insert “Judicial Commissioners”.Amendment 240, page 69, line 11, leave out “Secretary of State” and insert “Judicial Commissioners”.Amendment 241, page 69, line 14, leave out “Secretary of State” and insert “Judicial Commissioners”.Amendment 242, page 69, line 17, leave out subsection (3)(d).Amendment 358, page 69, line 17, leave out paragraph (d) and insert—“(d) the Judicial Commissioner has reasonable grounds for believing that the material sought is likely to be of substantial value to the investigation or operation to which the warrant relates.”See amendment 361.Amendment 243, page 69, line 20, leave out “Secretary of State” and insert “Judicial Commissioners”.Amendment 244, page 69, line 22, leave out “Secretary of State” and insert “Judicial Commissioners”.Amendment 245, page 69, line 24, leave out “and”.Amendment 246, page 69, line 25, leave out subsection (2)(b).Amendment 247, page 69, line 31, leave out “Secretary of State” and insert “Judicial Commissioners”.Amendment 248, page 69, line 33, leave out “Secretary of State” and insert “Judicial Commissioners”.Amendment 249, page 69, line 35, leave out “Secretary of State” and insert “Judicial Commissioners”.Amendment 250, page 69, line 38, leave out “Secretary of State” and insert “Judicial Commissioners”.Amendment 251, page 69, line 43, leave out subsection (3)(d).Amendment 252, page 69, line 46, leave out subsection (4).Amendment 359, page 70, line 8, after “crime” insert“where there is reasonable suspicion that a serious criminal offence has been or is likely to be committed”.See amendment 361.Amendment 360, page 70, line 11, at end insert—‘(5A) A warrant may be considered necessary only where there is a reasonable suspicion that a serious criminal offence has been or is likely to be committed in relation to the grounds falling within this section.”See amendment 361.Amendment 361, page 70, line 25, at end insert—“(10) A warrant may only authorise targeted equipment interference or targeted examination as far as the conduct authorised relates—(a) to the offence as specified under (5)(b), or(b) to some other indictable offence which is connected with or similar to the offence as specified under (5)(b)”.These amendments would require that there is reasonable suspicion of serious crime for a warrant authorising equipment interference to be issued. These amendments would introduce a requirement that warrants are only granted where there are reasonable grounds for believing material to be obtained will be of substantial value to the investigation or operation; the requirement of a threshold of reasonable suspicion that a serious criminal offence has been committed in order for a warrant to be granted; and the requirement that warrant applications contain this information. This amendment would require that a warrant only authorises conduct in relation to the offence for which the warrant was sought, or other similar offences.Amendment 258, page 70, line 26, leave out Clause 92.Amendment 253, in clause 93, page 71, line 21, leave out “Secretary of State” and insert “Judicial Commissioners”.Amendment 254, page 71, line 23, leave out “Secretary of State” and insert “Judicial Commissioners”.Amendment 255, page 71, line 25, leave out “Secretary of State” and insert “Judicial Commissioners”.Amendment 256, page 71, line 28, leave out “Secretary of State” and insert “Judicial Commissioners”.Amendment 257, page 71, line 31, leave out subsection (1)(d).Amendment 382, page 71, line 31, leave out subsection (d) and insert—“(d) the Judicial Commissioner has reasonable grounds for believing that the material sought is likely to be of substantial value to the investigation or operation to which the warrant relates.”See amendment 362.Amendment 362, page 71, line 35, leave out from “include” to the end of line 36 and insert—“(a) the requirement that other proportionate methods of obtaining the material have been tried without success or have not been tried because they were assessed to be bound to fail, and(b) the requirement that a “Cyber-Security Impact Assessment” has been conducted by the Investigatory Powers Commissioner’s technical advisors with regard to the specific equipment interference proposed, accounting for—(i) the risk of collateral interference and intrusion, and(ii) the risk to the integrity of communications systems and computer networks, andthe risk to public cybersecurity.”These amendments require a technical assessment of proportionality accounting for the risks of the conduct proposed. These requirements would apply when applications from the intelligence services, the Chief of Defence Intelligence and law enforcement are considered. These amendments would introduce a requirement that warrants are only granted where there are reasonable grounds for believing material to be obtained will be of substantial value to the investigation or operation; the requirement of a threshold of reasonable suspicion that a serious criminal offence has been committed in order for a warrant to be granted; and the requirement that warrant applications contain this information.Amendment 363, page 71, line 40, leave out Clause 94.Government amendments 88 to 91.Amendment 259, page 72, line 18, leave out Clause 95.Amendment 364, in clause 96, page 72, line 37, leave out“law enforcement chief described in Part 1 or 2 of the table in Schedule 6”and insert “Judicial Commissioner”.See amendment 383.Amendment 365, page 72, line 38, leave out“person who is an appropriate law enforcement officer in relation to the chief”and insert“law enforcement chief described in Part 1 of the table in Schedule 6”.See amendment 383.Amendment 366, page 72, line 41, leave out “law enforcement chief” and insert “Judicial Commissioner”.See amendment 383.Amendment 367, page 73, line 1, leave out “law enforcement chief” and insert “Judicial Commissioner”.See amendment 383.Amendment 368, page 73, line 4, leave out “law enforcement chief” and insert “Judicial Commissioner”.See amendment 383.Amendment 369, page 73, line 7, leave out paragraph (d).See amendment 383.Amendment 370, page 73, line 10, leave out“law enforcement chief described in Part 1 of the table in Schedule 6”and insert “Judicial Commissioner”.See amendment 383.Amendment 371, page 73, line 11, leave out“person who is an appropriate law enforcement officer in relation to the chief”and insert“law enforcement chief described in Part 1 of the table in Schedule 6”See amendment 383.Amendment 372, page 73, line 13, leave out “law enforcement chief” and insert “Judicial Commissioner”.See amendment 383.Amendment 373, page 73, line 17, leave out “law enforcement chief” and insert “Judicial Commissioner”.See amendment 383.Amendment 374, page 73, line 20, leave out “law enforcement chief” and insert “Judicial Commissioner”.See amendment 383.Amendment 375, page 73, line 23, leave out paragraph (d).See amendment 383.Amendment 376, page 73, line 26, leave out subsection (3).See amendment 383.Amendment 261, page 73, line 26, leave out “law enforcement chief” and insert “Judicial Commissioner”.Amendment 377, page 73, line 32, leave out paragraphs (b) and (c).Amendment 378, page 73, line 38, after “Where” insert“an application for an equipment interference warrant is made by a law enforcement chief and”.See amendment 383.Amendment 379, page 73, line 42, leave out subsections (6) to (10).See amendment 383.Government amendment 92.Amendment 380, page 74, line 15, leave out“whether what is sought to be achieved by the warrant could reasonably be achieved by other means”and insert—“(a) the requirement that other proportionate methods of obtaining the material have been tried without success or have not been tried because they were assessed to be bound to fail, and(b) the requirement that a “Cyber-Security Impact Assessment” has been conducted by the Investigatory Powers Commissioner’s technical advisors with regard to the specific equipment interference proposed, accounting for—(i) the risk of collateral interference and intrusion, and(ii) the risk to the integrity of communications systems and computer networks, andthe risk to public cybersecurity.”See amendment 383.Amendment 381, in clause 96, page 74, line 18, leave out subsections (12) and (13)See amendment 383.Amendment 210, in clause 97, page 74, line 40, leave out“review the person’s conclusions as to the following matters”and insert “determine”.Amendment 211, page 75, line 1, leave out subsection (2).Amendment 270, page 75, line 1, leave out from “must” to end of line 2, and insert“subject a person’s decision to issue a warrant under this Chapter to close scrutiny to ensure that the objective in issuing a warrant is sufficiently important to justify any limitation of a Convention right”.An amendment to clarify the role of judicial commissioners. This amendment is an alternative to amendments 210 and 211 (which are a package).Amendment 183, in clause 101, page 78, leave out lines 21 to 27.See amendment 186.Amendment 184, page 79, leave out lines 3 to 7.See amendment 186.Amendment 185, page 79, leave out lines 8 to 12.See amendment 186.Amendment 186, page 79, leave out lines 13 to 18.These amendments refine the matters to which targeted equipment interference warrants may relate by removing vague and overly broad categories including equipment interference for training purposes.Amendment 386, page 79, line 21, leave out paragraph (b) and insert—“(b) precisely and explicitly the method and extent of the proposed intrusion and measures taken to minimise access to irrelevant and immaterial information, and(c) in a separate “Cyber-Security Impact Assessment”,(i) the risk of collateral interference and intrusion, and(ii) the risk to the integrity of communications systems and computer networks, and(iii) the risk to public cybersecurity, and how those risks and damage will be eliminated or corrected.”See amendment 387.Amendment 387, page 79, line 23, at end insert—“(c) the basis for the suspicion that the target is connected to a serious crime or a specific threat to national security, and(d) in declaration with supporting evidence,(i) the high probability that evidence of the serious crime or specific threat to national security will be obtained by the operation authorised, and(ii) how all less intrusive methods of obtaining the information sought have been exhausted or would be futile.”These amendments require a technical assessment of proportionality accounting for the risks of the conduct proposed. These requirements would apply when applications from the intelligence services, the Chief of Defence Intelligence and law enforcement are considered. They would introduce a requirement that all equipment interference produces a verifiable audit trail. These amendments would introduce a requirement that warrants are only granted where there are reasonable grounds for believing material to be obtained will be of substantial value to the investigation or operation; the requirement of a threshold of reasonable suspicion that a serious criminal offence has been committed in order for a warrant to be granted; and the requirement that warrant applications contain this information.Amendment 355, page 79, leave out lines 31 to 36.See amendment 357.Amendment 356, page 79, leave out lines 37 to 44.See amendment 357.Amendment 357, page 80, leave out lines 8 to 12.These amendments would ensure that all targets of hacking are properly named or specifically identified. Warrants may still be granted where the equipment in question belongs to or is in the possession of an individual or more than one person where the warrant is for the purpose of a single investigation or operation; or for equipment in a particular location or equipment in more than one location where for the purpose of a single investigation or operation.Amendment 388, in clause 102, page 80, line 23, leave out “6” and insert “1”.This specifies that hacking warrants may only last for one month.Government amendments 93 to 96.Amendment 149, page 82, line 1, leave out clause 104.Government amendments 97 to 100.Amendment 150, page 83, line 36, leave out clause 105.Government amendments 101 to 113.Amendment 151, page 84, line 34, leave out clause 106.Government amendments 114 to 120.Amendment 152, page 85, line 40, leave out clause 107.Amendment 173, page 87, line 26, leave out clause 109.Amendment 174, page 88, line 7, leave out clause 110.Government amendments 121 and 122.Amendment 175, page 88, line 35, leave out clause 111.Amendment 176, in clause 114, page 92, line 6, leave out subsection (3)(e).Amendment 177, page 92, line 8, leave out subsection (3)(f).Government amendment 123.Amendment 302, in clause 116, page 93, line 39, at end insert—‘(4) In proceedings against any person for an offence under this section in respect of any disclosure, it is a defence for the person to show that the disclosure was in the public interest.”An amendment to introduce a public interest defence for equipment interference disclosures.Government amendment 124.Amendment 383, in schedule 6, page 214, line 7, leave out part 2.These amendments remove the power for law enforcement chiefs to issue equipment interference warrants on application from law enforcement officers and replace it with the power for Judicial Commissioners to issue equipment interference warrants on application from law enforcement chiefs. They also remove the power to issue equipment interference warrants from other officers listed in Part 2, Schedule 6. These amendments require a technical assessment of proportionality accounting for the risks of the conduct proposed. These requirements would apply when applications from the intelligence services, the Chief of Defence Intelligence and law enforcement are considered.Government amendments 125 and 126.Government new clause 10.Amendment 488, page 167, line 9, leave out clause 216.This amendment would remove the provision for national security notices.Government amendment 78.Amendment 196, in clause 216, page 167, line 14, after “State”, insert“and Investigatory Powers Commissioner consider”.See amendment 205.Amendment 197, page 167, line 32, after “State”, insert“and Investigatory Powers Commissioner”.See amendment 205.Government amendment 79.Amendment 489, page 167, line 35, leave out clause 217.This amendment would remove the provision for technical capability notices.Government amendments 80 and 81.Amendment 198, page 168, line 9 [Clause 217], after “State”, insert “and Investigatory Powers Commissioner consider”.See amendment 205.Government amendment 82.Amendment 199, page 168, line 27 [Clause 217], after “State”, insert “and Investigatory Powers Commissioner”.See amendment 205.Government amendment 83.Amendment 200, page 168, line 36 [Clause 217], after “State”, insert “and Investigatory Powers Commissioner”.See amendment 205.Amendment 201, page 168, line 40 [Clause 217], after “State”, insert “and Investigatory Powers Commissioner”.See amendment 205.Government amendments 84 and 85.Amendment 490, page 169, line 2, leave out clause 218.Consequential amendment following deletion of national security and technical capability notices.Amendment 202, page 169, line 6 [Clause 218], after “State”, insert “and Investigatory Powers Commissioner”.See amendment 205.Amendment 203, page 169, line 8 [Clause 218], after “State”, insert “and Investigatory Powers Commissioner”.See amendment 205.Government amendment 86.Amendment 204, page 169, line 20 [Clause 218], after “State”, insert “and Investigatory Powers Commissioner”.See amendment 205.Amendment 205, page 169, line 34 [Clause 218], after “State”, insert “and Investigatory Powers Commissioner”.National Security and Technical Capability Notices should be subject to a double lock authorisation by the Secretary of State and the Investigatory Powers Commissioner.Government amendment 87.Amendment 491, page 170, line 10, leave out clause 219.Consequential amendment following deletion of national security and technical capability notices.Amendment 492, page 170, line 38, leave out clause 220.Consequential amendment following deletion of national security and technical capability notices. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-06b.934.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g935.1 | |
| With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:Government new clause 6—Civil liability for certain unlawful interceptions.New clause 4—Offence of unlawful use of investigatory powers—“(1) A relevant person is guilty of an offence if—(a) by way of conduct described in this Act, he knowingly or recklessly obtains the communications, communications data, secondary data, equipment data or personal information of an individual, and(b) the person does not have lawful authority to make use of the investigatory power concerned.(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to a relevant person who shows that the person acted in the reasonable belief that the person had lawful authority to obtain the information referred to in subsection (1)(a).(3) In this section “relevant person” means a person who holds an office, rank or position with a relevant public authority (within the meaning of Part 3).(4) A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable—(a) on summary conviction in England and Wales—(i) to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months (or 6 months, if the offence was committed before the commencement of section 154(1) of the Criminal Justice Act 2003), or(ii) to a fine, or to both;(b) on summary conviction in Scotland—(i) to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months, or(ii) to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum, or to both;(c) on summary conviction in Northern Ireland—(i) to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months, or(ii) to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum, or to both;(d) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or to a fine, or to both.(5) The offence in this section shall have precedence over any other relevant offences in the Data Protection Act 1998, Wireless Telegraphy Act 2006, Computer Misuse Act 1990, and the common law offence of misfeasance in public office.”On behalf of the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament, to provide for a unified offence for the misuse of intrusive investigatory powers at the beginning of the Bill, in Part 1, rather than having each offence scattered throughout the Bill or in other legislation.New clause 21—General duties in relation to privacy—“(1) Subsection (2) applies where a public authority is deciding whether—(a) to issue, renew or cancel a warrant under Part 2, 5, 6 or 7,(b) to modify such a warrant,(c) to approve a decision to issue, renew or modify such a warrant,(d) to grant, approve or cancel an authorisation under Part 3,(e) to give a notice in pursuance of such an authorisation or under Part 4 or section 216, 217 or 220,(f) to vary or revoke such a notice,(g) to approve a decision to give a notice under section 216 or 217, or(h) to apply for or otherwise seek any issue, grant, giving, modification, variation or renewal of a kind falling within paragraph (a), (b), (d), (e) or (f).(2) The public authority must give effect to—(a) the requirements of the Human Rights Act 1998, and(b) other requirements of public law.(3) The public authority must also have regard to—(a) whether what is sought to be achieved by the warrant, authorisation or notice could reasonably be achieved by other less intrusive means,(b) the public interest in the integrity and security of telecommunication systems and postal services, and(c) any other aspects of the public interest in the protection of privacy.(4) The duties under subsection (3)—(a) apply so far as they are relevant in the particular context, and(b) are subject to the need to have regard to other considerations that are also relevant in that context.(5) The other considerations may, in particular, include—(a) the interests of national security or of the economic well-being of the United Kingdom,(b) the public interest in preventing or detecting serious crime,(c) other considerations which are relevant to—(i) whether the conduct authorised or required by the warrant, authorisation or notice is proportionate, or(ii) whether it is necessary to act for a purpose provided for by this Act.(6) In this section “public authority” includes the relevant judicial authority (within the meaning of section 66) where the relevant judicial authority is deciding whether to approve under that section an authorisation under Part 3.”This new clause sets out general duties in relation to privacy.Amendment 14, in clause 1, page 1, line 4, at end insert—“( ) This Act sets out the extent to which certain investigatory powers may be used to interfere with an individual’s privacy.”On behalf of the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament, to place privacy at the forefront of the legislation.Government amendments 26 to 34.New clause 1—Notification by the Investigatory Powers Commissioner—“(1) The Investigatory Powers Commissioner is to notify the subject or subjects of investigatory powers relating to the statutory functions identified in section 196, subsections (1), (2) and (3), including—(a) the interception or examination of communications,(b) the retention, accessing or examination of communications data or secondary data,(c) equipment interference,(d) access or examination of data retrieved from a bulk personal dataset,(e) covert human intelligence sources,(f) entry or interference with property.(2) The Investigatory Powers Commissioner must only notify subjects of investigatory powers under subsection (1) upon completion of the relevant conduct or the cancellation of the authorisation or warrant.(3) The notification under subsection (1) must be sent by writing within thirty days of the completion of the relevant conduct or cancellation of the authorisation or warrant.(4) The Investigatory Powers Commissioner must issue the notification under subsection (1) in writing, including details of—(a) the conduct that has taken place, and(b) the provisions under which the conduct has taken place, and(c) any known errors that took place within the course of the conduct.(5) The Investigatory Powers Commissioner may postpone the notification under subsection (1) beyond the time limit under subsection (3) if the Commissioner assesses that notification may defeat the purposes of an on-going serious crime or national security operation or investigation.(6) The Investigatory Powers Commissioner must consult with the person to whom the warrant is addressed in order to fulfil an assessment under subsection (5).”New clause 2—Referrals by the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament—“(1) Subsection (2) applies if the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament refers a matter to the Investigatory Powers Commissioner.(2) The Investigatory Powers Commissioner must inform the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament of the outcome of any investigation, inspection or audit arising from such a referral.”To allow the Intelligence and Security Committee to refer matters, on behalf of Parliament, to the Commissioner and to provide a mechanism for the Committee to be informed of the outcome.New clause 16—Investigatory Powers Commissioner: obligation to notify—“(1) The Investigatory Powers Commissioner is to notify the subject or subjects of investigatory powers relating to the statutory functions identified in section 196, subsections (1), (2) and (3), including—(a) the interception or examination of communications,(b) the retention, accessing or examination of communications data or secondary data,(a) equipment interference,(b) access or examination of data retrieved from a bulk personal dataset.(2) The Investigatory Powers Commissioner must only notify subjects of investigatory powers under subsection (1) upon completion of the relevant conduct or the cancellation of the authorisation or warrant.(3) The notification under subsection (1) must be sent by writing within ninety days of the completion of the relevant conduct or cancellation of the authorisation or warrant.(4) The Investigatory Powers Commissioner must issue the notification under subsection (1) in writing, including details of the provisions under which the conduct has taken place.(5) The Investigatory Powers Commissioner may postpone the notification under subsection (1) beyond the time limit under subsection (3) if the Commissioner assesses that notification may defeat the purposes of the on-going serious crime or national security operation or investigation.(6) The Investigatory Powers Commissioner must consult with the person to whom the warrant is addressed in order to fulfil an assessment under subsection (5).”This new Clause would ensure that individuals are informed after the event that they have been a subject of investigatory powers.Amendment 465, in clause 194, page 149, line 7, at end insert—“( ) There shall be a body corporate known as the Investigatory Powers Commission.( ) The Investigatory Powers Commission shall have such powers and duties as shall be specified in this Act.”See amendment 469.Amendment 466, page 149, line 12, at end insert—“(1A) The Investigatory Powers Commissioner must appoint—(a) the Chief Inspector, and(b) such number of Inspectors as the Investigatory Powers Commissioner considers necessary for the carrying out of the functions of the Investigatory Powers Commission.(1B) In appointing Investigators the Investigatory Powers Commissioner shall—(a) appoint an individual only if the Investigatory Powers Commissioner thinks that the individual—(i) has experience or knowledge relating to a relevant matter, and(ii) is suitable for appointment,(b) have regard to the desirability of the Investigators together having experience and knowledge relating to the relevant matters.(1C) For the purposes of subsection (2)(a) the relevant matters are those matters in respect of which the Investigatory Powers Commission has functions including, in particular—(a) national security;(b) the prevention and detection of serious crime;(c) the protection of privacy and the integrity of personal data;(d) the security and integrity of computer systems and networks;(e) the law, in particular, as it relates to the matters in subsections (-)(a) – (b);(f) human rights as defined in Section 9(2) of the Equality Act 2006.”See amendment 469.Amendment 295, page 149, line 19, leave out paragraph (a).A paving amendment for the proposed requirement on the Prime Minister to act on the recommendation of the relevant chief justice when appointing Judicial Commissioners.Amendment 296, page 149, line 20, leave out paragraph (b).A paving amendment for the proposed requirement on the Prime Minister to act on the recommendation of the relevant chief justice when appointing Judicial Commissioners.Amendment 297, page 149, line 21, leave out paragraph (c).A paving amendment for the proposed requirement on the Prime Minister to act on the recommendation of the relevant chief justice when appointing Judicial Commissioners.Amendment 7, page 149, line 23, at end insert—“(3A) The term of office of a person appointed under subsection (1)(a) as Investigatory Powers Commissioner must not begin before the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament has consented to the proposed appointee.”This amendment would require the appointment of the Investigatory Powers Commissioner to be agreed by the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament.Amendment 298, page 149, line 28, at end insert—“(5A) When appointing any person under subsection (1), the Prime Minister must act on the recommendation of—(a) the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, in relation to Judicial Commissioners appointed from England and Wales,(b) the Lord President of the Court of Session, in relation to Judicial Commissioners appointed from Scotland, and(c) the Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland, in relation to Judicial Commissioners appointed from Northern Ireland.”An amendment to require the Prime Minister to act on the recommendation of the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, the Lord President of the court of Session, or the Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland, when appointing Judicial Commissioners.Amendment 146, page 149, line 35, at end insert—“(7A) The Investigatory Powers Commissioner shall ensure that all judicial authorisation functions under this Act are carried out by different Commissioners from those who carry out the audit and inspection functions set out in this Part.”This amendment requires the Investigatory Powers Commissioner to ensure the separation of the judicial authorisation function from the ex post audit and inspection function..Amendment 467, page 149, line 35, at end insert—“(7A) The Prime Minister may make an appointment under subsection (1) only following a recommendation by—(a) The Judicial Appointments Commission;(b) The Judicial Appointments Board of Scotland; or(c) The Northern Ireland Judicial Appointments Commission.”See amendment 469.Amendment 468, page 149, line 35, at end insert—“(7A) The Chief Inspector is an Inspector and the Chief Inspector and the other Inspector are to be known, collectively, as the Inspectors.”See amendment 469.Amendment 469, page 150, line 2, at end insert—“(c) to the Investigatory Powers Commission are to be read as appropriate to refer to the body corporate, the Investigatory Powers Commission, and in so far as it will refer to the conduct of powers, duties and functions, those shall be conducted by either the Judicial Commissioners or the Inspectors as determined by this Act or by the Investigatory Powers Commissioner, consistent with the provisions of this Act.”The purpose of these amendments is to replace the proposal to create an Investigatory Powers Commissioner with provisions to create a new Investigatory Powers Commission. They would provide that no appointment can be made except pursuant to a recommendation by the independent bodies in England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland tasked with making judicial appointments in those jurisdictions.Government amendment 35.Amendment 8, in clause 196, page 152, line 9, at end insert—“(4A) In keeping matters under review in accordance with this section, the Investigatory Powers Commissioner must, in particular, keep under review the operation of safeguards to protect privacy.”On behalf of the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament, to make explicit that the Investigatory Powers Commissioner is required to scrutinise the underlying safeguards, procedures and processes relating to bulk powers, including the arrangements for the protection of, and control of access to, material obtained through their use.Amendment 18, in clause 197, page 153, line 8, after “Commissioner”, insert“or the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament.”On behalf of the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament, to allow the Prime Minister to issue directions at the request of the ISC (in addition to the Commissioner).Amendment 189, in clause 198, page 153, line 21, leave out“if the Commissioner considers that—”.See amendment 195.Amendment 472, page 153, line 21, leave out from “aware” to end of line 24.See amendment 477.Amendment 190, page 153, leave out line 23.See amendment 195.Amendment 191, page 153, leave out line 24.See amendment 195.Amendment 473, page 153, line 25, leave out subsections (2) to (5) and insert—“(2) The Investigatory Powers Commissioner may decide not to inform a person of an error in exceptional circumstances.(1) Exceptional circumstances under subsection (1) will arise if the public interest in disclosure is outweighed by a significant prejudice to—(a) national security, or(b) the prevention and detection of serious crime.”See amendment 477.Amendment 192, page 153, line 25, leave out subsection (2).See amendment 195.Amendment 193, page 153, line 29, leave out subsection (3).See amendment 195.Amendment 194, page 153, line 32, leave out subsection (4).See amendment 195.Amendment 474, page 153, line 44, at end insert—“(5A) Provide the person with such details of the submissions made by the public authority on the error and on the matters concerned pursuant to subsection (5) as are necessary to inform a complaint to the Investigatory Powers Tribunal.”See amendment 477.Amendment 195, page 154, line 6, leave out from “having” to end of line 9.These amendments will remove excessive restrictions on the Investigatory Powers Commissioner to instruct and inform individuals who have been subject to surveillance and will ensure that they are always notified of that fact when unlawful errors occur.Amendment 2, page 154, line 10, leave out subsection (7).Amendment 476, page 154, line 16, leave out paragraph (b).See amendment 477.Amendment 477, page 154, line 23, leave out paragraph (b).These amendments would amend the Bill to provide for the Commissioner to notify any relevant person of any error made pursuant to the activities in the Bill, in order to allow those individuals to consider whether a claim may lie to the Investigatory Powers Tribunal for redress. It makes provision for non-disclosure in circumstances where the public interest in disclosure would be outweighed by a significant risk of prejudice to national security or the prevention and detection of crime.Amendment 479, in clause 199, page 154, line 28, leave out “Judicial Commissioner” and insert “Investigatory Powers Commission”.See amendment 481.Amendment 478, page 154, line 34, at end insert—“(1A) A Judicial Commissioner may refer to the Investigatory Powers Tribunal any matter the Commissioner considers may have involved the unlawful use of investigatory powers.”See amendment 481.Amendment 480, page 154, line 35, leave out “Judicial Commissioner” and insert “Investigatory Powers Commission”.See amendment 481.Amendment 481, page 154, line 38, leave out subsections (3) and (4) and insert—“(3) In any circumstances where the Commission has identified a relevant error pursuant to section 198, the Commission must give such documents, information or other material as may be relevant to the investigation of the error to the Tribunal.(4) The duty in subsection (3) shall be exercised without request from the Tribunal.”These amendments would remove the requirement to consult the Secretary of State and would make clear that in circumstances where a relevant error has been identified, material should be provided to the Tribunal by the Commission. It would make clear that any potentially unlawful use of the powers in this Act may be referred to the Tribunal by the Commissioners. These amendments would remove the requirement to consult the Secretary of State before giving assistance direct to other public authorities.Amendment 482, in clause 203, page 159, line 2, at end insert—“(1A) A disclosure pursuant to subsection (1) will not constitute a criminal offence for any purposes in this Act or in any other enactment.(1B) In subsection (1), a disclosure for the purposes of any function of the Commissioner may be made at the initiative of the person making the disclosure and without need for request by the Investigatory Powers Commissioner.”This amendment would make it clear that voluntary, unsolicited disclosures are protected, and that any whistle-blower is also protected from criminal prosecution.Amendment 483, in clause 208, page 160, line 29, after “determination” insert“or ruling or decision, including relating to a procedural matter.”See amendment 486.Amendment 484, page 160, line 29, leave out from “Tribunal” to the end of line 30.See amendment 486.Amendment 485, page 161, line 8, leave out subsection (6).See amendment 486.Amendment 486, page 162, line 38, at end insert—“(6) After section 68(1) of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000, insert—(1A) Any hearing conducted by the Tribunal must be conducted in public, except where a special proceeding is justified in the public interest.(1B) Any determination by the Tribunal must be made public, except where a special proceeding may be justified in the public interest.(1C) A special proceeding will be in the public interest only where there is no alternative means to protect sensitive material from disclosure.(1D) Material will be sensitive material for the purposes of this Section if its disclosure would seriously prejudice (a) national security or (b) the prevention and detection of crime.(1E) Publication for the purposes of this Section will be seriously prejudicial if it would lead to a significant threat to life or of a serious physical injury to a person.(1F) The Tribunal shall appoint a person to represent the interests of a party in any special proceedings from which the party (and any legal representative of the party) is excluded.(1G) Such a person will be known as a Special Advocate.”These amendments make clear that all decisions, determinations and rulings can be appealed on a point of law.Amendment 487, page 162, line 38, at end insert—“(6) After Section 4(5)(f) of the Human Rights Act 1998 insert—‘(g) the Investigatory Powers Tribunal.’”This amendment makes clear that all decisions, determinations and rulings can be appealed on a point of law.Government amendments 36 to 43 and 48. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-06b.870.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g870.5 | |
| The Minister now has a second opportunity to practise his oratory. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-06b.870.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g877.0 | |
| I am not sure whether “excited” is correct; I think “irritated” might be, but in my experience the right hon. Gentleman has never let that put him off in the past. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-06b.867.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g869.1 | |
| What I would say to the hon. Gentleman, to whom I am grateful, is as follows. First, the matter is not sub judice—he was not suggesting that it is, but I understand that it is not. Secondly, however, I think it prudent and wise to leave the investigating authorities to conduct their investigations, and not to seek to do so ourselves in this Chamber with an imagined expertise and authority. Last, when the hon. Gentleman seeks my wider guidance, I think it best to avoid the hypothetical and to deal with these matters as and when—but only as and when—they arise. We will leave it there. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-06b.865.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g866.1 | |
| On a different and unrelated matter, I am sure. The hon. Gentleman is nodding solemnly and sagely. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-06b.865.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g866.3 | |
| First, I think it best that Ministers who are going to visit colleagues’ constituencies are explicit and candid about these matters, subject only to security considerations. It is much better to tell colleagues what the visit is about than to deprive them of that information. Secondly, I must say that I have always found the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, who visited my own constituency recently, the very embodiment of courtesy. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-06b.865.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g866.5 | |
| That has been my experience of the Secretary of State—an extremely courteous individual. The right hon. and learned Lady says, “To you,” but generally I find the Secretary of State is courteous to most people. If there has been a lapse in this case, I regret that.Thirdly, I just say that is not worth the hassle with the hon. Gentleman, who is a very persistent terrier. My advice to anybody who is going to wander into his constituency on anything that might be considered to be official business is: tell the bloke in advance. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-06b.865.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g866.7 | |
| I did not quite hear the tail end of the hon. Gentleman’s question, but I am sure that he would not suggest that a Minister would deliberately refuse to give information that she had at the time. As for exactly what was known by the Minister, or what was available to Minister, or what was proffered to the Minister, I do not know. If a Minister has not given a correct answer it is incumbent on them to correct it as quickly as possible. If the hon. Gentleman is dissatisfied, as he clearly is, he has the resources of the Table Office open to him to table a question, including a question for a named day. If he is dissatisfied with the answer to that named day question, or does not receive a substantive answer, there is an arsenal of parliamentary weapons available to him, especially if he judges the matter to be urgent. I will leave the hon. Gentleman, who is a wily and experienced parliamentarian, to his own devices. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-06b.865.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g867.1 | |
| That was a bit cheeky of the hon. Gentleman. He will have an opportunity to dilate in due course, but in the first instance, he should stick to the terms of the question—and the puckish grin on his face shows that he knows he has gone a bit beyond the boundary. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-06b.840.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g841.1 | |
| He certainly should not be locked up! https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-06b.840.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g841.3 | |
| Ah, the Chair of the Home Affairs Committee—Mr Nigel Keith Anthony Standish Vaz. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-06b.840.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g845.1 | |
| On prisons, in particular, rather than boats. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-06b.840.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g849.2 | |
| I am sure the hon. Gentleman intended to insert the word “inadvertently” before the word “misleading”. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-06b.818.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g819.4 | |
| Order. Edinburgh and south-east Scotland are a very long way from Hove. Notwithstanding the hon. Gentleman’s considerable ingenuity, I find it hard to see how he can relate this to Hove. He should be patient and have another go on another question. Keep waiting, man, and keep in good spirits. We will get you in somehow. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-06b.824.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g825.1 | |
| I am sure its residents will feel excitement and anticipation in equal measure. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-06b.828.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g828.8 | |
| Order. We must move on. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-06-06b.834.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g840.2 | |
| The short answer to the hon. Gentleman is that that is a matter initially for consideration by the Procedure Committee, of which I had thought he was himself a distinguished ornament. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-26b.732.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g810.1 | |
| The nod of the head has sufficed to confirm that my recollection is correct. What is more, the Committee is chaired, with alacrity and distinction, by the hon. Member for Broxbourne (Mr Walker), so the wise heads on that Committee can deliberate on the matter and take evidence as they see fit, and even pronounce in due course, and then the normal processes of the House will be available, and probably required, for the matter to be further considered. I have expressed views on that matter in the past, but on this occasion I will spare the House that burden. I thank the hon. Gentleman for his point of order. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-26b.732.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g811.1 | |
| Order. As the House will know, my normal practice is to seek to accommodate everyone who is interested in coming in on the business question. That is, of course, much more challenging today, given that there is a statement to follow and no fewer than 49 hon. and right hon. Members are seeking to catch my eye in the main debate. Therefore, there is a premium on single, short supplementary questions without preamble, the seminar on which will be led by Rebecca Pow. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-26b.692.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g695.1 | |
| Order. Time is becoming very constrained and it is almost certain that some people will not get in, but brevity will help. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-26b.692.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g708.5 | |
| Order. That is all very well, but it has nothing to do with Government policy now, or the particular case with which we are dealing. We must deal with things in an orderly way. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-26b.682.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g686.3 | |
| I have received no such indication at all, but I hope that the hon. Lady is satisfied that she has put her point on the record, which I think was her principal—indeed, perhaps her only—concern. If there are no further points of order—I sincerely hope there are not, because there should not be, and therefore there cannot be, and therefore there will not be—we come to the business question. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-26b.690.8&s=speaker%3A10040#g691.1 | |
| I am sure that the hon. Member for Mid Dorset and North Poole (Michael Tomlinson) will put that tribute on his website in a matter of minutes. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-26b.664.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g665.5 | |
| Ingenuity is a valuable parliamentary commodity. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-26b.668.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g668.5 | |
| Order. We will get to the hon. Member for Cheltenham (Alex Chalk) in due course. He need fear not. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-26b.670.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g670.10 | |
| This is in relation to those in prison, having been found guilty of child neglect and abuse—it is fair to say that it is a testing question. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-26b.671.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g672.1 | |
| I hope that “shortly” means well before the summer recess. That seems to be a very tardy response indeed. This is really not very satisfactory. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-26b.678.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g680.8 | |
| Order. Just before I call the hon. Member for Ross, Skye and Lochaber (Ian Blackford) to put his urgent question, I would emphasise that although it of course covers an extremely important matter—and is, by definition, urgent—exchanges on it should be completed by 11 o’clock. We have the business question to follow, and a ministerial statement by way of an update on the steel industry and a very heavily subscribed main debate thereafter. The time limits will therefore need to be strictly enforced. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-26b.678.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g682.2 | |
| Order. A seven-minute limit on Back-Bench speeches will now apply. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-25b.542.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g624.1 | |
| Order. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-25b.542.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g619.2 | |
| Yes, points of order. It is usually at least a three-course meal in my experience. We will start with Anne Main. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-25b.538.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g539.2 | |
| I am grateful to the hon. Lady for her point of order and for her courtesy in giving me advance notice of its thrust. I also note that she has expressed her disappointment in the Government in very forceful terms. She is most assiduous in pursuing this matter, and I say to her that it is, to put it mildly, regrettable that the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills is late in responding to a request from the Procedure Committee. That should not happen. If there is a Whip on the Treasury Bench, he or she should note that it is frankly unacceptable. If there is not, that message should be relayed to the relevant Whip sooner rather than later. I am sure that the lapse, which will be very unsatisfactory, not least to the Chair of the Procedure Committee, the hon. Member for Broxbourne (Mr Walker), and his colleagues on the Committee, will have been noted on the Treasury Bench. I hope that it will be duly communicated to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills.If the hon. Member for St Albans (Mrs Main) has tabled questions that are orderly—they would not be on the Order Paper unless they were adjudged to be orderly—they should receive replies and quickly. My advice to the hon. Lady is to look for those replies each day from now on. If she does not get them, I rather imagine that she will return to the subject. In the interests of propriety, however, the Department should now provide those answers. Its performance is unsatisfactory. I do not want to use the word “shameful”, but it is unsatisfactory. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-25b.538.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g539.4 | |
| No, no request to issue a clarification has been made to me. If memory serves me correctly, the line of the Government that no investigation is under way was put by the Defence Secretary in response to the urgent question yesterday—that is my recollection—although, as the hon. Lady says, that is a different stance from that proffered by the Foreign Secretary at oral questions. It is not entirely novel for there to be different statements on the same subject emanating from representatives of different Departments. If a Minister thinks, in the light of the facts, that he needs to correct the record of what he said—I think the hon. Lady has the Foreign Secretary in mind in this context—doubtless he will do so. If he does not, it is presumably because he judges there to be no need. In that situation, the hon. Lady must table questions if she wants further elucidation, but it would be useful to have clarity on the matter. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-25b.538.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g540.0 | |
| Order. I must ask the hon. Lady what on earth what was said outside the Chamber could possibly have to do with me in the Chair. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-25b.538.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g540.2 | |
| All sorts of things reflect badly or well, but it has got nothing to do with the Chair. If the Chair took responsibility for what people said outside this Chamber, I really would have a very, very large responsibility indeed. It is very kind of the hon. Lady if she wishes to invest me with that sort of imperial power, but I do not think I have it and I doubt the House would want me to either. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-25b.538.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g540.4 | |
| I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman. My short answer to his inquiry is that if the matter is urgent, in his judgment, he knows the recourse available to him, and it would then be for the Chair to judge whether the matter was urgent. Perhaps we can leave it there for now. The right hon. Member for Gordon (Alex Salmond) is stirring in his seat. [Interruption.] No, he does not have a point of order. Well, it is one thing to play with one’s own hair, but it is another thing to play with somebody else’s. I wondered whether there was a point of order brewing from the right hon. Gentleman, but there was not on this occasion—another time. I am sure he was being helpful. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-25b.538.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g541.0 | |
| I inform the House that I have selected the amendment in the name of the Leader of the Opposition. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-25b.542.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g542.3 | |
| Order. A great many people in Wales will be attending to our proceedings, and I must also inform the House that today we are visited by the eminent figure Cardinal Charles Bo from Rangoon in Burma. We want to impress him not only with the quality of our interrogation but with the decency of our behaviour, so a little less noise would be helpful. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-25b.523.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g524.5 | |
| Order. Let us hear Mr Glyn Davies. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-25b.524.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g525.1 | |
| We now come to questions to the Prime Minister. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-25b.525.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g527.1 | |
| Order. The right hon. Gentleman is a bit ahead of himself. There is a process to be followed. He can wait his turn. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-25b.525.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g527.3 | |
| Order. Members must calm themselves, and remain calm. Members on both sides should take their lead from the right hon. and learned Member for Rushcliffe (Mr Clarke), who always sits calmly and in a statesmanlike manner. That is the way to behave. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-25b.527.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g528.2 | |
| Order. This question will be heard. Those prating away should cease doing so. It is stupid, and counterproductive. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-25b.527.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g529.3 | |
| Order. I am looking for a question mark. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-25b.527.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g531.0 | |
| Order. I am sorry to have to say to the hon. Lady that we now need one sentence with a question mark at the end of it, and it had better be a short one. Sorry, but we must press on. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-25b.527.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g536.1 | |
| Order. I hope that this sentence is coming to an end and that there will be a question mark at the end of it. Very briefly! https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-25b.527.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g536.5 | |
| I must tell the House that nominations closed at 5 o’clock this afternoon for candidates for the post of Chair of the Backbench Business Committee. One nomination has been received. A ballot will therefore not be held tomorrow. I congratulate Mr Ian Mearns upon his re-election as Chair of the Committee. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-24c.506.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g507.0 | |
| Order. A further 29 hon. Members are seeking to catch my eye and I am keen to accommodate all of them on this important statement, the timing of which was flagged up last week by the Government, but there are also about 30 people seeking to contribute to the subsequent debate, so pithiness personified is what we require. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-24c.410.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g415.3 | |
| I earnestly hope that the hon. Member for Twickenham was here at the start of the statement. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-24c.400.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g408.5 | |
| That is good enough for me. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-24c.400.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g408.7 | |
| Very prudent, especially as the question related to press freedom. It was rather naughty of the hon. Member for Thirsk and Malton (Kevin Hollinrake) to seek to divert the Minister from the path of virtue, but he was not so tempted. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-24c.385.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g387.1 | |
| We are very glad that the Minister is spending his time in the Foreign Office so profitably and is becoming so learned. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-24c.385.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g387.6 | |
| I congratulate the Foreign Secretary on following my excellent example in Speaker’s House, where for five years we have had a first-class cat who has done the necessary. Its name, of course, is Order. [Laughter.] https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-24c.392.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g392.10 | |
| I think we all know that the hon. Member for Shipley (Philip Davies) cannot be vetoed. He never has been, and he never will be. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-24c.394.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g398.1 | |
| Order. I am sorry to disappoint colleagues, but we must now move on. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-24c.394.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g400.1 | |
| Order. In fairness to the hon. Member for Harwich and North Essex (Mr Jenkin), he is at least here, which is more than can be said for the Chancellor of the Exchequer, to whom the question was directed. It appears that, as has happened on many occasions, the Chancellor has chosen to uncork the Gauke. We will now hear from Mr Bernard Jenkin. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-23a.260.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g261.3 | |
| Order. It should now have become clear, but for the avoidance of doubt, in particular for the benefit of those attending our proceedings who are not within the Chamber, these matters should be self-contained and readily intelligible. The request from the right hon. Member for Leicester East (Keith Vaz) was to the Minister to provide a statement on dietary advice and the childhood obesity strategy. All is now magnificently clear. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-23a.253.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g254.0 | |
| Order. We now come to an urgent question to be asked by Mr Bernard Jenkin. Not here. Where is the fella? https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-23a.253.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g260.1 | |
| I find it very hard to believe that the hon. Gentleman is in Brussels. [Interruption.] Order. Given that I have granted the hon. Gentleman’s application for an urgent question, it is a considerable a discourtesy for him not to be here at once. He should have been in the Chamber. This must not happen again. The hon. Gentleman is a very serious and conscientious parliamentarian. If you put a question in, man—be here. Let us hear it. I am sorry to be annoyed, but I am annoyed, because the House’s interests are involved. This is not just about the hon. Gentleman; it is about all the other Members who have bothered to be here on time and about the interests of the House. The Minister was here well in time, which is good, and the shadow Minister has toddled in—the hon. Member for Wolverhampton South West (Rob Marris) beetled into the Chamber just in time. Let us hear from the hon. Member for Harwich and North Essex (Mr Jenkin). https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-23a.253.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g260.3 | |
| In accordance with Standing Order No. 122D, I must announce the arrangements for the election of the Chair of the Backbench Business Committee for the new Session. If there is more than one candidate, the ballot will be held in Committee Room 16 from 11 am to 1.30 pm on Wednesday 25 May. Nominations must be submitted in the Table Office between 10 am and 5 pm on the day before the ballot, Tuesday 24 May. In accordance with the Standing Order, only Members who do not belong to a party represented in Her Majesty’s Government may be candidates in this election. A briefing note with more details about the election will be made available to Members and published on the intranet. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-19a.162.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g163.0 | |
| Let’s hope that Mummy Howlett is satisfied. If not, I dare say that we shall hear about it. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-19a.145.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g159.0 | |
| Has the Minister concluded? https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-19a.138.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g139.0 | |
| Order. The Minister of State is going about his duty in the conscientious way that we have come to expect. A significant number of young children are observing our proceedings this morning, and I rather doubt they will be greatly impressed by the Front-Bench deputies on each side of the House conducting a kind of verbal tug of war from which each of them should desist, partly in consideration of the children and partly out of respect for the Minister of State, from whom we should hear. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-19a.138.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g140.2 | |
| Order. The short answer to the hon. Gentleman is that if the Leader of the House was doing his business on the “Today” programme between 6 and 7 am, I was almost certainly in the swimming pool at the time. Talking of beheading, the hon. Gentleman is in some danger of beheading himself, because he has already had five minutes. I think he is in his last sentence. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-19a.125.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g127.0 | |
| Order. Before the Leader of the House responds, may I say to the former Chair of the Backbench Business Committee that I was cheering for Newcastle on Sunday, and how magnificent it was to see them beat Tottenham 5-1, therefore ensuring that Arsenal finished above Tottenham on the last day of the season. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-19a.125.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g134.3 | |
| Was the hon. Gentleman here at the start of business questions? https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-19a.125.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g136.0 | |
| I will give the hon. Gentleman the benefit of the doubt. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-19a.125.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g136.2 | |
| To reply to the debate, I call the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Transport, Mr Andrew Hanson Jones. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-18a.114.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g121.0 | |
| Order. The right hon. Gentleman will be as expert in maths as he is in many other matters, but he has 13 minutes to spare. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-18a.6.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g40.4 | |
| Order. Just before I call Mr Chishti, the Prime Minister did not say this, but I am going to say it: Members should not shriek at the Prime Minister, or indeed at the Opposition, for that matter. If Members want to try to intervene, they should do so with civility. I call Mr Rehman Chishti. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-18a.6.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g32.2 | |
| The essence of the hon. Gentleman’s point was encapsulated in that first sentence: customary, but it is not required. There is no obligation. Members may want the right hon. Gentleman to give way, but he is not obliged to do so. I gently say to the hon. Members for Winchester (Steve Brine) and for Sherwood (Mark Spencer) that they can have a go, but if the right hon. Gentleman does not want to give way they will not advance their cause by shouting. That, in itself, is uncivil, of which the hon. Member for North East Somerset (Mr Rees-Mogg) is never guilty. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-18a.6.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g17.2 | |
| Order. I am well aware that there are Members who want to intervene, and it is perfectly reasonable of them to want to intervene. Equally, there is no obligation on the Leader of the Opposition to give way. [Interruption.] Order. Somebody mutters from a sedentary position, “Too long.” The hon. Gentleman is entitled to his opinion; I am telling the House what the factual position is, however uncomfortable, which is that the right hon. Gentleman is in order. What is not in order is for Members to shout and barrack, in total violation of what has been set out at the start of our proceedings. I urge Members who may be irritated to behave with dignity. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-18a.6.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g19.3 | |
| Government Back Benchers should calm themselves; they have the moment they have been waiting for. I call the Prime Minister. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-18a.6.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g21.0 | |
| The House has directed the Speaker to make a statement at the beginning of each Session about the duties and responsibilities of hon. Members.I begin by reminding Members of their duty to observe the code of conduct agreed by the House, and to behave with civility and fairness in all their dealings. The House asserts its privilege of freedom of speech. It is there to ensure that our constituents can be represented by us without fear or favour. It is an obligation upon us all to exercise that privilege responsibly. It is enjoyed by Members of Parliament only in their work in this House: as private individuals we are equal under the law with those whom we represent. In our proceedings, every Member should be heard courteously, whatever their views.Parliament should be open to those whom it represents. We should seek to explain its work to those who elect us, and make them welcome here. The security of this building and those who work and visit here depends upon all of us. We have a duty to be vigilant, and to assist those whose job it is to maintain this place as a safe place to work.In this new Session of Parliament, I will be enforcing more closely the convention of Ministers taking up to 10 minutes when delivering an oral statement to the House. The official Opposition spokesperson may make a contribution of up to five minutes, and the third party spokesperson a maximum of two minutes. For urgent questions, the Minister may speak for up to three minutes; the person asking the urgent question and the official spokesperson, where different, a maximum of two minutes each; and the third party spokesperson a maximum of one minute. Members wishing to take part in statements, urgent questions and business questions must be in the Chamber, in accordance with very long-established convention, before they begin, and colleagues should not expect to be called to ask a question if they are not in their place as the statement, the urgent question or business questions begins.Before moving to the first business of the new Parliament, I would like to express my very best wishes for the 2016-17 Session to all hon. Members and all those who work here. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-18a.1.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g1.3 | |
| I have to acquaint the House that this House has this day attended Her Majesty in the House of Peers, and that Her Majesty was pleased to make a Most Gracious Speech from the Throne to both Houses of Parliament, of which I have, for greater accuracy, obtained a copy.I shall direct that the terms of the speech be printed in the Votes and Proceedings. Copies are already available in the Vote Office.The Gracious Speech was as follows:My Lords and Members of the House of CommonsMy Government will use the opportunity of a strengthening economy to deliver security for working people, to increase life chances for the most disadvantaged and to strengthen national defences.My Ministers will continue to bring the public finances under control so that Britain lives within its means, and to move to a higher wage and lower welfare economy where work is rewarded.To support the economic recovery, and to create jobs and more apprenticeships, legislation will be introduced to ensure Britain has the infrastructure that businesses need to grow.Measures will be brought forward to create the right for every household to access high speed broadband.Legislation will be introduced to improve Britain’s competitiveness and make the United Kingdom a world leader in the digital economy.My Ministers will ensure the United Kingdom is at the forefront of technology for new forms of transport, including autonomous and electric vehicles.To spread economic prosperity, my Government will continue to support the development of a Northern Powerhouse.In England, further powers will be devolved to directly elected mayors, including powers governing local bus services.Legislation will also allow local authorities to retain business rates, giving them more freedom to invest in local communities.My Government will support aspiration and promote home ownership through its commitment to build a million new homes.Following last week’s Anti-Corruption Summit in London, legislation will be introduced to tackle corruption, money laundering and tax evasion.My Government will continue work to deliver NHS services over seven days of the week in England. Legislation will be introduced to ensure that overseas visitors pay for the health treatment they receive at public expense.New legislation will be introduced to tackle some of the deepest social problems in society, and improve life chances.A Bill will be introduced to ensure that children can be adopted by new families without delay, improve the standard of social work and opportunities for young people in care in England.To tackle poverty and the causes of deprivation, including family instability, addiction and debt, my Government will introduce new indicators for measuring life chances. Legislation will be introduced to establish a soft drinks industry levy to help tackle childhood obesity.Measures will be introduced to help the lowest-income families save, through a new Help to Save scheme, and to create a Lifetime ISA to help young people save for the long-term.My Government will continue to reform public services so they help the hardest-to-reach.A Bill will be brought forward to lay foundations for educational excellence in all schools, giving every child the best start in life. There will also be a fairer balance between schools, through the National Funding Formula.To ensure that more people have the opportunity to further their education, legislation will be introduced to support the establishment of new universities and to promote choice and competition across the higher education sector.My Government will legislate to reform prisons and courts to give individuals a second chance.Prison Governors will be given unprecedented freedom and they will be able to ensure prisoners receive better education. Old and inefficient prisons will be closed and new institutions built where prisoners can be put more effectively to work.Action will also be taken to ensure better mental health provision for individuals in the criminal justice system.My Government will continue to work to bring communities together and strengthen society.Legislation will be introduced to prevent radicalisation, tackle extremism in all its forms, and promote community integration.National Citizen Service will be placed on a permanent statutory footing.My Government will continue to safeguard national security.My Ministers will invest in Britain’s armed forces, honouring the military covenant and meeting the NATO commitment to spend two per cent of national income on defence.They will also act to secure the long-term future of Britain’s nuclear deterrent.My Government will continue to play a leading role in world affairs, using its global presence to tackle climate change and address major international security, economic and humanitarian challenges.My Government will continue to work to resolve the conflict in Ukraine. It will play a leading role in the campaign against Da’esh and to support international efforts to bring peace to Syria through a lasting political settlement.Britain’s commitment on international development spending will also be honoured, helping to deliver global stability, support the Sustainable Development Goals and prevent new threats to national security.Prince Philip and I look forward to welcoming His Excellency the President of Colombia on a State Visit in November.My Government will continue with legislation to modernise the law governing the use and oversight of investigatory powers by law enforcement, security and intelligence agencies.Legislation will strengthen the capability and accountability of the police service in England and Wales.My Government will hold a referendum on membership of the European Union. Proposals will be brought forward for a British Bill of Rights.My Ministers will uphold the sovereignty of Parliament and the primacy of the House of Commons.My Government will continue to work in cooperation with the devolved administrations to implement the extensive new powers in the Scotland Act and establish a strong and lasting devolution settlement in Wales. My Government will work in Northern Ireland to secure further progress in implementing the Stormont House and Fresh Start Agreements.Members of the House of CommonsEstimates for the public services will be laid before you.My Lords and Members of the House of CommonsOther measures will be laid before you.I pray that the blessing of Almighty God may rest upon your counsels. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-18a.1.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g3.0 | |
| Before I call the mover and seconder of the Address, I can inform the House of the proposed subjects for the remaining days of debate on the Loyal Address: Thursday 19 May—transport and local infrastructure; Monday 23 May—defending public services; Tuesday 24 May—Europe, human rights and keeping people safe at home and abroad; Wednesday 25 May—education, skills and training; Thursday 26 May—economy and work. I shall first call Mrs Caroline Spelman to move, and then Dr Phillip Lee to second, the Address. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-18a.6.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g6.1 | |
| I have to acquaint the House that the House has been to the House of Peers where a Commission under the Great Seal was read, authorising the Royal Assent to the following Acts:Driving Instructors (Registration) Act 2016Criminal Cases Review Commission (Information) Act 2016House of Commons Members’ Fund Act 2016Immigration Act 2016Energy Act 2016Armed Forces Act 2016Housing and Planning Act 2016 https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-12a.762.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g762.1 | |
| I have further to acquaint the House that the Baroness Stowell of Beeston, one of the Lords Commissioners, delivered Her Majesty’s Most Gracious Speech to both Houses of Parliament, in pursuance of Her Majesty’s Command. For greater accuracy I have obtained a copy, and also directed that the terms of the Speech be printed in the Journal of this House. Copies are being made available in the Vote Office.The Speech was as follows:My Lords and Members of the House of CommonsMy Government’s legislative programme has pursued a one nation approach; helping working people by supporting aspiration and opportunity.My Ministers have continued in their long-term plan to deliver economic stability and security at every stage of life. To this end, work has continued to bring the public finances under control and to reduce the deficit.To support working people, legislation was passed to guarantee that key taxes would not rise during this Parliament, to ensure that those working 30 hours a week on the National Minimum Wage will not pay income tax and to increase the provision of free childcare to working families.To support aspiration and opportunity, legislation was passed to grant housing association tenants the right to own their home.My Ministers have pursued policies to reform the welfare system to modernise and deliver equity to tax-payers, including measures to cap welfare payments.In the first year of this Parliament, my Ministers have driven forward important constitutional reforms.Landmark legislation was enacted to enable a referendum on membership of the European Union to be held later this year.My Government has sought to develop a productive working relationship with the devolved administrations. In relation to Scotland, legislation was passed to implement the recommendations of the Smith Commission, devolving substantial new powers to the Scottish Parliament. A draft Bill was published setting out a new framework for devolution in Wales in accordance with the Saint David’s Day Agreement. Legislation was enacted to implement the Fresh Start Agreement and reform the welfare system in Northern Ireland.With regard to England, ground-breaking legislation was passed which will allow significant powers to be devolved to directly-elected Mayors, helping to create a Northern Powerhouse.In the House of Commons, changes have been implemented to create fairer procedures to ensure that decisions affecting England, or England and Wales, can only be taken with the consent of the majority of Members of Parliament representing constituencies in those parts of our United Kingdom.Modernising the public services continues to be a priority for my Ministers. Newly enacted legislation will deliver transparency to the way in which trades unions operate and will protect essential public services from strike action.Legislation was passed to improve schools, with new powers to turn around failing and coasting schools and create more academies. This legislation also made provision to establish regional adoption agencies in England to ensure every child can be provided with a stable home.It has been a key priority for my Government to achieve a strong, sustainable and balanced economy where the benefits are more evenly shared across the country and between industries.New legislation passed in this session will ensure that the Bank of England is well equipped to fulfil its vital role of overseeing monetary policy and financial stability.A Small Business Commissioner was established in statute to help small businesses compete and grow. Legislation was also passed to ease the regulatory burden on businesses.To help build a modern competitive workforce, the Institute for Apprenticeships was established as part of the drive to create three million high quality apprenticeships.In recognition of the vital role charities play, legislation was passed to give the Charity Commission new powers to protect the integrity of such bodies by preventing abuses of charitable status.The defence of the Realm is an utmost priority for my Government. In this session legislation has been passed to support our gallant armed forces. My Ministers will continue with legislation to provide a new framework to govern the use and oversight of investigatory powers by law enforcement and the security and intelligence agencies.My Ministers have pursued policies to reform the criminal justice system, including new legislation to improve the integrity and effectiveness of the police, and a comprehensive new framework to ban the new generation of psychoactive substances.The new Immigration Act will provide powers to tackle illegal working and the exploitation of workers, and make it easier to deport those with no legal right to remain.The Duke of Edinburgh and I were pleased to welcome His Excellency the President of The People’s Republic of China and Madame Peng in October, during whose visit my Government launched a new partnership with China. We enjoyed our fifth State Visit to Germany in June, and our visit to Malta in November, for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.My Government has continued to play a leading role in world affairs, promoting British interests and values, and protecting British citizens abroad, including in response to terrorist attacks in Tunisia, France, Belgium and elsewhere.My Ministers have been at the forefront of the European Union and international response to Russian aggression in Ukraine, successfully ensuring the maintenance of tough sanctions.My Government has played a leading role in the Global Coalition against Da’esh and co-hosted the London Syria conference which secured commitments to help refugees in Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey. With European Union and other international partners, my Ministers have worked to address irregular migration across the Mediterranean and its causes.The United Kingdom played a key role in delivering the Paris Climate Change Agreement.Members of the House of Commons, I thank you for the provisions which you have made for the work and dignity of the Crown and for the public services.My Lords and Members of the House of CommonsI pray that the blessing of Almighty God may rest upon your counsels. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-12a.762.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g763.0 | |
| The Commission was also for proroguing this present Parliament, and the Baroness Stowell of Beeston said:“My Lords and Members of the House of Commons:By virtue of Her Majesty’s Commission which has now been read, we do, in Her Majesty’s name, and in obedience to Her Majesty’s Commands, prorogue this Parliament to Wednesday the eighteenth day of this May to be then here holden, and this Parliament is accordingly prorogued to Wednesday the eighteenth day of May.”End of the First Session (opened on 18 May 2015) of the Fifty-Sixth Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in the Sixty-Fifth Year of the Reign of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-12a.765.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g765.1 | |
| I am very grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his point of order. Let me say the following. First, in so far as he has a concern about what he describes as the use of the Dispatch Box for “vicious party political campaigning”, that is somewhat beyond my purview. I have no ambition to try to bring an end to such activity, and I do not think that ambition would be a realistic one.Secondly, the hon. Gentleman has made his concern on this matter clear. As I said on Monday in response to his point of order on that occasion, what is said in this place by any Member—any Member—is the responsibility of that Member. It is for the Leader of the House to decide whether he wishes to correct or to clarify what he said about this matter. The hon. Gentleman referred to “vicious party political campaigning”, but, in trying to be helpful to him, I detect that what concerns him is what he judges to be an incorrect, inaccurate or false personal attack. My answer to that is that each Member must take responsibility. Members have parliamentary privilege. That parliamentary privilege must be used with care and responsibility. If it is not, it is damaging to the doctrine of parliamentary privilege and to the rights not only of the Member concerned but those of Members across the House. Whether it is necessary for anything to be said by the Leader of the House is not, at this stage, something that I can possibly judge. However, I have tried to give as full and fair a response to the hon. Gentleman as I can. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-12a.756.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g757.1 | |
| I thank the right hon. Gentleman for his point of order, and for his courtesy to me in providing notice of it. I understand that the Prime Minister has answered a written question on this matter today seeking to clarify what he said in the House, and this is available on the parliamentary website in the usual way. However, I appreciate that Members are here and they want a specific and informative reply. They may well not yet have consulted the parliamentary website.The question was tabled by the right hon. Member for Broadland (Mr Simpson) and was answered by the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister has answered:“I was referring to reports that Mr Gani supports an Islamic state. I am clear that this does not mean Mr Gani supports the organisation Daesh and I apologise to him for any misunderstanding.”As I have said before—indeed, only a few moments ago, in response to the hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull East (Karl Turner)—what a Member says in this place is the responsibility of that Member. I reiterate, as I often do, that, while parliamentary privilege is an essential protection of free speech, all Members should reflect carefully before criticising individuals. As “Erskine May” notes, it is“the duty of each Member to refrain from any course of action prejudicial to the privilege which he enjoys.”I have already referred to the written answer, and the right hon. Member for Haltemprice and Howden (Mr Davis) has referred to what I understand to be an apology issued by a spokesperson last night. It is not for the Chair to require a Member to apologise on the Floor of the House, but it is perfectly open to a Member to do so, and good grace and magnanimity in these circumstances are, I know, always appreciated. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-12a.756.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g758.1 | |
| Realistically, it seems to me that a statement cannot be made to the House for at least a week, and it may be for somewhat longer than that. I take very seriously the point of order that the hon. Lady has raised. I am bound to say that I recalled what was said during the business question last week, and I therefore rather anticipated that there would be such a statement today.Indeed, that expectation was shared by a very conscientious—not especially senior, but very conscientious —Government Whip who, when he approached me about another matter this morning, referred to the first of the statements. I advised him that there was only one Government statement today, to which he replied, “Oh, but Mr Speaker, I thought there was a statement on Syria.” I said, “Well, you are a member of the Government Whips Office, but you are obviously not fully in the know.”The answer is that there appears not to have been a statement on Syria, but the House was told that there would be one. Some private understanding may very well have been reached between the Front Benches—I have no way of knowing—but I would say that, whether or not that is the case, there must be respect for the rights of the House and its legitimate expectations as a whole. This is not just a matter of what Front Benches may or may not have agreed.I confess that I was looking forward to the statement, which seemed to me to be on a very important matter. The Government Chief Whip, who is unfailingly courteous to me and to all Members, is in his place and has heard what has been said. The Government made a very good commitment and I very much hope—let us just put it like that—that we can have the statement as soon as is practicable. There is a lot of parliamentary interest in the matter, and I know that the Government will not want to disappoint. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-12a.756.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g759.1 | |
| I am very grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for what he has said. By the way, people periodically irritate other people, but Members hardly ever irritate me. I am always happy to hear Members, and I was very happy to hear his hon. Friend the Member for Westmorland and Lonsdale (Tim Farron) yesterday. In fact, so keen was I to hear the hon. Gentleman that I called himself about 10 minutes into injury time. I am sure that the hon. Gentleman will not have any complaints. He is a robust character and can look after himself. In any case, he has a good sense of humour.I do not think that I can offer the prospect of a statement next Wednesday. That will simply not be practical. I think that we have to balance the understandable disappointment on the part of many Members about the fact that there has not been a statement today with a degree of reasonableness about when such a statement can take place. I do not think that we will serve the House by interrupting the Queen’s Speech debate next Wednesday. I do not think there is a precedent for that, and it is not necessary.However, I think the Government will be sensitive to the relative urgency of the matter. Certainly, if very disturbing news were to be included in that statement—I hope there would not be—that would, as it were, up the ante and emphasise that there is a premium on the delivery of such a statement at the earliest possible opportunity. I hope in future that, if commitments are made, they can be honoured, and then we will not have to have a re-run of this exchange. I note that the Leader of the House is now in the Chamber; he is welcome to respond to the point of order from the right hon. Gentleman if he wishes, but he is not under any obligation to do so. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-12a.756.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g760.1 | |
| The right hon. Gentleman is not under any obligation. I thought it would be wrong not to give him the chance.Sitting suspended.Sitting resumed. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-12a.756.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g761.0 | |
| Order. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-12a.728.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g734.1 | |
| Order. I would point out that the opening exchanges between the Secretary of State and the shadow Secretary of State have absorbed no fewer than 33 minutes, so I look first to the author of the textbook on brevity, from whom other right hon. and hon. Members should take their cue, Mr John Redwood. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-12a.728.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g738.0 | |
| The right hon. Gentleman is clearly saddened that his filial affection has not been reciprocated. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-12a.728.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g745.1 | |
| Order. As I have myself been reminded, Members will, I am sure, have it in the forefront of their minds to refer to national insurance numbers in the context of this urgent question. That is at its heart, as I feel sure Dr Eilidh Whiteford is well aware. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-12a.716.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g720.3 | |
| I call Sir Gerald Howarth. [Interruption.] I thought that the knight from Hampshire was standing. Never mind. We will hear from the hon. Gentleman on another occasion, I feel sure. I call Mr Damian Green. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-12a.716.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g723.3 | |
| Order. I am sure that the hon. Gentleman would not wish to suggest that a Minister had misrepresented someone else. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-12a.716.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g725.5 | |
| Order. May I gently point out that listening to and observing our proceedings today are quite a large number of schoolchildren? If they asked questions in class that are as long as the questions we are getting today, they would probably be put in detention. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-12a.716.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g726.4 | |
| Order. I am happy to hear the mellifluous tones of the hon. Member for Cleethorpes (Martin Vickers), but his inquiry must relate to Scotland rather than to Cleethorpes. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-12a.698.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g698.8 | |
| Very neat! https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-12a.698.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g699.0 | |
| Only last week, the hon. Member for Lichfield (Michael Fabricant) owned up to having brought a hedgehog into the Chamber some years ago—I am pleased to say that it was not during my tenure of the Chair. With all the reference to price comparison websites, I am glad that no one has thought it necessary to bring a meerkat into the Chamber. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-12a.702.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g702.7 | |
| We would reach the question tabled by the hon. Member for Cannock Chase (Amanda Milling) anyway, but if she feels an irresistible urge to ask a question now instead, she can do so. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-12a.705.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g705.7 | |
| We would take this question with Question 19 if the hon. Member for Montgomeryshire (Glyn Davies) were here, but he is not, so we will not. I do not know what has happened to the chappie, but I hope he is all right. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-12a.708.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g708.5 | |
| The Minister, rather like the hon. Member for Brent North (Barry Gardiner), cannot be accused of excluding from her observations anything that might be in any way, at any time, to any degree material. She is certainly comprehensive; we are most grateful. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-12a.711.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g712.1 | |
| The right hon. Gentleman is asking the Secretary of State whether he agrees with himself. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-11b.628.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g632.1 | |
| The hon. Gentleman will not require much encouragement if experience is anything by which to judge. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-11b.628.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g633.1 | |
| It is always useful to have a bit of information. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-11b.628.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g640.1 | |
| I draw the attention of the House to the fact that financial privilege is engaged by Lords amendment 47E. I must also inform the House that the motion relating to Lords amendment 47E is certified as relating exclusively to England. If the House divides on the certified motion, a double majority will be required for the motion to be passed. I call the Minister to move to disagree with Lords amendment 47E.Clause 72 https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-11b.640.8&s=speaker%3A10040#g641.1 | |
| Order. I am afraid the amount of noise regularly in the Chamber makes it necessary to outdo Barclays premier league matches in the provision of injury time. It is a pleasure to call Gill Furniss. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-11b.616.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g626.4 | |
| Lastly, Mr Tim Farron. [Interruption.] Order. However irritating the hon. Gentleman may be to Government Back Benchers, he has a right to be heard and he will be heard. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-11b.616.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g628.3 | |
| Order. I remind the House of what should be clear from what has already been said: namely, that this urgent question is not about whether to take child refugees from Europe—that matter has been decided by the House—but about when and how. It is about the implementation, the logistics and the timing, so let us focus our exchanges on that basis. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-10a.538.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g541.1 | |
| Order. There would be no discourtesy if the right hon. Member for Slough (Fiona Mactaggart) felt the need to leave the Chamber to put her device in order. She mentioned that she thought her phone was switched off, but in my experience, the right hon. Lady is never switched off. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-10a.538.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g545.4 | |
| Order. I have just been reminded by the hon. Member for Walsall North (Mr Winnick) that today is the 76th anniversary of Winston Churchill becoming Prime Minister. I note in passing, despite the absence—the relatively rare absence—of the hon. Member in question from the Chamber, that today is also the 76th birthday of the hon. Member for Stone (Sir William Cash). [Interruption.] Recover your composure, Mr Doughty. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-10a.538.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g549.4 | |
| Order. We are very time constrained, but I am very keen to get through a few more questions. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-10a.528.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g529.6 | |
| The Minister is an endlessly noble fellow—I think we are very clear about that. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-10a.532.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g533.5 | |
| Order. I shall call the hon. Member for Nottingham North if he guarantees that his grey cells will produce a one-sentence, pithy question. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-10a.532.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g538.0 | |
| That was possibly the hon. Gentleman’s greatest inquiry in his membership of the House. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-10a.532.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g538.2 | |
| Marvellous. I am sorry to disappoint remaining colleagues, but we must move on. I am most grateful to colleagues for their good humour. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-10a.532.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g538.4 | |
| I am very grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his point of order and for his courtesy in giving me advance notice of the thrust of it. The short answer to the hon. Gentleman is that what is said in this place by any Member is the responsibility of that Member. It is not the responsibility of the Chair. Clearly, we should all think carefully before making accusations against individuals. The hon. Gentleman has made his point and doubtless this exchange will be relayed to the Leader of the House. The hon. Gentleman can seek to secure a written reply from the Leader of the House if he so wishes, but I cannot involve myself further. I will leave the hon. Gentleman to his own devices. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-09b.412.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g413.1 | |
| I confess that I have made no such preparations. I would not wish to be accused of tardiness or irresponsibility by the hon. Gentleman or any other Member, but I have been preoccupied with other duties in the House today, including in the Chair and listening to the hon. Gentleman’s mellifluous tones. I have embarked thus far on no such preparations, but I have a hunch that he was more interested in what he had to say to me than in anything I might have had to say to him.Backbench Business https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-09b.412.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g414.1 | |
| Order. I say to Members on both sides of the House that there is far too much noise. Both sides and every Member must be heard. It is very simple. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-09b.392.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g397.0 | |
| Order. Mr Austin, you are as noisy now as you were in the debating chamber of the University of Essex student union where you noisily, belligerently and discourteously heckled me 30 years ago. [Interruption.] Order. The hon. Lady—and all Members—must be heard with courtesy. May I gently say to her that her chance of getting a courteous hearing will be increased if, rather than making a statement, she asks a question? https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-09b.392.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g398.2 | |
| Order. Members who came into the Chamber after the statement started—there were quite a number of them—should not expect to be called. In pursuit of a question, with a question mark at the end of it, I turn to the éminence grise of the Government Back Benches, Sir Alan Duncan. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-09b.392.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g399.1 | |
| I call Chloe Smith. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-09b.392.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g400.2 | |
| Some colleagues have a quaint idea about time-keeping. One hon. Member who was six minutes late has still not taken my hint. I do not wish to embarrass the poor fella, but he should not be standing. It is pretty straightforward. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-09b.392.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g400.6 | |
| Ah—I call my University of Essex contemporary, Mr Ian Austin. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-09b.392.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g404.7 | |
| I call Alex Chalk. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-09b.381.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g385.4 | |
| What an extraordinary and novel development—an hon. Member who does not indulge in superfluous repetition. The hon. Gentleman is in danger of winning a medal. It is an extraordinary development, and very welcome, I am sure. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-09b.381.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g385.6 | |
| The right hon. Gentleman was chuntering repeatedly from a sedentary position that he knew the answer to his own question, which is probably very wise and knowledge of which will enable us all to sleep much more soundly in our beds tonight. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-09b.381.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g388.0 | |
| I intend to do precisely nothing, other than to ask the Minister to tell the House what he and the Government will do. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-09b.381.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g390.2 | |
| Order. I have a strong sense that Members will be approaching the Chairman of the Backbench Business Committee to seek a debate on these matters. I say that because quite a lot of what we have heard has been nearer to debate contributions than to questions. I hope I can make that point gently. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-09b.381.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g391.4 | |
| Order. The eloquence might be worthy of Demosthenes, but I think the length would not. Questions must be shorter. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-09b.361.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g362.7 | |
| That was a very well informed answer, I am bound to say. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-09b.363.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g364.3 | |
| From the context of her question, I think that the hon. Lady was levelling the charge of inconsistency as between one Minister and another. I know she would not accuse a Minister of behaving hypocritically to another. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-09b.370.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g371.7 | |
| Well, if the reference were to the Government as a collective, that would be another way— https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-09b.370.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g372.0 | |
| That would render it orderly. I am very grateful to the hon. Member for Bolsover (Mr Skinner) for proffering advice, especially from a sedentary position. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-09b.370.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g372.2 | |
| Order. I do not want to keep our VIPs waiting too long—and they are our VIPs today—but there are a couple more Members whom I wish to accommodate. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-09b.374.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g378.0 | |
| Has the hon. Lady concluded her speech? https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-05b.320.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g326.0 | |
| Thank you. I was merely asking. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-05b.320.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g326.2 | |
| The right hon. Lady wants a statement on the matter. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-05b.308.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g316.2 | |
| It is always useful to have a bit of information. We are very greatly obliged to the Secretary of State, as we have learned more about her domestic arrangements. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-05b.289.10&s=speaker%3A10040#g290.3 | |
| The Minister is a veritable mine of information, is he not? We are deeply obliged to him, as I dare say the constituent of the hon. Member for Corby (Tom Pursglove) will be, to boot. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-05b.299.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g299.6 | |
| I call Sir David Amess—not here. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-05b.304.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g305.2 | |
| It was extremely succinct. We are greatly indebted to the hon. Gentleman.Question put and agreed to.Resolved,That this House notes the Government’s intention to implement a new funding formula for schools from April 2017; welcomes the Department for Education’s commitment to hold a detailed consultation on this proposal; calls on the Government to recognise the unique challenges schools in London face; and further calls on the Government to ensure that any changes to the funding model are both fair and proportionate to London’s needs. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-04b.241.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g278.3 | |
| I know that the hon. Member for Bromley and Chislehurst (Robert Neill) will make a brief wind-up speech. Even though he is a distinguished lawyer, if on this occasion he could confine himself to the norm of two or three minutes, we would all be greatly delighted, especially those who are waiting to present petitions and the Member who has the Adjournment debate. So the hon. Member for Bromley and Chislehurst really just has an opportunity to clear his throat. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-04b.241.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g278.0 | |
| Order. There is a certain amount of chirruping from the Treasury Bench and elsewhere on this matter, and I simply make two points. It is entirely for the Government to decide which Minister to field, but I say gently to the Secretary of State, and to the Deputy Leader of the House, that to sit on the Bench rather than to participate while these matters are debated, is one thing—particularly in the case of the Secretary of State—but to sit there fiddling ostentatiously with an electronic device defies the established convention of the House that such devices should be used without impairing parliamentary decorum. They are impairing parliamentary decorum, and in very simple terms the Secretary of State and the Deputy Leader of the House are being rank discourteous to the shadow Secretary of State and to the House. It is a point so blindingly obvious that only an extraordinarily clever and sophisticated person could fail to grasp it. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-04b.189.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g189.4 | |
| Order. I say to the Deputy Leader of the House: put the device away. If you do not want to put it away, get out of the Chamber. It is rude for the—[Interruption.] Order! I am not inviting a response from the hon. Lady. [Interruption.] Order! I am simply telling her that it is discourteous to behave like that—a point that most people would readily understand. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-04b.189.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g189.6 | |
| I have received no indication that the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change has any plans to make a statement to the House on that extremely important matter. The hon. Gentleman may be dissatisfied by that news. If he is, he has manifold ways in which to pursue the matter through the use of the Order Paper and the facility of this Chamber. Knowing his experience and dexterity, I feel sure that he will use all the instruments available to him. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-04b.185.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g188.1 | |
| Order. Before the Minister responds, two points should be made. First, I say in all courtesy and gently to the hon. Lady that she modestly exceeded her time allocation, but I am sure that that was inadvertent and will not be repeated on subsequent occasions.Secondly, equally courteously and gently, I say to the Minister, with reference to his final sentence commending his statement to the House, that he did not make a statement to the House. The Government could perfectly well have volunteered a statement to the House, but the reason the right hon. Gentleman is in the Chamber is that I required a Minister to attend the Chamber to answer the urgent question—capital U, capital Q—from the hon. Lady. It may seem a fine distinction to those attending our proceedings, but it is quite an important one. The right hon. Gentleman is here involuntarily and not voluntarily. I hope the position is now clear. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-04b.174.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g176.0 | |
| No, he does not need to be deported—we want him to answer the question. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-04b.174.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g177.1 | |
| I have to notify the House, in accordance with the Royal Assent Act 1967, that the Queen has signified her Royal Assent to the following Acts:Enterprise Act 2016Northern Ireland (Stormont Agreement and Implementation Plan) Act 2016Bank of England and Financial Services Act 2016Trade Union Act 2016Transport for London Act 2016. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-04b.184.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g184.7 | |
| That was very, very dedicated of the Secretary of State. It was, if I may say so, an elastic—one might almost say a liberal and possibly a democratic—interpretation of the question on the Order Paper. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-04b.156.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g157.4 | |
| Order. Let me gently say to the assiduous but slightly overenthusiastic Government Whip, the hon. Member for Hexham (Guy Opperman), that his role is to be seen and not heard—no further noise, please, from the hon. Gentleman today or from his sidekick to his right. A cabal of Whips will not shout people down in this Chamber. Be quiet or leave; it is very simple. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-04b.160.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g164.3 | |
| Order. I want to hear Mr Vickers’s inquiry. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-04b.168.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g169.2 | |
| I rather imagine that she will then want a Backbench Business Committee debate on the matter. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-04b.168.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g169.9 | |
| Calm yourself, Mr Campbell. You are supposed to be a senior statesman in the House. Calm down. Take up yoga, as I have told you before. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-04b.168.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g171.0 | |
| I am glad the hon. Gentleman rescued his own question with those last words. We are grateful to him, constitutionally at least. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-04b.171.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g171.7 | |
| I must remind the House that the motion relates exclusively to England. A double majority is therefore required.The House divided:Ayes 286, Noes 163.Votes cast by Members for constituencies in England:Ayes 277, Noes 149. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-03f.119.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g134.0 | |
| I must remind the House that the motion relates exclusively to England and Wales. A double majority is therefore required.The House divided:Ayes 285, Noes 164.Votes cast by Members for constituencies in England and Wales:Ayes 285, Noes 161. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-03f.119.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g138.0 | |
| I must now put the Questions necessary to dispose of the remaining Lords amendments. First, under the Standing Order, I must put the Question on the remaining Lords amendments that relate exclusively to England.Lords amendments 100, 98, 99, 101 to 107, 112 to 127 and 240 to 243 agreed to. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-03f.119.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g141.0 | |
| I must now put the Question on the remaining Lords amendments that relate exclusively to England and Wales.Lords amendments 128 to 179 and 244 to 282 agreed to. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-03f.119.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g141.1 | |
| I must now put the Question on the remaining Lords amendments that have not been certified.Lords amendments 180, 181, 189 and 192 to 194 agreed to.Motion made, and Question put forthwith (Standing Order No. 83H), That a Committee be appointed to draw up Reasons to be assigned to the Lords for disagreeing to their amendments 37, 47, 54, 55, 57, 58 and 108 to 110;That Dr Roberta Blackman-Woods, Andrew Griffiths, Brandon Lewis, Seema Kennedy, Grahame M. Morris and Julian Smith be members of the Committee;That Brandon Lewis be the Chair of the Committee;That three be the quorum of the Committee.That the Committee do withdraw immediately.—(Julian Smith.)Question agreed to.Committee to withdraw immediately; reasons to be reported and communicated to the Lords. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-03f.119.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g141.2 | |
| We come now to the petition— https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-03f.142.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g142.7 | |
| The hon. Gentleman is ahead of himself. What a fast-thinking denizen of the House the Comptroller of Her Majesty’s Household, the hon. Member for Croydon Central (Gavin Barwell), is. Why should I expect otherwise from a cerebral Whip? https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-03f.142.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g142.9 | |
| If Anne Marie Morris orates briefly, she might almost allow the Minister, with leave of the House, a couple of minutes to reply, although she is not obliged to do so. In this case she has some power over the Minister, but she may only have it once. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-03f.119.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g132.2 | |
| I thank the hon. Gentleman for his point of order and his great courtesy in raising it in the way that he did. The short answer is that it is the long-established convention of this House that we do not applaud. For what it is worth, to the best of my recollection, I have never myself done so. If he is asking me whether I would prefer it to remain that way, the short answer is that I would. I think that the convention that we do not applaud but register our approval in other ways is a valuable one. All I would say to the hon. Gentleman, who has raised his point in an extremely polite way, is that as far as the Chair is concerned, each situation has to be judged on its merits. I am very conscious that I am the servant of the House. If, spontaneously, a large group of Members bursts into applause, sometimes the most prudent approach is to let it take its course. However, I would much prefer it if it did not happen, unless the House consciously wills a change, and I am not aware that the House as a whole has done so. In that respect, I sense that the hon. Gentleman and I, not for the first time and hopefully not for the last, are on the same side. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-03f.48.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g49.1 | |
| That would be thoroughly undesirable. The more unusual, or even occasional, the better. For it to become the norm would, I think, be deprecated by the hon. Member for Lichfield (Michael Fabricant), deprecated by the right hon. Member for New Forest East (Dr Lewis), and deprecated by the Chair. The hon. Member for Lichfield asked me to find a way of communicating more widely my view on this matter, and I hope I have just taken that opportunity. There is no slight directed at any individual, nor any adverse comment on any particular occasion, but usually our traditions are for a reason, and to find that we elide or morph into a new situation as a result of inactivity or happenstance is undesirable. If the House wants consciously to change things, then let it, but as far as I am concerned it has not yet done so. I hope that is helpful. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-03f.48.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g49.3 | |
| The answer to that is no. As far as I am aware, I have not been approached, certainly not directly, and I am not conscious of any document or missive circulating in my office on this matter. It occurs to me that Work and Pensions questions take place on Monday next week. That is by no means the only, or even necessarily the best, opportunity to raise the matter, but it is one such opportunity. If that does not suit the hon. Lady or other opportunities are sought, they may materialise. As far as the House as an employer is concerned, I am not aware that there is a problem, and I would be very concerned if there were. We must take steps to keep ourselves informed to satisfy ourselves that best practice, as well as the law, is followed. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-03f.48.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g50.1 | |
| This is a rather disturbing matter. I do not know whether the hon. Lady is suggesting that there is any interference with her work as a Member of Parliament. If that were so, that would be an exceptionally serious matter, but it would be effectively a matter of privilege, about which, in conformity with convention, she should write to me and it would then be taken forward as appropriate.Beyond that, I can only say that the matter in question is not one for me. It does sound a very bizarre situation. I find it very curious to think that the hon. Lady is being, or might be, subject to some sort of surveillance in relation to her activities as a Member of Parliament. I am not aware of that. I think that I have to advise her that she must find other means by which to air her concerns. If she will not take it amiss, I will simply say that, knowing both her intelligence and her indefatigability, there is no way that finding other means to air her concern will be beyond her very considerable capabilities. Perhaps we can leave it there for today, but if she needs to come back about the matter, which is potentially very serious, she should do so.If there are no further points of order, we come now to the ten-minute rule motion—a further opportunity for a display of the intelligence and indefatigability of Caroline Lucas. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-03f.48.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g50.3 | |
| I just note in passing that four Members on the Opposition Benches are standing and none of them hails from the area covered by the trust. That does not preclude a question, but I should just make the point that the question must be about this trust and this set of circumstances, rather than, as is commonly deployed in this House, “and elsewhere”. It is just about this matter, in this situation, covered by this trust—a matter that will be approached with great dexterity, I am sure, by Ann Clwyd. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-03f.38.8&s=speaker%3A10040#g43.4 | |
| I thank the Minister and other colleagues who have taken part in these exchanges. I content myself simply with the observation that they have been a very important treatment of a very important subject. Perhaps, on behalf of the House, I can express the hope that the Hansard text of these exchanges will be supplied to Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust. It needs to know that we have treated of it and what has been said—politely and with notable restraint, but with very real anxiety—in all parts of the House about the situation within its aegis. [Hon. Members: “Hear, hear!] https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-03f.38.8&s=speaker%3A10040#g48.3 | |
| Order. The Minister was diverted from the path of virtue by the hon. Member for Beckenham (Bob Stewart). No doubt the intentions were good, but we were straying somewhat from the terms of the UQ. As the Minister and others know, I have facilitated much discussion on the matter of refugees. I rather imagine that there will be more, and no doubt people will think, “And so there should be”, but it would be best today if we could stick to the terms of the UQ that the hon. Member for Batley and Spen (Jo Cox) applied for and that I granted. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-03f.24.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g33.5 | |
| Order. We are most grateful to the Minister and to other colleagues. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-03f.24.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g38.7 | |
| I was going to invite the hon. Lady to seek an Adjournment debate, until I realised that in fact she had had it. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-03f.8.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g10.0 | |
| I hope that the hon. Lady is content with that answer, although, whether she is or is not, she has had it. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-03f.8.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g10.2 | |
| It would be okay, if the hon. Member for Sedgefield (Phil Wilson) were here, but he isn’t, so it isn’t, but we will proceed unabashed by his absence, because we have the right hon. Member for Newcastle upon Tyne East (Mr Brown). https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-03f.10.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g10.6 | |
| Order. We must move on. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-03f.18.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g24.1 | |
| For what it is worth, perhaps I can say from the Chair that I think that would be a very, very good thing. I would not dream of taking sides on the issues, but in terms of the link between Parliament and the people, it is very important that it be not just tangible but meaningful, and there is real scope for progress there, so I very much appreciate what the Leader of the House has said. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-28a.1554.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1567.1 | |
| I do wish the hon. Gentleman would learn to tell us what he really thinks. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-28a.1554.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1567.7 | |
| I am most anxious that the Minister for Community and Social Care should have the opportunity to regain his breath. He is a very welcome arrival. [Interruption.] He has just run the marathon; that might be why he is out of breath. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-28a.1554.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1571.4 | |
| I join the Leader of the House in congratulating the Minister for Community and Social Care on running the marathon again and congratulating all other participants in the marathon. What the Leader of the House has said is both right and greatly appreciated by colleagues.We now come to the first of our two debates under the auspices of the Backbench Business Committee. The precise timings have yet to be determined, but there is a very sharp imbalance in favour of the first debate, as against the second. A lot more people want to take part in this debate, and that will influence the judgment of the Chair as to how long this debate should be allowed to run. In short, there will be an allocation of time for the second debate, but it will, very properly, be a much lesser allocation of time. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-28a.1554.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1572.4 | |
| The Minister, regrettably, has been diverted from the path of procedural virtue as a result of the cheeky inquiries of the Opposition Front Bencher. We cannot now have a Third Reading of the Trade Union Bill. We must focus narrowly instead on the matter of the urgent question, which I know will be done faithfully by Dr Liam Fox. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-28a.1543.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1547.0 | |
| It is true that the noble Lord Cormack is a very special “parli-a-mentarian”. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-28a.1543.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1549.6 | |
| Order. Calm down. Calm. The benefit of yoga, even for Ministers, should not be underestimated. Let me intercede briefly because there were calls of “Order” when the hon. Gentleman used a word about Members on the Government Back Benches. I did not intervene because I judge that to be a matter of taste. There is no imputation of dishonour and—I mean this in no unkind spirit—the hon. Member for Harwich and North Essex (Mr Jenkin), and other likeminded souls, are perfectly capable of looking after themselves. Their honour has not been impugned in any way, and that is why I did not intervene. The remark stands, and the Minister must reply. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-28a.1543.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1552.3 | |
| Order. The Minister is entitled to his view, but I hope the House will not take offence if I say that I will judge whether a remark needs to be withdrawn. With great force and eloquence the Minister has offered his view, and I respect him for that, but we will leave it there. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-28a.1543.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1553.0 | |
| If I were to intervene on grounds of order every time a question is not answered, nothing else would ever happen in the Chamber. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-28a.1543.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1553.2 | |
| I am extremely grateful to the Minister and all colleagues. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-28a.1543.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1553.7 | |
| Points of order really come after statements. The hon. Gentleman has had a good run, and he should be patient. I am sure his point of order can be heard later, if it is sufficiently important to warrant either his staying in the Chamber or his returning to it. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-28a.1543.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1553.9 | |
| No. That is a most interesting matter, but a little distant from the matter of drones. Save it for the long summer evenings that lie ahead. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-28a.1521.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g1521.9 | |
| It is good that the hon. Gentleman is doing more than just talking to himself about the matter. That is very encouraging. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-28a.1523.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g1524.1 | |
| The hon. Gentleman wants a detailed disquisition from the Minister, and I fear he will not be disappointed. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-28a.1525.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g1525.6 | |
| The hon. Lady did at least include the word “electric”. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-28a.1527.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g1527.10 | |
| I call Alan Brown, who I do not think will refer to Heathrow as his local airport. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-28a.1528.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g1529.4 | |
| I think the hon. Member for Brigg and Goole (Andrew Percy) wanted the Minister with responsibility for rail, but he is lumbered with the Secretary of State. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-28a.1536.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g1539.6 | |
| The Minister clearly enjoys a life of undiluted excitement. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-28a.1536.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g1540.4 | |
| The hon. Lady has found an opportunity to apologise. I thank her for what she has said, and it will have been noted by the House. I think that that is all I should say on this occasion. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-27b.1464.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1464.2 | |
| I am very grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for his point of order. It has been commented upon many a time and oft in recent years that I have sometimes judged it necessary and desirable somewhat to extend Prime Minister’s questions if I have felt that there has been excessive noise. I have done that because I have wanted Back-Bench Members to have their opportunity. However, there are limits. Even I would not seek to extend Question Time to absorb more than two and a half hours, notwithstanding the sedulous advocacy of the right hon. Gentleman and his obvious enthusiasm for my doing so. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-27b.1464.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1465.0 | |
| I am very grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for his point of order. He is, in a sense, performing a kind of double act today with the right hon. Member for Gordon (Alex Salmond), two seats to his left. What I would say to the right hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington (Tom Brake), who is a very experienced denizen of the House, having previously served as its Deputy Leader, is twofold. First, as he knows, the scheduling of business is in the hands of the Government, notably in respect of Government business. Although his expectation, as things stand, as to when that matter will next be treated by the House may well be correct, it has not been announced.Secondly, the scheduling will, in all probability, be announced at business questions tomorrow by the Leader of the House. If it is not, there will be an opportunity for that matter to be probed. I know I can say with complete confidence and with no fear of contradiction that just as the right hon. Gentleman is in his place now, so he will be at the appropriate time tomorrow, and I think there is more than a passing possibility that he will catch my eye. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-27b.1464.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1466.0 | |
| I am not sure it is, but I always like hearing the hon. Gentleman, especially as he has such a beaming countenance today. So let us hear the attempted “further” from the hon. Gentleman. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-27b.1464.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1466.2 | |
| Whatever else may be said, and it may be a point of enormous interest, that is manifestly not a point of order. We will leave the matter there for now. If there are no further points of order, perhaps we can now come to the ten-minute rule motion in the name of the right hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington. Whatever he may have to say tomorrow, I assume that today he intends to address his ten-minute rule motion. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-27b.1464.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1466.4 | |
| Order. I hope the House will forgive me, but at the risk of stating the obvious, if colleagues are concerned about being able to make their own contribution, let me say that I will of course call every colleague. This is a little different from other days, and there is therefore some latitude: Members must say what they want to say. I am sorry if people have other commitments, but if Members stay in the Chamber, they will be heard. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-27b.1433.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1450.4 | |
| I thank the Home Secretary, the shadow Home Secretary, and all colleagues for what they have said, and for the manner in which the exchanges on the statement have been conducted. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-27b.1433.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1463.1 | |
| Before the Minister does so, I am sure that the hon. Gentleman is concerned about the appointment process in the context of the drive to increase democratic participation. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-27b.1411.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g1412.7 | |
| Order. The Government should have grouped this question with Question 4. For some reason, they did not do so, but I will take that question now. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-27b.1413.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g1414.0 | |
| I am not saying anything of the kind, but I will leave it to the Minister. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-27b.1414.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g1416.2 | |
| Order. There is a lot of noise in the Chamber. The Minister must be very disappointed to have such an inattentive audience. Let us hear the words. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-27b.1418.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g1419.6 | |
| I appeal to Ministers to face the House because much of the right hon. Gentleman’s answer was lost on the rest of us, which is to our grave disadvantage. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-27b.1418.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g1420.0 | |
| That probably makes two of us, then. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-27b.1418.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g1420.9 | |
| Order. I am not interested in someone yelling out their opinion of the right hon. Gentleman’s question. This is the home of free speech. The right hon. Gentleman, and every other Member, will be heard, however long this session takes. That is very clear. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-27b.1421.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g1426.0 | |
| Order. The House is excitable, but it must simmer down. We must hear the hon. Lady. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-27b.1421.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g1428.3 | |
| The hon. Member for Walsall North (Mr Winnick) will pursue this matter over and over again, until his school building is refurbished to his satisfaction. This much I think we know.Question put and agreed to.House adjourned. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-26a.1405.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1410.2 | |
| Order. I am very disappointed that the Secretary of State is not sitting at the very heart of his ministerial team. I hope the right hon. Gentleman is not lurking uncharacteristically in the shadows—we would not want that. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-26a.1267.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g1270.1 | |
| What a worthy representative the hon. Gentleman is of his Government. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-26a.1270.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g1271.0 | |
| The hon. Lady was quite close, but we are on Question 5. She is ahead of herself, and not for the first time I am sure. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-26a.1276.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g1276.8 | |
| That is a very good example of what I call “shoe-horning”. The hon. Lady shoe-horned in a later question into this one, and was just about in order. She is very ingenious. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-26a.1279.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g1280.5 | |
| The hon. Member for Derby North (Amanda Solloway) is to be congratulated on her marathon on Sunday. She is looking in remarkably good nick. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-26a.1283.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g1287.3 | |
| I am extremely grateful to the hon. Lady for her characteristic grace and courtesy in raising that point of order. Her interest, of course, is a non-pecuniary one. Nevertheless, it is most prudent to declare it. I am sure that the House will appreciate the fact that she has now done so.Motion made, and Question put forthwith (Standing Order No. 83H), That a Committee be appointed to draw up Reasons to be assigned to the Lords for disagreeing to their amendments 59, 60 and 87;That James Brokenshire, Charlie Elphicke, Rebecca Harris, Sue Hayman, Stuart C. McDonald, Keir Starmer and Craig Whittaker be members of the Committee;That James Brokenshire be the Chair of the Committee;That three be the quorum of the Committee;That the Committee do withdraw immediately.—(Charlie Elphicke.)Question agreed to.Committee to withdraw immediately; reasons to be reported and communicated to the Lords. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-25d.1255.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1258.1 | |
| Two minutes each would be better. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-25d.1189.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g1236.0 | |
| There are two minutes to go. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-25d.1189.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g1237.0 | |
| Order. Alison McGovern. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-25d.1189.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g1233.0 | |
| Order. There is just over half an hour to go and I see probably a dozen people trying to get in to speak. There is no formal time limit, but if each colleague speaks for no more than three minutes, a lot will get in. Otherwise, a lot of people will be disappointed. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-25d.1189.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g1229.0 | |
| Order. I am sorry, but to help the House there will have to be a formal three-minute limit on Back-Bench speeches, with immediate effect. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-25d.1189.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g1230.1 | |
| With this, it will be convenient to discuss the following:Lords amendments 88 to 101.Lords amendment 60, and Government motion to disagree.Lords amendment 84, Government motion to disagree, and Government amendment (a) in lieu.Lords amendment 85, Government motion to disagree, and Government amendments (a) and (b) in lieu.Lords amendment 86.Lords amendments 183 to 215. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-25d.1189.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g1189.5 | |
| Before I call the Minister to move the first motion, I would like to make three general points about the designation of the Lords amendments engaging financial privilege that are about to come before us. First, the designation of Lords amendments as engaging financial privilege is not a matter on which I or others exercise choice. I, and those who advise me, act as servants of the House in giving effect to its procedures and in asserting its financial primacy. Secondly, the designation of an amendment does not have any bearing on the subsequent freedom of the House to debate and then decide whether to agree or disagree to the amendment. Thirdly, I confess that I have felt a growing sense of disquiet over recent years at the strong convention whereby Ministers have no choice as to the terms of the reason they propose when this House has disagreed to a Lords amendment which engages Commons financial privilege, being limited simply to stating that fact without offering the underlying policy reason. I have therefore today written to the Chair of the Procedure Committee inviting his Committee to consider the whole reasons regime, and I have asked the Clerk of the House to prepare a memorandum. I hope that that is helpful to the House.I draw the attention of the House to the fact that financial privilege is engaged by Lords amendments 1, 11 to 13, 15 to 18, 24, 25, 27 to 45, 87 to 89, 117, 121, 125, 126, 158, 166, 227, 229, 235, 237, 239 and 243. If the House agrees to them, I will cause an appropriate entry to be made in the Journal.After Clause 37 https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-25d.1189.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1189.2 | |
| I am grateful to the hon. Lady for her point of order. Before I respond—I will have some words to say—I of course invite the hon. Member for Barrow and Furness (John Woodcock) to respond. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-25d.1186.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1186.2 | |
| I shall come to the hon. Member for Workington (Sue Hayman), who has a wholly different point of order, in a moment. Let me first respond to the initial point of order and to the hon. Gentleman’s response to it. I am at a disadvantage for the very simple reason that if anything offensive or unparliamentary was said by the hon. Gentleman—I emphasise the word “if”—I did not hear it. If I had heard what I have subsequently been told was said—which I have no intention of advertising to the Chamber because it was unparliamentary—I would have deprecated it. Suffice it to say that immoderate language is always to be deprecated, whether it is uttered from a sedentary position or when a Member is on his or her feet. I did not hear it, and I cannot therefore comment on it. [Interruption.] Order. I am not prepared to get involved—or to subject the House to getting involved—in an ongoing exchange. Suffice it to say that at the time there was some discontent between the two sets of Benches and I did urge people to calm down. I stand by that. I am genuinely sorry if there are Members who feel offended, but I cannot condemn that which I did not hear. The hon. Member for Barrow and Furness has made his point, which I have heard, and no further exchange is required on that matter. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-25d.1186.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1186.5 | |
| I will tell the hon. Gentleman: a complaint was made to me that he had used bad language and that he had deployed an expletive. I did not hear any such deployment and therefore the hon. Gentleman has been convicted of nothing. An allegation has been made. It was reported to me—[Interruption.] Order. There is no reason to accuse anybody of dishonesty. A Member whom I respect reported to me her understanding that bad language had been used, but I did not hear it. A complaint has been made and the hon. Gentleman denies any such impropriety. I think the most sensible thing is to say that we let it rest there. However, for the avoidance of doubt—I am referring not to the hon. Gentleman or to any other particular Member—bad language should of course not be used in this Chamber, whether out loud or sotto voce. We ought to conduct ourselves in a more seemly manner. I thank the hon. Gentleman for his response and the hon. Lady for her courtesy. Please let us park it there for today. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-25d.1186.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1187.1 | |
| I am grateful to the hon. Lady for her point of order and for her courtesy in giving me notice of it. The truth, as I think she knows, is that she has found her own salvation. She has put her view on this matter on the record, and it will have been heard by those on the Treasury Bench. No doubt it will be conveyed to the Prime Minister’s office. If the Prime Minister feels that what he said was inaccurate or misleading in any way, he will doubtless take steps to correct what was said. But it may be—I simply emphasise that it may be—that these are matters more of interpretation or opinion than of fact. I would stress that what Ministers say in this House is the responsibility of Ministers and not of the Chair. The hon. Lady has registered her point with force and alacrity. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-25d.1186.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1188.0 | |
| Chris Stephens. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-25d.1174.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1184.2 | |
| Order. I was calling a Chris with a “ph” rather than a Jo with a “v”, but never mind. The hon. Lady was in full flow, and what she said has been heard. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-25d.1174.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1184.4 | |
| Chris Stephens. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-25d.1174.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1184.6 | |
| May I say, on behalf of Members on both sides of the House, how good it is to see the hon. Member for Bristol West (Thangam Debbonaire) back in her seat and, I hope now, in very good health? https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-25d.1151.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1160.4 | |
| Order. I am most grateful to the Minister for his words, but I gently point out that he took more than twice his allotted time. I felt that he had germane information to impart, so I let it go on this occasion, but I cannot do so on a subsequent occasion; there are rules in this place and they must be observed. In recognition of how long it took the Minister, the hon. Lady now has slightly longer, if she wishes to take it. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-25d.1139.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1140.0 | |
| Order. Some people need to calm down. Mr Blackford, you are an extraordinary individual; you do become very excitable. I prefer your cerebral side. If you feel you can find it before the afternoon is out, the House would be greatly obliged to you. I call Tom Pursglove. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-25d.1139.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1144.3 | |
| Order. We can come to points of order later. I say to Carol Monaghan that I do not know what has exercised her, but we cannot deal with the matter now. We will have points of order afterwards, when I will happily hear her. [Interruption.] There is a certain amount of gesticulation going on. Members on the Labour Benches and the SNP Benches should calm down. I will come to the point of order at the appropriate time if it is still germane. Now, we must all unite in hearing Mr Tom Pursglove. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-25d.1139.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1144.6 | |
| Order. After a little time to simmer down, I hope that the hon. Member for Ross, Skye and Lochaber (Ian Blackford) has now acquired the poise, gravitas and serenity to which he should aspire. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-25d.1139.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1150.4 | |
| Points of order come after statements, and there are a number of statements. That is the way in which we deal with these matters, and that is how it will be handled today. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-25d.1139.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1150.8 | |
| The hon. Gentleman is a hero, but too modest to point out that he has run marathons on a number of previous occasions; because he is too modest I will do it for him. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-25d.1125.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g1125.6 | |
| The hon. Gentleman wished to give the Minister his views, which he has done, but now that he has I am afraid his question is not really suitable for a ministerial answer at this time. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-25d.1125.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g1126.4 | |
| We have now exceeded the time available for the Minister’s exam, and we come now to topical questions. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-25d.1131.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g1132.4 | |
| Order. I simply point out to the Secretary of State that she is not responsible for what is written on Labour blogs and that there is a shortage of time on topical questions. We must press on, without extraneous matters being introduced. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-25d.1132.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g1133.4 | |
| Particularly by the hon. Gentleman. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-21b.1077.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1102.0 | |
| Yes, all right. I call Mr Michael Ellis. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-21b.1077.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1101.1 | |
| In the extremely unlikely event that the hon. Gentleman is chastised, he can always advise the Whip to sample the joys of riparian entertainments—it is something I often did myself in years past. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-21b.1077.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1088.0 | |
| Order. I say very gently to the hon. Lady that I recognise this is an extremely serious matter, but—this is by way of a tip to her and other Members—it is always a good idea, whatever the matter at hand, to get in the request for a debate or a statement early in one’s inquiry. In any case, I feel modestly optimistic that the question mark is on its way. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-21b.1063.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1074.1 | |
| Order. Members have got to determine their own priorities in these matters. I say to the House that somebody who wants to contribute to the next series of exchanges, which are rather important, is apparently supposed to be serving on some Statutory Instrument Committee. Well, I know what I would do if I wanted to speak in the debate: the SI Committee can wait till another time, another century. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-21b.1063.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1075.4 | |
| I am not sure what is wrong with the microphones, but I could not hear the right hon. Gentleman as well as I would have wanted. I know he was banging on about cycling and it sounded very interesting, but I wish I could have heard it properly. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-21b.1063.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1076.1 | |
| Order. Members should not be standing while the exchanges take place. I can perfectly well see them, and I may or may not come to them in due course. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-21b.1041.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g1042.2 | |
| We trust that the Secretary of State’s minded state was nevertheless intentional. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-21b.1044.8&s=speaker%3A10040#g1045.3 | |
| Order. No. That is a very serious matter and could properly be raised at topical questions, but it is something of an abuse of the main thrust of this question. I let the hon. Lady finish because I did not know quite where she was headed and I wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt, but having given her the chance, I am afraid, if I may say so, she was hanged by her own rope. We had better move on to Mr Rob Marris. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-21b.1045.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g1046.1 | |
| No, no. May I say to the hon. Gentleman that he consumed his dish with question 8 and cannot have a second helping now? He can always have a go during topical questions, but it is one question per segment of Question Time. That is a very useful lesson for new Members to learn. We are extremely grateful to him. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-21b.1051.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g1051.9 | |
| And we note that Jamie Murray is now the world’s No. 1 doubles player. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-21b.1052.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1052.3 | |
| Pete Wishart. No? I thought the hon. Gentleman wished to intercede on this matter, but apparently not. No doubt we will hear him speak with force and eloquence at the appropriate time. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-21b.1056.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g1057.6 | |
| Order. I am sorry that I must now, with immediate effect, reduce the time limit on Back-Bench speeches to three minutes, but I do so with the purpose of trying to accommodate everybody. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-20a.1001.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1018.0 | |
| Order. Before I call the hon. Member for Milton Keynes South (Iain Stewart), I should emphasise that I am looking to call the shadow deputy Leader of the House at approximately 6.35 pm. I simply make the point that interventions are perfectly orderly and proper, but if there is a profusion of them colleagues on the list wanting to be called to speak will not be called. I am afraid colleagues will have only themselves to blame, to put it as bluntly but politely as I can. Let us help each other. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-20a.1001.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1015.0 | |
| Order. Many Members wish to participate in the debate, so there will have to be a five-minute limit on Back-Bench speeches, which will be open to review, depending on progress. We must start with five minutes with the intention of not exceeding that limit. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-20a.1001.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1006.0 | |
| With this we will consider the following:Lords amendments 7B to 7S.Lords amendment 7T, and Government motion to disagree.Lords amendments 7U to 7W, 6A and 6B, 8A to 8C and Lords amendment 2A.I must draw the House’s attention to the fact that financial privilege is engaged by Lords amendment 2A. If the House agrees it, I will cause an appropriate entry to be made in the Journal. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-20a.937.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g937.5 | |
| I can confirm that the hon. Gentleman always looks to be a happy chappie. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-20a.923.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g930.1 | |
| Order. A rather unseemly exchange is going on between the hon. Member for Wythenshawe and Sale East (Mike Kane), who has just put a question and was dissatisfied with the answer, and the hon. Member for Northampton North (Michael Ellis) who, in the exercise of his duties as Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Home Secretary, always feels compelled to display a level of fealty unsurpassed and indeed unequalled by any other Member of the House of Commons. That is not necessary. We all know of the fealty bordering on the obsequious that is on evident display from the hon. Gentleman on a daily basis, but it must not be allowed to interrupt the eloquence of the flow of the hon. Member for Chesterfield (Toby Perkins)—or even the flow of his eloquence. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-20a.923.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g932.3 | |
| We are extremely grateful to the Secretary of State. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-20a.902.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g905.3 | |
| A ministerial answer of one sentence would not be disorderly. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-20a.906.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g907.2 | |
| Far too long. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-20a.906.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g907.7 | |
| Far too long. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-20a.906.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g908.2 | |
| Order. We are discussing matters appertaining to the victims of terrorism, and that matter must be treated with respect, as must the hon. Member. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-20a.909.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g909.7 | |
| Order. I know the fondness of the right hon. Member for East Yorkshire (Sir Greg Knight) for live music, and it is a fondness that I share, but there are limits. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-19c.839.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g843.3 | |
| I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his point of order. I would not seek to comment on the merits or demerits of a particular report. Suffice it to say, however, that I think the House of Commons Library service is held in universal esteem. I have always had the highest regard for the professionalism, competence, intellect and analytical skill of those who work in the Library service. Indeed, when I was first elected I was told, before employing researchers, first to see and realise the benefits that the Library service can bring. I was told that 19 years ago. It was true then, and it is true now. I am sure that nobody would want to suggest otherwise. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-19c.801.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g801.2 | |
| Order. A further 21 hon. and right hon. Members are seeking to catch my eye, and I am naturally keen to accommodate all of them. Brevity will assist me in doing so. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-19c.781.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g792.2 | |
| May I gently suggest that the hon. Gentleman submits his academic treatise to his PhD adviser? https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-19c.781.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g795.0 | |
| I trust that the Algerian parliamentarians felt suitably privileged to meet the hon. Member for Elmet and Rothwell (Alec Shelbrooke). https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-19c.781.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g796.2 | |
| Order. No! The hon. Gentleman is very, very wide of the question. I have great respect for him. He has put his thoughts on the record, but they have absolutely nothing to do with the question on the Order Paper, to which the Chief Secretary will not therefore reply. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-19c.762.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g763.3 | |
| We have to move on—far too slow. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-19c.764.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g768.2 | |
| Just as long as the Chief Secretary focuses on what this Government are doing. He does not need to burble on about the past. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-19c.770.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g770.7 | |
| Order. Quite a lot of people whom I would have called have toddled out of the Chamber. There seems to be a bit of a lack of stamina—very unfortunate—although not from Lucy Frazer. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-19c.774.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g778.0 | |
| Order. I am sorry to disappoint colleagues, but we must now move on to the statement. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-19c.774.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g780.3 | |
| As a courtesy, I might mention to the House that the motion was to be moved by the hon. Member for Mitcham and Morden (Siobhain McDonagh). Unfortunately, she sustained an injury and had to go to hospital and was not, despite her willingness, allowed to be available to move the motion today. In the circumstances, I am sure colleagues will agree that is perfectly fitting and right that the motion should be moved instead by the right hon. Member for Enfield North (Joan Ryan), her good friend and colleague. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-18d.674.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g674.2 | |
| We are most grateful to the Chair of the Select Committee. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-18d.661.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g666.2 | |
| I thank the hon. Gentleman for giving me notice of his point of order. Although this is not a matter for the Chair to determine, the hon. Gentleman has made his understandable concern about his constituent extremely clear. He will have been heard on the Treasury Bench, and his concern will doubtless be conveyed to the relevant Ministers. I hope and trust that they will have contact, as appropriate, of a kind that I hope will, in due course and preferably soon, allay the concerns of the hon. Gentleman. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-18d.660.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g660.2 | |
| We come now to two Select Committee statements. In a moment, I shall ask Mr Bernard Jenkin to address the House. He will do so for up to 10 minutes, during which I remind the House that no interventions may be taken. At the conclusion of his statement, I will call Members to put questions on its subject, and I will call Mr Bernard Jenkin to respond to those in turn. Members can expect to be called only once. Interventions should be questions and should be brief. The Front Bench team may take part in questioning. The same procedure will be followed for the second Select Committee statement.These are extremely important matters, but I hope that the House will understand if I express the hope that together, the two Select Committee statements do not consume more than 40 minutes of our time, because there are important Backbench Business Committee debates—two of them, to be precise—to which we need to move on, and in which I want to accommodate all interested would-be contributors. With that, I call the Chair of the Select Committee on Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs, Mr Bernard Jenkin. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-18d.661.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g661.2 | |
| Order. Opposition Members should calm themselves. The Secretary of State is responding, and everybody will be heard. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-18d.642.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g645.0 | |
| I dare say that we will find out who thinks what when the vote comes. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-18d.621.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g623.1 | |
| The Minister does not have to sound quite so surprised, because, as we have discovered, ingenuity is not an entirely novel phenomenon in the House of Commons. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-18d.623.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g624.7 | |
| Briefly. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-18d.634.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g634.4 | |
| Order. First, one should not refer to the place to which the hon. Gentleman referred. After six years in the House, frankly, he ought to know that. Secondly, that was pretty wide of the question.I call Stephen Phillips. Not— https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-18d.634.8&s=speaker%3A10040#g635.3 | |
| Ah! Mr Phillips is here. Splendid. How could I have thought otherwise for a moment? It is only that the hon. Gentleman has perambulated to a different position in the Chamber. We are delighted to see him. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-18d.634.8&s=speaker%3A10040#g635.5 | |
| We all know that the Secretary of State is a very busy man with many commitments and a very full diary, but the House’s Committees are very important, and I am sure that he will not forget that. Get it sorted, man. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-18d.636.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g639.2 | |
| Order. I am sorry, but demand invariably exceeds supply and we must move on. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-18d.636.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g642.1 | |
| The Leader of the House anticipates me, because he will be pleased to know that my short-term memory suffices for me to recall that that was the advice that he proffered to the hon. Lady, or rather the offer that he made to her. My suggestion is that in the first instance the hon. Lady could usefully take up that offer, because I think that it would be worth while meeting Ministers and seeing where she gets. If, after that, she remains dissatisfied, she is welcome to consult me and I will try to advise her on how, through parliamentary routes, she can most time-efficiently—I emphasise time-efficiently—expedite the matter. Let us leave it there for today, but I absolutely understand the sincerity with which she speaks and the sense of urgency that impels her to raise the matter. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-14b.529.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g529.3 | |
| The hon. Gentleman has found his own salvation. In my experience—I have known him for well-nigh 15 years—he almost invariably holds an opinion on every matter that comes before the House, and he usually feels a very intense desire to share that opinion, both with the House and with the wider world. In that objective, he has today undoubtedly succeeded. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-14b.529.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g529.5 | |
| There is too much noise in the Chamber. We must hear the Leader of the House. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-14b.511.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g514.0 | |
| Ian Mearns. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-14b.511.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g517.3 | |
| I hope that the Attorney General of all people will not underestimate the scope of his scholarly cranium, because the hon. Member for Kettering (Mr Hollobone) clearly does not do so. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-14b.493.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g494.0 | |
| I call Mr Martyn Day—get in there, man. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-14b.504.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g505.5 | |
| Order. You should start by just saying, “Question 11”. You can build up to your peroration ere long. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-14b.504.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g506.1 | |
| I call Rachael Maskell to speak until 6.44. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-13c.415.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g459.0 | |
| Order. I am sorry—the hon. Gentleman is a most courteous individual, but we must now move on. There are 21 remaining colleagues who wish to speak and probably fewer than 50 minutes. There will now be a three-minute time limit in a bid to ensure that we maximise the input. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-13c.415.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g445.4 | |
| Order. It is very unseemly when the shadow Chancellor is addressing the House for there to be a side exchange between a member of the Opposition Front-Bench team and the hon. Member for South Suffolk (James Cartlidge). He must not get into this bad habit. His father-in-law is a distinguished Member. He will tell him how to behave properly, and I will do so as well. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-13c.360.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g367.2 | |
| I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for his point of order and his courtesy in giving me advance notice of it. The question of how a Government fulfil a commitment to the House is principally a matter for Ministers. Having taken a keen interest in this matter, the right hon. Gentleman will know that a report was presented to the House by the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs in December, and that a second report, which I think was billed or tagged as a quarterly report, was provided by the Secretary of State for International Development on 8 February. If memory serves me correctly, it was an oral statement, and it may be that the right hon. Gentleman and some other Members were hoping for—or even expecting—a written report. That is, however, not a matter for the Chair.To be fair, the Government have made a large number of statements to the House over the past few years—that is a matter not of speculation but of fact. The only point I would make gently is that since the Foreign Secretary had unavoidably to be absent from Foreign Office questions yesterday—that prompted a modicum of comment from his own side although he had done me the courtesy of notifying me beforehand—it might be thought a good idea for a subsequent report to be provided by him to the House. If there is an appetite for that report to be oral, I know that it will be delivered by the Foreign Secretary with great dexterity. It would also have the additional “advantage”—I say that in inverted commas because it is a matter for the House to decide—of pleasing a right hon. Gentleman from the Liberal Democrat Benches. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-13c.354.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g355.1 | |
| I am genuinely grateful to the hon. Gentleman, but my instinctive reaction is that exegesis of what is said by the Government, including permanent secretaries, and adjudication upon it, is not a proper matter for the Chair. I think it is safer to keep out of that. It may well be that it is a subject of some dispute on which the hon. Gentleman is dissatisfied, but I underline that it is for the Committees concerned to press for the information that they require. If they are dissatisfied with what they have or have not received, they should persist, and there are well-established procedures for doing so. I have a feeling, however, that by putting his concerns on the record, the hon. Gentleman may find that the Government are able and inclined to offer the information he requires. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-13c.354.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g356.0 | |
| The short answer is that I have received no such indication of an imminent statement on the matter. When this issue has been aired in the House, the sense of dissatisfaction across the Chamber has been audible not just to the Chair, but to millions of people throughout the country. It has become exceptionally and excessively protracted. I understand the hon. Gentleman’s frustration. He has put his point on the record again, and I hope that it will have been heard in the appropriate quarters. Have I received an indication of a statement? I am afraid I have not. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-13c.354.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g356.2 | |
| I think that the hon. Gentleman was referring to the Secretary of State for Defence, the right hon. Member for Sevenoaks (Michael Fallon). Some name was mentioned, but it does not mean anything in the Chamber. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-13c.336.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g337.1 | |
| Order. These are important matters affecting the livelihoods of tens of thousands of people in Wales and across the country. Let us have some respect for that fact without Ministers wittering away— Mr Evennett—in the background. Important matters are being discussed. Be quiet, sir! https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-13c.339.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g340.1 | |
| I think we got the gist of it. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-13c.340.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g341.5 | |
| Order. We are discussing the situation of disabled people in Wales. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-13c.341.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g342.0 | |
| Finally—patience rewarded—I call Mr Ian Lucas. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-13c.341.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g342.6 | |
| The hon. Lady will have two minutes because I am here and I will insist on it. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-12b.240.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g290.1 | |
| I thank the hon. Lady, who was commendably succinct.Question put and agreed to.Resolved,That this House recognises that the contaminated blood scandal was one of the biggest treatment disasters in the history of the NHS, which devastated thousands of lives; notes that for those affected this tragedy continues to have a profound effect on their lives which has rarely been properly recognised; welcomes the Government’s decision to conduct a consultation to reform support arrangements and to commit extra resources to support those affected; further notes, however, that the current Government proposals will leave some people worse off and continue the situation where some of those affected receive no ongoing support; and calls on the Government to take note of all the responses to the consultation and to heed the recommendations of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Haemophilia and Contaminated Blood’s Inquiry into the current support arrangements so as to ensure that no-one is worse off, left destitute or applying for individual payments as a result of the proposed changes and that everyone affected by the tragedy, including widows and dependents, receives support commensurate with the decades of suffering and loss of amenity they have experienced. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-12b.240.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g290.3 | |
| Order. I think three minutes will suffice for the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon). The hon. Members for Central Ayrshire (Dr Whitford) and for Denton and Reddish (Andrew Gwynne) have still to contribute, and we must try now to get back in time. It falls to the hon. Member for Strangford to exercise Executive leadership in the matter. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-12b.240.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g279.3 | |
| Order. Just before I call the hon. Member for South Down (Ms Ritchie), I should emphasise that I want to be able to call the hon. Member for Denton and Reddish (Andrew Gwynne) by 6.26 pm. I am sure the hon. Lady will factor that into the equation. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-12b.240.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g278.0 | |
| A five-minute limit on Back-Bench speeches will now apply. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-12b.188.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g212.0 | |
| Order. On account of the level of interest, there has to be a time limit. We will begin with a six-minute time limit on Back-Bench speeches. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-12b.188.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g203.0 | |
| Order. Shush, junior Minister. We do not need you to burble from a sedentary position. Be quiet! Your burbling is not required. Learn it. I have told you so many times; try to get the message. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-12b.188.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g194.6 | |
| Extremely important questions are raised by this matter and by the broadcast, although not for me. We cannot have Question Time on the basis of points of order, but as the Minister of State is in the Chamber and apparently willing to say some words, we are happy—exceptionally—to hear him. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-12b.183.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g183.2 | |
| I am extremely grateful to the Minister for his courtesy. On a personal note, may I wish the Minister very well in that important meeting with Deborah Coles? She is a very formidable character, as I know myself, because we knew each other at university. She is very formidable indeed, and I wish him well. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-12b.183.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g184.1 | |
| Certainly the team communicate with the House as a team. That is undeniable. This is not within the power of the Chair. The Secretary of State did courteously write to me to notify me that he would be absent. My sense is that he is not likely to be absent on anything like a regular basis. If that were to happen, it would be strongly deprecated not just by the Chair but by Members across the House. Let us hope it does not happen again. If there are no further points of order, perhaps we can move on to the ten-minute rule motion. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-12b.183.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g184.4 | |
| Order. It would be a courtesy to the House to tell Members what I think Front Benchers sides know—namely, that the Foreign Secretary is away on ministerial business. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-12b.161.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g161.6 | |
| We are grateful, and we look forward to the right hon. Gentleman’s imminent return. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-12b.161.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g161.8 | |
| Order. Unfortunately, progress is rather slow today. I am keen to accommodate as many questioners as possible. A short sentence by way of question and a short sentence by way of reply will usually suffice. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-12b.165.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g167.1 | |
| Order. I made an appeal for a speed-up a few moments ago, but unfortunately, to put it bluntly, the Member concerned made a mess of it and did not speed up. We must now speed up. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-12b.167.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g169.3 | |
| Question 7 would be a good start. No more today about the Israelis or Palestinians—the next question is about the Chagossians. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-12b.170.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g171.5 | |
| I doubt that that will satisfy the Liaison Committee, but I note what the Minister says. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-12b.173.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g174.2 | |
| In relation to employment. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-12b.173.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g174.8 | |
| Order. I am sorry, but, as usual, demand has hugely exceeded supply and we must now move on. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-12b.176.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g182.3 | |
| The last speaker in the debate before the Front Benchers—not that I am hinting at anything in any way, of course—is Mr George Kerevan. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-11a.131.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g138.0 | |
| It is good to know that one has one’s uses. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-11a.131.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g132.1 | |
| I thank the hon. Lady for her point of order and for her courtesy in giving me notice of it. She is right that there is a firm convention that Ministers should give advance notice to hon. Members if they plan to visit the constituency of those Members on official, as opposed to purely private or personal, business. Indeed, the requirement is spelled out in the ministerial code. The apparent failure to do so on this occasion is regrettable. If it be so, it is regrettable to me, too, because I know the right hon. Gentleman the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. I have known him for 25 years and have always regarded him as a person of the utmost courtesy. This appears to be something of a lapse.In terms of remedy, the hon. Lady asked whether it can be conveyed to the Secretary of State that she would be happy to arrange what she considers to be a prospective, more informative visit. She has been most effective in putting that point on the record. The Chair cannot facilitate such a visit, and it is not for me to say whether it will take place, but I am sure that the offer has been heard on the Treasury Bench and will be winging its way within seconds to the Secretary of State. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-11a.95.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g95.2 | |
| The short answer to the hon. Gentleman is no. I of course remember the good doctor, but he certainly was not a Government Minister. I am not aware of what he may or may not have said beyond what the hon. Gentleman has just reported to the House, but whether someone has or has not been a Minister of the Crown is a matter of public record. It is indeed a matter of fact—incontrovertible fact, one way or the other. If someone has wrongly claimed to be a Government Minister, that is curious. I have, however, to say that it is not a matter for the Chair to seek to resolve, notwithstanding the eagerness of the hon. Gentleman that it should be. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-11a.95.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g96.0 | |
| Well, it is certainly a very rum business altogether. I thank the hon. Lady for giving me notice of this point of order. I mean it when I say that I understand her frustration that she is not securing clear answers to her questions. The handling of freedom of information requests by the FCA, or indeed any other public body, is not a matter for the Chair of this House to determine. However, she has made her concern explicitly clear on the record, and it will no doubt have been heard on the Treasury Bench. Indeed, I was going to say that there is an illustrious representative of Her Majesty’s Treasury on the Front Bench, but there is a veritable troika of the characters. There they sit, the three of them. I can therefore say with certainty that they have heard her grievance.My overall advice to the hon. Lady—I hope that she will not take this in the wrong spirit as it is meant to be helpful—is to be persistent. If the hon. Lady does not secure the answers that she wants, she should keep asking questions and, in the very best and most proper sense of the term, make an absolutely parliamentary nuisance of herself. In the end, it may well be felt that it is not worth the candle so far as those resisting her inquiries thus far are concerned. She should stick at it. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-11a.95.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g96.2 | |
| I say two things to the hon. Lady. First, as she well knows, she has found her own salvation through the ingenious use of the point of order procedure. Secondly—this is not uncommon in this place—I do not think she will seek to contradict me, and neither will anyone else, when I say that in raising her point of order she was vastly more interested in what she had to say to me and to the House than in anything I might have to say to her. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-11a.95.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g97.1 | |
| No, but it is only Monday and there are other days in the parliamentary week. I have a feeling that the hon. Gentleman will be waiting all agog to see whether his curiosity is satisfied. Forgive me, I can add nothing beyond that at this stage, although he has put his point on the record. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-11a.95.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g98.0 | |
| The right hon. Gentleman asked whether there was a way in which he could bring this important matter to the attention of the House—there is, and he has found it. He has demonstrated that with his characteristic eloquence. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-11a.95.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g98.2 | |
| It is a very fair inquiry and I had thought about this earlier in the day. The short answer is that, subject to any discussions that might take place between the usual channels, of which at this stage I am unaware, the debate of particular interest to the hon. Lady will follow the Standing Order No. 24 debate. Moreover, my understanding is that there is protected time of three hours for that debate on contaminated blood. I absolutely appreciate the importance of the point the hon. Lady makes about people travelling specially to the House for a debate that they had anticipated and had reason to expect would take place, and unless some strange decision is made, which I do not know about and do not expect, their expectation should be satisfied. That is on the record and I sincerely hope no other plan is afoot. I hope that is clear.If we have exhausted that appetite for points of order, we can proceed, at 7.56 pm, to the main business of the House. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-11a.95.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g98.4 | |
| The hon. Lady has obtained the leave of the House. The debate will be held tomorrow, Tuesday 12 April, as the first item of public business. The debate will last for up to three hours and will arise on a motion that the House has considered the specified matter set out in the application. I hope that that is helpful.Now, I indicated to eager and expectant Members that their moment would arrive if they were patient, and they have been and it has done. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-11a.93.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g94.1 | |
| I have listened carefully to the application and I am satisfied that the matter is proper to be discussed under the terms of Standing Order No. 24. Has the hon. Lady the leave of the House?Application agreed to. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-11a.93.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g94.0 | |
| Order. Patience rewarded. I was rather worried about the hon. Member for Harwich and North Essex (Mr Jenkin) and I would not want him to be perturbed in any way. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-11a.72.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g83.3 | |
| We will come to points of order, but I wish first to deal with the next matter on my agenda. If Members are patient, they will be heard ere long. In a moment, I shall call the shadow Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, the hon. Member for Wallasey (Ms Eagle), to make an application for leave to propose a debate on a specific and important matter which she believes should have urgent consideration under the terms of Standing Order No. 24. The hon. Lady has up to three minutes in which to make such an application. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-11a.72.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g92.6 | |
| Order. I said when the Secretary of State was speaking that he should be heard with courtesy and the same goes for the hon. Member for Aberavon (Stephen Kinnock). It is not appropriate for people to yell “shame” at an hon. Member who is asking a legitimate question. Learn it. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-11a.50.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g57.4 | |
| Well, that is a matter—[Interruption.] Order. That is a matter of interpretation, and the right hon. Gentleman is perfectly entitled so to interpret. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-11a.50.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g66.1 | |
| Order. The statement must be heard. The record shows that the Chair always facilitates a full and thorough interrogation, and although the Secretary of State would expect nothing less, he is entitled to the courtesy of being heard. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-11a.50.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g50.2 | |
| Order. There is a Minister standing at the Bar shrieking in an absurd manner. He must calm himself and either take a medicament if required or leave the Chamber. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-11a.23.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g29.0 | |
| Let us hear from Mr Tyrie. Get in there, man. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-11a.23.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g30.2 | |
| Order. I am sure that it will be worth waiting for. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-11a.23.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g30.4 | |
| Order. I must ask the hon. Gentleman—[Interruption.] I do not require any assistance from some junior Minister—an absurd proposition! I invite the hon. Gentleman to withdraw the adjective he used a moment ago. He is perfectly capable of asking his question without using that word. It is up to him, but if he does not wish to withdraw it, I cannot reasonably ask the Prime Minister to answer the question. All he has to do is withdraw that word and think of another. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-11a.23.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g35.1 | |
| I think he knows—the word beginning with D and ending in Y that he used inappropriately. Withdraw—it is very simple. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-11a.23.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g35.3 | |
| Order. I am sorry, I must ask the hon. Gentleman to withdraw the word— https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-11a.23.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g35.5 | |
| Very well.The Speaker ordered Mr Skinner, Member for Bolsover, to withdraw immediately from the House during the remainder of the day’s sitting (Standing Order No. 43), and the Member withdrew accordingly. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-11a.23.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g35.7 | |
| Needless to say, no reply is required to that question. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-11a.23.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g35.8 | |
| Order. I am extremely grateful to the hon. Lady. As the Clerk has just pointed out to me, however, this is all very well, but it is nothing to do with the responsibility of the Prime Minister. [Interruption.] Order. Do not argue with the Chair—that is not a wise course of action. The Prime Minister is not responsible for what the shadow Chancellor has said. I say that to the hon. Lady kindly but with some authority in these matters, believe me. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-11a.23.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g41.3 | |
| The hon. Gentleman has been restored to rude health. I welcomed him earlier, and I know that the Prime Minister will welcome him. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-11a.23.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g48.2 | |
| Order. I am sorry to disappoint remaining colleagues, but we have had a full exchange and must now move on to the second statement. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-11a.23.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g49.1 | |
| I was going to call the Chair of the Treasury Committee, but he is toddling out of the Chamber. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-11a.23.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g30.0 | |
| Order. The hon. Member for Isle of Wight is chuntering, from a sedentary position, “It is up to the French.” The hon. Gentleman is welcome to his opinion, but his opinion is not enhanced by his suddenly winking at me as though in self-justification. The hon. and learned Lady is a distinguished advocate, and she must be heard. Even if she were not a distinguished advocate, she would still be heard. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-11a.3.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g6.4 | |
| I await that with eager anticipation. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-11a.7.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g7.5 | |
| Thank you for reminding us of Ruskin. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-11a.17.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g20.0 | |
| I call Callum McCaig. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-11a.3.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g5.5 | |
| It is good to see the hon. Member for Ilford South back in his place. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-11a.10.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g11.2 | |
| Before I call the Whip to move the motion for the Adjournment debate, I want to place on the record my appreciation and, I hope, that of all Members of the House, of more than four decades’ service to it by Alda Barry, who is spending her last day in the Serjeant at Arms’s chair. Alda will leave the service of the House to retire, extraordinary though it might seem, at the end of this month. It has been a career of outstanding public service and, Alda, we want to record our thanks. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-24a.1834.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1864.0 | |
| Order. I have no knowledge of these matters myself. I think I know what the hon. Member for Great Grimsby (Melanie Onn) was driving at. She was referring to the knowledge being demonstrated by the hon. Member for Congleton (Fiona Bruce). https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-24a.1834.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1859.0 | |
| I call Melanie Onn. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-24a.1834.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1857.0 | |
| Or about facilitating a debate thereon. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-24a.1765.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1780.0 | |
| Order. I gently say to the Minister, whose emollient and statesmanlike tone is widely admired across the House, that briefly to refer to the stance of the Opposition is legitimate, but dilation upon it is not. I know that he is drawing his remarks to a close. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-24a.1753.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1756.0 | |
| No, I think the hon. Member for Bolsover is in agreement with me. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-24a.1753.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1756.3 | |
| There is much interest. I will start by calling not a medical doctor, but a generally brainy bloke, Dr Julian Lewis. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-24a.1753.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1756.5 | |
| Before the Minister replies, may I remind the House that this is an urgent question, not a debate under Standing Order No. 24 or a series of speeches? There seems to be predilection among colleagues to preface whatever question they ultimately arrive at with an essay first. A number of Members say, “Oh, I have to say this.” No, Members do not have to say anything; they have to ask a question, preferably briefly. That is all we want to hear. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-24a.1753.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1758.1 | |
| That will come after business questions, and I feel sure that the hon. Lady will be in her place, perched and ready to pounce with her point of order at the appropriate moment. We will await that prospect, I am sure, with eager anticipation. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-24a.1753.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1764.4 | |
| Order. The right hon. Lady certainly should not accuse anybody of misleading the House—[Interruption.] Order. I do not require any advice from other Members. I am perfectly capable of dealing with these matters. If the right hon. Lady wants to insert the word “inadvertently”, that would make it moderately less disorderly, although she still should not chunter from a sedentary position in evident disapproval of the stance taken by the Secretary of State. That is rather beneath the dignity of a distinguished former Minister. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-24a.1733.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g1735.3 | |
| Just withdraw. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-24a.1733.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g1735.5 | |
| Well done. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-24a.1733.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g1735.7 | |
| Order. Points of order come later. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-24a.1733.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g1735.9 | |
| We need to speed up a tad, and I am sure that we can be led in our mission by the hon. Member for East Worthing and Shoreham (Tim Loughton). https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-24a.1736.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g1738.0 | |
| May I gently point out that a bit on energy saving would help? https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-24a.1738.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g1738.7 | |
| Order. May we have an end to this rather tedious business of requests for looks in the eye? I say that in the context of answering the hon. Gentleman because the Secretary of State’s responsibility is to address the House. If she looks at anybody, she should look at the Chair. She certainly should not be looking behind her at the hon. Gentleman, a very agreeable sight though it may be. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-24a.1742.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g1743.1 | |
| An exciting gig indeed! https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-24a.1744.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g1744.7 | |
| Order. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-24a.1748.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g1752.8 | |
| Order. I will just point out for the benefit of the House that we have an hour and four minutes of the debate left, which should be enough. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-23a.1696.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1702.0 | |
| Order. This is a serious point of order to which I hope Members will want to attend. If they do not, they can always pursue their enthusiasms elsewhere. I want to listen to the hon. Gentleman’s point of order, as should those on the Treasury Bench. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-23a.1683.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g1694.1 | |
| I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his point of order, which I think I will describe as a conscientious effort at derailment of the Government’s intended programme of business. I say that not in a pejorative sense, as it is a perfectly legitimate attempt. I hope that those on the Treasury Bench, and other Government Members, are cognisant of what the hon. Gentleman has said, and that they have followed the logic of his argument and the substance of his thesis. I am not altogether sure that all expressions on ministerial faces have been entirely comprehending of his point, even though it is pretty straightforward, but my advice to the hon. Gentleman is that if at the end of the debate he is dissatisfied, he will have to register that with his vote. He is saying that the terms of trade have changed, but that is often the case, and he should seek to catch my eye to develop his arguments more fully in the course of the debate. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-23a.1683.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g1694.3 | |
| I am not sure that there is really a further point of order, but as it is the hon. Gentleman, I am minded to indulge him. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-23a.1683.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g1695.1 | |
| The hon. Gentleman has registered that point, although, as he will know, I am not responsible for the ministerial code. Others are, however, bound by it, and therefore have a responsibility to it. That point is on the record. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-23a.1683.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g1695.3 | |
| It is entirely open to Ministers to do that in the course of the debate. I have no desire to steer the debate as that would be very wrong, but I have a hunch that if the Minister does not provide satisfaction on that front, he might be peppered with attempted interventions from either the hon. Member for Stone (Sir William Cash) or the right hon. Member for Wokingham (John Redwood). We will leave it there for now. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-23a.1683.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g1695.5 | |
| I am grateful to the right hon. Lady for her point of order, to which my response is twofold. First, as I am sure she will be aware—this will not satisfy her, but I say it as a matter of fact—the report to which she has referred is tagged to the Third Reading debate on the Bill. That is to say, it is highly germane to that debate.Secondly, the right hon. Lady asked me whether she could call for, or seek by one means or another, a separate debate on the report. The answer is that most certainly she can seek such a debate, and she may well be successful in obtaining such a debate—I do not, at this point, know—but that, of course, will not assist her in terms of the business scheduled for today. The matters that are up for debate in the House today will naturally proceed, and must, in terms of good order, do so. Nevertheless, the right hon. Lady, who is a wily operator, has made her point in her own way, and it is clearly on the record. That seems to bring— https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-23a.1595.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1595.2 | |
| —a warm smile to the visage of the hon. Member for The Cotswolds, from whom we shall now hear. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-23a.1595.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1595.4 | |
| Whose birthday, allegedly, it is. It is always useful to have a bit of information. I wish the hon. Member for The Cotswolds a happy birthday, and I look forward to hearing his point of order. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-23a.1595.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1595.6 | |
| First, let me acknowledge and pay tribute to the extremely unselfish and conscientious work that the hon. Gentleman and others did on the Committee, under the distinguished and stoical chairmanship of the hon. Member for Poole (Mr Syms). Secondly, I would say to the hon. Gentleman that if the Government Chief Whip were here, he would have heard the hon. Gentleman’s point of order, but he is not, so he has not. That said, I feel sure that the thrust of it will be conveyed to the Chief Whip ere long. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-23a.1595.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1596.1 | |
| Of course I will come to the right hon. Lady, and will treat her with the very greatest respect.As Members know, and as others attending to our proceedings need to be aware, these are not matters for the Chair. Members are ventilating their very real sense of grievance and unhappiness, but these are matters for the business managers to determine. They make their own judgments. People operate—if I can put it in this way—at their own level in regard to what they judge to be the proper treatment of business and of the thoughts on these matters of Members, including minorities of Members. Those are not judgments that I can second-guess. We all have our own views, but I think that I should properly leave it there. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-23a.1595.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1596.3 | |
| That was an extremely well chosen and thoughtful point of order. I acknowledge that, as the right hon. Lady said, she very rarely raises points of order; her seriousness of purpose is, I think, respected in all parts of the House.I will indeed convey that sentiment to the Lord Speaker. I think that the unhappiness is well known. It is a matter of fact that, among those affected, there will be very real consternation about this. That the individuals affected are a minority of the electorate is not in doubt, but they will be very unhappy about it, and that is not something that should be blithely dismissed by the Executive branch of our political system.There will be those who think, “All that you do is get the business through and that is all that matters”, and who are quite hard-headed and perhaps even a bit cynical, but people ought to have regard to the views and interests of minorities. They might, on a particular issue, one day be in that position themselves; they will then want the very protection that the right hon. Members for Meriden and for Chesham and Amersham, and the hon. Member for The Cotswolds, are seeking. I will certainly relay the concern to the Lord Speaker. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-23a.1595.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1597.0 | |
| We have been extremely well served, as always, by our Clerks, who do their business with great commitment and prowess, and I have just been advised on this matter. That advice is that I will cause the matter to be investigated. The truth is that, off the top of my head, I have absolutely no idea why the right hon. and learned Gentleman’s name has not been added to those amendments. One would assume that in the ordinary course of events it would be, so I am rather taken aback. His understanding of the normal practice is, as usual, quite correct. Let us have the matter looked into, but I hope that it will be trumpeted to the good people of the Beaconsfield constituency that he sought to have his name added to the amendments, and the work in progress is that he may yet succeed in that mission. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-23a.1595.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1597.2 | |
| The right hon. Lady’s interpretation is correct. I always think that it is important for our proceedings to be intelligible to people beyond this place, so let it be stated on the record that these exchanges have not eaten into the time available for debate at all. They have obliged the right hon. Member for North Norfolk (Norman Lamb), who is about to present his ten-minute rule Bill, to wait patiently before being able to speak to it, but they have not in any way detracted from or taken time out of the debate on the High Speed Rail (London – West Midlands) Bill. I am afraid that the right hon. Lady is correct to say that if Members seek a Division on a particular amendment, that will eat away at the remaining time available for debate. A lot of people will feel that that is a regrettable state of affairs, to put it mildly. I note what she has said about the precedent of the Channel Tunnel Bill. The Secretary of State is not in his place, although he might very well be here for Third Reading. As far as I am aware, he is a person of robust constitution and perfectly capable of staying in the Chamber for an appreciable period to debate matters of important public policy. I have never had any reason to suppose that his conscientious Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State—[Interruption.] His Minister of State, indeed. No discourtesy was intended to the hon. Gentleman. I have never had reason to suppose that the Minister of State was incapable of strenuous parliamentary endeavour over an extended period. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-23a.1595.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1598.0 | |
| Perhaps the Minister is going to add to that point now. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-23a.1595.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1598.2 | |
| That is a matter of indisputable fact, and I thank the Minister of State for taking the opportunity to make that point. So far as last night is concerned, it is also a matter of fact that the motion was not objected to. The Business of the House motion appertaining to this matter was of course objected to on Monday evening by the right hon. Member for Chesham and Amersham. Had it been objected to last night, there would have been a requirement for a debate today on Members’ concerns, which would have eaten into the available time. The absence of an objection last night and the fact that I have just mentioned are obviously causally linked. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-23a.1595.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1598.4 | |
| The right hon. Lady has put the matter fairly and squarely on the record. I am always happy to hear points of order and to do my best to respond to them, but I think it is fair to say that for now we have exhausted that terrain. We should move on to the ever-patient right hon. Member for North Norfolk. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-23a.1595.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1599.1 | |
| Presumably with a view to people then playing golf. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-23a.1553.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g1554.0 | |
| Indeed they do, as the hon. Lady pertinently observes from a sedentary position. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-23a.1553.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g1554.2 | |
| I am sure that that was a courteous tribute, but I hope the right hon. Gentleman will not object if I say that the first part of his question was way off the fairway. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-23a.1553.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g1554.7 | |
| Order. There is too much shouting on both sides of the House. Stop it. The public are bored stiff by it. The right hon. Gentleman will finish his question and we will have an answer. There will be no shouting from Members of any grouping. That is the message. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-23a.1561.10&s=speaker%3A10040#g1565.3 | |
| Order. This sort of gesticulation across the Chamber is way below the level and the dignity of senior Members on the Front Bench on either side. It is terribly tedious—cut it out. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-23a.1561.10&s=speaker%3A10040#g1566.3 | |
| Order. The hon. Lady is entitled to ask her question, and the same goes for every other Member. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-23a.1561.10&s=speaker%3A10040#g1571.3 | |
| Order. Members are becoming a little over-excitable. The Chief Secretary must be heard. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-22a.1387.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g1480.2 | |
| I am now required under Standing Order No. 51(3) to put, without further debate, the Question on each of the Ways and Means motions numbered 2 to 69 on which the Bill is to be brought in, and on the motions on Procedure and Finance (Money). I should point out that motion No. 13 includes a schedule. These motions are set out in a separate paper distributed with today’s Order Paper.I must inform the House that, for the purposes of Standing Order No. 83U, and on the basis of material put before me, I have certified that in my opinion the following founding motions published on 16 March 2016 and to be moved by the Chancellor of the Exchequer relate exclusively to England, Wales and Northern Ireland and are within devolved legislative competence. I am referring, as I feel sure colleagues are keenly aware, to the following motions:45. Stamp duty land tax (calculating tax on non-residential and mixed transactions);46. Stamp duty land tax (higher rates for additional dwellings etc.);47. SDLT higher rate (land purchased for commercial use);48. SDLT higher rate (acquisition under home reversion plan);49. SDLT higher rate (properties occupied by certain employees);50. Stamp duty land tax (co-ownership authorised contractual schemes);57. Landfill tax (rates); and the motion on Procedure (Future Taxation) relating to rates of landfill tax.Any of these motions on which the House may divide will be subject to double majority voting. With the leave of the House, I will put the Question on motions 2 to 7 together.The Speaker put forthwith the Questions necessary to dispose of the motions made in the name of the Chancellor of the Exchequer (Standing Order No. 51(3)). https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-22a.1387.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g1486.0 | |
| I am extremely grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for his point of order. I know, or at least I feel confident, that he will not take it amiss if I suggest, on the basis both of the content of his point of order and of the manner of its delivery, that he was more interested in what he had to say to me than in anything that I might have to say to him. What I would say to the right hon. Gentleman, who is very deeply versed in these matters, is that I can comment on the matter of fact, which is that the House has agreed to the two amendments, a point not in dispute between or us or a matter of any doubt in the Chamber, but I do not feel able to comment upon effect—what it will or will not be. However, I have a sense that his point of order was something of a warm-up, and I have a feeling that to this matter he, and doubtless others, will soon, possibly at greater length, return—[Interruption.] Some mischievous soul says, “Hope not.” I think the hope is in vain.Ordered,That a Bill be brought in upon the foregoing Resolutions;That the Chairman of Ways and Means, the Prime Minister, Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, Secretary Sajid Javid, Secretary Nicky Morgan, Secretary Greg Clark, Greg Hands, Damian Hinds, Harriet Baldwin and Mr David Gauke bring in the Bill. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-22a.1542.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g1542.5 | |
| With the leave of the House, we shall take motions 3 to 7 together.Motion made, and Question put forthwith (Standing Order No. 118(6)), https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-22a.1543.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g1543.4 | |
| Just before I call the hon. Member for Rossendale and Darwen (Jake Berry), I appeal to Members who are leaving the Chamber, perhaps unaccountably, to do so quickly and quietly so that the hon. Gentleman can make his case and be afforded a decent hearing. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-22a.1544.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1544.2 | |
| Order. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-22a.1387.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g1472.0 | |
| Order. I am afraid that, so that I can try to accommodate the maximum number of Members who have not yet spoken, I must reduce the time limit on Back-Bench speeches to three minutes, with immediate effect. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-22a.1387.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g1464.0 | |
| Order. May I just say, for the benefit of the House, that moderation and good humour are the precepts of “Erskine May”. Members on both sides of the House can learn from the right hon. and learned Member for Rushcliffe (Mr Clarke), who has just given a textbook example of a robust speech made with good humour. Many Opposition Members can do the same, and new Members could learn from them. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-22a.1387.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g1412.1 | |
| Let me say to the right hon. and learned Gentleman that he has never been in trouble with the Speaker. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-22a.1387.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g1408.2 | |
| Order. Before I call the spokesman for the Scottish National party, it may be convenient for the House to know that, owing to the level of demand among those wishing to contribute to the debate, a five-minute limit on Back-Bench speeches will have to take effect immediately after his own speech. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-22a.1387.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g1411.0 | |
| Order. I made it clear earlier that attempts to shout the Chancellor down were unacceptable. That was made very, very clear and I do not think anybody would doubt or deny it. I make it similarly clear that no attempt in this Chamber will be successful if it is an attempt to shout down the shadow Chancellor. Get the message: it ain’t gonna happen. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-22a.1387.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g1399.5 | |
| Order. Before we proceed further, perhaps I can just say to the House, on my own account and on the basis of sound procedural advice, that we must stick to the matter of the Budget. [Interruption.] Order. I do not require any comeback or any comment, agreement or disagreement. Let us proceed in a seemly manner with the debate. That is in the House’s interest, and that is what the country has a right to expect. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-22a.1387.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g1400.2 | |
| Order. [Interruption.] Order. Leave me to deal with this. Mr Cleverly, I have known you for years and you have always struck me as a very polite fellow. You are getting over-excited, young man. You will have an opportunity to intervene, perhaps in due course, but you don’t do it like that. Learn from a few old hands. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-22a.1387.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g1401.5 | |
| May I remind Members that interventions should be brief? We want to hear from both Front Benchers, and I want to hear from dozens of Back Benchers. I repeat that interventions should be brief. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-22a.1387.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g1389.3 | |
| Order. I apologise for having to interrupt the Chancellor. [Interruption.] Order. Members are yelling—in some cases, from sedentary positions—very noisily. If people put questions to the Chancellor, they must leave him to respond. The same will go forGovernment Back Benchers when they no doubt challenge Members speaking from the Opposition Benches. Let us try to restore some sort of order to this debate. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-22a.1387.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g1392.5 | |
| Before I call the Chancellor of the Exchequer, I should inform the House that I have selected amendments (b) and (a), so both can be debated together with the Budget motions today. With the leave of the House, I will call the shadow Chancellor to move amendment (b) after the Chancellor has opened the debate. At the end of the day’s debate, the Question will first be put on amendment (b). As long as time permits before 7 pm, I shall then call the hon. Member for Dewsbury (Paula Sherriff) to move amendment (a) formally, and the Question on that amendment will be put. The House will then proceed to decide on the Budget resolutions. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-22a.1387.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g1387.3 | |
| I thank the right hon. Gentleman for his point of order and for the terms in which he put it to me. As Members present throughout Question Time will know, condolences have been expressed by Members on both sides of the House as regards the victims of this terrible outrage and their loved ones who will live with the consequences. The short answer to the right hon. Gentleman is that I have had no such discussions with any Minister to date. I think that it is a matter of public record that the Prime Minister has been chairing an important meeting of Cobra this morning and I think it will be accepted in all parts of the House, not least by the right hon. Gentleman, that the Prime Minister is punctilious in coming to the House to address these matters at such a point as he feels that he has the requisite level of information to impart to colleagues and is best placed to be informative and helpful. We should await the development of events, but the serious concern registered by the right hon. Gentleman will be keenly felt across the House. I thank him again for the terms in which he raised his point. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-22a.1381.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1381.2 | |
| I thank the hon. Gentleman for his attempted point of order. That is not a matter for the Chair, but, again, he has raised a question of real and immediate concern. That real and immediate concern will have been heard by those on the Treasury Bench and, knowing the hon. Gentleman’s ingenuity, I feel sure that if he does not receive some sort of contact or reassurance from an appropriate quarter, he will not rest in continuing to highlight his concern, and I thank him for doing so. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-22a.1381.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1381.4 | |
| I confess that I have received no such indication. Once again, the hon. Gentleman has put his concerns on the record. They will have been heard and doubtless he will return to the matter if he does not receive the satisfaction he seeks. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-22a.1381.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1382.0 | |
| I am grateful to the Chair of the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee for notice of his point of order. The House delegates to nearly all its Select Committees the power to send for persons, papers and records. Each Committee is free to decide whom to invite to give oral evidence, and if the invitation is refused, the Committee may decide to make an order for the attendance of a witness.In response to the hon. Gentleman’s direct question, therefore, it appears to me that so far the proper procedures have been followed. As long as the Committee is acting within its terms of reference, the House expects witnesses to obey the Committee’s order to attend. If, after due consideration, the hon. Gentleman’s Committee wishes to take the matter further, the next step would be to make a special report to the House, setting out the facts. The hon. Gentleman may then wish to apply to me to consider the issue as a matter of privilege, and to ask me to give it priority in the House. Under procedures agreed to by the House in 1978 and set out on page 273 of “Erskine May”, this application should be made to me in writing, rather than as a point of order. I would then be happy to advise him on the options open to him. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-22a.1381.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1382.2 | |
| We have such a person. I can say only that I shall always profit by the counsels of the hon. Gentleman. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-22a.1381.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1383.1 | |
| Is it on an unrelated matter? https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-22a.1381.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1383.3 | |
| I do not know that there is more to add, but I will give the hon. Gentleman the benefit of the doubt—he is a very experienced Member. I have tried to treat of this matter fairly and factually, but of course I will take a point of order from the hon. Gentleman if he persists. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-22a.1381.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1383.5 | |
| I am very grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his point of order. I recognise that there are historical precedents, but it is only right for me to say that it is not for me to make any such decision. If we were to get to that point, and I am not suggesting that we shall do so—I am not seeking to anticipate events—that would be a matter for the House to decide, but I hope that I have dealt fairly, squarely and intelligibly with the important matter that the Chair of the Select Committee and others have raised. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-22a.1381.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1383.7 | |
| May I gently point out to colleagues that, very useful and comprehensive though these exchanges have been, as usual at this stage we have got a lot to get through and we need to speed up a bit? There is a long waiting list of colleagues and we must get through that list. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-22a.1363.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g1365.3 | |
| If anything, questions are getting longer, not shorter. I say with great courtesy to the right hon. Gentleman, whom I hold in the highest esteem and whose track record is greatly respected across the House, that his question was far too long. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-22a.1366.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g1367.1 | |
| Order. The hon. Lady must not accuse a Member of misleading the House. If she wishes to insert the word “inadvertently” she would spring back into order, which is where I am sure that she wishes to be. Do I take it that the word “inadvertently” has been inserted? https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-22a.1373.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g1377.6 | |
| I call Dr Sarah Wollaston, the Chair of the Health Committee. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-22a.1373.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g1378.0 | |
| Order. I am afraid that demand exceeds supply. We must now move on. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-22a.1373.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g1380.0 | |
| It is a matter for the judgment of the Minister, but the discontent of a former Cabinet Minister has been registered. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-21a.1290.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1344.3 | |
| Order. It is fairly uncharacteristic of one of the Whips on duty, the hon. Member for Croydon Central (Gavin Barwell), who normally behaves in a most seemly manner, but the amount of noise he is making prevents me from attending to the right hon. Lady’s point of order, which I am keen to hear, so she will doubtless now continue. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-21a.1290.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1345.0 | |
| The interpretation by the right hon. Lady is entirely correct. I trust that she is satisfied with that matter. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-21a.1290.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1345.2 | |
| Objection taken. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-21a.1345.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g1346.1 | |
| The hon. Gentleman has raised his concern under the guise, or within the clothing, of an attempted point of order, but as he knows—his puckish grin merely testifies to his awareness of this—that is not a matter for the Chair. If he is beseeching the Secretary of State to come in on that point of order, he is entitled so to beseech. The Secretary of State can do so if he wishes, but he is under no obligation. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-21a.1287.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1287.2 | |
| The Secretary of State is leaving it there, which he is perfectly entitled to do. I thank him for his statement and his responses to questions. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-21a.1287.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1287.4 | |
| I will come to the right hon. Lady in a moment. I am saving her up—it will be worth waiting for, I feel sure. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-21a.1287.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1287.6 | |
| I say to the right hon. Lady and the House only that I have no knowledge, or way of possessing knowledge, about what is or is not being briefed to a particular newspaper at a given time. To meet her concern head on, the Chancellor will be in the House tomorrow. I understand that he is winding up the debate, but it is customary for a Minister who is winding up a debate to attend most of it, so there will be ample opportunity for colleagues to air their concerns. I hope she will understand if I say that I prefer not to entertain hypothetical situations. I always thought that Lord Whitelaw was very sound when he said that on the whole he preferred not to cross bridges until he came to them. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-21a.1287.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1287.8 | |
| I wish gently, although not too gently, to reprove the hon. Lady. The shadow Secretary of State made at least a half-hearted attempt to conceal his political observation within the guise of a point of order. There was really no such attempted disguise on the part of the hon. Lady. Her point may or may not have been valid, and it might well relate to a case that is sub judice, but whatever else may be said of it, it is not a matter for the Chair. We will leave it there for today. She has got her point on the record. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-21a.1287.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1288.0 | |
| We will proceed only after we have heard the point of order from Mrs Cheryl Gillan. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-21a.1287.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1288.2 | |
| I thank the right hon. Lady for giving me notice of her point of order. Her concerns about the Bill are well known. She referred to constituencies on the line of route and I mention, purely in passing, that my own constituency situation is well known to the right hon. Lady and many other Members throughout the House. She has referenced the motion that the Government have tabled. That business of the House motion, item 2 on today’s Order Paper, allocates time to the remaining stages, and she has complained about what she regards as the total inadequacy of that time. As she also knows, because she has been in the House for almost 24 years, I am afraid that such motions are not the preserve of the Chair: there is absolutely nothing that the Chair can do on that matter. It is up to the House whether to agree to the motion.However, for the benefit of the right hon. Lady and those beyond the Chamber interested in these matters, I would simply add that if the motion is reached after 10 pm, it cannot be debated and can be agreed tonight only if there is no objection. I am not a seer—the right hon. Lady knows that I cannot be sure how events will play out—but given the time now and the fact that we are about to hear two Front-Bench speeches and that some dozens of colleagues wish to give the House the benefit of their views on the Budget, it seems at least highly probable that the motion will not be reached until after 10 o’clock. Knowing the indefatigability of the right hon. Lady, I feel sure that she will be in her place at the point the motion is reached, and she will know what she thinks she should do.Beyond that, the right hon. Lady should have a chat with her right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport, and deploy her combination of intellect and charm to try to secure an improvement in the position. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-21a.1287.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1288.4 | |
| There is really nothing further to that point of order, but because it is the right hon. Lady, I feel I must take it. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-21a.1287.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1289.1 | |
| In that case, I can advise the right hon. Lady and anybody else who feels as she does only as I have just done. It is not for me to tell the House how to vote. I would not dream of doing so; that would be most improper. All I am doing is saying to the right hon. Lady that that is the position procedurally. She will go into the situation with open eyes if she wants to be in the Chamber close to and beyond 10 o’clock. She knows that what I am telling her is not opinion, but based on sound procedural advice. I think we had better leave it there. I suggest that the Clerk now proceeds to read the Orders of the Day. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-21a.1287.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1289.3 | |
| Before I call the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, from whom we look forward to hearing—we also look forward to hearing from his shadow—I simply point out that some dozens of colleagues want to speak in the debate. There will have to be a very tight time limit on Back-Bench speeches, but I know that the Secretary of State and his shadow, who are both very considerate Members of the House, will, while wanting to treat comprehensively of the issues within their domain, wish to facilitate contributions by colleagues. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-21a.1290.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1290.2 | |
| Order. I am genuinely sorry to disappoint colleagues. This is a rarity because my objective is always to get in every colleague who wishes to speak on a statement, but every rule has its exceptions. I hope that colleagues will understand that I have to move on and that there is an element of rough justice when that happens. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-21a.1268.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1286.5 | |
| Order. Pressure on time requires brevity, in my experience unfailingly represented by Mr John Redwood. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-21a.1244.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1253.2 | |
| Order. I would call the hon. Member for Berwick-upon-Tweed (Mrs Trevelyan) if she were standing, but she is not so I cannot do so. There you are. You have a clue: if you stand, you will get in. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-21a.1244.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1258.3 | |
| I warn colleagues: as they know, I normally call everyone and the Prime Minister most patiently replies, but I fear that that almost certainly will not be possible today. Brevity will help, however. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-21a.1244.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1260.0 | |
| Order. Now is the time for what I call considerate brevity. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-21a.1244.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1262.4 | |
| Order. Mr MacNeil, I have told you before that you are an exceptionally excitable fellow. You have aspirations to statesmanship and must comport yourself accordingly. Now, we will have an altogether more subdued tone. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-21a.1244.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1266.2 | |
| Order. As colleagues know, it is very unusual for me not to accommodate everybody, but time is against us and we must move on. If colleagues who were unsuccessful in respect of this statement are patient—who knows?—their voices might be heard. Let us hear the next statement, a statement from the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-21a.1244.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1267.4 | |
| Order. When the Minister is addressing the House, he is entitled to be heard. I know the Minister is raising his voice, but there should be no requirement to do so. Experience shows that all sides of the argument will be heard. Members need have no worry on that score. In the first instance, the Minister must be heard. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-21a.1231.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1232.1 | |
| Specifically in relation to affordable homes, a matter upon which I feel sure the Minister is tempted to dilate. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-21a.1215.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g1215.7 | |
| Ah, Mr Hollinrake, I think you know a thing or two about houses—you are an estate agent, man. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-21a.1218.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g1219.6 | |
| I would suggest that the hon. Lady seek an Adjournment debate on the subject, but I realise now that she has just had it. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-21a.1220.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1220.5 | |
| I call Mr Andrew Stephenson. He is not here. Oh dear, where is the chappie? https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-21a.1225.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g1225.8 | |
| Order. These are extremely sensitive matters, so I say this with care, but it would be appreciated if colleagues could be economical in their questions and answers, simply because the Budget debate is heavily subscribed. We will now have an exemplary lesson from Mr Mark Pritchard. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-17a.1107.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1115.2 | |
| The office of Chair of the Backbench Business Committee exercises an influence beyond what we previously knew. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-17a.1089.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1095.3 | |
| Far be it from me to comment on the aesthetic virtues or otherwise of the tie, but the use of props in this place is generally deprecated. However, the hon. Gentleman has got away with it. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-17a.1089.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1098.6 | |
| I believe that the hon. Lady wants a statement on the matter. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-17a.1089.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1102.5 | |
| I hope other colleagues are as virtuous as the right hon. Lady. She has set a very high and exacting standard. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-17a.1069.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g1069.7 | |
| I call Kerry McCarthy. [Interruption.] I had thought the hon. Lady was seeking to come in on Question 2. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-17a.1069.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g1070.0 | |
| We have been misadvised. Never mind. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-17a.1069.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g1070.2 | |
| It is always nice to be wanted. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-17a.1069.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g1070.4 | |
| We very much hope that the plant is in Derbyshire, rather than in this House. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-17a.1074.8&s=speaker%3A10040#g1076.1 | |
| I am sure we will get a report in due course. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-17a.1074.8&s=speaker%3A10040#g1076.3 | |
| Order. We are short of time, so single-sentence, short supplementaries are needed. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-17a.1077.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g1078.2 | |
| The right hon. Lady was talking about the hon. Member for Richmond Park (Zac Goldsmith). https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-17a.1079.10&s=speaker%3A10040#g1081.4 | |
| I call Mr Alan Mak. Where is the feller? I call Mr Stephen Phillips. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-17a.1084.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g1084.7 | |
| I note that the hon. Gentleman acutely exploited the diverse meanings of the word “power” so that he could remain in order. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-17a.1085.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g1086.4 | |
| I will call the hon. Gentleman if it is to be one short sentence. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-17a.1087.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g1088.4 | |
| With the leave of the House, I propose to take motions 4 to 9 together.Motion made, and Question put forthwith (Standing Order No. 118(6)), https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-16b.1056.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g1056.7 | |
| Order. It is very important that our proceedings should be intelligible to all those who follow them, and I just remind the hon. Lady that there are no Front-Bench wind-up speeches tonight. Answers may or may not be forthcoming, but they will not be forthcoming from the Dispatch Box this evening. I am sure that the hon. Lady is a notably patient person. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-16b.987.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1053.0 | |
| Order. I am extremely grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his contribution. I think Mr Tommy Sheppard wishes to speak. No? https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-16b.987.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1050.0 | |
| Well, continue to orate, man. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-16b.987.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1050.3 | |
| Order. I understand the sense of anticipation, but I just gently remind the House that we are discussing policy affecting some of the most vulnerable people on the face of the planet, and I think we owe them some respect. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-16b.937.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g937.9 | |
| Order. I appreciate that Members are leaving the Chamber, but it would be appreciated if they could do so quickly and quietly. I am sure that the substantial numbers of Members who are staying will want to savour the speech by the Minister. At any rate, he deserves an attentive audience. Indeed, I am sure that he expects nothing less. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-15a.909.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g909.2 | |
| I remind the House that the programme motion in the Order Paper was published in error, a fact of which I informed the House some hours ago. The correct motion has been available from the Vote Office. I invite the Home Secretary to move the amended programme motion. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-15a.812.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g907.0 | |
| Having got comfortably through that sequence—I am most grateful to the Whip on duty—we now come to the motion on prevention and suppression of terrorism and, dare I say it, to the alluring prospect of the motion being moved by the Minister for Security, the right hon. Member for South Holland and The Deepings (Mr Hayes). https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-15a.908.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g908.8 | |
| Order. In seeking to accommodate remaining colleagues, I am afraid it is necessary now to reduce the time limit on Back-Bench speeches to three minutes with immediate effect. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-15a.812.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g895.2 | |
| Order. Just before the hon. Member for The Wrekin (Mark Pritchard) intervenes, I advise the House that, although everything is being done perfectly properly, and the Home Secretary and the right hon. Gentleman have been generous in giving way, 48 Back Benchers wish to contribute. Those who have or seek the Floor might wish to take account of that point. I call Mark Pritchard. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-15a.812.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g828.2 | |
| Order. In the light of the extensive interest in this debate, we shall need to begin with a limit of eight minutes on Back-Bench speeches, though I give notice to the House that that limit will almost inevitably have to fall. I begin by calling the Chair of the Intelligence and Security Committee of the House, the right hon. and learned Member for Beaconsfield (Mr Grieve). https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-15a.812.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g836.0 | |
| We come now to the Second Reading of the Investigatory Powers Bill. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-15a.808.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g810.0 | |
| Oh, very well. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-15a.808.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g810.2 | |
| I am very grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his point of order. No one should be judge in his or her own cause. As he knows, I am here merely to serve. It is very good of the hon. Gentleman, who has always shown great faith in me, to volunteer me for an enhanced role, but modesty prohibits me, frankly, from saying that that role should be mine; others can be the judge of that. However, I note the substantive point that he has made. At least as importantly, I feel sure that the Home Secretary, not least because she is sitting not very far away from him, will have heard what he has to say. I have a sense that if she does not respond to his point, he will probably make it again, and quite probably again, and conceivably again after that. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-15a.808.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g811.0 | |
| Before we come to points of order, I need to make a short statement which I hope will help the House in the matter to come.Owing to a printing error an incorrect version of the programme motion has been printed on the Order Paper. A corrigendum will be in the Vote Office and online shortly. The significant difference is that two days are proposed for consideration and Third Reading, rather than the one day referred to incorrectly on the Order Paper. The motion will be moved in the correct form after Second Reading. My understanding is that two days were wanted by all parties, so there should be rejoicing about this matter. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-15a.806.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g806.2 | |
| It was not a point of order, it was a statement, but the right hon. Gentleman usually has points of order before breakfast, before lunch and before dinner, so I am happy to hear his point of order. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-15a.806.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g806.4 | |
| That is a fair point. I am not sure that it is a point of order, but the right hon. Gentleman knows me well enough to know that I respect his sincerity on these matters. What is wanted by Front Benchers is not necessarily the same as what is wanted by Back Benchers, as he has just demonstrated. I have no control over the programme motion. That is a matter for the House. All I can say is that if there is very strong cross-party feeling, I have a sense that Ministers will inevitably be on the receiving end of it. I do not have the list in front of me, but in so far as the right hon. Gentleman is subtly in the process of advertising his own interest in being called to speak, I think his effort has been successful. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-15a.806.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g806.6 | |
| As the hon. Gentleman knows, he has found his own salvation and we are deeply indebted to him, as is the House. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-15a.806.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g806.8 | |
| I thank the hon. Gentleman for his point of order and, indeed, for his characteristic courtesy in giving me advance notice of it. I appreciate that he feels that there is inconsistency between the latitude allowed by the Chair to the hon. Member for Birmingham, Yardley (Jess Phillips) in the debate to mark International Women’s Day on 8 March and earlier rulings from the Chair on his own attempts to read out the names of members of the armed forces who had died in operations overseas. These are matters of judgment for the Chair, and my immediate response to him—I am happy to reflect upon it further—is that they are best approached on a case-by-case basis. My concern is that there should be reasonableness and balance in these matters. I do not think the House would receive it well if list reading became a very regular phenomenon or, indeed, if I may say so, a repetitive campaign tool. However, I simply say to the hon. Gentleman that it is open to Members to seek my thoughts in advance on these matters if they have such an intention in mind. I will, if I may, leave it there for today. I appreciate his sincerity, and I hope he appreciates mine. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-15a.806.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g807.1 | |
| A most extraordinary noise has just radiated around the Chamber. Is it a singing tie? That is very irregular. [Interruption.] No, it was not the Minister. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-15a.775.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g777.1 | |
| I call Alison McGovern. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-15a.775.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g777.3 | |
| This is question 3. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-15a.775.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g777.5 | |
| I call Minister Ed Vaizey. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-15a.778.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g778.4 | |
| I am glad that the Minister thinks it is lovely simply to have his name announced. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-15a.778.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g778.6 | |
| I think that was intended as a tribute. It will doubtless be communicated by the hon. Gentleman to the good burghers of Lincoln the length and breadth of his constituency. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-15a.783.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g784.2 | |
| Last but not least, Mr Alan Mak. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-15a.787.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g794.3 | |
| I can now inform the House that I have completed certification of the Bill, as required by the Standing Order. I have confirmed the view expressed in my provisional certificate issued on 9 March. Copies of my final certificate will be made available in the Vote Office and on the parliamentary website.Under Standing Order No. 83M, a consent motion is therefore required for the Bill to proceed. Copies of the motion are available in the Vote Office and on the parliamentary website, and have been made available to Members in the Chamber. Does the Minister intend to move the consent motion? https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-14b.741.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g741.3 | |
| Under Standing Order 83M(4), the House must forthwith resolve itself into the Legislative Grand Committee (England and Wales).The House forthwith resolved itself into the Legislative Grand Committee (England and Wales) (Standing Order No. 83M).[Mrs Eleanor Laing in the Chair] https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-14b.741.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g742.1 | |
| I call Callum McCaig, if he wishes to speak. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-14b.698.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g729.0 | |
| Our consideration having been completed, I will now suspend the House for no more than five minutes in order to make a decision about certification. The Division bells will be rung two minutes before the House resumes. Following my certification, the Government will table the appropriate consent motion, copies of which will be made available in the Vote Office and distributed by the Doorkeepers.Sitting suspended.On resuming— https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-14b.741.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g741.2 | |
| With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:Amendment 24, in clause 79, page 46, line 20, leave out “31 March 2016” and insert “1 March 2017”.This amendment and amendments 25, 26, 40, 41, 42, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38 and 39 have the effect of closing the Renewables Obligation for onshore wind a month earlier than the original date set out in the Statutory Instrument: Renewables Obligation Closure Order 2014: 2388, rather than a year earlier, as the Bill does in its present form.Amendment 25, page 46, line 25, leave out “31 March 2016” and insert “1 March 2017”.Amendment 22, page 47, line 22, leave out clause 80.Amendment 26, in clause 80, page 47, line 27, leave out “31 March 2016” and insert “1 March 2017”.Amendment 27, page 47, line 30, leave out “31 March 2016” and insert “1 March 2017”.Amendment 28, page 47, line 36, leave out “31 March 2017” and insert “1 March 2017”.Amendment 29, page 47, line 42, leave out “31 March 2017” and insert “1 March 2017”.Amendment 30, page 48, line 3, leave out “31 March 2016” and insert “1 March 2017”.Amendment 31, page 48, line 6, leave out “31 March 2017” and insert “1 March 2017”.Amendment 32, page 48, line 20, leave out “31 March 2016” and insert “1 March 2017”.Amendment 33, page 48, line 33, leave out “1 April 2017” and insert “2 March 2017”.Amendment 34, page 48, line 43, leave out “1 April 2017” and insert “2 March 2017”.Amendment 35, page 49, line 8, leave out “1 April 2017” and insert “2 March 2017”.Amendment 36, page 49, line 17, leave out “1 April 2017” and insert “2 March 2017”.Amendment 37, page 50, line 13, leave out “18 June 2015” and insert “18 May 2016”.Amendment 1, page 50, line 18, leave out “planning permission” and insert“an application for 1990 Act permission or 1997 Act permission”.Amendment 38, page 50, line 19, leave out “18 June 2015” and insert “18 May 2016”.Amendment 2, page 50, line 20, leave out “or judicial review”.Amendment 3, page 50, line 30, after “Act” insert“(excluding an extension agreed for the purposes of section 78(2) of the 1990 Act or section 47(2) of the 1997 Act)”.Amendment 52, page 50, line 34, after “application”, insert“(provided that this period does not include any extension agreed for the purposes of section 78(2) of the 1990 Act or section 47(2) of the 1997 Act”.Amendment 4, page 50, line 35, leave out paragraph (iii).Amendment 39, page 50, line 40, leave out “18 June 2015” and insert “18 May 2016”.Amendment 53, page 50, line 40, after “18th June 2015”, insert “whether”.Amendment 6, page 50, line 40, leave out “following an appeal”.Amendment 5, page 50, line 40, after “following an appeal” insert—“or a decision made by the Secretary of State, Welsh Ministers or Scottish Ministers following directions given under section 77 of the 1990 Act or section 46 of the 1997 Act, and”.Amendment 54, page 50, line 40, after “appeal”, insert “or otherwise”.Amendment 23, page 50, line 46, at end insert“, or(e) evidence that—(i) an application for 1990 Act permission or 1997 Act permission was made on or before 18th June 2015 for the station or for additional capacity,(ii) a grant of planning permission was resolved by the relevant planning authority on or before 18th June 2015,(iii) planning permission was granted after 18th June 2015, and(iv) any conditions as to the time period within which the development to which the permission relates must be begun have not been breached.”.Amendment 7, page 50, line 46, at end insert—“( ) evidence that—(i) an application for 1990 Act permission or 1997 Act permission was made on or before 18 June 2015 for the station or additional capacity,(ii) the period allowed under section 78(2) of the 1990 Act or (as the case may be) section 47(2) of the 1997 Act (excluding an extension agreed for the purposes of section 78(2) of the 1990 Act or section 47(2) of the 1997 Act) ended on or before 18 June 2015 without the things mentioned in section 78(2)(a) or (aa) of the 1990 Act or section 47(2)(a) or (b) of the 1997 Act being done in respect of the application,(iii) the application was referred to the Secretary of State, Welsh Ministers or Scottish Ministers in accordance with directions given under section 77 of the 1990 Act or section 46 of the 1997 Act,(iv) 1990 Act permission or 1997 Act permission was granted after 18 June 2015, and(v) any conditions as to the time period within which the development to which the permission relates must be begun have not been breached.”.Amendment 8, page 50, line 46, at end insert—“( ) evidence that—(i) an application for 1990 Act permission or 1997 Act permission was made on or before 18 June 2015 for the station or for additional capacity,(ii) the relevant planning authority resolved to grant 1990 Act permission or 1997 Act permission on or before 18 June 2015,(iii) 1990 Act permission or 1997 Act permission was granted after 18 June 2015, and(iv) any conditions as to the time period within which the development to which the permission relates must be begun have not been breached.”.Amendment 9, page 50, line 46, at end insert—“( ) evidence that—(i) an application for consent for the station or for additional capacity was made under section 36 of this Act,(ii) the consultation period prescribed by Regulations made under paragraphs 2(3) or 3(1)(c) of Schedule 8 to this Act had expired on or before 18 June 2015,(iii) the Secretary of State caused a public inquiry to be held under paragraph 2(2) or 3(3) of Schedule 8 to this Act or decided that a public inquiry need not be held,(iv) consent was granted by the Secretary of State after 18 June 2015, and(v) any conditions as to the time period within which the development to which the permission relates must be begun have not been breached.”.Amendment 10, page 50, line 46, at end insert—“( ) evidence that—(i) an application for development consent for the station or for additional capacity was made under section 37 of the Planning Act 2008,(ii) the deadline for receipt of representations under section 56(4) of the Planning Act 2008 had expired on or before 18 June 2015,(iii) consent was granted by the Secretary of State after 18 June 2015, and(iv) any conditions as to the time period within which the development to which the permission relates must be begun have not been breached.”.Amendment 11, page 50, line 46, at end insert—“( ) evidence that—(i) planning permission for the station or additional capacity was granted on or before 18 June 2015,(ii) planning permission under sections 73, 90(2), 90(2ZA) or 96A of the 1990 Act or sections 42, 57(2), 57(2ZA) or 64 of the 1997 Act, a consent under section 36C of this Act, or an order under section 153 of, and paragraph 2 or 3 of Schedule 6 to, the Planning Act 2008 varying the planning permission under clause 32LJ(4)(i)(i) was granted after 18 June 2015, and(iii) any conditions as to the time period within which the development to which the permission relates must be begun have not been breached.”.Amendment 12, page 50, line 46, at end insert—“( ) evidence that—(i) 1990 Act permission or 1997 Act permission for the station or additional capacity was granted on or before 18 June 2015,(ii) consent under section 36 of this Act that permits a greater capacity for the station than that permitted by the planning permission under clause 32LJ(4)(j)(i) was granted after 18 June 2015, and(iii) any conditions as to the time period within which the development to which the permission relates must be begun have not been breached.”.Amendment 13, page 50, line 46, at end insert—“( ) evidence that—(i) planning permission for the station or additional capacity was granted on or before 18 June 2015,(ii) planning permission under clause 32LJ(4)(k)(i) was superseded by a subsequent planning permission granted after 18 June 2015 permitting a station with the same or a lower capacity than that granted under the planning permission referred to in clause 32LJ(4)(k)(i), and(iii) any conditions as to the time period within which the development to which the permission relates must be begun have not been breached.”.Amendment 14, page 50, line 46, at end insert—“( ) evidence that—(i) planning permission for the station or additional capacity was granted or refused on or before 18 June 2015, and was subsequently confirmed or granted after that date following a statutory challenge under section 288 of the 1990 Act, section 237 of the 1997 Act or section 118 of the Planning Act 2008, or following a judicial review, and(ii) any conditions as to the time period within which the development to which the permission relates must be begun have not been breached.”Amendment 15, page 50, line 48, leave out sub-paragraph 5(a) and insert—“(a) evidence of an agreement with a network operator to carry out grid works in relation to the station or additional capacity and was originally made on or before 18th June 2015 notwithstanding the fact that may have subsequently been amended or modified, and(ab) a copy of a document written by, or on behalf of, the network operator which estimated or set a date for completion of the grid works which was no later than 31 March 2017; or”.Amendment 40, page 50, line 49, leave out “18 June 2015” and insert “18 May 2016”.Amendment 41, page 51, line 10, leave out “18 June 2015” and insert “18 May 2016”.Amendment 16, page 51, line 26, at end insert“and includes planning permission deemed to be granted in accordance with section 90 of that Act”.Amendment 17, page 51, line 31, at end insert“and includes planning permission deemed to be granted in accordance with section 57 of that Act”.Amendment 18, page 52, line 6, leave out “from a recognised lender”.Amendment 42, page 52, line 16, leave out “31 March 2017” and insert “1 March 2017”.Amendment 19, page 52, leave out lines 27 to 29, and insert—“In this section “recognised lender” means a bank or financial institution or trust or fund or other financial entity which is regulated by the relevant jurisdiction and which is engaged in making, purchasing or investing in loans, securities or other financial instruments.”.Amendment 20, page 52, line 32, leave out subsection (6).Amendment 43, page 54, line 19, leave out “31 March 2016” and insert “1 March 2017”.Amendment 44, page 54, line 21, leave out “31 March 2017” and insert “1 March 2017”.Government amendment 50.Amendment 45, in clause 81, page 56, line 3, leave out “31 March 2016” and insert “1 March 2017”.Amendment 21, page 56, line 3, leave out subsection (a) and insert—“(aa) by a 33kV connected onshore wind generating station consented after 30 September 2015, or(ab) by a cluster connected onshore wind generating station consented after 31 October 2015, and”.Amendment 46, page 56, line 6, leave out “31 March 2016” and insert “1 March 2017”. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-14b.663.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g663.5 | |
| Very disorderly conduct. The hon. Gentleman is pressing a serious case. If I may, at the risk of making an in-joke, be permitted to say this, that whatever is the subject of this debate, fortunately, not least for him, Otis is not. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-14b.663.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g668.0 | |
| Fortunately for the hon. Gentleman, he does not need to do so. He is innocent. He has been transgressed against; he has not transgressed. He can now speed ahead with his oration, to which we look forward. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-14b.663.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g668.2 | |
| Order. The hon. Gentleman is not giving way—he has concluded his remarks. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-14b.663.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g669.0 | |
| Does Mr Redwood wish to speak? https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-14b.663.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g669.3 | |
| No. We will take Mr Chris Heaton-Harris and then come to the hon. Member for Southampton, Test (Dr Whitehead). https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-14b.663.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g669.5 | |
| As the hon. Lady knows, the Chair is not responsible for the content of answers. There is a general presumption in favour of answers to questions that are both timely and substantive. If, however, the hon. Lady is dissatisfied with the substance of the reply, which she believes fails adequately to respond—or to respond at all—to her inquiry, she has two recourses open to her, neither of which involves the Chair. One is to table further questions with that dogged persistence for which she has become renowned over the past nearly 11 years in the House, and the other is to complain to the Chair of the Procedure Committee, the hon. Member for Broxbourne (Mr Walker), with a view to securing an inquiry into the approach by Ministers to providing answers to parliamentary questions. I hope that that constitutes an adequate answer to the hon. Lady, who has aired her concern today. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-14b.661.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g661.2 | |
| As I informed the House on Monday 26 October, before a Report stage begins on a Bill, I will seek to identify in advance those changes made in Committee which I would expect to certify together with any Government amendments tabled for Report stage, which, if passed, would be likely to lead me to issue a certificate. My provisional certificate based on those changes and expected amendments is available in the Vote Office and on the Bills before Parliament website. At the end of the Report stage on a Bill, I am required to consider the Bill as amended on Report for certification. At that point, later today, I will issue my final certificate. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-14b.662.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g662.2 | |
| That is an interesting point—some would say a fascinating point—but it is perhaps mildly tangential to the urgent question that I have selected. But we all savour the observations of the hon. Member for North East Somerset (Mr Rees-Mogg), so let us savour the reply. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-14b.653.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g655.4 | |
| The short answer is no, not now. The right hon. Gentleman might be able to do that in the course of a private chat over a cup of tea with the hon. Lady, or by answering a written question if she were to table such, but today we must focus on the narrow terms of the urgent question that has been granted. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-14b.653.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g656.0 | |
| Order. I think we know the President of whom the hon. Gentleman speaks. The President is a most illustrious individual, but the last time I looked he was not a member of the Privy Council. We will leave it there as I think it was a rhetorical question. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-14b.653.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g657.0 | |
| My natural generosity got the better of me; the hon. Member for Crawley (Henry Smith) is unfailingly courteous, but his question was a bit wide of the mark. Half a dozen or so people, perhaps slightly more, are still seeking to catch my eye and it would be good if everybody remained in order—led by Mr Stephen Pound. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-14b.653.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g658.3 | |
| I am not sure that a self-denying ordinance can be imposed. Those who have consulted their scholarly craniums advise me that that might not be possible—indeed, it might be either a contradiction in terms or a tautology. I will leave the hon. Gentleman to reflect on the matter. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-14b.653.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g658.5 | |
| I call Naz Shah. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-14b.634.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g635.4 | |
| No, on this question. Do you wish to come in on this question? https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-14b.634.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g635.6 | |
| We may or may not get to question 21. Patience may be rewarded. We shall see. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-14b.634.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g635.8 | |
| Order. I know that the Minister will want to focus exclusively, and doubtless with loving care, on his own policy, and will not dilate on that of the Opposition, which would be disorderly. Knowing the hon. Gentleman, I do not think he does disorderly. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-14b.642.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g642.6 | |
| I call Angus Brendan MacNeil. He is not here. Where is the fellow? I call Naz Shah. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-14b.646.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g646.7 | |
| Before I call the hon. Member for West Bromwich East (Mr Watson) to ask the urgent question, which I am allowing him to ask, I remind all Members of the House that, and I quote from “Erskine May”:“Her Majesty cannot be supposed to have a private opinion, apart from that of her responsible advisers; and any attempt to use her name in debate to influence the judgment of Parliament is immediately checked and censured…A Minister is, however, permitted to make a statement of facts in which the Sovereign’s name may be concerned.”I earnestly hope that hon. Members will spare me the embarrassment of having to stop them in their tracks if they seek to draw to the House’s attention any alleged views of the monarch on the EU or, indeed, anything else. The urgent question has been carefully drafted by the hon. Member for West Bromwich East to cover process and not substance. I hope that colleagues will frame their questions accordingly. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-14b.653.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g653.1 | |
| It is very reassuring that the hon. Lady is able to drop in on us. We will be deeply grateful to her. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-11b.545.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g547.3 | |
| Order. I have no objection to the number of interventions—that of itself is perfectly orderly and many would say that it should be encouraged. But if Members could have some regard to their length—shortening thereof—that would greatly assist our deliberations. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-11b.545.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g553.3 | |
| Order. I say very gently to the hon. Member for Kettering (Mr Hollobone) that I hope he is not intending to provide biographical details of each of the people from Poland before proceeding to the second of the 160 countries of which he wishes to treat. If that is his intention, it might test the patience of the Chair. I feel sure that he is planning no such mission. On that note, no doubt he will take the intervention from the hon. Member for Christchurch (Mr Chope). https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-11b.545.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g555.2 | |
| Order. Two things. First, “pithiness personified” is normally the title that I would accord the hon. Gentleman, and I hope that he will want to recover that status. Secondly, he referred to “your Bill”. Debate, of course, goes through the Chair—I have no Bill before the House, but the hon. Member for Kettering has. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-11b.545.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g558.0 | |
| Order. Just before the hon. Member for Kettering takes an intervention from the hon. Gentleman, I just remind him that the Bill contains two clauses, the first of which is the only substantive clause, containing four subsections. The second clause is simply the short title and commencement date of the Bill, and the Bill itself takes up a little over one page. As the hon. Member for Kettering has now dilated very eloquently and with great courtesy for 53 minutes, he might perhaps consider focusing, with that laser-like precision for which he is renowned in all parts of the House, upon the first clause of his two-clause Bill. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-11b.545.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g559.4 | |
| The Bill, of course, can be amended and, therefore, notably changed in all sorts of ways in Committee, but that cannot be done today. I have allowed the hon. Gentleman considerable latitude to establish the context and to explain the background to the introduction of his Bill, and I have no regrets on that score, but I feel sure that he will have plenty of meat to present to the House in respect of clause 1. On that clause I am sure he will shortly focus. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-11b.545.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g559.6 | |
| Order. I hesitate to interrupt the hon. Gentleman. He said what he said, but for the benefit of the House, and particularly for the benefit of new Members, may I underline that we do not discuss the views of the monarch in this Chamber? There have occasionally been debates on matters appertaining to the royal family, which I have happily granted, but we do not discuss that matter. I think it better if we just leave it there. Mr Wishart, please continue. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-10b.432.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g436.3 | |
| I am sure that that will be the case. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-10b.432.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g438.2 | |
| And rightly so. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-10b.432.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g441.3 | |
| Order. I think that we will leave it at that. Forgive me. I am extremely grateful to the hon. Gentleman. [Interruption.] On this occasion, I advised the principal actors on this stage that I would be quite insistent that the time limits be kept. To be fair, the Minister was well within her time, and the hon. Member for Leeds North West (Greg Mulholland) exceeded his by a small number of seconds, but he was closer than he has been in the past. No discourtesy is intended to the hon. Member for Sefton Central (Bill Esterson). I think that he has got the thrust of it across. But, please, we really must from now on stick to the limits; otherwise it is not fair to Back Benchers. I think that we are very clear what the hon. Gentleman has to say, and I thank him. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-10b.425.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g427.0 | |
| I am bound to say that I am rather staggered by the fact that the hon. Member for Kilmarnock and Loudoun (Alan Brown) seems to have disappeared from the Chamber. The question is ongoing, and the hon. Gentleman is the Front-Bench spokesman for his party. He should not be toddling out of the Chamber in the middle of the exchanges. These courtesies really must be observed. This really will not do. Honestly! https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-10b.425.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g430.2 | |
| Order. It is very good that the hon. Member for Kilmarnock and Loudoun has beetled back into the Chamber. We are deeply grateful to him, but I want the hon. Member for Bury North (Mr Nuttall) to have his question heard without interruption and with the reverence that it warrants. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-10b.425.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g430.5 | |
| I call Liz Saville Roberts—[Laughter.] That is inexplicable to me, but I am sure that nobody is laughing at the hon. Lady, whom I take extremely seriously. I want to hear what she has to say. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-10b.425.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g430.8 | |
| I call Bob Blackman. Not here. Where is the chappie? https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-10b.407.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g408.5 | |
| Sounds very exciting indeed, I am bound to say. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-10b.411.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g412.2 | |
| It is always useful to have a bit of additional information. I feel sure that the House is very appreciative, not least the hon. Gentleman. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-10b.418.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g422.3 | |
| Order. I am sorry. There are several colleagues who have been waiting very patiently, but I am afraid that today demand has heavily outstripped supply and we must now move on. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-10b.418.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g424.5 | |
| The short answer to the hon. Gentleman’s point of order is that the passage of amendment 1 does not affect the presence of the schedule in the Bill. As I am not an expert on legislative interpretation and impact, and it is not for me to speculate upon that, I will not, but I stand by—on, of course, the basis of advice, and my own study—the first part of my answer to the point of order. I have sought to give that information in a dispassionate way, responding to a factual inquiry with what I understand to be a factual response. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-09a.375.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g380.5 | |
| I can now inform the House that I have completed certification of the Bill, as required by the Standing Order. I have made no change to the provisional certificate issued yesterday. Copies of my final certificate will be made available in the Vote Office and on the parliamentary website.Under Standing Order No. 83M, consent motions are therefore required for the Bill to proceed. Copies of the motions are available in the Vote Office and on the parliamentary website, and they have been made available to Members in the Chamber. Does the Minister intend to move the consent motions? https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-09a.375.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g375.6 | |
| I believe I have had the necessary nod. We must now under the relevant Standing Order forthwith resolve into the Legislative Grand Committee (England and Wales), and thereafter into the Legislative Grand Committee (England).The House forthwith resolved itself into the Legislative Grand Committee (England and Wales) (Standing Order No. 83M). https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-09a.375.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g376.1 | |
| The hon. Lady has made her point, but it is not a matter for the Chair.The Speaker then put forthwith the Questions necessary for the disposal of the business to be concluded at that time (Standing Order No. 83E). https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-09a.316.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g375.1 | |
| Our consideration having been completed, I will now suspend the House for no more than five minutes in order to make a decision about certification. The Division bells will be rung two minutes before the House resumes. Following my decision on certification being communicated, the Government will table the appropriate consent motions, copies of which will be made available in the Vote Office and distributed by the Doorkeepers. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-09a.375.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g375.4 | |
| I think that the hon. Gentleman has found his own salvation, as he will be keenly aware. His attempted correction is now on the record.Three hours having elapsed since the start of proceedings on consideration, the debate was interrupted (Programme Order, 8 March). https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-09a.316.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g370.2 | |
| Order. I would like to accommodate two more speakers, if possible. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-09a.316.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g368.0 | |
| We have just over 27 minutes remaining. I call Sir Gerald Howarth. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-09a.316.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g362.0 | |
| Order. We have just under 50 minutes and many people wish to contribute. If everyone speaks for four minutes, we could have another 10 or so contributors. I ask Members to consider each other. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-09a.316.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g355.2 | |
| Let me explain the position to the hon. Gentleman, to whom I am genuinely grateful for his point of order, and for the benefit of the House. There is nothing disorderly in the Minister giving an indication of how the Government would propose to proceed. If a Minister wishes to say to the House, “Our intention is to proceed with pilots”, it is perfectly in order for the Minister to do that. But of one thing, procedurally and constitutionally, the House needs to be made again aware: Members are voting on that which is on the paper and which the Speaker has selected. Members are not voting on a Government proposal or words about pilots; they are voting on that which is on the paper. The matter under discussion is the amendment standing in the name of the hon. Member for Enfield, Southgate (Mr Burrowes). We are voting on that, not on a Government proposal, and I hope that that is clear. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-09a.316.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g338.1 | |
| Order. First, may I appeal for as orderly an atmosphere as possible? The Chair seeks to facilitate as many contributors as possible. Secondly, Members are of course free to say what they like, but I would gently point out that no amendment or new clause on the subject of pilots is to be taken today. There is material before the House, but that subject is not among it. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-09a.316.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g335.3 | |
| It was not selected. For the benefit of people attending to our proceedings, I shall be explicit. It is for the Speaker to select or not to select, and I did not select that late-submitted manuscript proposal. I need add nothing. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-09a.316.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g335.5 | |
| Order. Mr Chalk is a most courteous Member of the House. Just as he is courteous to the House, the House must be courteous to the hon. Gentleman. Let us hear from Mr Chalk. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-09a.316.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g325.0 | |
| Order. Before we proceed with the debate, I have now to announce the result of the deferred Division on the question relating to EU measures to combat terrorism. The Ayes were 302 and the Noes were 217, so the Ayes have it.[The Division list is published at the end of today’s debates.]Several hon. Members rose— https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-09a.316.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g328.0 | |
| Order. Before I call the hon. Member for Stalybridge and Hyde (Jonathan Reynolds) as the next speaker in the debate, I would point out that we have two hours and 20 minutes left. If the Minister wishes to do so, I will shortly call him to speak from the Front Bench. A simple nod of the head will suffice. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-09a.316.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g328.1 | |
| I appeal to colleagues to have regard to each other’s interests. We do not keep a formal list on Report, but I suspect there will be intense interest in these exchanges, so colleagues should look after the interests of each other. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-09a.316.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g328.3 | |
| With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:Amendment 19, in page 51, leave out lines 3 to 13 and insert—2A (1) The Sunday trading authority for an area may publish a notice (a “consent notice”) in accordance with this paragraph providing for large shops in tourist zones (as defined in sub-paragraph (2)) in the authority’s area to be permitted to do either or both of the following—(a) to open on Sundays falling between 21 March and 1 October and on the three Sundays before Christmas Day for a continuous period of whatever number of hours is specified in the notice (in addition to the continuous period of six hours mentioned in paragraph 2(3)),(b) to open on Sundays falling between 21 March and 1 October and on the three Sundays before Christmas Day at specified times beginning earlier than, or ending later than, the times mentioned in paragraph 2(3).(2) A consent notice published by a Sunday trading authority may only apply in relation to those parts of the authority’s area that is a “tourist zone” which is defined as—(a) a retail area where tourists from outside the United Kingdom are responsible for a significant proportion of the retail sales, or(b) a leisure and retail area, such as a coastal resort, which a significant number of tourists from outside the local authority area visitand in deciding what is significant in either case the local authority shall have regard to guidance issued by the Secretary of State.”This amendment would allow the relaxation in Sunday opening hours for larger shops to apply between Easter and the end of September and before Christmas to areas that attract significant numbers of tourists, such as central London and coastal resorts.Government amendments 2, 13 and 14. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-09a.316.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g316.5 | |
| Well, it is always useful to have a bit of information. I greatly look forward to the result of the deliberations of the Procedure Committee, of which I think the hon. Gentleman is himself a distinguished ornament. If there are no further points of order, we shall now proceed. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-09a.312.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g315.1 | |
| As I informed the House yesterday, my provisional certificate, based on changes made in Committee and expected Government amendments tabled for Report stage, is available in the Vote Office and on the Bills before Parliament website.At the end of the Report stage on a Bill, I am required to consider the Bill as amended on Report for certification. At that point—later today—I will issue my final certificate. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-09a.316.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g316.2 | |
| Ah! It is very good for me to be able to call the hon. Member for Harwich and North Essex (Mr Jenkin) today. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-09a.279.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g290.0 | |
| It seems to me that the hon. Gentleman has enjoyed a double helping. That is a very satisfactory state of affairs. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-09a.279.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g290.2 | |
| Order. There is far too much noise in the Chamber. Colleagues should be able to hear. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-09a.263.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g265.1 | |
| Last but not least, I call Marion Fellows. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-09a.263.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g266.2 | |
| Finally, I call Mr Barry Gardiner. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-09a.266.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g276.5 | |
| Order. We will come to points of order. I think hon. Members raising points of order should have an attentive audience, which seems more likely once those leaving have done so quickly and quietly.What is more, I am sorry to disappoint hon. Members, whose eagerness is evident for all to see, but points of order of course come after the urgent question and the statement. As I am sure these are very genuine points of order, hon. Members will come scurrying back to the Chamber in order to air their concerns at the appropriate moment.Meanwhile, we have quite a considerably important and rich parliamentary offering—[Laughter.] I am grateful to the hon. Member for North Dorset (Simon Hoare)—in the form of an urgent question from a very senior denizen of the House. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-09a.266.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g277.1 | |
| Order. I am sorry to have to reduce the time limit for Back-Bench speeches with immediate effect to three minutes, but I am trying to get as many people in as possible. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-08b.197.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g221.1 | |
| I call Maria Miller. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-08b.197.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g203.1 | |
| Order. Sorry; moved by the significance of what we have just heard, I have neglected my duties. I should tell the House that, on account of the very large number of Members wishing to contribute, there will be a four-minute limit on Back-Bench speeches with immediate effect. I thank the hon. Member for Birmingham, Yardley (Jess Phillips) for what she has said. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-08b.197.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g203.3 | |
| Order. I apologise for interrupting the hon. Lady. For the benefit of the House, colleagues should be clear that this debate will not continue beyond 7 pm. There is, of course, an Adjournment debate to follow. What the hon. Lady meant was clear to me and it is important that it is clear to the rest of the House. There is, in effect, a provision of three hours for this debate. I hope that is helpful to colleagues. I admit that on this occasion I was tipped off by the Whip on duty who felt the need for clarification, and I think his tip-off was a shrewd one. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-08b.197.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g197.4 | |
| With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:New clause 8—Disposal of Crown’s shares in UK Green Investment Bank Company: purchaser’s obligations—‘Before any sale of the Crown’s shares in the UK Green Investment Bank Company takes place each prospective purchaser must enter an enforceable undertaking to fully fund the Bank’s current five year business plan.”This new clause would ensure that the Green Investment Bank is maintained as a single, functioning institution and can continue to invest in the UK’s low carbon economy at the same level as was planned prior to privatisation.Amendment 17, in clause 37, page 54, line 44, at end insert—“6B Report on remuneration of chair, non-executive directors and executive team(1) For each year following a disposal of shares held by the Crown in a UK Green Investment Bank company the Secretary of State must lay before Parliament a report on the remuneration of the company’s chair, non-executive directors and executive team by the company.(2) The report shall include a statement of the framework or broad policy for the remuneration of the above individuals.(3) The report shall include the value of the following, where applicable, in respect of each individual—(a) salary or fee,(b) pension,(c) other cash or non-cash benefits, including bonus or performance-related payments, and(d) shareholdings in a UK Green Investment Bank company.”This amendment would require, following a disposal of shares in a UK Green Investment Bank company, that the Secretary of State to report annually on the remuneration of the Chair, non-executive directors and Executive Team of the company. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-08b.142.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g143.1 | |
| As I informed the House on Monday 26 October, before a Report stage begins on a Bill, I will seek to identify in advance those changes made in Committee that I would expect to certify, together with any Government amendments tabled on Report that, if passed, would be likely to lead me to issue a certificate. My provisional certificate, based on those changes and expected amendments, is available in the Vote Office and on the “Bills before Parliament” website. At the end of the Report stage on a Bill, I am required to consider the Bill as amended on Report for certification. At that point—tomorrow, in this case—I will issue my final certificate. As I informed the House on 26 October, I have accepted the advice of the Procedure Committee not, as a rule, to give reasons for decisions on certification during this experimental phase of the new regime. Anybody wishing to make representations to me prior to any decision should send them to the Clerk of Legislation.New Clause 4 https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-08b.142.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g142.2 | |
| I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman. I think that is helpful and we will consider that matter closed. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-08b.136.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g137.2 | |
| I thank the hon. Lady for giving me notice of her point of order. I understand that the Government have given an undertaking that they will provide quarterly progress reports on Syria to the House. It is for the Government to determine the appropriate form of those reports and, indeed, which Minister should make them. That cannot fall to the Chair. However, if the hon. Lady is dissatisfied with the form or content of the updates, there are a range of opportunities open to her for pressing the Government for more information. I would add that, similarly, if the statement is not forthcoming with the speed that the hon. Lady thinks proper, she will also be aware of the mechanisms that she can deploy to try to procure the presence of a Minister, possibly even the Prime Minister. We shall await events with interest. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-08b.136.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g138.0 | |
| Actually, I had heard the utterance of the hon. Gentleman, which was spontaneous and from a sedentary position, but precisely because of its unseemliness I did not wish to draw attention to it. However, the hon. Gentleman has now done so and there is nothing further that requires to be said. [Laughter.] I note in passing that the hon. Gentleman has occasioned —or possibly I have done by my reply—notable hilarity from the Secretary of State for Justice. It is good to know that the right hon. Gentleman is in such an upbeat frame of mind.If there are no further points of order, we come now to the ten-minute rule motion in the name of Mr Will Quince, a notably busy fellow in this House. Let us hear from the hon. Gentleman. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-08b.136.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g138.2 | |
| I call Suella Fernandes. She is not here. I call Mr Philip Hollobone. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-08b.115.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g116.2 | |
| Oh good, the hon. Member for Derby North (Amanda Solloway) is now stirring. We are grateful to her, as she has an identical question. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-08b.125.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g126.4 | |
| I trust that the hon. Gentleman will have the tribute framed and put in an appropriate place in his constituency office for everyone to observe. He should savour it—it was very, very fulsome. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-08b.131.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g136.0 | |
| Order. I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his point of order. As he knows, the Chair is not responsible for the content of ministerial answers, although there is a general understanding in this place that Ministers’ answers should be both timely and substantive. If he is dissatisfied with the paucity or the emptiness of the replies that he receives, or if he judges, simply as a matter of fact, that he has received no answer at all, the best recourse available to him is to approach the Procedure Committee, of which, as Chairman, the hon. Member for Broxbourne (Mr Walker) is a distinguished ornament, and who, happily, whether by serendipity or contrivance, is present in the Chamber to hear that point of order. I trust that any exchange between them, whether in conversation or correspondence, will be fruitful.The only other observation that I would make to the hon. Member for Dudley North (Ian Austin) is that he and I were at university together more than 30 years ago and he was a very persistent woodpecker then. Nothing that has happened in the intervening three decades has caused me to revise my opinion on that, so if people feel that they can just go on ignoring him, they are probably in for something of a rude shock, because he does not give up—he tends to go on and on and, if necessary, on. I hope that the hon. Gentleman’s palate has been satisfied, at least for today. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-07b.36.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g36.2 | |
| Let us hear from a cerebral inquisitor. Yes—Mr Jacob Rees-Mogg. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-07b.23.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g34.4 | |
| The hon. Gentleman himself is the Minister. “Know thyself” is quite a useful principle in politics, as it is more widely in life. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-07b.10.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g11.2 | |
| I think Birkenhead was the place the Secretary of State had in mind. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-07b.15.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g20.5 | |
| Order. In view of the hon. Gentleman’s preference for expedition rather than, of course, expediency, he will be delighted that we have reached his Bill in such an orderly way, and without undue delay. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-04b.1233.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1233.3 | |
| Order. I would not wish to misunderstand the Minister. Was “expedition” the word for which he was looking? https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-04b.1222.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1223.2 | |
| Preventing recurrence is very difficult in the House of Commons, and I am not sure that the Chair, any more than anyone else, can commit to that. The hon. Lady has taken the opportunity to correct the record from her vantage point and that of the Committee which she chairs. That fact will be communicated to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and it is for him to decide whether, in the circumstances, he wishes to say anything on the matter. If he does, so be it. If he does not, knowing the hon. Lady as I do, I have a sense that she will use the resources available to her to draw attention to the matter. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-04b.1221.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1221.3 | |
| I am grateful to the hon. Lady for her point of order, of which I did not have advance notice. I make no complaint about that, but I am therefore simply issuing a response off the cuff. She complains that she was “rebuked” for her observation, although she is satisfied, from her inquiries, that her observation was correct. I can say, for the completeness of the record, that she was not rebuked by or from the Chair; she was simply rebuked by an opponent in debate. The matter seems to me to be substantially one of debate and argument; she will say she is right and the Minister may well claim likewise.When the hon. Lady asks me how she should proceed with this matter, my advice would be that she should go to the Table Office to table a question on the matter and see where that gets her with the Minister. Everybody in this place is responsible for the veracity of what is said in the Chamber or in Committees. It is incumbent upon a Member to correct the record if he or she has misled the House, but it is not for me to arbitrate on whether or not that has happened, especially as I was not present at the time. The hon. Lady is notably assiduous, and I feel sure that she will use the device that I have suggested to try to secure satisfaction. If she does not get that, we will no doubt hear from her again. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-03c.1126.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1126.2 | |
| Order. The question is ongoing. People must not beetle out of the Chamber while their question is ongoing. That is a very established principle. I am sure the hon. Member for Gloucester (Richard Graham) is interested in views other than his own. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-03c.1081.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g1082.4 | |
| I hope the Minister is right and that the hon. Member for Gloucester (Richard Graham) will get that phone call before very long. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-03c.1081.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g1082.6 | |
| We are all better informed. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-03c.1086.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g1086.6 | |
| Yes. [Laughter.] https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-03c.1089.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g1090.2 | |
| Very briefly, and on this question, I call Ian Lucas. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-03c.1102.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g1102.9 | |
| Finally, and also briefly, I call Mr Pete Wishart. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-03c.1102.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g1103.1 | |
| Order. I am sorry, but we must move on. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-03c.1102.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g1104.2 | |
| With the leave of the House, we shall take motions 13 to 18 together.Motion made, and Question put forthwith (Standing Order No. 118(6)), https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-02b.1074.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g1074.4 | |
| A very brief, and I hope accurate, mental calculation suggests to me that there have been 101 days since the date to which the right hon. Gentleman refers. It is perfectly possible that the Government are contemplating such a statement, and if they are not doing so, it is possible that they might do so as soon as the news of his point of order wings its way towards the relevant departmental Minister, or even to the Prime Minister himself. If that transpires not to be the case, the right hon. Gentleman is a very experienced Member and a former Deputy Leader of the House and he will be well aware that he could pursue the matter at business questions, for example, or through the use, on other days beyond today, of the device that can help to secure a ministerial presence. Knowing him as I do, I know that he will utilise all the weapons at his disposal. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-02b.981.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g981.2 | |
| The day would not be complete without hearing a point of order from the hon. Member for Elmet and Rothwell (Alec Shelbrooke). https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-02b.981.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g981.4 | |
| My feeling is that the hon. Gentleman has found his own salvation. He has achieved his mission. Moreover, he knows that he has done so. No real contribution from me is required, other than to acknowledge that he has paid fulsome and gracious tribute to someone who proved to be a change-maker. I am sorry to learn of that gentleman’s passing, but he has been honoured by the hon. Member for Elmet and Rothwell today. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-02b.981.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g981.6 | |
| Order. I apologise for interrupting the Secretary of State—[Interruption.] Order. The right hon. Member for Gordon (Alex Salmond) ought to know better, because he is a statesman—or, at any rate, a statesman of sorts—and should not conduct himself in an unseemly manner. As for the hon. Member for Blyth Valley (Mr Campbell), I have told him before to be careful: if you have that hot curry too often, it tends to have an effect upon your demeanour in the Chamber. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-02b.953.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g955.1 | |
| Order. The shadow Secretary of State and the hon. Member for Torfaen (Nick Thomas-Symonds) are both rather cerebral academics. I cannot believe that they would conduct themselves in this manner in a university seminar. If they would not do so there, they should not misbehave here. Whatever they think of what the Secretary of State is saying, they must hear it. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-02b.953.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g956.0 | |
| I do not think that that is germane to the matter of exports from Northern Ireland. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-02b.931.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g932.6 | |
| The question was supposed to be about the financial position of the Northern Ireland Executive. The hon. Gentleman is, as he knows, a very cheeky chappie. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-02b.937.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g937.9 | |
| I call Roger Mullin. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-02b.937.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g938.2 | |
| You start with “Question No. 6”, man. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-02b.937.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g938.4 | |
| The hon. Gentleman does not need to declare his interest in the context of a question. In any case he has already done so, so he can bang on with his question. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-02b.938.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g938.8 | |
| Order. I remind the House we are discussing terrorism in Northern Ireland. These are extremely serious matters and I hope Dr Offord will be heard. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-02b.939.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g939.4 | |
| I call Mr Bernard Jenkin. [Interruption.] Where is the fellow? He is not here. We shall hear from someone who is here. I call Mr David Davis. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-02b.940.9&s=speaker%3A10040#g946.1 | |
| Order. I know the House is in a state of some perturbation but we must hear from the right hon. Gentleman. When he has composed himself, we will hear from him. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-02b.940.9&s=speaker%3A10040#g946.3 | |
| With the leave of the House we will take together the motions relating to social security. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-01d.920.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g920.1 | |
| Order. This is a disorderly way of proceeding. The hon. Member for Dumfries and Galloway (Richard Arkless) must not chunter from a sedentary position in hopeful anticipation of the Minister giving way. What he does is signal. If the Minister gives way, he can intervene. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-01d.874.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g918.5 | |
| I must say to the hon. Gentleman that the position is that it is for the Government to decide whom to field. My responsibility is to adjudicate upon applications for permission to put urgent questions. I do that every week, and sometimes several times a week. I cannot require any particular Minister to attend, and it must remain for the Government to make the judgment.That said, the hon. Gentleman is a very senior and respected figure in this House, and he has just made a point that increasingly I have heard made recently by others. I have not made a statistical study, but there are suggestions that the frequency with which senior Ministers appear to answer urgent questions is declining. It is in no sense to cast an aspersion on the Minister, who knows his brief and has assiduously attended to the matters raised today, simply to note that point in passing. I would hope that senior Ministers wanted, and felt a duty, to answer questions from Members of Parliament. We do not have a separation of powers, as in the United States; Ministers sit in, and are answerable to, this House. None, frankly, should ever forget it. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-01d.834.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g835.1 | |
| I am bound to say to the hon. Gentleman that I have received no such indication that any Minister has any such intention. The matter to which the hon. Gentleman refers is a matter of ongoing interest. He and others, who are notably terrier-like and indefatigable in pursuit of their ends, will require no encouragement from me to deploy such parliamentary devices as are available to secure the matter further attention, if that is what they want.If there are no further points of order—the House’s palate has been satisfied on that front, at any rate for today—we can move to the presentation of a Bill. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-01d.834.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g836.0 | |
| For the benefit of those who attend to our proceedings, the convention is that a Minister nods and I note that, with some ceremony, we have received the due nod from the Minister for Security. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-01d.834.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g836.2 | |
| We are deeply grateful, but we must try to attend to the questions asked, and to do so in a timely way, because progress is desperately slow. Members can do better than that, one would hope. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-01d.800.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g803.4 | |
| Order. Sit down. It is a terrible waste of time—long-winded, boring and unnecessary. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-01d.806.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g807.1 | |
| Thank you. We need a question mark. [Interruption.] Order, order. I said what I said because Ministers are responsible for answering for Government policy, not that of the Opposition. People who ask questions, be they from the Front or the Back Bench, must do so pithily. A pithy reply, Chief Secretary. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-01d.806.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g807.3 | |
| Sit down. This is about Government policy, and progress is slower than at previous Treasury questions. The Minister should try to stick to Government policy, upon which briefly he can, and should, speak. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-01d.806.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g808.1 | |
| Order. I am sorry but this is just too long. This is a story, not a question. One sentence. What is it? https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-01d.809.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g809.8 | |
| Thank you. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-01d.809.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g810.2 | |
| On spirits, Mr Andrew Griffiths. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-01d.810.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g810.8 | |
| I call Stella Creasy. Not here. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-01d.812.10&s=speaker%3A10040#g813.5 | |
| The hon. Member for Lichfield (Michael Fabricant) says that the Chancellor has already dealt with that question. As I have often had cause to observe, repetition is not a novel phenomenon in the House of Commons. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-01d.814.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g819.4 | |
| Order. I apologise for interrupting, but that was a very unseemly gesticulation by the hon. Member for Na h-Eileanan an Iar (Mr MacNeil). I remind him of his status in this House as the Chair of a Select Committee. He is an aspiring statesman and must conduct himself accordingly. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-01d.814.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g820.3 | |
| Order. We must now move on. Demand invariably exceeds supply. No one is keener to facilitate questions than I, but we do need pithy questions and pithy answers. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-03-01d.814.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g820.6 | |
| As I think the hon. Gentleman knows—I say this in response to his spurious point of order—he has achieved his objective. He should consider the matter so advertised. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-29c.704.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g705.1 | |
| I am not sure there is a “further” to that point of order, but I will hear it first and then come to a view about it. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-29c.704.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g705.3 | |
| That is a matter for the Government. Legendarily, the Minister for the Cabinet Office is always keen to address the House—indeed, in the past he has likened himself to Disraeli, who had a notable enthusiasm for addressing the House. If he wishes to respond to the hon. Lady with that legendary succinctness for which he is renowned, we are happy to hear from him, but he is not under any obligation to do so. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-29c.704.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g705.5 | |
| We are extremely grateful to the Minister. I am not sure, from the head movements of the hon. Member for St Albans (Mrs Main), that he has satisfied her, but I am not sure any Minister would have been able to do so. None the less, the Minister has graciously come to the Dispatch Box. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-29c.704.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g705.8 | |
| I will come back to Members who are expectant—[Interruption.] Well, expectant of the opportunity to raise points of order, I should perhaps say. But perhaps I may be permitted to take other points of order first. We will come to those illustrious denizens ere long. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-29c.704.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g705.9 | |
| I am grateful to the hon. Lady for her point of order. The answer is that I have had no advance notice of this matter. It would be only fair for me, from the Chair, to say at this stage that whether it amounts to what she has described as a major change of policy or is merely a temporary pause or tactical judgment, I do not know. Suffice it to say that if there is a change of policy or a significant change in Government intentions for a notable period, the House would expect properly to be informed of that, and there are means by which Ministers can inform the House: either through the device of an answer to a written question or by a written ministerial statement. To my knowledge, neither has thus far been forthcoming. The hon. Lady’s point of order and my response to it will shortly be heard by the Wales Office, and I hope that proper account will be taken of it. If the hon. Lady needs to return to the point, doubtless she will do so. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-29c.704.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g706.1 | |
| I am grateful to the hon. Lady for her point of order, of the thrust of which she was kind enough to give me advance notice. I think that I am right in saying that she also gave notice to the Minister concerned. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-29c.704.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g707.0 | |
| I am grateful to the hon. Lady for that confirmation. The short answer to the hon. Lady—this is for the benefit of the House—is that answers to Members’ questions should be direct, substantive and candid. I have sympathy with the view, which she has expressed, that it is not helpful if Government Departments simply refer right hon. and hon. Members in written answers to websites on which the information requested may be located but cannot easily be found. The much more straightforward process, which I think the public would expect, would be to provide an answer to the question. It is not really all that complicated.That said, I have to emphasise, of course, that the content of written answers, and indeed of ministerial statements in the House, has to be a matter for the judgment of individual Ministers; it is not for the Chair to determine. However, I am offering an overall sentiment, which I think would be shared across the House. As to how the hon. Lady can put the matter straight, I suggest that, by dint of this point of order, she has begun to do so. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-29c.704.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g707.2 | |
| I fear that it would be hazardous for me to tread on the terrain of what might be called the “known unknowns” or even the “unknown unknowns”. That would be difficult. The question, though a very good and legitimate one, is, I fear, at this stage hypothetical, but it is a problematic matter. The best I can say to the right hon. Gentleman is that the Chair, of course, will keenly attend to events and to the process of question and answer, and we will have to look at this matter as and when it arises, on a case by case basis. I will not be looking at it proactively, but if Members raise the matter with the Chair, the Chair will do his best to respond. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-29c.704.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g708.0 | |
| I think I will treat that as what it is: not a point of order, but an inventive rhetorical question. At any rate, the hon. Gentleman seems justly satisfied, so I think we will, for now, leave it there. We are deeply grateful to the Minister for coming into the Chamber and responding to our inquiries.If there are no further points of order, and the appetite has been satisfied, at any rate for today, we now come to the motion on the draft European Union Referendum (Date of Referendum etc.) Regulations 2016. Just before I ask the Minister—my illustrious neighbour, the Member for Aylesbury—to move the motion, I should inform the House that I have now considered the instrument, and I have decided not to certify it under Standing Order No. 83P. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-29c.704.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g708.2 | |
| It is very decent of the Minister to dole out bowls full of respect, but my sense is that, on the whole, although that is enormously important to hon. and right hon. Members here assembled, they are generally more interested in his answers than in his respect. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-29c.690.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g695.1 | |
| Veritably, my cup runneth over at the generosity and good grace of the Minister, to whom we are indebted. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-29c.690.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g695.4 | |
| Mr David Davis. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-29c.690.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g697.4 | |
| The right hon. Gentleman is a most dextrous parliamentarian, and I am sure that he can recover very quickly. I think the accurate characterisation would be that he had been standing. He did not do so on this occasion, probably because he was chuntering from a sedentary position. He then stood again at my exhortation. He has now had plenty of time in which to formulate his question. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-29c.690.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g697.6 | |
| The exchanges today are, to put it mildly, a tad long-winded. There are a lot of questions to get through. What is required is a pithy question and a pithy answer. It is not very difficult. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-29c.661.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g663.4 | |
| Ah, get in there—I call Michael Fabricant. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-29c.669.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g669.9 | |
| With exemplary brevity—Tom Brake. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-29c.671.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g671.6 | |
| Order. I do not want the hon. Member for Nottingham North (Mr Allen) to go to bed a very sad and miserable boy, so I call him to ask the last question. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-29c.671.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g672.1 | |
| Order. Resume your seat, Secretary of State. I appreciate the earnestness and commitment of the hon. Lady, but questions must be about Government policy, for which Ministers are responsible— https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-29c.672.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g673.1 | |
| Order. Be quiet, Mr Bridgen! Ministers are responsible for Government policy, not that of the Opposition. On the Government’s policy, the Secretary of State will comment; on that of the Opposition, he will not. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-29c.672.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g673.3 | |
| A model of the genre to be circulated without delay to all members of the Cabinet. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-29c.672.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g673.5 | |
| Alex Cunningham. Not here. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-29c.672.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g676.6 | |
| Last but not least, I call Mr Philip Hollobone. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-29c.672.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g678.1 | |
| Order. That was a very discordant noise—nothing like as mellifluous as the voice of the hon. Member for Gainsborough (Sir Edward Leigh), to whom I know the hon. Member for Harwich and North Essex (Mr Jenkin) will shortly be apologising. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-25a.489.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g490.1 | |
| I am extremely grateful to the hon. and learned Lady for notice of her point of order, of which, as she has informed the House, she has notified the hon. Member for South Leicestershire (Alberto Costa). By the way, for the avoidance of doubt, I have to decide what is and is not in order; that is simply the constitutional position. I confirm that Members should indeed inform a colleague of an intention to refer to him or her. The point of order raised on Monday by the hon. Member for South Leicestershire was—I think I can so describe it—moderately orderly in form, although, as I noted, it was not orderly in content, and for one quite simple and straightforward reason: it was not a point of order. As a mere politics graduate, I do not intend to adjudicate between two learned Members—I know that the hon. and learned Lady is a distinguished QC—on obiter dicta by senior judicial figures, or to give a view from the Chair on Dicey. The hon. and learned Lady has made her point with characteristic force and eloquence. Might I suggest that we leave it there? https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-25a.487.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g487.2 | |
| I am very grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his point of order. There is an important distinction here between the content of what is said and the way in which, more widely, hon. and right hon. Members behave. In respect of the first, might I suggest to the hon. Gentleman that it would not be right, or in any way favoured by the House, if the Chair, as a matter of regular course, were to try to intervene to prevent Members from expressing their own views with such examples, or references to people outside the House or to members of their families, as they think fit? I should not get involved in that, and the House would not want me to do so.However, in respect of the second part of the hon. Gentleman’s point of order—that is to say, on the overall notion of good behaviour—perhaps I can just repeat what I have many times said: the public expect us, or would want us at any rate, to conduct our arguments robustly and, doubtless, with passion, but with respect for the fact that different opinions exist. Loud heckling and organised barracking are widely deprecated outside this House. The notion that there is something clever about it, and that it is all very good fun, seems to me to be completely perverse, and I would very politely say, with no reference to any particular hon. Member, that perhaps all hon. Members, before indulging in noisy heckling, barracking or ad hominem abuse, should ask themselves this: would I be content for my behaviour to be seen and heard by my constituents? It is our constituents that we are here to serve. The point is so blindingly obvious that only a very clever and sophisticated person could fail to see it.Perhaps we can leave the matter there for today, but I am genuinely grateful to the hon. Gentleman. I rather suspect that the flurry of emails that he might have received about conduct will not be an isolated case— I get quite a lot in my own office. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-25a.487.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g488.1 | |
| We are all better informed than we were. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-25a.466.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g476.2 | |
| Order. Question 9 has just been withdrawn, although the Attorney General was not to know that, and I thank him for announcing the grouping. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-25a.437.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g438.0 | |
| Can we please speed up? I want to get to the hon. Member for Filton and Bradley Stoke (Jack Lopresti), who is the last questioner, and progress is frankly too slow. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-25a.437.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g439.4 | |
| I call Jess Phillips. Not here. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-25a.442.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g443.1 | |
| I ask the Minister to face the House. I understand that her questioner is behind her, but she should face the House. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-25a.450.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g450.8 | |
| Order. The hon. Member for Bootle (Peter Dowd) extended a generosity that it was not within his capacity to grant. It was very decent of him, but he gave time that he did not possess. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-24a.379.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g405.1 | |
| I discern that the hon. Gentleman has finished his speech. We are very obliged to him. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-24a.379.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g397.2 | |
| It is open to any Member who believes that he or she has made a mistake to correct the record voluntarily. It is not the responsibility of the Chair to arbitrate between competing claims about a sequence of events, and nor is it my responsibility to interpret what the Minister might have meant in responding to the hon. Gentleman at the time. The hon. Gentleman has made his point with force and alacrity—we would expect no less of him. If the Secretary of State wishes to respond, he is perfectly at liberty to do so, but he is under no obligation. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-24a.313.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g314.0 | |
| The Secretary of State has kindly said that he will have the matter investigated. I ought to emphasise, for the avoidance of doubt, that he was not the Minister who answered in the debate. I hope that the hon. Member for Ross, Skye and Lochaber (Ian Blackford) is satisfied with his prodigious efforts for the day and that we might now move on to other fare. I know that he will be absolutely delighted that we can now move on to the ten-minute rule motion, to be put forward by his hon. Friend the Member for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey (Drew Hendry). I am sure that he is sitting expectantly with that in mind. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-24a.313.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g314.2 | |
| Order. It is a moderately unedifying spectacle when such large numbers of Members are quite so vociferous. The saving grace is that all of them do have a very notable smile on their face, so at least there is good humour in the Chamber. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-24a.301.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g308.4 | |
| Mr Mak, you wish to give the House the benefit of your views. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-24a.301.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g308.6 | |
| We are all better informed, albeit at some length. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-24a.283.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g285.2 | |
| Order. The House and the nation should have heard Mr Howell, and I fear they might not adequately have done so. [Interruption.] No, it will do for today—as long as the Secretary of State heard. But courtesy dictates. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-24a.283.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g285.4 | |
| Order. Colleagues are calling for more; there will be more. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-24a.288.8&s=speaker%3A10040#g297.0 | |
| Order. May I just point out that if Members continue in this way, and it is perfectly in order for them to do so, there will be some who will not get in? It is as simple as that. If everyone speaks for five minutes or more and takes interventions, a number of people will not get called to speak. It will be no good blaming the Chair; you will have to blame each other. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-23b.190.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g225.1 | |
| Order. Let me gently say to the hon. Member for Airdrie and Shotts (Neil Gray) that he has already given us the benefit of his views for no fewer than 19 minutes, by which I assure him we are all greatly gratified, but 11 Members still want to speak. The hon. Gentleman is perfectly in order in trying to intervene, but I am trying to set out the context, and I know colleagues will want to be considerate of each other. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-23b.190.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g220.4 | |
| I was going to call Mr Maynard. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-23b.190.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g217.2 | |
| Ah, I did not realise the fellow had already spoken. [Interruption.] No, no, I do not think he needs to repeat his speech! He was on the list, but had not been ticked off it. Never mind. We will hear from another fellow instead, Mr Peter Heaton-Jones. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-23b.190.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g218.0 | |
| Certainly, it would help if there were clarity. The hon. Gentleman knows that it is not for the Chair to adjudicate between what one Department says and what is said by another, but it is very important that Members know which Department is responsible and from whom they can expect an authoritative answer. My request to those on the Treasury Bench, therefore, is that they ensure that this matter is clarified authoritatively sooner rather than later. Pursuant to that objective, it might help if the hon. Gentleman is in his place for the business question tomorrow in order that he can probe the Leader of the House about it. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-23b.185.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g185.2 | |
| I have received no approach thus far, as far as I am aware, from any member of the Government asking to make a statement on the matter. The hon. Gentleman may use the Order Paper to pursue his objective. Moreover, if he is so seized of the importance and, perhaps, the urgency of the matter that he wishes to debate it on the Floor of the Chamber, he will be aware of the opportunities that are provided by Adjournment debates. I have a hunch that he will seek to take advantage of those opportunities. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-23b.185.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g185.4 | |
| I am grateful to the shadow Leader of the House for his point of order. Let me answer his two inquiries. First, I can indeed confirm that in respect of Short money, the accounting officer is the Clerk of the House. On whether the Clerk has been consulted, I am not at all sure. The Clerk is well aware, as I am well aware, of the consideration of policy on this matter. Moreover, I have seen a copy of the consultation document. Beyond that, I would not go.Secondly, there are any number of opportunities for a Minister, if he or she believes that the record needs to be corrected as a result of an inadvertent misstatement, to correct the record. Knowing the hon. Gentleman as I do, I feel sure that he will look to see the development of events. If he is dissatisfied, I have a hunch that his dissatisfaction will percolate through his contribution at the business question tomorrow. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-23b.185.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g186.1 | |
| Thursday, I beg your pardon. I am getting ahead of myself. It will be difficult, but we can just about wait for the hon. Gentleman’s contribution at the business question on Thursday. That is not to say that the matter will not be raised before then. I hope that that is helpful for now. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-23b.185.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g186.3 | |
| I am sure that if the hon. Gentleman received the Minister’s letter, his happiness would be as unalloyed as hers obviously is today. We are extremely grateful to her. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-23b.178.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g184.4 | |
| Order. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-23b.167.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g169.1 | |
| I know that the right hon. Gentleman will take it in the right spirit when I say that it is immensely encouraging that he notices his own answers. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-23b.153.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g158.0 | |
| I gently remind the House that exchanges in the Chamber are not a private conversation. It is quite important, from the vantage point of those who take a full and complete record of our proceedings, that they can hear what is said. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-23b.153.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g165.3 | |
| Thank you for that helpful interjection from a sedentary position. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-23b.153.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g165.5 | |
| Aah! https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-23b.136.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g136.5 | |
| I much appreciate the right hon. Gentleman’s courtesy in notifying me of his travel plans. I know that he has only relatively recently got off a plane, so we are delighted to have him here, especially in view of the fact, of which he has previously informed the House, that he is responsible for three quarters of the world. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-23b.136.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g136.7 | |
| I am extremely grateful to the hon. Lady. I hope she is near the end of the sentence. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-23b.136.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g136.10 | |
| Order. Finish the sentence, very quickly. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-23b.139.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g140.1 | |
| Order. The hon. Gentleman must be heard. There is some chuntering from a sedentary position, by which he should not remotely be deflected. Stick to your course, man. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-23b.141.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g143.1 | |
| Order. I wish we had more time, but I am afraid we do not. I call Nic Dakin. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-23b.143.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g145.2 | |
| I remind colleagues that in topical questions, there are supposed to be quick-fire questions and quick-fire answers. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-23b.146.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g146.6 | |
| Demand always massively exceeds supply at Question Time, especially at Foreign Office questions. We do not really have time, but I am allowing time for one last question. I call Mr Richard Burden. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-23b.146.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g152.1 | |
| I am sorry to disappoint colleagues, but at least we know that there is huge interest in what the Foreign Office does and says. We will have to leave it there for today. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-23b.146.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g152.4 | |
| I am grateful to the hon. Lady for her point of order and for her courtesy in giving me notice of it. The short answer to the last part of her point of order is no. I have received no indication that a Minister intends to make a statement on the matter. What I would say provisionally, having learned of this matter only a small number of moments ago, is that significant announcements of changes of policy should be made first to the House. That means, save in cases of emergency, that they should be made to the House while it is sitting. Of course, right hon. and hon. Members and others can and do access reports whether or not the House is sitting and may pursue their contents in debate and in questions. I will cause further inquiries to be made on the content and timing of this particular announcement. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-22c.68.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g68.2 | |
| I say two things to the hon. Gentleman. First, I say very gently—I am trying to be kind to him because he is a new Member, albeit an extremely distinguished fellow—that if he wants to raise points of order and argue the toss about the proprieties of parliamentary procedure, perhaps he might learn that he should refer to the Leader of the Opposition as the Leader of the Opposition, not call him by name. People have to be careful that they are on sound ground if they start playing the procedural card.Secondly, I say very kindly to the hon. Gentleman, whose intellect and eloquence are evident to all, not least to the hon. Gentleman himself, that this does not seem to be a point of order. It is an argument, albeit a cerebral and doubtless high-minded argument, between opposing lawyers. We will leave it there for now. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-22c.68.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g68.4 | |
| Order. May I gently remind the House that people who wish to take part in the exchanges should have been here at the start and remained throughout? People who have gone in and out of the Chamber, and may have come back in again, should not then be standing. That is very much in breach of the traditions of the House, and we need to be clear about that. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-22c.20.8&s=speaker%3A10040#g51.3 | |
| As the Prime Minister knows very well, it is always worth while going to Wimbledon. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-22c.20.8&s=speaker%3A10040#g57.0 | |
| Order. I will try to accommodate remaining colleagues, but short questions are now required. We are having pithy answers but we need short questions. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-22c.20.8&s=speaker%3A10040#g58.5 | |
| I thank the Prime Minister, other colleagues and, indeed, all 103 Back Benchers who have taken part in this important exchange. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-22c.20.8&s=speaker%3A10040#g67.6 | |
| I call Kate Hoey. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-22c.9.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g9.8 | |
| The hon. Lady looks so surprised. She is rarely a shy or retiring soul. If she is, she must overcome her shyness. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-22c.9.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g9.10 | |
| We would expect no less of the right hon. Gentleman. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-22c.12.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g12.6 | |
| Yes, but not too much detail, given the time. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-22c.15.1&s=speaker%3A10040#g16.1 | |
| I am glad that even on this most solemn of matters, the right hon. Gentleman has been able, as always, to provide us with a poetical flourish. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-22c.16.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g17.0 | |
| Order. There is far too much noise in the Chamber. Let me say this to Members on both sides of the House who are shouting: do it again, and you will not be called. It is as simple as that. If Members cannot exercise the self-restraint to be quiet while the Front Benchers are speaking, they have no business taking part in the exchanges. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-11c.1762.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g1765.1 | |
| Order. I must advise the House that, so far, we have got through eight questioners in 14 minutes, which, by the standards of the House operating at its best, is poor, so we need to do better. That means shorter questions and, frankly, rather pithier answers. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-11c.1762.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g1773.0 | |
| I call the Minister with responsibility for constitutional reform. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-11c.1736.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g1737.2 | |
| Order. I appreciate that this is a high-octane issue, and it is because I judged it worthy of treatment today that the urgent question was granted. Members must, however, listen to the Minister who is, to be fair, among the most courteous of Ministers. He must be heard—[Interruption.] Order. There will then be a full opportunity for colleagues to question him. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-11c.1736.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g1738.1 | |
| Order. I think understand what the hon. Gentleman was driving at, but it is wholly disorderly to deliberately mislead the House. The notion that somebody might do so should not be put to a Minister. The hon. Gentleman is extremely felicitous of phrase and I feel sure he can find another way to convey the thrust of what he wishes to communicate to the Minister. I very politely now invite him to do so. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-11c.1736.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g1746.5 | |
| Very dextrous. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-11c.1736.3&s=speaker%3A10040#g1746.7 | |
| I would be reassured to know that the Secretary of State does not literally address buildings. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-11c.1727.6&s=speaker%3A10040#g1728.2 | |
| Progress has been rather slow today, on account of some quite long questions and some long answers, but I do not like Back-Bench Members who are waiting patiently to lose out. The hon. Member for Ashton-under-Lyne will not lose out. I call Angela Rayner. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-11c.1729.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g1730.4 | |
| Order. I am sorry to disappoint remaining colleagues, but we must now move on. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-11c.1731.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g1736.2 | |
| Order. In due course, with the leave with the House, the Chairman of the Procedure Committee may well have the chance—and, I rather anticipate, will have the chance—to speak again. Meanwhile, I call Mr Patrick Grady. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-10a.1693.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1697.0 | |
| I can now announce the results of the Division among English Members in respect of the matter of which we have just treated. The Ayes to the right were 301; the Noes to the left were 181, so the Ayes have it. I have now confirmed what I suggested to the House a few moments ago.Resolved,That the Report on Local Government Finance (England) 2016-17 (HC 789), which was laid before this House on 8 February, be approved.More than three hours having elapsed since the commencement of proceedings, the proceedings were interrupted (Order, 8 February).The Speaker put forthwith the Questions necessary for the disposal of the business to be concluded at that time (Order, 8 February). https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-10a.1636.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1692.0 | |
| The Ayes have it in respect of the UK-wide Division. On account of a technical hitch that has just been reported to the Chair, I shall cause the result of the Division among English constituency Members to be disclosed to the House when those facts are relayed to me. On the assumption that there is no contradiction between the results, the Ayes have it. Members will be kept informed. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-10a.1636.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1691.0 | |
| The hon. Gentleman’s middle name is clearly Share. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-10a.1636.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1682.3 | |
| Order. There is an unseemly tenor now to the debate. I urge the hon. Member for North Dorset (Simon Hoare) to return to the path of virtue, which he ordinarily occupies, in terms of the conduct of debate. I remind the House that we are discussing not budgets, but Local Government Finance (England). https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-10a.1636.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1681.6 | |
| Order.Several hon. Members rose— https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-10a.1636.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1682.0 | |
| There are three Labour Members still seeking to catch my eye, but realistically we ought to begin the winding-up speeches no later than 6.50. Whether Members wish to share, I leave to them. There is a time limit of four minutes, but it is up to them to cope with it. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-10a.1636.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1682.1 | |
| I will now announce the result of the ballot held today for the election of a new Chair of the Environmental Audit Committee. Four hundred and sixty votes were cast, with one spoilt ballot paper. The counting went to three stages, and 417 active votes were cast in that round, excluding those ballot papers whose preferences had been exhausted. The quota to be reached was therefore 209 votes. Mary Creagh was elected Chair with 258 votes. The other candidate in that round was Geraint Davies, who received 159 votes. Mary Creagh will take up her post immediately. I congratulate the hon. Lady on her election. The results of the count under the alternative vote system will be made available as soon as possible in the Vote Office and published on the internet for public viewing.Notwithstanding some of the courtesies that have developed around these matters in recent times, given that we are in the middle of a debate and people are waiting to speak, I should be most grateful if hon. Members expressed their congratulations and commiserations outside the Chamber.Again, I warmly congratulate the hon. Lady and I thank the other candidates for taking part in that important election. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-10a.1586.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1617.0 | |
| Order. I think we need to be clear whose intervention is being taken. The hon. Member for Hornsey and Wood Green (Catherine West) will have to express herself on another occasion or elsewhere in the debate. I think the hon. Member for Oldham East and Saddleworth (Debbie Abrahams) is intervening. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-10a.1586.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1593.4 | |
| Order. May I just explain that in these circumstances we do not take interventions? That does not happen. Mr Chope’s remarks must be heard. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-10a.1582.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1584.4 | |
| I remind the House that this motion is subject to double majority voting. If a Division is called on this motion, all Members of the House are able to vote. Under Standing Order No. 83R, the motion will be agreed only if, of those voting, both a majority of all Members and a majority of Members representing constituencies in England and Wales vote in support of the motion. At the end, the Tellers will report the results—first for all Members and secondly for those representing constituencies in England and Wales. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-10a.1586.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1586.1 | |
| Congratulations. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-10a.1582.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1582.3 | |
| Let me say the following to the hon. Gentleman, to whom I am grateful for his point of order. First, I have not actually changed my view on the desirability of a vote in this Chamber on the matter. The hon. Gentleman is quite right in saying, as I readily acknowledged yesterday when a point of order was raised, that I had expected a vote would take place on that matter in this House. However, the matter does fall within the aegis—and, it appears, in terms of decision-making competence, the exclusive aegis—of the other place. For that reason, and on account of their desire to proceed, there is no entitlement for this House to supersede the will of the other place.Secondly, the hon. Gentleman quite correctly judges that it would be open to him and to other Members to seek a Backbench Business Committee debate on this matter. I wish the hon. Gentleman all success, presumably in a cross-party effort, to secure such a debate. It is not for me to seek to comment on how the other place judges matters. I would not have sought to do so anyway and I have been reminded by sound professional advice that it is not for me to do so. I therefore do not think I should get into the business of speculating as to what might happen. I have known the hon. Gentleman for well over 20 years and he is, at his best, a formidable and energetic campaigner. If he feels strongly, my advice to him, together with the hon. Lady from the Labour Benches who raised the matter yesterday, is to go ahead and seek a debate, marshal his forces and to plan for victory, rather than to spend time sitting around predicting it. Perhaps we can leave it there. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-10a.1579.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1579.2 | |
| I think it would be tactful to ignore the undoubtedly purposeful interjection, from a sedentary position, by the hon. Member for Bolsover (Mr Skinner), but I heard what he said. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-10a.1579.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1579.4 | |
| I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his point of order. The short answer to the thrust of his question is that the selection is done by electronic ballot. It is done that way for questions to the Secretary of State for Scotland and for every other Question Time. I am happy to consider his request for consideration of an alternative method, but I hope he will bear in mind the likelihood that there will exist opinions other than and different from his own. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-10a.1579.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1580.1 | |
| I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his point of order. The short answer is that he can seek a debate on the matter, he can table written parliamentary questions pursuant to the information he has already extracted, and he can raise the matter, with all the authority of his leadership office, on the Floor of the House at business questions tomorrow. I keenly expect to see him in his place and leaping to his feet with alacrity tomorrow morning. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-10a.1579.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1580.3 | |
| I hope the House will join me in welcoming to the Serjeant’s Chair the new Serjeant at Arms on the occasion of his first Prime Minister’s questions, which is an exceptional day—[Hon. Members: “Hear, hear.”]—and an exceptional response. Secondly, the House might wish to join me in warmly congratulating Kim Sears and Andy Murray on the birth of their baby daughter. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-10a.1557.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1557.1 | |
| We do not take points of order now. Points of order come after questions and statements. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-10a.1557.5&s=speaker%3A10040#g1557.8 | |
| It is a very serious situation if Ministers cannot hear the questions. It is also a considerable discourtesy to the people of Scotland if, when we are discussing these important matters, questions and answers cannot be heard. Let us please try to have a bit of order. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-10a.1563.4&s=speaker%3A10040#g1564.1 | |
| That was quite tangentially related to the west coast main line, but I hope that the dexterity of the Secretary of State will admit of an answer. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-10a.1564.2&s=speaker%3A10040#g1564.8 | |
| Order. I apologise for interrupting the hon. Gentleman. The Secretary of State and the Minister could not hear the question because of a rude eruption of noise. Perhaps the hon. Gentleman can ask his question again, and perhaps Members will have the common courtesy to allow him to be heard by their own Ministers. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-10a.1565.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1565.6 | |
| Order. Members need to learn the merits of the blue pencil. If they used the blue pencil and questions were shorter, they would benefit. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-10a.1565.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1565.8 | |
| Last but not least, I call Fiona Bruce. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-10a.1565.0&s=speaker%3A10040#g1565.10 | |
| Order. Before large numbers of hon. Members file out of the Chamber, I remind them that the election for the Chair of the Environmental Audit Committee is now taking place in Committee Room 16. Voting will continue until 1.30 pm. Voting on a deferred Division is taking place in the No Lobby, and that will continue until 2 pm. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-02-10a.1566.7&s=speaker%3A10040#g1578.0 | |
| Order. I am afraid that, with immediate effect, there will have to be five-minute limit |
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