Browse content similar to 25/02/2016. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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and the support given to local to deliver immediately for their | :00:00. | :00:00. | |
immediate needs and recovery following thereafter. We have | :00:00. | :00:00. | |
continued to make funds available to do it, we have made that commitment | :00:00. | :00:00. | |
and we will stick to it. Business question, Mr Chris Bryant. Will the | :00:00. | :00:09. | |
Leader of the House give us the future business? Mr Speaker, next | :00:10. | :00:15. | |
week, Monday the 29th of February, we will start with a motion to | :00:16. | :00:18. | |
approve a statutory instrument relating to the European Union | :00:19. | :00:22. | |
referendum and there will then be an opposition half day debate on the | :00:23. | :00:27. | |
UK's steel industry. Tuesday the 1st of March will be the first allotted | :00:28. | :00:32. | |
day of estimates. There will be a debate on the foreign Commonwealth | :00:33. | :00:36. | |
Office and the 2015 Spending Review, followed by a debate on the reform | :00:37. | :00:40. | |
of the police spending for Miller. On the 2nd of March, the second | :00:41. | :00:46. | |
allotted this village today for estimates, followed by a debate upon | :00:47. | :00:51. | |
end of life car. The House will then be asked to agree all outstanding | :00:52. | :00:55. | |
estimates, followed by proceedings on the appropriation and adjustments | :00:56. | :01:00. | |
bill. Further details will be in the report. That may if necessary be | :01:01. | :01:05. | |
considered by of loot followed by considerations of Lords amendments. | :01:06. | :01:08. | |
On the 3rd of March, a debate on the motion of gangs and serious youth | :01:09. | :01:12. | |
violence, followed by a general debate on Welsh affairs, subjects | :01:13. | :01:15. | |
brought forward by the backbench business committee. On the 4th of | :01:16. | :01:18. | |
March, we will be considering Private members alter macro bills. | :01:19. | :01:23. | |
The provisional business for the week commencing the seventh of will | :01:24. | :01:26. | |
include a second reading of the policing and crime Bill. The 8th of | :01:27. | :01:32. | |
March, remaining stages of the enterprise Bill, Lords, day one, | :01:33. | :01:35. | |
followed by a debate on the motion for International Women's Day, | :01:36. | :01:40. | |
determined by the backbench business committee. On the 9th of March, we | :01:41. | :01:44. | |
have the conclusion of the remaining stages of the enterprise Bill, | :01:45. | :01:49. | |
Lords. Followed, if necessary, by consideration of Lords amendments. | :01:50. | :01:53. | |
On the 10th of March, consideration in committee and remaining stages of | :01:54. | :01:56. | |
the Northern Ireland Stormont agreement and implementation plan | :01:57. | :02:01. | |
Bill, followed by business to be nominated by the business backbench | :02:02. | :02:05. | |
committee. On the 11th of March, Private members bills. I would also | :02:06. | :02:08. | |
like to inform the House that the business in Westminster Hall for the | :02:09. | :02:13. | |
3rd of March and the 7th of March will be on the third, a debate on | :02:14. | :02:18. | |
the offshore oil gas industry, and on the 7th of March, relating to | :02:19. | :02:23. | |
income thresholds relating to non-EU citizens and settling in the UK. As | :02:24. | :02:31. | |
I'm sure you are away... Aware, rather! It has not started very | :02:32. | :02:37. | |
well, has it? As I'm sure you are aware, today is Saint Ethelbert's | :02:38. | :02:41. | |
day. I hope you are not confusing him with the other Saint Ethelbert, | :02:42. | :02:45. | |
King of East Anglia, or any of the other Anglo-Saxon saints like, sent | :02:46. | :02:54. | |
birth, or sex Wolf, who was the Bishop of Murcia who founded Peter | :02:55. | :03:01. | |
Borren Abbey. -- Peterborough Abbey. It is particularly relevant today | :03:02. | :03:08. | |
that we commemorate Saint Ethelbert, that is because it was the first | :03:09. | :03:12. | |
king to establish laws in this land planning back banning blood feuds. I | :03:13. | :03:18. | |
suspect the ad campaign and the Conservative Party have need of him. | :03:19. | :03:22. | |
When George Galloway turn up at an ad campaign, half the room left. | :03:23. | :03:27. | |
Nigel Farage thing sad Michael Gove and Boris Johnson are too clever by | :03:28. | :03:30. | |
half and has sacked all of his deputies and the Prime Minister is | :03:31. | :03:32. | |
furious with the Justice Secretary for saying his deal on the EU isn't | :03:33. | :03:38. | |
legally binding. The Johnsons are engaged in a full-blown family bust | :03:39. | :03:41. | |
of Adam mayor of London seems to be feuding with himself. Only this | :03:42. | :03:46. | |
month he wrote that leaving would mean diverting energy from the real | :03:47. | :03:49. | |
problems of the country but now he wants to do precisely that. Not so | :03:50. | :03:53. | |
much veering around like a shopping trolley, more off his trolley, if | :03:54. | :03:59. | |
you ask me. The Prime Minister and the mayor maintained that they are | :04:00. | :04:03. | |
still friends. Well, as Saint Ethelbert might have said, greater | :04:04. | :04:08. | |
love has no man for himself than this, that a man lay down his friend | :04:09. | :04:16. | |
for a chance of getting his job. Talking, Mr Speaker, of mother's | :04:17. | :04:20. | |
advise, my mother told me three things. First, if it is free, take | :04:21. | :04:26. | |
two. Second, never take a man home who is wearing a hat until you have | :04:27. | :04:31. | |
seen him without the hat. And third, much more important I see the Leader | :04:32. | :04:36. | |
of the House agrees with that one... And third, never trust a man wearing | :04:37. | :04:47. | |
slip on shoes. I merely point out... I merely point out, Mr Speaker, that | :04:48. | :04:53. | |
the Prime Minister was wearing slip on shoes yesterday. Now, Mr Speaker, | :04:54. | :04:59. | |
now we know the referendum period will run from the 15th of April to | :05:00. | :05:08. | |
the 23rd of June... Do keep calm. Now we know that the referendum | :05:09. | :05:11. | |
period will run from the 15th of April two the 23rd of June, would it | :05:12. | :05:16. | |
not make sense for the Queen's Speech to be delayed until after the | :05:17. | :05:21. | |
referendum in late June or early July? And secondly, the House did | :05:22. | :05:26. | |
not sit in the immediate run-up to the referendums in 1975 and 2014 | :05:27. | :05:30. | |
because they coincided with normal recess dates, but should we not do | :05:31. | :05:33. | |
the same in relation to this referendum in June, rise on the 16th | :05:34. | :05:38. | |
of June and return on the 27th of June? I know what you're thinking, | :05:39. | :05:44. | |
Mr Speaker, the Government's business is so threadbare, halal | :05:45. | :05:46. | |
nerd could we keep this session going all the way through to July -- | :05:47. | :05:52. | |
how on earth? I have a suggestion, the Government could just hand the | :05:53. | :05:57. | |
rest of the business over to us. We could first of all abolished the | :05:58. | :06:03. | |
Bedroom Tax, secondly save our steel, repeal the gerrymandering of | :06:04. | :06:07. | |
Parliamentary boundaries and force Google to pay their fair share of | :06:08. | :06:12. | |
tax. Just as the French Socialist Government are doing, who are | :06:13. | :06:17. | |
charging Google ?1.3 billion in tax as opposed to this shabby little | :06:18. | :06:20. | |
Tory Government who are letting them get away with a 10th of that, ?130 | :06:21. | :06:28. | |
million. Now, Mr Speaker, I welcome that nearly St David's day debate | :06:29. | :06:32. | |
next week on Welsh affairs. It will give members a chance to welcome the | :06:33. | :06:36. | |
750 new jobs just announced by Aston Martin thanks to the work of the | :06:37. | :06:41. | |
Labour Government in the National Assembly and to point out that | :06:42. | :06:44. | |
cancer survival rates have improved faster in Wales than anywhere else | :06:45. | :06:50. | |
in the UK and most importantly, to congratulate subzero, whose new ice | :06:51. | :06:55. | |
cream parlour in the Rhondda has served 10,000 customers in just 11 | :06:56. | :06:59. | |
days, proving that all those blasted migrants who came to the valleys | :07:00. | :07:03. | |
from Italy in the 19th century did us a big favour by giving us | :07:04. | :07:06. | |
properly copy and the best ice cream in the country. -- Coffey. Isn't it | :07:07. | :07:13. | |
time that you made sure we had Subzero here in Westminster? I also | :07:14. | :07:17. | |
welcome the International Women's Day debate on the 8th of March, when | :07:18. | :07:21. | |
I hope we can raise important questions such as the horrifying | :07:22. | :07:25. | |
statistic that violent crime, including domestic violence, has | :07:26. | :07:30. | |
risen by 23% in south Wales in recent years. However, Mr Speaker, | :07:31. | :07:36. | |
can we have a statement from the DCM as secretary on the Dame Janet Smith | :07:37. | :07:39. | |
review into sexual abuse by Jimmy Savile? Something was terribly, | :07:40. | :07:45. | |
terribly wrong at the BBC for a long, long time. Staff knew what was | :07:46. | :07:49. | |
going on but were terrified to say anything. Auntie lost her wake, | :07:50. | :07:53. | |
children were abused and the victims were badly let down -- lost their | :07:54. | :07:59. | |
way. We must make sure this never, ever happens again. Private Acts of | :08:00. | :08:07. | |
Parliament, as you know, have been published on archival paper rather | :08:08. | :08:10. | |
than vellum since 1956 and now the House of Lords has recommended that | :08:11. | :08:14. | |
public acts follow suit is to save money. As you will recall, our | :08:15. | :08:20. | |
administration committee published a report agreeing with the Lords and | :08:21. | :08:23. | |
the Leader of the House agreed with the report that the members all tee | :08:24. | :08:27. | |
estimate committee you chaired on the 2nd of November. Yet during the | :08:28. | :08:32. | |
recess, for some bizarre reason, the Minister for the Cabinet of us stuck | :08:33. | :08:35. | |
his oar in saying he was going to pay to keep on using vellum. But | :08:36. | :08:41. | |
this is a Parliamentary decision, it has nothing to do with the | :08:42. | :08:43. | |
Government or frankly the Cabinet Office, so should the leader... Will | :08:44. | :08:49. | |
the leader please tell the Cabinet Office to butt out and will he allow | :08:50. | :08:52. | |
a vote on this so that all members can then make their views known? | :08:53. | :09:02. | |
If I was the shadow leader, I do not think I would have picked today to | :09:03. | :09:07. | |
bring up the issue of the European Union referendum. All Labour MPs on | :09:08. | :09:13. | |
Saturday are being asked to take to the streets to campaign to keep | :09:14. | :09:16. | |
Britain in the European Union. You may not be surprised that on the | :09:17. | :09:22. | |
side there are campaigners to leave the European Union. And what about | :09:23. | :09:30. | |
the Leader of the Opposition? He is going on a CND antinuclear march. | :09:31. | :09:37. | |
Even though his deputy said yesterday he will vote to keep it. | :09:38. | :09:44. | |
You really could not make it up. Another two weeks have passed, the | :09:45. | :09:47. | |
shadow leader is still in his place, Stella Read up member of the Jeremy | :09:48. | :09:52. | |
Corbyn Fanclub. I knew his leader was a disciple of Marx, I did not | :09:53. | :09:57. | |
know he was. Not Karl Marx, Groucho Marx, who said these are my | :09:58. | :10:02. | |
principles. If you do not like them I have others. He asked a question | :10:03. | :10:08. | |
about the Queen's Speech and the flow of business. I can assure him | :10:09. | :10:13. | |
that this House will continue to consider the extreme important -- | :10:14. | :10:19. | |
extremely important that agenda that we have brought forward, and we will | :10:20. | :10:24. | |
have a further second reading in ten days, on reforms of the police Bill. | :10:25. | :10:28. | |
Will bring forward the investigatory Powers Bill. He need have no fears | :10:29. | :10:32. | |
that this government has a strong agenda for this country and we will | :10:33. | :10:38. | |
continue to it. He raised the question of Aston Martin. I am | :10:39. | :10:43. | |
delighted about Aston Martin's decision in Wales, it is good news | :10:44. | :10:48. | |
for the people in Wales and the United Kingdom, and as a tribute to | :10:49. | :10:55. | |
the way the country is being run. It is good news for the economic | :10:56. | :10:57. | |
climate, which is why big and small businesses are investing in this | :10:58. | :11:00. | |
country. I agree with what he said about the report at the BBC, about | :11:01. | :11:07. | |
what has been said this morning. What to lace was clearly shopping. | :11:08. | :11:11. | |
Lessons need to be learned, not just in the BBC but in -- what took place | :11:12. | :11:21. | |
was shocking. We must not think this could not happen today, and we must | :11:22. | :11:26. | |
make sure it never happens today. Secretary of State will be here on | :11:27. | :11:29. | |
Thursday and he will want to discuss the issue then. On the question of | :11:30. | :11:33. | |
Belle, it is a question for the House of Lords, and they will reach | :11:34. | :11:48. | |
the final decision. -- vellum. For beer drinkers, the ?6, you can now | :11:49. | :11:56. | |
drink your favourite paint out of a Jeremy Corbyn glass. I do not know | :11:57. | :12:01. | |
if the shadow Minister has it, but he will be rushing out to buy one. | :12:02. | :12:04. | |
What he did not do this morning is ask for the debate on the public | :12:05. | :12:07. | |
spending in the economy, perhaps because he agrees with the former | :12:08. | :12:10. | |
Shadow Chancellor that the approach for public spending is to place all | :12:11. | :12:14. | |
the faith in a magic money tree, promising to reverse every cut and | :12:15. | :12:28. | |
spend, spend, spend. Can we wish a happy birthday to the former Shadow | :12:29. | :12:30. | |
Chancellor, Ed Balls. I never imagined the Labour Party would miss | :12:31. | :12:32. | |
him so much. I'm sure the Scottish Nationalists could be excluded, but | :12:33. | :12:35. | |
I am sure the shadow leader can join me in congratulating Wales in their | :12:36. | :12:42. | |
victory over Scotland in the six Nations over the recess period. I | :12:43. | :12:52. | |
did still hear the tone is of Delilah coming from the fans. | :12:53. | :12:55. | |
Obviously the Welsh bands pay no more attention to what the shadow | :12:56. | :13:01. | |
leader says than anyone here does. -- the Welsh fans. On Monday, the | :13:02. | :13:11. | |
Minister said the government would be publishing more documents | :13:12. | :13:15. | |
relating to the European Union. Can my right honourable friend tell the | :13:16. | :13:21. | |
House what those documents are likely to be, when they are going to | :13:22. | :13:24. | |
be published, and can he guarantee that those documents will be subject | :13:25. | :13:31. | |
to independent audit scrutiny by the House? This House will have plenty | :13:32. | :13:40. | |
opportunity discuss what has been and will be published. Anything | :13:41. | :13:42. | |
published by the government will have to go through the appropriate | :13:43. | :13:45. | |
checking by the civil service and are subject to all the rules set out | :13:46. | :13:52. | |
in the European referendum debate. Can I thank the Leader of the House | :13:53. | :13:55. | |
for announcing the business for next week. I think it would be | :13:56. | :14:02. | |
appropriate to congratulate Adele for her BRIT Awards last night, and | :14:03. | :14:08. | |
for Coldplay for becoming the winner of the most BRIT Awards. We have | :14:09. | :14:15. | |
been short-changed here. We have heard a business statement from the | :14:16. | :14:17. | |
outside of the Cabinet, but there is no statement from inside the | :14:18. | :14:22. | |
Cabinet. Leader of the House has got this opportunity to spread his | :14:23. | :14:29. | |
pernicious no agenda for the next hour and a half. When will we hear | :14:30. | :14:34. | |
the business statement from inside? This week marked the end of | :14:35. | :14:38. | |
collective Cabinet responsibility, particularly for the next few | :14:39. | :14:43. | |
months. The nasty civil war in the Tories is starting to get serious. | :14:44. | :14:46. | |
It looks like the poor Justice Secretary will be first for the bit. | :14:47. | :14:50. | |
I do not know whether the honourable gentleman will rush to his defence | :14:51. | :14:53. | |
to save him, but even friendships that go right back to the playing | :14:54. | :15:05. | |
fields of Eton... It is time for popcorn as we observe a civil war in | :15:06. | :15:10. | |
the Tory party and the ongoing civil war in the Labour Party. I am going | :15:11. | :15:17. | |
to do something radical on Tuesday. It is not announcing Univision | :15:18. | :15:26. | |
participation, I will do something much more radical. On the debate | :15:27. | :15:29. | |
about the estimates, I am going to attempt to debate the estimates. -- | :15:30. | :15:38. | |
Eurovision. I have had some conversation with the clerics, and | :15:39. | :15:41. | |
it is more than likely I will be ruled out of order for attempting to | :15:42. | :15:46. | |
debate the estimates. One thing you have not to debate on estimates they | :15:47. | :15:51. | |
is the estimates! What other place in the world other than this absurd | :15:52. | :15:59. | |
House can this possibly be the case? Just to remind the House what the | :16:00. | :16:04. | |
estimates are. This is the consolidated spend of departments of | :16:05. | :16:07. | |
this nation. We have no opportunity to debate this. During the debates, | :16:08. | :16:11. | |
and the Leader of the House will remember this, during the debate | :16:12. | :16:14. | |
about English votes for English laws, he made a weird to ask that | :16:15. | :16:18. | |
all issues of Barnet consequential is where to be bound up in the | :16:19. | :16:24. | |
debate about the estimates. You would be right and proper to rule me | :16:25. | :16:30. | |
out of order, but we have two end this absurd notion that we cannot | :16:31. | :16:37. | |
even debate the departmental bend within the House. We have a deal on | :16:38. | :16:40. | |
fiscal framework this week, and everyone is delighted. I would want | :16:41. | :16:44. | |
to congratulate First Minister for stopping the Treasury trying to | :16:45. | :16:54. | |
peddle Scotland out of ?7 billion. -- diddle. But where will this end? | :16:55. | :17:04. | |
I do not mind scrutiny of the fiscal framework, I think that is right and | :17:05. | :17:07. | |
proper, but can the Leader of the House rule out today that this House | :17:08. | :17:12. | |
will not have a veto in the fiscal agreement that the fiscal framework | :17:13. | :17:16. | |
was agreed by this House and with the Scottish Government? Lastly, I | :17:17. | :17:20. | |
do not know if he is on speaking terms with his no longer friend, the | :17:21. | :17:27. | |
right honourable member, the Prime Minister, but if he is, could he | :17:28. | :17:30. | |
please stay to him to please stay away from Scotland -- say to him, | :17:31. | :17:37. | |
please stay away from Scotland? We value our European membership in | :17:38. | :17:40. | |
Scotland, so please stay away. In the meantime there is invitation to | :17:41. | :17:45. | |
the Justice Secretary, the Leader of the House and the Mayor of London to | :17:46. | :17:50. | |
come to Scotland any time. I am coming to Scotland and about ten | :17:51. | :17:53. | |
days, and I will look forward to whipping up support for the | :17:54. | :17:56. | |
Conservative campaign that I think has a really good chance of | :17:57. | :18:00. | |
consigning the Labour Party to third place in the Scottish elections, | :18:01. | :18:03. | |
which would give us enormous pleasure, but I have a sneaking | :18:04. | :18:07. | |
suspicion that might give the honourable gentleman leisure as | :18:08. | :18:10. | |
well. This may surprise some, but we have the same view on Europe. I want | :18:11. | :18:17. | |
him to succeed in the Eurovision Song Contest. Whether it is this | :18:18. | :18:22. | |
year, whether it is next year, I want to see MP for go all the way. | :18:23. | :18:30. | |
There is even a new scoring system that might give the British entry a | :18:31. | :18:33. | |
better chance. If at first you do not succeed, keep trying. We are | :18:34. | :18:39. | |
with him all the way. I hate to disappoint him on the European | :18:40. | :18:42. | |
referendum. He will not find any nastiness, because we're all friends | :18:43. | :18:44. | |
and get on with each other. LAUGHTER | :18:45. | :18:55. | |
The differences, they all hate each other, split down the middle. | :18:56. | :19:01. | |
That is the Labour Party. We are going to have a grown-up, sensible | :19:02. | :19:04. | |
debate, the country will decide and then we will work together to | :19:05. | :19:08. | |
implement what the country decides. In the meantime they will run around | :19:09. | :19:11. | |
like headless chickens to work out what they do about the mess they are | :19:12. | :19:16. | |
in at the moment. On the estimates issue, I remind him that he is a | :19:17. | :19:20. | |
member of the liaison committee, which has estimates they've at its | :19:21. | :19:27. | |
disposal to decide what subject to debate and consider. He may have | :19:28. | :19:33. | |
lost the argument in the liaison committee, or maybe he did not bring | :19:34. | :19:37. | |
it forward, but we decide what is to be debated on these two days, and if | :19:38. | :19:41. | |
they choose not to debate a particular issue, that is up to | :19:42. | :19:49. | |
them. There will be other times to raise issues regarding public | :19:50. | :19:53. | |
spending. In the Scotland Bill, we are delighted agreement has been | :19:54. | :19:58. | |
reached on fiscal framework, and it is progressing through the other | :19:59. | :20:04. | |
place. I think all of us want to get it on the statute bill, so we are | :20:05. | :20:06. | |
seen to have fulfilled the promises we made at the time of the | :20:07. | :20:13. | |
referendum in implementing all of the recommendations of the Smith | :20:14. | :20:18. | |
report. Regarding the Prime Minister, I am sure he will be | :20:19. | :20:20. | |
spending time in Scotland campaigning for the Conservative | :20:21. | :20:22. | |
victory at the Scottish elections in May. It has been a criminal offence | :20:23. | :20:33. | |
to shine a laser at an aircraft since 2010, but over the last five | :20:34. | :20:36. | |
and a half years there have been nearly 9000 incidents of lasers | :20:37. | :20:42. | |
being aimed at military and civilian, mostly civilian, aircraft. | :20:43. | :20:45. | |
Can we have a debate on what more the government can do to protect | :20:46. | :20:51. | |
civilian and military aircraft, protecting passengers and pilots, | :20:52. | :20:56. | |
making sure is that -- making sure that the skies are safe to fly in? | :20:57. | :21:03. | |
He raises an important point. It is a matter of great concern, | :21:04. | :21:06. | |
particularly the recent incident of an aeroplane turning back after a | :21:07. | :21:12. | |
laser attack. None of us would wish to see an aviation disaster as a | :21:13. | :21:15. | |
result of this behaviour. Transport Secretary will be | :21:16. | :21:20. | |
week. I will make sure he is aware of the concerns today, but my | :21:21. | :21:26. | |
honourable friend can raise this as well. Lord Adonis made his most | :21:27. | :21:31. | |
interesting promise suggesting that the government should prioritise a | :21:32. | :21:37. | |
number of early investments in the railway infrastructure. I have | :21:38. | :21:48. | |
proposed changes to various lines, and others will no doubt have the | :21:49. | :21:52. | |
wrong proposals. So could the leader make time for an early full debate | :21:53. | :21:58. | |
on railway investment? I have a lot of sympathy with what he says and | :21:59. | :22:02. | |
Lord Adonis says. One of the things that characterised the approach of | :22:03. | :22:07. | |
the government is that it also characterised the railways since | :22:08. | :22:11. | |
privatisation, we have seen the opening of new stations, the | :22:12. | :22:14. | |
reopening of new lines, and we have seen a second route open from London | :22:15. | :22:23. | |
to Oxford. This is a sign for a flourishing industry that we want to | :22:24. | :22:25. | |
see grow and develop. The Secretary of State will be here in ten days to | :22:26. | :22:28. | |
make that point. But we believe in the future of the railways. Is the | :22:29. | :22:37. | |
Leader of the House aware that the renegotiation package for the EU | :22:38. | :22:41. | |
referendum is based on an international agreement? It lacks | :22:42. | :22:46. | |
the enforcement mechanisms of both EU and domestic law. Is it correct | :22:47. | :22:52. | |
that any such agreement must conform to EU law and to the extent that it | :22:53. | :23:01. | |
doesn't, then EU law will prevail? This is a matter that will be | :23:02. | :23:05. | |
subject to lively debate this afternoon and over the coming weeks. | :23:06. | :23:12. | |
I would simply say that the view of the Attorney General is that the | :23:13. | :23:15. | |
agreement reached in Brussels last week is indeed legally binding on | :23:16. | :23:22. | |
all members of the European Union. The leader will be aware that I have | :23:23. | :23:26. | |
written to him on this issue. Earlier this week we saw very | :23:27. | :23:33. | |
important debate on knife crime and gang crime being bumped by | :23:34. | :23:35. | |
government business and urgent questions and a statement. We have | :23:36. | :23:46. | |
rescheduled that debate for next Thursday, 3rd of March. On the 8th | :23:47. | :23:52. | |
of March, we have international women's day and a debate sponsored | :23:53. | :23:54. | |
by the backbench business committee. I am wondering if the Leader of the | :23:55. | :23:59. | |
House would allow us protected time so that such an eventuality would | :24:00. | :24:01. | |
not happen on that occasion, particularly since international | :24:02. | :24:06. | |
women's day debate is time specific because the 8th of March is | :24:07. | :24:09. | |
International women's Day. On a second issue, many hundreds of | :24:10. | :24:16. | |
thousands of people are now missing from electoral registers around the | :24:17. | :24:19. | |
country. Yesterday the Office of National Statistics found on what | :24:20. | :24:28. | |
size constituencies should be by population. That is also a drive for | :24:29. | :24:36. | |
people to register which is the referendum for the European Union. I | :24:37. | :24:40. | |
wondered if he would take back to the Cabinet question of whether the | :24:41. | :24:43. | |
boundary commission should be put on hold to see if these hundreds of | :24:44. | :24:46. | |
thousands of people who have not registered will registered in time | :24:47. | :24:49. | |
for the referendum then boundaries can be drawn up on the real elect of | :24:50. | :24:56. | |
it rather than it was in December. -- electorate. | :24:57. | :24:57. | |
Well, on those two points, I will take away his point about | :24:58. | :25:02. | |
International Women's Day, as it is time sensitive that day that I | :25:03. | :25:05. | |
continue to bear in mind what he has asked the bird protected time. At | :25:06. | :25:09. | |
the moment, it doesn't feel as though there was a long pipeline of | :25:10. | :25:14. | |
debate is being delayed -- about the protected time. I think it was | :25:15. | :25:17. | |
better that the debate was moved rather than severely curtailed. With | :25:18. | :25:21. | |
regards to boundaries, the Boundary Commission takes place over two | :25:22. | :25:24. | |
years and there will be plenty of time for the Boundary Commission to | :25:25. | :25:27. | |
adapt and indeed for individual members to come back and make | :25:28. | :25:31. | |
representations for changes if they do not believe the particular | :25:32. | :25:35. | |
situation is right, the particular recommendation is correct. And I | :25:36. | :25:40. | |
hear the Shadow leader chuntering in his place as usual, I hope from his | :25:41. | :25:44. | |
point of view that his members in the Rhondda, like him -- members of | :25:45. | :25:48. | |
the Rhondda like him as much as his backbenchers do whether it | :25:49. | :25:52. | |
determines him getting a seat in the changes or not. I was perturbed | :25:53. | :25:57. | |
today to hear that BBC Radio Foyle Clive could be moved to online | :25:58. | :26:03. | |
content only. -- 5 Live. Whilst it would relieve the nation of | :26:04. | :26:10. | |
colleagues in the House playing Kiss, Marry Or Avoid, it could | :26:11. | :26:16. | |
otherwise the notion an outstanding news and sports broadcaster, so | :26:17. | :26:20. | |
could we hold a debate in this place to address the need for the BBC to | :26:21. | :26:24. | |
be continued to be funded as befits the nation's broadcaster. Of course, | :26:25. | :26:29. | |
the subject of the BBC charter renewal is a very live one at the | :26:30. | :26:33. | |
moment, many of us have had about it. It is the Government's view that | :26:34. | :26:38. | |
we want to preserve the BBC as a high-quality public service | :26:39. | :26:42. | |
broadcaster but it will be a matter for the BBC to decide how best to | :26:43. | :26:46. | |
deploy its resources and we have to make sure that given the fact it is | :26:47. | :26:49. | |
a levy on household from all different circumstances up and down | :26:50. | :26:53. | |
the country that the BBC operates in a cost-effective way and keeps the | :26:54. | :26:58. | |
licence fee as low as possible. I notice that the leader of the has | :26:59. | :27:02. | |
failed to respond to my honourable friend's very sensible suggestion | :27:03. | :27:08. | |
that the recess and the Queen's Speech be scheduled in order to take | :27:09. | :27:15. | |
account of the EU referendum. Can the Leader of the House give a | :27:16. | :27:17. | |
proper response, especially given that the outcome of the referendum | :27:18. | :27:24. | |
itself could have a major impact on the legislative programme? The point | :27:25. | :27:27. | |
I made in my remarks as this Government has a full programme and | :27:28. | :27:30. | |
will continue to have a full programme. It is important that we | :27:31. | :27:34. | |
do not allow the EU referendum to divert us from the very important | :27:35. | :27:37. | |
task of governing the country. We will continue to deliver the right | :27:38. | :27:40. | |
solutions for the country and continue to bring forward the right | :27:41. | :27:44. | |
legislation for the country and of course, we will consider how best to | :27:45. | :27:48. | |
ensure that honourable members have the right opportunity to participate | :27:49. | :27:51. | |
in the referendum. We also need to make sure the doubling of the | :27:52. | :27:55. | |
country is not diverted by what is happening. My constituents Mr and Mr | :27:56. | :28:02. | |
Vaughan have been waiting for years for an assessment of their | :28:03. | :28:06. | |
continuing health care costs for a deceased relative, despite an | :28:07. | :28:09. | |
assurance that the CCG had made attempts with extra resources to | :28:10. | :28:13. | |
clear backlog. Could I ask the Leader of the House, will he make | :28:14. | :28:17. | |
time for a statement from the Secretary of State help on the | :28:18. | :28:24. | |
delays to retrospective see -- CHC assessments, because it is causing | :28:25. | :28:29. | |
much distress. My honourable friend speaks with his customary | :28:30. | :28:32. | |
effectiveness of behalf of his constituents and I know it affects a | :28:33. | :28:35. | |
number of constituents down the country and I will make sure the | :28:36. | :28:38. | |
Health Secretary is aware of the concerns he has raised and to reply | :28:39. | :28:44. | |
to him. What is the Leader of the House's view of the legal status of | :28:45. | :28:48. | |
the Prime Minister's European agreement? Does he agree with his | :28:49. | :28:52. | |
successor as Justice Secretary, or does he agree with the Attorney | :28:53. | :28:55. | |
General, whose view he mentioned earlier? It was the only Lord | :28:56. | :29:02. | |
Chancellor not to be a lawyer, he is therefore at an advantage on terms | :29:03. | :29:07. | |
of plain speaking. So who does he agree with? The Justice Secretary or | :29:08. | :29:13. | |
the Attorney General? Well, Mr Speaker, fortunately I am not a | :29:14. | :29:16. | |
lawyer and will not give the honourable gentleman legal advice. I | :29:17. | :29:20. | |
will say what I said earlier, it is the view of the Attorney General on | :29:21. | :29:23. | |
behalf of the Government that has legal force but I am sure it will be | :29:24. | :29:27. | |
a matter of lively debate in the weeks ahead. The Leader of the House | :29:28. | :29:32. | |
will no doubt be aware that over a very short time span, to separate | :29:33. | :29:36. | |
debate in Westminster Hall over very serious allegations of collusion | :29:37. | :29:43. | |
between banks to undervalue and seize assets. Numerous other cases | :29:44. | :29:46. | |
have come to light and more than ten cross-party MPs have written to the | :29:47. | :29:49. | |
Chair of Business, Innovation and Skills committee asking to | :29:50. | :29:53. | |
investigate. In my constituency, this involved Barclays Bank and has | :29:54. | :30:00. | |
led to one of my constituents losing everything he has worked for over | :30:01. | :30:04. | |
many years, including his house. Is it their four-time pro debate on the | :30:05. | :30:07. | |
floor of the House on these matters and whether the Government needs to | :30:08. | :30:12. | |
act to ensure the is upheld? -- is it therefore time? My honourable | :30:13. | :30:17. | |
friend is working hard on behalf of his constituents but I cannot | :30:18. | :30:20. | |
comment on the details of the allegations. The solicitor general | :30:21. | :30:26. | |
address Westminster Hall on this earlier this month and he is well | :30:27. | :30:32. | |
aware of the conclusions reached from reports. If he is on bag of | :30:33. | :30:38. | |
loot of the view that the remit of the SFO should be broadened to take | :30:39. | :30:45. | |
matters further, we could possibly look to bring back to the floor | :30:46. | :30:50. | |
debate on the broader remit of the SFO and other organisations to | :30:51. | :30:59. | |
investigate matters like this. Is the Leader of the House aware that | :31:00. | :31:02. | |
Huddersfield, a large university town, is likely, if the clinical | :31:03. | :31:07. | |
commissioning group and the Government has its way, will be one | :31:08. | :31:14. | |
of the only large towns to have no accident emergency facility within | :31:15. | :31:17. | |
five miles of the town? Would he agree that an early debate on what | :31:18. | :31:20. | |
is going on with clinical commissioning groups, what is going | :31:21. | :31:23. | |
on with this pressure on the Health Service when the Prime Minister, | :31:24. | :31:27. | |
during the General Election, said he would preserve A in the towns and | :31:28. | :31:34. | |
cities of this country? Of course, this is something that has affected | :31:35. | :31:37. | |
my own constituency where there has been debate for a while. What we | :31:38. | :31:42. | |
have done is entrusted local doctors with decision-making about the | :31:43. | :31:45. | |
configuration of services and certainly in my own area, it was the | :31:46. | :31:50. | |
view of local doctors that prevailed over plans for reconfiguration 18 | :31:51. | :31:53. | |
months ago, so it really is going to be down to his local GPs and those | :31:54. | :31:57. | |
who control commissioning in the area to decide what the | :31:58. | :32:00. | |
configuration is. My advice, having been through this, is make sure he | :32:01. | :32:04. | |
has discussed the issue with them and brought forward their views | :32:05. | :32:07. | |
because that made the big difference in my area. Mr Speaker, you may like | :32:08. | :32:12. | |
to know that my petition to save the hedgehog has now reached over 19,000 | :32:13. | :32:18. | |
signatures since it was launched two weeks ago. I am fully aware that | :32:19. | :32:24. | |
this is just 80,000 short of us having a debate but would my right | :32:25. | :32:28. | |
honourable friend like to just confirmed that because it has got | :32:29. | :32:31. | |
over 10,000, the Government now has the right to me to say what it is | :32:32. | :32:37. | |
they might actually do? -- has the right to me. I congratulate my | :32:38. | :32:43. | |
honourable friend on his assiduous nose, he will receive a proper | :32:44. | :32:46. | |
response from the Government and I have a sneaking suspicion he may | :32:47. | :32:50. | |
make his way towards the 100,000 point to have a debate in this | :32:51. | :32:53. | |
House, but of course we have had this week a cautionary tale linking | :32:54. | :32:57. | |
some of the things that somehow appear at this session. We took | :32:58. | :33:03. | |
those super foods, black puddings, berries, but we have learned that if | :33:04. | :33:07. | |
you feed meat to hedgehogs, it can have a rather adverse effect, as we | :33:08. | :33:11. | |
saw in the tragic case of the hedgehog that has become so fat from | :33:12. | :33:14. | |
eating meat, it can't even roll itself up. We are all better | :33:15. | :33:22. | |
informed than we were. Thank you Mr Speaker. My constituent and | :33:23. | :33:26. | |
bombardier James Simpson sadly lost both legs in Afghanistan and has | :33:27. | :33:32. | |
since inspired people by becoming the first double amputee to do an | :33:33. | :33:36. | |
obstacle challenge. He and other brave injured servicemen have found | :33:37. | :33:44. | |
that the NHS is not able to cope with their artificial limbs. Could | :33:45. | :33:48. | |
we have a statement from the Secretary of State for Health as to | :33:49. | :33:51. | |
how the NHS will solve this and come up with a better plan for how we | :33:52. | :33:56. | |
help our brave servicemen and women? I wasn't aware of this and those who | :33:57. | :34:00. | |
have served this country, those who have lost limbs in the service of | :34:01. | :34:05. | |
this country, are people who we should all admire and without | :34:06. | :34:07. | |
reserve and some of the achievements we have seen by those who have been | :34:08. | :34:11. | |
injured in this way since they have returned from the front line have | :34:12. | :34:14. | |
been simply awe-inspiring. I wasn't aware of the problem he has brought | :34:15. | :34:19. | |
to the House today. My colleague the Secretary of State is here on Monday | :34:20. | :34:22. | |
for defence but I will also make sure the health Department is aware | :34:23. | :34:24. | |
of the concerns he has raised and respond to him. I hope the whole | :34:25. | :34:30. | |
house without vote to join me in congratulating the Mayorova London, | :34:31. | :34:33. | |
the honourable member for Uxbridge and south voice live, for his very | :34:34. | :34:36. | |
wise decision, much-publicised this week, to name Crossrail the | :34:37. | :34:40. | |
Elizabeth line to commemorate the Queen's 90th birthday. My patriotic | :34:41. | :34:48. | |
residents in the village of Worthington would also like to | :34:49. | :34:50. | |
commemorate this event but have been hit by the County Council with a | :34:51. | :34:56. | |
?400 bill for road closure. Could we have a statement for the guide to | :34:57. | :34:59. | |
County Council to waive such charges as we did during the Jubilee? Well, | :35:00. | :35:05. | |
first of all, I was also delighted about the decision to name Crossrail | :35:06. | :35:09. | |
the Elizabeth line, it is a fitting tribute to a magnificent monarch, as | :35:10. | :35:14. | |
she approaches her 90th birthday and we should all celebrate the things | :35:15. | :35:19. | |
she has done for this country. Mr Speaker, I think in terms of the | :35:20. | :35:22. | |
celebrations we will be seeing this summer, I hope local authorities | :35:23. | :35:26. | |
will be wise and sensible and will be encouraging communities to come | :35:27. | :35:29. | |
together to celebrate them and I have to say this has been the week | :35:30. | :35:32. | |
in which my honourable friend the Mayorova London has shown great | :35:33. | :35:41. | |
wisdom. The North Middlesex Hospital on the 19th of February, more than | :35:42. | :35:45. | |
100 point patients were informed over the tannoy, please go home | :35:46. | :35:49. | |
unless you have a life-threatening illness. Of course, they would have | :35:50. | :35:56. | |
to self diagnose to make that decision. Some patients had been | :35:57. | :35:59. | |
waiting on trolleys for more than five hours with no cubicle space and | :36:00. | :36:05. | |
no beds to go to, while dozens were on a waiting room, faced with a | :36:06. | :36:10. | |
weight of over eight hours to be seen. Now, this is a crisis in A | :36:11. | :36:16. | |
provision, certainly for Enfield and Haringey, and I think it is wider | :36:17. | :36:20. | |
spread than that. It is entirely predictable, particularly given that | :36:21. | :36:24. | |
the Government closed the A at Chase farm in 2013. Many of my | :36:25. | :36:30. | |
constituents were sat waiting that night and are outraged at this | :36:31. | :36:34. | |
situation. Can we have an early debate in Government time about the | :36:35. | :36:42. | |
A crisis affecting Enfield and Haringey and generally wider? I | :36:43. | :36:45. | |
don't know about the individual circumstance. Clearly, pressures on | :36:46. | :36:51. | |
A ebb and flow depending on local circumstance, particularly on this | :36:52. | :36:53. | |
time of year but what I would say is this is one reason we continue to | :36:54. | :36:57. | |
put additional funding into the NHS and I simply remember the former | :36:58. | :37:03. | |
Health Secretary argued that putting more money into the NHS was not the | :37:04. | :37:08. | |
right thing to do. I am sure the House will agree with me that you | :37:09. | :37:13. | |
don't discuss Europe enough in this place and therefore, my helpful | :37:14. | :37:17. | |
suggestion is that we alter the business of the House and have a | :37:18. | :37:22. | |
weekly EU Question Time and my prejudice is the Leader of the House | :37:23. | :37:25. | |
and says these questions. It would give me the opportunity to ask, for | :37:26. | :37:30. | |
instance, should the British people in their wisdom leave the European | :37:31. | :37:33. | |
Union? Would it be right that it would be this Government that would | :37:34. | :37:38. | |
decide, for instance, the VAT rate on sanitary towels? It is certainly | :37:39. | :37:44. | |
correct that the VAT on sanitary tolls is imposed by the European | :37:45. | :37:49. | |
Union -- sanitary towels. I suspect it would not be enforced by this | :37:50. | :37:52. | |
Government. The one debate I would love to have is with the Shadow | :37:53. | :38:00. | |
leader: he is the one person who bitterly regretted that we didn't | :38:01. | :38:06. | |
join the euro. Can the leader of his has cast his mind back to business | :38:07. | :38:09. | |
questions on the 28th of January? You may recall he failed to answer a | :38:10. | :38:13. | |
question from the Shadow leader for details of how he was going to | :38:14. | :38:17. | |
arrange Parliamentary scrutiny of changes Cabinet office were | :38:18. | :38:23. | |
intending to introduce for local Government and procurement | :38:24. | :38:25. | |
guidelines for public institutions. He will also know that since then, | :38:26. | :38:30. | |
the Minister for the Cabinet Office has decided to announce the second | :38:31. | :38:33. | |
of those changes last week. Not to this House, but to Israel and a | :38:34. | :38:40. | |
joint press conference -- with Benjamin Netanyahu. The difference | :38:41. | :38:49. | |
between what the Cabinet sees as the target those guidelines and official | :38:50. | :38:53. | |
Foreign Office advice regarding risk to business and legal action in the | :38:54. | :38:57. | |
occupied territories, we are still waiting to hear how all of this can | :38:58. | :39:02. | |
be scrutinised. So will the leader arrange for the Minister of the | :39:03. | :39:05. | |
Cabinet Office finally to come to this House, make a statement and | :39:06. | :39:15. | |
answer questions. He will be here on the 9th of March to make questions. | :39:16. | :39:18. | |
You have been very fulsome in granting opportunities to member of | :39:19. | :39:21. | |
this House who have concerns to bring forward urgent questions. But | :39:22. | :39:24. | |
I can't remember this subject been brought forward as an urgent | :39:25. | :39:27. | |
question so perhaps it isn't that urgent. When I heard from a | :39:28. | :39:36. | |
constituent of mine that she had gone elsewhere in the country to | :39:37. | :39:41. | |
volunteer as part of her Duke of Edinburgh award, I was, like I am | :39:42. | :39:45. | |
sure, all honourable members, delighted at her commitment to this | :39:46. | :39:50. | |
award scheme and volunteering. I was less pleased by the fact that she | :39:51. | :39:54. | |
had to pay a rather large sum for her rail ticket and then she | :39:55. | :39:57. | |
discovered afterwards that by splitting her tickets, she could | :39:58. | :40:01. | |
quite legally have paid a lot less. Could we have a debate on how this | :40:02. | :40:04. | |
could be much more publicised and whether rail companies should be | :40:05. | :40:08. | |
obliged to show the cheapest possible way of getting from to B | :40:09. | :40:09. | |
version The rail minister would be in | :40:10. | :40:17. | |
agreement with what he says and is working to achieve that. All of us | :40:18. | :40:23. | |
who travel by train find some bizarre structures of fares, finding | :40:24. | :40:28. | |
that first-class fares are lower than standard class. It would be | :40:29. | :40:37. | |
much easier if the information was available to the public of the | :40:38. | :40:42. | |
cheapest way to travel. You will be aware that several times I have | :40:43. | :40:47. | |
called for us to have a debate on youth violence, and my honourable | :40:48. | :40:51. | |
member advised us to go to the backbench business committee. I was | :40:52. | :40:54. | |
really pleased that the backbench business committee brought forward a | :40:55. | :41:00. | |
debate on this. However, deeply disappointed that the time was not | :41:01. | :41:05. | |
given to that this Tuesday. Many colleagues of mine came to the | :41:06. | :41:09. | |
gallery to watch the debate, who were not able to engage in it. How | :41:10. | :41:15. | |
are you going to ensure that next Thursday the time is protected and | :41:16. | :41:19. | |
we debate this very, very important issue? It is a very important issue, | :41:20. | :41:29. | |
and it was unfortunate on Tuesday that there was an extended statement | :41:30. | :41:33. | |
on Monday from the Prime Minister, and the volume of additional | :41:34. | :41:35. | |
subjects that people wanted to bring before the House, the debate ended | :41:36. | :41:40. | |
up being squeezed out. We will make sure there is an opportunity to | :41:41. | :41:43. | |
bring it back. When it comes back on that Thursday, it is much less | :41:44. | :41:50. | |
likely to be under pressure than it was on Tuesday. This week has seen | :41:51. | :41:59. | |
the welcome news that a trust has secured planning permission for the | :42:00. | :42:08. | |
first state-sponsored Hindu through school. In Harrow, a school has | :42:09. | :42:19. | |
secret approval, which will make sure people in Harrow will have a | :42:20. | :42:23. | |
faith -based education if that's what they want for their children. | :42:24. | :42:27. | |
Could be arranged for a debate in the House on the importance of faith | :42:28. | :42:34. | |
-based education so parents can choose the education for children | :42:35. | :42:38. | |
that they wish? I would congratulate all of those who have succeeded in | :42:39. | :42:43. | |
bringing forward these new plans. It has always been my view that faith | :42:44. | :42:46. | |
-based education is an important place that has an important place in | :42:47. | :42:50. | |
our society, and while it is important that faith -based school | :42:51. | :42:55. | |
is not a school of one faith, my experience is that the ethos it | :42:56. | :43:00. | |
brings is a high-quality of education, and it is very exciting. | :43:01. | :43:05. | |
I'm sure he will take advantage of the opportunity express to the | :43:06. | :43:11. | |
Secretary of State shortly how important this work is. The | :43:12. | :43:21. | |
government has amended its own enterprise Bill to include | :43:22. | :43:23. | |
provisions on Sunday trading. Can the leader please explain how | :43:24. | :43:32. | |
backbenchers who are concerned about the Evel status being introduced to | :43:33. | :43:35. | |
make representations within the standing orders concerning the | :43:36. | :43:39. | |
effect of new proposals made by the government? These proposals will be | :43:40. | :43:47. | |
subject to debate in committee, and if members choose to do so, on the | :43:48. | :43:54. | |
floor of the House, but the advice he seeks is best obtained from the | :43:55. | :44:02. | |
clerics. Can we have a minister make a statement to explain what action | :44:03. | :44:06. | |
the government is taking to protect holders of the Lloyds bank enhanced | :44:07. | :44:13. | |
capital is and forced early redemption? Several constituents | :44:14. | :44:15. | |
have contacted me to say they have been forced to close this. It has | :44:16. | :44:20. | |
had a great effect on their planned income, and they have received | :44:21. | :44:24. | |
little protection on the financial -- from the financial authority. I | :44:25. | :44:30. | |
am aware of these concerns and he is doing his usual effective job on | :44:31. | :44:37. | |
behalf of his constituents. It is good with the re-met to do the job | :44:38. | :44:43. | |
in a matter like this. The Treasury ministers on Monday have ultimate | :44:44. | :44:52. | |
responsibility of setting the re-met of the authority. The Leader of the | :44:53. | :45:01. | |
House may be aware of the horrible murder of a man in Egypt's, who is | :45:02. | :45:15. | |
much missed in Cambridge where he was carrying out academic duties. I | :45:16. | :45:21. | |
urge him to impress on the Egyptian authorities what has gone on. Can we | :45:22. | :45:25. | |
discuss the situation in Egypt's soon? This was a horrible incident, | :45:26. | :45:34. | |
and as a sign that although Egypt's is a great country, there are still | :45:35. | :45:39. | |
some significant challenges for it. I will make sure the Foreign | :45:40. | :45:44. | |
Secretary is reminded of these concerns, and I'm sure the | :45:45. | :45:49. | |
government will set out an opportunity to discuss this in the | :45:50. | :45:57. | |
near future. Tomorrow I will attend the residents meeting in Cleethorpes | :45:58. | :46:02. | |
accompanied by the Humberside Police Commissioner. The Commissioner has | :46:03. | :46:09. | |
been effective in representing its constituents. Could we have the | :46:10. | :46:15. | |
debate on the role of the Commissioner and how the powers may | :46:16. | :46:20. | |
be extended? He will always have a fond place in the conservative | :46:21. | :46:30. | |
lexicon as the man who beat John Prescott. It is a matter of huge | :46:31. | :46:36. | |
disappointment on that side of the House. The Deputy Leader is not a | :46:37. | :46:44. | |
fan. But we will always regard him fondly. My constituency has | :46:45. | :46:52. | |
benefited tremendously from European Union structural funding, but that | :46:53. | :46:55. | |
will not be available if we leave the European Union. Can we have a | :46:56. | :47:03. | |
statement of the advantages that EU structural funds have brought to the | :47:04. | :47:12. | |
UK, and whether he will give such a statement personally? We have a | :47:13. | :47:14. | |
debate this afternoon, so he can take part in that. Structural funds | :47:15. | :47:21. | |
are important, and I am sure that those who agree with that would see | :47:22. | :47:26. | |
that all we're doing is giving money to Brussels in order to give it back | :47:27. | :47:32. | |
to us. Notwithstanding the debate we have had on flooding, there is | :47:33. | :47:35. | |
another part of this that we do not discuss enough during this House, | :47:36. | :47:40. | |
which is coastal erosion. This year we have seen more around the coasts | :47:41. | :47:45. | |
of the UK because of the storms than we have for many years. Can we have | :47:46. | :47:49. | |
time for a statement in this chamber on this? We need to make plans now, | :47:50. | :48:03. | |
to be able to look to the future. The importance of this issue has | :48:04. | :48:07. | |
been brought home to us by the extraordinary archaeology work round | :48:08. | :48:11. | |
the port of Dunnett, which was one of England's largest towns, and has | :48:12. | :48:19. | |
nearly disappeared. It shows how much difference coastal erosion can | :48:20. | :48:25. | |
make. Perhaps you would like to join with others whose constituencies | :48:26. | :48:29. | |
have been affected, and bring forward a debate through the | :48:30. | :48:35. | |
backbench committee. Can we have a debate on the extraordinary | :48:36. | :48:40. | |
allegations published by the London Times newspaper on the treatment of | :48:41. | :48:44. | |
asylum seekers living in Glasgow, by Home Office providers circle. | :48:45. | :48:52. | |
Allegations which include spraying air freshener towards asylum seekers | :48:53. | :48:57. | |
and placing them in and then have up to housing. Does he agree with me | :48:58. | :49:05. | |
that -- in uninhabitable housing. No one would condone that kind of | :49:06. | :49:11. | |
treatment of any individual, no matter who they are. He makes an | :49:12. | :49:15. | |
important point which will be noted by the ministers. Hull City | :49:16. | :49:23. | |
councillors meeting to set its budget at the moment. Since 2010, it | :49:24. | :49:31. | |
has had a cut of ?310 per person in the city, one of the steepest cuts | :49:32. | :49:38. | |
in the country. In the same period, one of the least deprived areas, | :49:39. | :49:52. | |
excellent, -- Epsom, has gained. Could we please have a debate about | :49:53. | :49:56. | |
why the poorest areas of this country keep being cut by this | :49:57. | :50:03. | |
government? She needs to remember the huge disparities that still | :50:04. | :50:09. | |
exist on funding per head targeting cities like Hull, targeting towns | :50:10. | :50:17. | |
and cities where there are big challenges, even with a substantial | :50:18. | :50:31. | |
number of us... The government's mobile infrastructure project | :50:32. | :50:35. | |
identified 600 potentially new mobile mast sites. Only 15 of them | :50:36. | :50:41. | |
had been built by last year. Could we have a debate on the failure of | :50:42. | :50:45. | |
the government's infrastructure project, and why so many communities | :50:46. | :50:52. | |
that were promised mobile connectivity still do not have it? | :50:53. | :50:57. | |
We are making real progress in spreading mobile coverage and | :50:58. | :51:02. | |
high-speed broadband coverage. The government does not build the masts, | :51:03. | :51:07. | |
it is the operators. We are doing as well as almost all of the major | :51:08. | :51:10. | |
international competitors in making sure we have these connections. On | :51:11. | :51:19. | |
the 7th of November last year I wrote to the BBC with asset of | :51:20. | :51:23. | |
perfectly reasonable questions about their musical output and their | :51:24. | :51:29. | |
relationship with universal music. Response times were disappointing. | :51:30. | :51:33. | |
Not only did they fail to answer questions that said I was unhappy | :51:34. | :51:38. | |
with the response, and that I should take it up with the information | :51:39. | :51:41. | |
Commissioner. I value the work the BBC does, but they have to be open | :51:42. | :51:44. | |
about how they operate, so can we have a debate about creating a | :51:45. | :51:49. | |
transparent culture within the BBC and their publishers. The Culture | :51:50. | :51:55. | |
Secretary is here next week to raise the issue with, but we are having | :51:56. | :52:01. | |
such a debate at the moment on the renewal Charter, and it is for them | :52:02. | :52:05. | |
as the public and members of this House to bring forward their | :52:06. | :52:07. | |
thoughts about the future shape of the BBC, and despite the fact that | :52:08. | :52:12. | |
the shadow leader is chuntering from his position, I have no doubt that | :52:13. | :52:17. | |
he wants to bring forward further thoughts and present them to the | :52:18. | :52:21. | |
Secretary of State, and they will be taken into account. It was welcome | :52:22. | :52:25. | |
when the government agreed to change the rules to allow fear compensation | :52:26. | :52:34. | |
for people suffering from mesothelioma. So can we have a | :52:35. | :52:40. | |
debate about how a small number of veterans are not covered, and having | :52:41. | :52:53. | |
more stress as a result. I will make sure the health minister will make | :52:54. | :53:04. | |
-- is all we're. The childhood obesity strategy has been delayed | :53:05. | :53:08. | |
not once, but I am now on the fifth time of counting. And the answers | :53:09. | :53:15. | |
I'm getting from ministers and including the Prime Minister, who | :53:16. | :53:19. | |
cannot even tell you whether or not he has seen a draft, copy -- seen a | :53:20. | :53:31. | |
draft copy of this, so can we have a statement as soon as possible, | :53:32. | :53:35. | |
outlining their intentions to publish the childhood obesity | :53:36. | :53:40. | |
strategy and break this wall of silence from ministers? It is the | :53:41. | :53:43. | |
government's intention to publish the childhood obesity strategy, but | :53:44. | :53:47. | |
also working to get it right, and I can assure him that when we come to | :53:48. | :53:52. | |
publish the document, when we are satisfied it is the right tool for | :53:53. | :53:55. | |
the job, we will bring it to the House. The Prime Minister has made | :53:56. | :54:04. | |
233 appointments to the unelected House of Lords that has been | :54:05. | :54:09. | |
elected, making it a total of 826, and yet only yesterday many of us | :54:10. | :54:13. | |
received an e-mail from the boundaries commission informing us | :54:14. | :54:16. | |
of our review of the chamber to reduce the number of Scottish MPs | :54:17. | :54:21. | |
from 59, 253. With the result of the House of Lords being 40% larger than | :54:22. | :54:26. | |
this House, will he bring to this chamber and urgent debate of the | :54:27. | :54:29. | |
rough wearing of democracy in Scotland, we will have more Tory | :54:30. | :54:34. | |
Lords than MPs representing our country? This is the elected House, | :54:35. | :54:39. | |
this is the House that ultimately has the final say on matters. It is | :54:40. | :54:45. | |
right and proper that we have a structure of representation that | :54:46. | :54:48. | |
represents the balance of population in the country. It is the case that | :54:49. | :54:53. | |
the boundary commission has arena to align the size of constituencies | :54:54. | :54:56. | |
across the country. This is not a matter related to the other place, | :54:57. | :55:01. | |
it is related to ensuring that there is Furnace of representation in this | :55:02. | :55:05. | |
elected House, which decides what happens. and is my constituent and | :55:06. | :55:13. | |
he is afraid train driver. He and his colleagues across 11 depots in | :55:14. | :55:18. | |
Yorkshire and the North of facing redundancy due to the downturn of | :55:19. | :55:21. | |
coal traffic because of the closure of Ferrybridge, power stations and | :55:22. | :55:26. | |
the pit. Can we have a debate in Government time on the secondary | :55:27. | :55:30. | |
impact of these closures and what this Government has caused in | :55:31. | :55:33. | |
supporting industries such as bread and how we might support those | :55:34. | :55:39. | |
affected in finding new and appropriate jobs it is or is | :55:40. | :55:42. | |
difficult when an individual change in an industry causes jobs to go. | :55:43. | :55:48. | |
But she has to understand that under this Government, Railfreight has | :55:49. | :55:52. | |
continued to grow, the freight network has continued to receive new | :55:53. | :55:56. | |
investment and for those in the industry, there are more | :55:57. | :55:58. | |
opportunities perhaps than there has been provided long time. Mr Speaker, | :55:59. | :56:06. | |
Edward Padden, the son of my constituents Fiona and Scott, was | :56:07. | :56:10. | |
just nine days old when he died, in part because of group B | :56:11. | :56:14. | |
Streptococcus ascending infection. Instead of looking forward to what | :56:15. | :56:20. | |
would have been his second birthday, his parents are campaigning so | :56:21. | :56:23. | |
others do not suffer as they have. Can we have an urgent debate to see | :56:24. | :56:29. | |
what can be done with urgent screening to prevent deaths of | :56:30. | :56:33. | |
newborn babies? This issue is obviously a very sensitive and | :56:34. | :56:37. | |
important one. It is one where there are many opportunities in the House | :56:38. | :56:41. | |
to bring forward debates both through the backbench business | :56:42. | :56:45. | |
committee, the German debate system. What I would also say which I should | :56:46. | :56:49. | |
have mentioned earlier, we now have the largest petition we have now | :56:50. | :56:52. | |
seen to this House for a debate on the floor of this has related to | :56:53. | :56:55. | |
meningitis in childhood and it is something I will be discussing with | :56:56. | :56:59. | |
the Chair of the backbench business committee, because I hope when that | :57:00. | :57:02. | |
petition is brought before this has, it is debated on the floor rather | :57:03. | :57:09. | |
than Westminster Hall -- this House. Can we please have a statement on | :57:10. | :57:14. | |
today's Ofcom review into Britain's broadband needs? It pointed out that | :57:15. | :57:18. | |
too many rule all communities have a very poor broadband service -- rural | :57:19. | :57:29. | |
communities. There is still work to do. We have done work back to live | :57:30. | :57:33. | |
good work so far but there is still some to do and there will be | :57:34. | :57:40. | |
progress. I think as far as rural committees that do not have access | :57:41. | :57:43. | |
to high-speed broadband and modern communications, we continue to have | :57:44. | :57:50. | |
a job to do. Two weeks ago, the Leader of the House was unable to | :57:51. | :57:56. | |
answer if legislation to ratify the convention citing the Queen's | :57:57. | :58:04. | |
Speech. Would he be able to tell us if the Government would still be | :58:05. | :58:09. | |
able to ratify this convention that aids the protection of women or are | :58:10. | :58:13. | |
there plans to suspend that also? I have no doubt that of the people of | :58:14. | :58:16. | |
this country vote to leave the European Union, we will continue to | :58:17. | :58:19. | |
play a very active role in the international bodies of which we are | :58:20. | :58:22. | |
part, very active role in the international community as a whole. | :58:23. | :58:26. | |
Whatever happens in the future of this country, we will always be | :58:27. | :58:29. | |
internationalist and always will do right thing by this country on the | :58:30. | :58:36. | |
international stage. The incompetent Tory Labour administration the | :58:37. | :58:39. | |
coalition of Stirling Council will present its budget this evening. | :58:40. | :58:42. | |
That will include savage cuts to social care across the Stirling | :58:43. | :58:47. | |
area. Government pressure has been put on local Government financed by | :58:48. | :58:49. | |
the austerity agenda of his Government and welfare reforms. | :58:50. | :58:53. | |
Could we have a debate on this urgent matter? Well, of course, the | :58:54. | :58:59. | |
overall framework for economic success and for funding in Scotland | :59:00. | :59:04. | |
rests with the SNP. The interesting thing about this week with the | :59:05. | :59:07. | |
fiscal framework is they are now going to have to take decisions in | :59:08. | :59:11. | |
the future about the right balance between lower taxes, public spending | :59:12. | :59:15. | |
and they will find it a whole lot more difficult than they think. | :59:16. | :59:21. | |
Farmers in my constituency tell me that the basic payment scheme, as | :59:22. | :59:28. | |
delivered late, is somewhat chaotic. Can we have a statement from the | :59:29. | :59:32. | |
relevant Secretary of State about the performance of the ruble | :59:33. | :59:39. | |
payments agency? -- rural payments agency? I am happy to draw his | :59:40. | :59:43. | |
concerns to the Secretary of State and if you would like to write with | :59:44. | :59:46. | |
some more specific examples, it makes it easier for ministers to | :59:47. | :59:50. | |
look at what is going wrong. Could we have a debate or a statement on | :59:51. | :59:57. | |
EDM 1138 regarding the anti-lobbying or gagging Clause, which was | :59:58. | :00:02. | |
announced that the Cabinet office just before recess with little or no | :00:03. | :00:06. | |
scrutiny or consultation. It threatens the ability of | :00:07. | :00:09. | |
organisations and charities in receipt of Government grants from | :00:10. | :00:13. | |
speaking out campaigning either for or against Government policy and it | :00:14. | :00:18. | |
be scrapped immediately. Mr Speaker, the honourable gentleman has do | :00:19. | :00:21. | |
understand that in Government, we find on a number of occasions bodies | :00:22. | :00:25. | |
that are being funded by us are using the money that we are | :00:26. | :00:28. | |
providing from the taxpayer to lobby us. That makes no sense at all. The | :00:29. | :00:32. | |
Cabinet Office is trying to deliver sensible regime and when it comes | :00:33. | :00:35. | |
before this House, he will be able to debated the way he wishes. -- | :00:36. | :00:42. | |
debate it. Point of order, Joanna Cherry. On a point of order, I would | :00:43. | :00:48. | |
like to seek your assistance in relation to a matter of some concern | :00:49. | :00:51. | |
to me. It has been brought to my attention that on Monday the 22nd, | :00:52. | :00:56. | |
out with my presence and without notifying me in advance, the | :00:57. | :00:59. | |
honourable member for South Leicestershire raised what he | :01:00. | :01:01. | |
described as a point of order during which he said I had misled the | :01:02. | :01:06. | |
House. I should make it clear that notwithstanding his conduct, I have | :01:07. | :01:09. | |
afforded him the courtesy of notifying him I would be raising | :01:10. | :01:11. |