02/03/2017

:00:00. > :00:00.into the accuracy and completeness of campaigners' spending returns. It

:00:00. > :00:00.would not be appropriate at this stage to comment on ongoing cases

:00:00. > :00:10.but the commission will announce its conclusions. Before we come to the

:00:11. > :00:16.business question I remind the house that on Monday I indicated that

:00:17. > :00:23.there would be an opportunity for members to pay their tributes to the

:00:24. > :00:29.former father of the house, but Parliamentary giant Sir Gerald

:00:30. > :00:34.Kaufmann. That opportunity for members comes today in the course of

:00:35. > :00:38.business questions. I will exercise some latitude in terms of the normal

:00:39. > :00:44.length of questions if colleagues wish to express their personal and

:00:45. > :00:54.heartfelt tributes. I look forward to hearing what colleagues have to

:00:55. > :01:03.see about a very remarkable man. Will the leader give the house the

:01:04. > :01:10.forthcoming business? This is the first business question since the

:01:11. > :01:14.death of the father of the house and there is this sense of another link

:01:15. > :01:22.being broken with a former political age. His first political contest was

:01:23. > :01:27.in 1955 where he stood against Harold Macmillan himself. I think

:01:28. > :01:32.without too much expectation of a shock victory on that occasion. He

:01:33. > :01:38.represented excessive Manchester constituencies for many years. --

:01:39. > :01:43.successor. He also served in Number 10 under Harold Wilson who carried

:01:44. > :01:51.with him the memories of working alongside and debating against, in

:01:52. > :01:59.those days the press and in his speech writing capacity, against his

:02:00. > :02:06.opponents in my own party. Then he went on to serve as a minister and

:02:07. > :02:10.for many years as a senior member of the Shadow Cabinet during the Labour

:02:11. > :02:14.Party's years in opposition. I can say from experience that I think his

:02:15. > :02:25.book entitled how to be minister is one that is still worth reading. I

:02:26. > :02:33.suspect the member is looking for ways to publicise that second

:02:34. > :02:38.edition any time soon. I recall from my reading of Gerald's book the

:02:39. > :02:41.importance that he gave to getting control of your diary and your

:02:42. > :02:48.private office at the earliest possible date. Also his age warning

:02:49. > :02:52.to ministers to avoid so far as they could the numerous invitations to

:02:53. > :02:59.speak at banquets and formal burners which inevitably ended with a host

:03:00. > :03:11.denouncing the guest of honour in the most strident possible terms. He

:03:12. > :03:19.was perhaps most in his element as the chairman of the select committee

:03:20. > :03:22.on one and then later the select committee on sport. Even those who

:03:23. > :03:28.did not show his politics knew he was a man who was passionately

:03:29. > :03:33.committed to his own party but passionately committed to the

:03:34. > :03:38.importance of the arts and of cultural values as something that

:03:39. > :03:44.mattered to people in all walks of life and in all parts of the UK. And

:03:45. > :03:51.while those interests and his boozy as is in the field of the arts

:03:52. > :04:03.ranged widely -- his enthusiasm in the arts ranged widely, I wonder

:04:04. > :04:12.what we have missed in being able to hear his comments on the Oscars do

:04:13. > :04:16.back week. I suspect they would have been fairly forceful and waspish

:04:17. > :04:20.intone. We mourn his passing. We shall miss him in this house and I

:04:21. > :04:36.am sure everyone would want to send their sympathy to his family and

:04:37. > :04:41.friends. The business next week, Monday the 6th of March, second

:04:42. > :04:44.reading of the vehicle and technology aviation bill, Tuesday,

:04:45. > :04:49.remaining stages of children social work bill followed by a motion

:04:50. > :04:52.relating to the appointment of the UK Statistics Authority followed by

:04:53. > :04:57.a motion relating to standing orders, Wednesday, the Chancellor

:04:58. > :05:03.will deliver his Budget Statement, Thursday, continuation of the budget

:05:04. > :05:06.debate, Friday the house will not be sitting, provisional business for

:05:07. > :05:09.the week commencing the 13th of March will be continuation of the

:05:10. > :05:14.budget debate on Monday and conclusion of the debate on Tuesday.

:05:15. > :05:18.Colleagues will wish to know that subject to the progress of business

:05:19. > :05:24.the house will rise for the summer researcher at the laws of play on

:05:25. > :05:33.boasting the 20th of July and return on Tuesday the 20th of September.

:05:34. > :05:42.Can I thank the leader for the business? I would like to spend some

:05:43. > :05:49.of the time talking about and to pay tribute to one of our great

:05:50. > :05:53.parliamentarians, the father of the house, Sir Gerald Kaufman, who died

:05:54. > :05:57.at the weekend, and to add to your brilliant tribute on Monday. His

:05:58. > :06:04.family described it as the end of an era and it is for us in Parliament.

:06:05. > :06:07.His great love is were ice cream and films and apparently went to see

:06:08. > :06:11.singing in the rain 20 times in all of the cinemas in Leeds when it

:06:12. > :06:16.first came out. He also worked on that was the week that was, the

:06:17. > :06:26.forerunner of Saturday Night Live, and working with a great Rod Custer,

:06:27. > :06:31.the future director-general. He was fearless in his support for

:06:32. > :06:36.constituents. Down to his popularity and care for his constituents. On

:06:37. > :06:40.today world book day he is remembered for his iconic book how

:06:41. > :06:48.to be a minister. Before I came in to this place I bought that book

:06:49. > :06:52.before I met him as a present for the member for Leicester East before

:06:53. > :07:00.he became a minister in the government. Many members have said

:07:01. > :07:06.how they use that. We have got some lovely anecdotes. The clerk of the

:07:07. > :07:11.house reminded me that on your re-election Sir Gerald was keen to

:07:12. > :07:17.get the whole process right and he proceeded with avuncular dignity and

:07:18. > :07:21.I remember the day and it went off absolutely beautifully and you were

:07:22. > :07:26.re-elected. On a select committee trip to the Isle of Man along his

:07:27. > :07:30.birthday to cheer him up he loved marmalade so he was made orange

:07:31. > :07:35.marmalade ice cream and on committee visit to Rome, some members had not

:07:36. > :07:40.been to Rome so before he went to the ambassadors' dinner he took them

:07:41. > :07:47.to the Trevi fountain and to have some gelato. When he was a minister

:07:48. > :07:50.he always gave a lift to backbenchers when he was in his

:07:51. > :07:54.ministerial car because he knew one day he would be a backbencher. We

:07:55. > :08:00.talk about the greasy pole of politics, it is more like the

:08:01. > :08:07.louche, you get battered as you go down. He dressed beautifully. I was

:08:08. > :08:12.used to watch him in the tearoom. That is probably a tribute to his

:08:13. > :08:17.father who was a tailor, a close friend of Harold Wilson, another

:08:18. > :08:21.great Labour Prime Minister. He was loyal, clever and courageous and he

:08:22. > :08:28.will be missed in this place. We send our condolences to his family

:08:29. > :08:31.and friends. I thank the Leader of the House for the date and everyone

:08:32. > :08:36.is rejoicing that we know when we can rise on the 20th of July but I

:08:37. > :08:41.wondered if he can give an indication of the State Opening of

:08:42. > :08:48.Parliament? I know the deputy Leader of the House of Commons get his

:08:49. > :08:54.outfit ready! Perhaps in keeping with a tribute to Sir Gerald. I know

:08:55. > :08:58.the leader of this as been busy tabling motions and one will be

:08:59. > :09:05.tabled on Tuesday the 7th of March relating to standing order 83. Many

:09:06. > :09:08.lawyers like those amendments were you substitute their fur and but I

:09:09. > :09:14.might have to explain it. I wondered if he can publish a memorandum and

:09:15. > :09:17.see why it has been hurried through the day before the budget because it

:09:18. > :09:21.also relates to things happening in Scotland.

:09:22. > :09:30.The leader of the house is keen on visiting the other place, and I

:09:31. > :09:35.don't know if he's known that the Lord will send back an amendment to

:09:36. > :09:40.the EU Bill, and can the leader of the house gives some indication of

:09:41. > :09:43.when the bill is coming back to Parliament, the week commencing 13th

:09:44. > :09:46.of March or the week commencing the 20th? I want to point out something

:09:47. > :09:49.the leader of the house mentioned last week to remind him that the

:09:50. > :09:55.government's claim of an additional ?10 billion for the NHS by 2021 has

:09:56. > :09:58.been stated in a select committee report which is obviously

:09:59. > :10:01.cross-party, does not accurately reflect, and they say, the impact of

:10:02. > :10:09.the spending review on health expenditure. If the spending review

:10:10. > :10:13.period is considered, 2015-16, down to 2020-21, the increases ?4.5

:10:14. > :10:16.billion, not the 10 billion. I would be grateful if the leader of the

:10:17. > :10:19.house could quote that figure. I thank him for providing me with the

:10:20. > :10:22.closing date for the consultation of the new funding formula which will

:10:23. > :10:26.be on the 22nd of March and I appreciate he's also written to me.

:10:27. > :10:31.The Prime Minister yesterday said that we have had free schools as

:10:32. > :10:37.though it was the past but that it is continuing to create more good

:10:38. > :10:39.places. She said no to grammar schools, is that a no to free

:10:40. > :10:45.schools because the overall funding of new places through free schools

:10:46. > :10:49.has put out ?7.9 billion out of a total of new places of 14.9 billion.

:10:50. > :10:52.But the leader of the house comment on the latest National Audit Office

:10:53. > :10:57.report which has found that some free schools were opening in areas

:10:58. > :11:01.where there were already plenty of places, creating spare capacity that

:11:02. > :11:04.could affect the future financial sustainability of other schools in

:11:05. > :11:08.the area? Can we have a statement on whether funding for free schools

:11:09. > :11:13.represents good value for money for the taxpayer and whether it will fix

:11:14. > :11:16.the problem of school places? Mr Speaker, I'm trying to rush through

:11:17. > :11:20.in the time because I'm aware that other honourable members want to

:11:21. > :11:25.make contributions on Sir Gerald's life but given the debate on

:11:26. > :11:27.international women Pozzo date straight after this -- International

:11:28. > :11:35.Women's Day, straight after this, there have been cases of women

:11:36. > :11:38.arrested and placed in a detention centre, Irene Clenell was married to

:11:39. > :11:43.a British man to 27 years and her job and grandeur were born here and

:11:44. > :11:46.she was removed without warning added 20 roll student about to

:11:47. > :11:50.finish her degree is also in a detention centre with no warning.

:11:51. > :11:53.Can the government clarify the policy on deportations of winning

:11:54. > :11:59.who are no threat and have been caught unfairly by these are the two

:12:00. > :12:03.decisions? It is now ten years, Mr Speaker, since the calls to report

:12:04. > :12:07.on women in prison. Women entering prison are more likely to be in

:12:08. > :12:11.prison for non-violent offences. Last year, 12 women were killed --

:12:12. > :12:16.killed themselves in prison in England and Wales and there were 22

:12:17. > :12:19.deaths of women in prison. The noble Baroness in the other place has

:12:20. > :12:21.called for more government funding on women's centres. I know sitting

:12:22. > :12:25.on the bill committee that the government had committed funding for

:12:26. > :12:29.secure colleges but the government then performed a U-turn on that

:12:30. > :12:32.decision. If the money is there, committed, could the leader of the

:12:33. > :12:37.house have discussions with the noble Baroness to look at committed

:12:38. > :12:40.funding for secure colleges and for women's centres, so that committed

:12:41. > :12:46.funding can be used to protect those existing centres and create a more

:12:47. > :12:49.sustainable model? Lastly, Mr Speaker, I would like to welcome the

:12:50. > :12:56.two new honourable members, the honourable member for Copeland, who

:12:57. > :13:00.is the 456th woman in this place. And I welcome the honourable member

:13:01. > :13:03.for Stoke Central, good to have another member on this side from the

:13:04. > :13:08.West Midlands. I hope they will be inspired by the life and work of Sir

:13:09. > :13:17.Gerald Kaufmann, a great parliamentarian. May he rest in

:13:18. > :13:19.peace. Leader of the house. Mr Speaker, can I first apologise to

:13:20. > :13:23.you in the house as I omitted to inform the house of the business at

:13:24. > :13:27.Westminster all that is forthcoming. If I can briefly run through that

:13:28. > :13:31.before replying to the honourable lady. On the 6th of March, we have

:13:32. > :13:34.got as previously announced, a debate on the new petition relating

:13:35. > :13:38.to high heels and workplace dress code. The 9th of March, a debate on

:13:39. > :13:41.the second report of the Scottish affairs committee of the demography

:13:42. > :13:44.of Scotland and the implications for devolution followed by a debate on

:13:45. > :13:55.human rights and the political situation in Turkey. On Monday the

:13:56. > :13:57.13th of March, a debate on eve petition relating to sentencing for

:13:58. > :14:00.child abuse offences and Thursday the 16th of March, a debate on the

:14:01. > :14:02.sixth report of the transport committee entitled the future of

:14:03. > :14:06.rail, improving the rail passenger experience, followed by a debate on

:14:07. > :14:10.Jobcentre Plus office closures. I happily join the honourable lady in

:14:11. > :14:16.welcoming our two new colleagues. I can assure her, apropos the state

:14:17. > :14:19.opening that my honourable friend the deputy leader has more than one

:14:20. > :14:27.outfit available for such ceremonial occasions. I can't yet give her a

:14:28. > :14:31.date that she is seeking. On the point about standing orders, yes, I

:14:32. > :14:35.have already had a similar request from the SNP benches for an

:14:36. > :14:40.explanatory memorandum and we will be providing that but what it

:14:41. > :14:47.proposed change to standing orders is about is recognising the fact

:14:48. > :14:52.that the recent Scotland act has devolved to the Scottish Parliament

:14:53. > :14:57.the right to set the main rate of income tax and therefore, our own

:14:58. > :15:01.standing orders, as regards English votes for English laws, need to be

:15:02. > :15:05.adjusted to take account of the fact that in future, we may well have

:15:06. > :15:09.situations in which we have a resolution or a piece of legislation

:15:10. > :15:14.relating to main income tax rates which are specific to England, Wales

:15:15. > :15:17.and Northern Ireland but not Scotland because those matters will

:15:18. > :15:24.have been devolved to Holyrood. That is the purpose of that technical

:15:25. > :15:29.change to standing orders. We will return to the EU Bill as rapidly as

:15:30. > :15:35.possible after the House of Lords has finished debating it and given

:15:36. > :15:41.it its third reading. The government certainly remains of the view that

:15:42. > :15:45.the bill is straightforward. It does no more than confer authority on the

:15:46. > :15:49.Prime Minister's required -- as required by the courts to initiate

:15:50. > :15:55.negotiations by triggering Article 50 of the treaty and no, we will

:15:56. > :15:59.therefore seek to resist changes that would make that negotiating

:16:00. > :16:05.task more difficult. She asked questions about the NHS. A figure of

:16:06. > :16:13.?10 billion is completely accurate. It represents the ?8 billion that

:16:14. > :16:24.the head of NHS England said was needed in order to finance the NHS's

:16:25. > :16:27.own reform plan, plus a further ?2 billion that represents money that

:16:28. > :16:35.was allocated to the financial year before the period which NHS England

:16:36. > :16:39.was intending to carry out its reform plan. Not only that but in

:16:40. > :16:43.response to the request from the chief executive of NHS England, the

:16:44. > :16:47.Department of Health has front-loaded that funding so that

:16:48. > :16:54.the NHS is getting an initial ?4 billion this year in order to get

:16:55. > :16:58.that reform plan off to the best possible start. She asked me about

:16:59. > :17:01.free schools. I have to say to her that for me, the key test about free

:17:02. > :17:07.schools is whether there is a demand for them by parents in the area in

:17:08. > :17:14.which they are to be located because without that, those schools will not

:17:15. > :17:19.be able to survive and the test for free schools like the test for any

:17:20. > :17:26.other school, is whether they are able to provide the best possible

:17:27. > :17:29.opportunities and life chances and improved achievements for the

:17:30. > :17:33.children sent to those schools. They only get the one chance of

:17:34. > :17:36.education. We should be looking for every opportunity to improve the

:17:37. > :17:41.quality of educational opportunities offered to them. She asked me about

:17:42. > :17:46.International Women's Day and two particular cases. Without going into

:17:47. > :17:54.the detail of the cases, the principle here is that people are

:17:55. > :18:01.only detained, whether it is men or women, if there is a reason to

:18:02. > :18:08.believe, on the part of the Home Office and the immigration service,

:18:09. > :18:11.that they might be at risk of disappearing and avoiding removal

:18:12. > :18:19.from the country and that step is only taken once people have

:18:20. > :18:24.exhausted their rights to appeal and it is clear that they have no

:18:25. > :18:29.further legal right to remain here. Her point about prisons I thought

:18:30. > :18:35.was a perfectly reasonable one but of course, that is one of a number

:18:36. > :18:38.of important issues to do with prison reform and I think that my

:18:39. > :18:41.right honourable friend the Secretary of State made very clear

:18:42. > :18:48.in her recent white paper that she is committed to a programme of

:18:49. > :18:52.prison reform that improves the chances are that both women and men

:18:53. > :18:57.who served time in prison will both be treated decently while they are

:18:58. > :19:01.there but also given the opportunities for the type of

:19:02. > :19:04.courses and work and educational opportunities which means there will

:19:05. > :19:11.be a better chance of them living law-abiding lives after release. And

:19:12. > :19:14.can I associate myself with the remarks made by both front bench

:19:15. > :19:19.spokesman in relation to the late Father of the house. He gave me one

:19:20. > :19:22.piece of advice when I first arrived, he said an immigration

:19:23. > :19:26.cases, young man, which was always good to get my attention, "My strong

:19:27. > :19:32.advice is to ask anyone that comes to see you, have you got a lawyer

:19:33. > :19:37.involved, and if they haven't, tell them to get one and if they have,

:19:38. > :19:42.tell them to use the lawyer". That was quite helpful. On behalf of the

:19:43. > :19:45.backbench business committee, I noticed Mr Speaker that the leader

:19:46. > :19:48.of the house has not announced the business for a week on Thursday. We

:19:49. > :19:56.have now a queue of debates which will feel Thursdays until

:19:57. > :19:59.prorogation -- which will fill. The week on Thursdays not announced and

:20:00. > :20:03.if we could have early sight that it would be appreciated. Finally, very

:20:04. > :20:09.sadly on Monday, a constituent of mine was murdered at a cashpoint in

:20:10. > :20:15.Wealdstone high Street. It appears to be a targeted murder. I'm pleased

:20:16. > :20:18.to say the police have arrested an individual who they believe to be

:20:19. > :20:24.responsible for that murder. But good we have a debate on the

:20:25. > :20:28.increase in knife crime in London and the impact we can have to stop

:20:29. > :20:33.people carrying knives and make sure that no one else suffers the kind of

:20:34. > :20:39.fate that my constituents did? -- constituent. I will happily take on

:20:40. > :20:42.board my honourable friend's request for the allocation of more slots for

:20:43. > :20:52.the backbench business committee at an early opportunity. Can I pass on

:20:53. > :20:54.to the family of his constituent my sympathy and very sincere

:20:55. > :20:58.condolences? They must be going through the most appalling and

:20:59. > :21:02.harrowing time. There will be an opportunity on Monday the 6th of

:21:03. > :21:06.March at Home Office questions for my honourable friend to raise his

:21:07. > :21:10.concerns about knife crime more generally and I am sure, Mr Speaker,

:21:11. > :21:16.he may well wish to seek an adjournment debate on the subject.

:21:17. > :21:21.Can I also thank the leader of the house... Can I add to the tribute to

:21:22. > :21:24.Sir Gerald Kaufman? I think the leader of the houses absolutely

:21:25. > :21:27.right that he was from a generation that is quickly passing way and I

:21:28. > :21:31.think all of this house relied on people like Sir Gerald for advice

:21:32. > :21:37.and guidance when it came to matters with his experience. So many of us

:21:38. > :21:41.on these benches, you was a star grow. I remember those long scars

:21:42. > :21:44.are used where and what they having to be rescued at the entrance to the

:21:45. > :21:49.tube station because I got caught up in this and the great efforts to

:21:50. > :21:52.make sure that Sir Gerald was separated from his scarf that day.

:21:53. > :21:56.My condolences to his family and friends. Can we also welcome today,

:21:57. > :22:01.and I think the gentleman would appreciate this too, the fact it is

:22:02. > :22:06.International Book Day, and we should pay tribute to writers, I

:22:07. > :22:09.have the great pleasure of sharing the all-party writers group and it

:22:10. > :22:13.is worth recognising the wonderful pieces of work done by all our

:22:14. > :22:16.writers and making sure they get rewarded for the wonderful works.

:22:17. > :22:22.What about three cheers for the heroes in ermine? Maybe not so much

:22:23. > :22:32.over there. The people's aristocrats have spoken and their voice must be

:22:33. > :22:36.listened to. Every time I raised the issue of the House of Lords with the

:22:37. > :22:38.leader of the house, he tells me there are absolutely no plans

:22:39. > :22:44.whatsoever to have that house reformed, excepting therefore the

:22:45. > :22:48.absolute legitimacy to raise issues such as this. So will he now listen

:22:49. > :22:53.to the House of Lords on this issue? And will he said today that he has

:22:54. > :22:57.absolutely no plans whatsoever to use the Parliament act if our

:22:58. > :23:01.friends, our unelected friends, continue to show backbone on this

:23:02. > :23:05.particular issue? Can I also thank the leader of the house for

:23:06. > :23:10.announcing the recess dates but express our profound disappointment

:23:11. > :23:13.that yet again, this government has singly conspired not to have a long

:23:14. > :23:20.recess that will cover the school holiday periods of every nation in

:23:21. > :23:23.the UK. Once again, my colleagues in Scotland will have to try to make

:23:24. > :23:27.sure they have particular childcare arrangements in place, and struggle

:23:28. > :23:31.to find an opportunity to have proper school holidays with their

:23:32. > :23:35.children. Could they make this the last time that we have an issue such

:23:36. > :23:39.of this -- as this and make sure all nations are covered in the summer

:23:40. > :23:44.recess? And Mr Speaker, we need a debate about how the Scotland Act

:23:45. > :23:46.operates. Schedule five of the Scotland Act, as the leader of the

:23:47. > :23:50.house notes, lists all be reserved powers. If it's not on that list, it

:23:51. > :23:54.is devolved. I looked at it again this morning and I can't find

:23:55. > :23:58.agriculture or fisheries anywhere on the list. I'm presuming they are

:23:59. > :24:02.going to be devolved after Brexit. Can the government confirmed that

:24:03. > :24:06.today or is it intending to reserve other powers when it comes to the

:24:07. > :24:12.Scotland Act? Lastly, Mr Speaker, next week of course there is a huge

:24:13. > :24:17.Commons event. I'm not referring to the budget but the second reading of

:24:18. > :24:25.the driverless cars built. There are similarities, believe it or not. One

:24:26. > :24:26.is a journey with no... Heading for disaster, and the other is a

:24:27. > :24:40.Driverless Cars Built. I am happy to join in celebrating

:24:41. > :24:44.international book day and ensuring and paying tribute to the authors of

:24:45. > :24:49.this country and I think it is a welcome trend to find that the

:24:50. > :24:55.public's appetite for old-fashioned hard copy books seems to be

:24:56. > :25:01.increasing in a way that defies many of the reductions that have been in

:25:02. > :25:06.recent years. -- predictions. On the Scotland Act, the Secretary of State

:25:07. > :25:12.for skull and could not have been more clear yesterday at Scottish

:25:13. > :25:16.questions -- for Scotland -- that as powers are brought back from the

:25:17. > :25:21.European Union following our exit there will be additional powers to

:25:22. > :25:25.be exercised by the Scottish parliament and the Scottish

:25:26. > :25:31.Government, but what we have to work out and what the UK Government is

:25:32. > :25:36.doing in consultation with all three of the devolved administrations, in

:25:37. > :25:40.ways in which that can be done which preserves the integrity of the

:25:41. > :25:47.single market across the United Kingdom as a whole. It will not help

:25:48. > :25:51.people like food and drink producers in Scotland who sell in large

:25:52. > :25:56.quantities to customers in England if we are fined because we have not

:25:57. > :26:00.got this through properly that there are trading obstacles in the way of

:26:01. > :26:07.them being able to sell at the least possible cost to those English

:26:08. > :26:12.customers -- if we find. He has they have regard with the interests of

:26:13. > :26:17.Scottish producers. I cannot add much more to what I said response to

:26:18. > :26:29.the shadow leader about the House of Lords debates on the European Union

:26:30. > :26:35.withdrawal bill. I find that his new-found passionate affection for

:26:36. > :26:40.the House of Lords makes me suggest that it is not just Nigel Farage who

:26:41. > :26:53.has secret yearnings for the honours list! It is a great pleasure to

:26:54. > :27:01.welcome members of Sir Gerald's family. You could not be more

:27:02. > :27:06.welcome. Thank you for coming. Those of us who have had experience of Sir

:27:07. > :27:11.Gerald's long life and Parliamentary career will choose those parts that

:27:12. > :27:17.affect our areas of interest so I hope you will forgive me if I focus

:27:18. > :27:25.on the crucial role that Sir Gerald played in shifting Labour Party

:27:26. > :27:33.policy away from a stance in favour of unilateral nuclear disarmament

:27:34. > :27:39.between the years of 1888 and 1991. He started in 1988 by contributing

:27:40. > :27:43.to our policy review which was called meet the challenge, make the

:27:44. > :27:49.change, in which labour first aid knowledge did would be sensible to

:27:50. > :27:53.get some reciprocation in return for giving up Britain's nuclear

:27:54. > :27:58.deterrent. After a lively exchange of letters in the national press

:27:59. > :28:04.with the then chairman of the Conservative Party, Chris Patten,

:28:05. > :28:07.and others, he ended on the 10th of July 1991 with the all portable

:28:08. > :28:12.statement that a future Labour government would continue to possess

:28:13. > :28:17.nuclear weapons as long as other countries had them, and this mark

:28:18. > :28:25.the end of a crucial policy realignment. When the player

:28:26. > :28:30.government voted with the support of the Conservative opposition to

:28:31. > :28:35.remove the nuclear deterrent in March 2007 he made a great speech

:28:36. > :28:41.and he referred back to the fact that of course famously he described

:28:42. > :28:45.Labour's 1983 antinuclear manifesto as the longest suicide note in

:28:46. > :28:51.history and he will is seeking to urge his colleagues not to make the

:28:52. > :28:58.mistakes of the 1980s and he ended his speech by pointing out in March

:28:59. > :29:03.2007 what it would mean if Labour went back to that stance. He said

:29:04. > :29:09.defeating the government tonight, Tony Blair's government, could

:29:10. > :29:14.reduce our party's credibility to contribute to a Labour defeat at the

:29:15. > :29:18.next election. A cartoon showed an army officer in a bunker saying to

:29:19. > :29:26.his assembled troops, gentlemen, the time has arrived for us to make a

:29:27. > :29:30.futile gesture. Sir Gerald said futile gestures can be personally

:29:31. > :29:35.satisfying but where do they get us? I will tell the house what they get

:29:36. > :29:42.us. 18 years in opposition. It is one thing, he concluded, to revisit

:29:43. > :29:50.the scene of the crime, it is quite another to revisit the scene of the

:29:51. > :29:53.suicide. Those of us who believe the nuclear deterrence have every reason

:29:54. > :29:58.to be grateful to him for his crucial role in restoring bipartisan

:29:59. > :30:03.ship between the Labour government of the day and the opposition of the

:30:04. > :30:08.day that secured the renewal of the nuclear deterrent and I think the

:30:09. > :30:14.country has reason to be grateful to him as well. As I ought to pay lip

:30:15. > :30:21.service to the fact this is business questions as well, I will segue from

:30:22. > :30:25.that issue of one form of unilateralism to another and ask the

:30:26. > :30:30.leader of the weather we could have a statement from a Brexit minister

:30:31. > :30:34.as to what assessment the government has made from the motives of those

:30:35. > :30:40.people with whom we will be negotiating in the future in other

:30:41. > :30:43.countries not to respond to the initiatives that we have been taking

:30:44. > :30:50.and the indications that we have been giving that members of their

:30:51. > :30:56.societies who have chosen to live in Britain will be able to continue

:30:57. > :31:04.doing so so long as our citizens are able to continue living in their

:31:05. > :31:07.countries. Unilateralism as the principal is sometimes high-minded

:31:08. > :31:12.and sometimes a futile gesture. In the spirit of what Sir Gerald did to

:31:13. > :31:20.the Labour Party we ought to think about whether we really want to

:31:21. > :31:24.leave so many of our citizens exposed to poor treatment from other

:31:25. > :31:33.countries when we are offering generous treatment of their citizens

:31:34. > :31:36.who live here. The EU 27 governments have been clear they will on the

:31:37. > :31:41.engage in negotiations once article 50 has been triggered. I am

:31:42. > :31:45.optimistic that a reciprocal agreement on the status of each

:31:46. > :31:54.other's citizens can indeed be achieved. That is in the rational

:31:55. > :31:59.interests of the UK and all are 27 EU partners. I hope that can be an

:32:00. > :32:08.early achievement of the negotiations once they start. And I

:32:09. > :32:12.thank the Leader of the House of Lords giving us the dates of the

:32:13. > :32:15.summer recess? It is rather a shame he was that able to do it earlier

:32:16. > :32:22.but we appreciate we know where we stand now. Before turning to the

:32:23. > :32:28.question of the late Sir Gerald. I think I am right in saying that it

:32:29. > :32:31.is rarely, perhaps many decades, since we have been unfortunate

:32:32. > :32:37.enough to lose a father of the house during his incumbency and I

:32:38. > :32:41.personally, and I am sure this is shared, regret that the new Father

:32:42. > :32:48.of the houses not able to be us today. One of Gerald's most gleeful

:32:49. > :32:52.tales was how he had the forethought when he was first elected to the

:32:53. > :32:58.house to make sure he took his oath before the member for Rushcliffe in

:32:59. > :33:03.the member that both of them might be here for some considerable time

:33:04. > :33:08.and they were among those who might be contenders for the post of Father

:33:09. > :33:15.of the house. He took great glee in telling that story. I would like to

:33:16. > :33:19.say I think he probably would not have begrudged the member for

:33:20. > :33:25.Rushcliffe his opportunity but I am not absolutely certain! I would not

:33:26. > :33:30.wish to do Gerald and injustice in any way. Certainly he was

:33:31. > :33:35.desperately anxious to become father of the house and fully deserved to

:33:36. > :33:41.hold that office. As everyone has said, and I am pleased his family

:33:42. > :33:48.could be year, he was witty, brave, he could be extremely acerbic, but

:33:49. > :33:51.he was a very skilled parliamentarian. I see some of the

:33:52. > :33:58.obituaries have referred to his skill in committee and somebody who

:33:59. > :34:08.was a whip when Gerald was a minister I can set they testify to

:34:09. > :34:12.that. It might be worth someone to look back to that time. Gerald as a

:34:13. > :34:15.Minister of State to try to get a bill through the house, bearing in

:34:16. > :34:20.mind this was a stage when we did not really have a majority, even

:34:21. > :34:25.notional majority we had, most of whom were too sick to be here, on

:34:26. > :34:31.committee things were extremely tight. Gerald was an absolutely

:34:32. > :34:39.brilliant committee minister. He flattered the opposition shamefully.

:34:40. > :34:47.Quite disgustingly. He covered them with compliments and praise while

:34:48. > :34:56.not being able to quite see his weekly to accepting brilliant

:34:57. > :35:02.amendments. He was also very good value as a confident and adviser. I

:35:03. > :35:11.happened to be in committee with General don a day when we had a

:35:12. > :35:15.government vacancy which we had have -- had had for sometime and I had to

:35:16. > :35:20.explain to a civil servant I cannot possibly, I am the whip on a

:35:21. > :35:26.committee, do not be ridiculous, of course I cannot come now, I will

:35:27. > :35:29.come at lunchtime. That gave me the opportunity to consult Gerald. I had

:35:30. > :35:34.only been a member for just over a year. I was unenthusiastic about the

:35:35. > :35:40.prospect that appear to lie before me. I said, do you think I can ask

:35:41. > :35:46.for time to think about it? He liked me guessed what the summons might

:35:47. > :35:50.mean and the first thing he said to me was, congratulations, that is

:35:51. > :35:56.fantastic. I said, can I ask for time to think about it? He said,

:35:57. > :36:00.when the Prime Minister sends for you you either say yes, Prime

:36:01. > :36:06.Minister or no, Prime Minister, you do not ask for time to think about

:36:07. > :36:12.it. Looking back I am stunned by how naive I was to ask the question. It

:36:13. > :36:16.was certainly very helpful advice. He was an extremely kind man. I have

:36:17. > :36:20.a close personal friend who worked with him in Number 10 and always

:36:21. > :36:25.spoke about what hysterical and great company he was but also what a

:36:26. > :36:30.kind person he was. Despite the advice he gave to the member who

:36:31. > :36:35.spoke earlier he was a ferocious advocate on behalf of his

:36:36. > :36:37.constituents and I think the Leader of the House should probably think

:36:38. > :36:42.himself lucky he did not have the chance to hear Gerald's comments on

:36:43. > :36:45.the cases raised by the shadow leader of people detained without

:36:46. > :36:57.notice. Gerald would have had a lot to say about that and would not have

:36:58. > :37:01.been very nice to hear. I am looking forward to more of her

:37:02. > :37:09.reminiscences. What she has done is reminded us both of the length of

:37:10. > :37:14.Sir Gerald's career and the depth of his experience at the wisdom that

:37:15. > :37:17.comes with that experiences of operating in this house and in

:37:18. > :37:27.government over such a long period of time. Like you, on separate

:37:28. > :37:34.occasions I saw Gerald at his home only a few weeks ago. I know you

:37:35. > :37:40.went and a good friend of mine, Claire Ward, the former member for

:37:41. > :37:45.Watford. Even just a few weeks ago he was saying how keen he was to get

:37:46. > :37:51.back to this place and we are all very sad that he did not. For those

:37:52. > :37:58.who did not know him, who saw him as being ferociously vitriolic and he

:37:59. > :38:07.was in this chamber, but outside he was a very different man. He had the

:38:08. > :38:12.wasp a sense of humour and I had the privilege of joining him in 1993 on

:38:13. > :38:15.the national heritage select committee and it was so good and the

:38:16. > :38:19.trips were so marvellous and he was such a brilliant chairman I stayed

:38:20. > :38:25.with him not only with that committee but also two parliaments,

:38:26. > :38:29.apart from a brief excursion to the Home Affairs Select Committee, with

:38:30. > :38:35.the culture media and sport committee. He hated pomposity and I

:38:36. > :38:42.thought that was one of his most marvellous features. He loved

:38:43. > :38:48.outrageous clothes. I do is to go with him to the theatre from time

:38:49. > :39:00.and also to the cinema. His last recommendation to me was a brilliant

:39:01. > :39:05.movie Hail Caesar which I saw and loved. If the weather was cold he

:39:06. > :39:08.would wear a red tea cosy on his head and when I talked about this he

:39:09. > :39:15.said he wasn't half as embarrassed about what I'm wearing.

:39:16. > :39:23.He also loved ice cream. I remember toddling off with him once when I

:39:24. > :39:28.was on the culture, media and sport select committee and visiting Los

:39:29. > :39:34.Angeles and the meeting was getting very boring, in fact, we were being

:39:35. > :39:40.addressed by the chap from the Foreign Office and it had nothing to

:39:41. > :39:47.do with our enquiry but I remember Gerald got up and said, "Thank you

:39:48. > :39:50.very much for your speech", and the Foreign Office official rather

:39:51. > :39:56.foolishly said, "But I haven't finished", and Gerald turned round

:39:57. > :40:02.and said, in a way that only good, "Oh, yes, you have". Then we toddled

:40:03. > :40:05.off to get the ice cream because ice cream, musicals which he could sing

:40:06. > :40:14.along to, he knew all the words and Judy Garland were his great loves.

:40:15. > :40:17.He was a brilliant chairman of the heritage and culture, media and

:40:18. > :40:22.sport select committee, great fun, he was not party political. In fact,

:40:23. > :40:26.I found myself and now I'm going to lose the support of all my friends

:40:27. > :40:31.on this side of the house because I found myself always defending the

:40:32. > :40:37.BBC whereas he wanted to abolish it! It was a strange juxtaposition of

:40:38. > :40:41.roles. He told me not long ago, actually, that the present party

:40:42. > :40:49.chairman, the Conservative Party chairman, when he was a junior whip,

:40:50. > :40:55.back in 1993, asked Sir Gerald Kaufmann did take me under his wing

:40:56. > :41:00.because I was rather wild. Maybe he could make me more like a sort of

:41:01. > :41:07.conventional parliamentarian. So you can see that worked! In short, he

:41:08. > :41:13.was a wonderful man. He brightened all our lives. He was a great

:41:14. > :41:19.friend. He was nothing like the person that I think the public saw

:41:20. > :41:26.him as. He was self-deprecating. He was kindly. And a great

:41:27. > :41:34.parliamentarian. And I think we will all miss him. I'm grateful to my

:41:35. > :41:40.honourable friend. Dame Rosie Winterton. Mr Speaker, thank you for

:41:41. > :41:49.giving the house the opportunity to pay tribute to Sir Gerald, who, as

:41:50. > :41:52.others have said, inspired so many parliamentarians and who certainly

:41:53. > :41:59.gave me invaluable advice and support my time -- during my time as

:42:00. > :42:06.a minister and also as Chief Whip. And as others have said, Gerald was

:42:07. > :42:11.a stalwart member of the Labour Party and with a political career

:42:12. > :42:15.stretching back over 50 years, he knew that principle without power

:42:16. > :42:21.was not enough, as my right honourable friend said. He

:42:22. > :42:28.campaigned tirelessly for a Labour government. Again, as others have

:42:29. > :42:31.said, his book, How To Be A Minister, remains a classic guide to

:42:32. > :42:37.new ministers wanting to make their mark. And he had an ability to sum

:42:38. > :42:43.up his views with a witty turn of phrase that could be as colourful

:42:44. > :42:51.and memorable as his suits. It was an honour for all of us went Gerald

:42:52. > :42:56.became father of the house and we were very proud to see him take up

:42:57. > :43:03.that role. He took that role extremely seriously. Gerald had

:43:04. > :43:10.always been fiercely protective of the rights of parliamentarians. And

:43:11. > :43:18.I remember him bellowing at the then leader of the house, William Hague,

:43:19. > :43:22.when as I am sure many here we will recall, he felt Mr Hague had decided

:43:23. > :43:30.to closely with the executive against the wishes of members of

:43:31. > :43:36.this house. Gerald continued that upholding of members' right when he

:43:37. > :43:41.became Father of the house. When I last saw Gerald, he was clearly very

:43:42. > :43:50.ill. But he was still keen to talk politics and offer his advice. That

:43:51. > :43:54.advice was as insightful as ever. And I was greatly comforted to see

:43:55. > :44:02.him surrounded by his loving family who clearly adored Uncle Gerald.

:44:03. > :44:06.Gerald made a distinctive mark on our national life and in particular,

:44:07. > :44:15.as so many have said, in this place. He will be greatly missed and I can

:44:16. > :44:19.think of nothing more fitting, given his ten years of chairing the

:44:20. > :44:24.culture select committee, than for us to have a debate, Mr Speaker, on

:44:25. > :44:31.the importance of the arts to our economy and society, and the

:44:32. > :44:37.devastating effect of government cuts, particularly to funding of

:44:38. > :44:42.arts in the regions will stop and I hope the leader of the house will

:44:43. > :44:47.let us have that debate. -- in the regions. The honourable lady paid a

:44:48. > :44:54.moving tribute to Sir Gerald. I will, I'll take on board her request

:44:55. > :44:57.for a debate about the arts at some future date. It may also be

:44:58. > :45:03.something the backbench business committee might wish to consider. I

:45:04. > :45:09.join with others in paying tribute to the late Sir Gerald Kaufman. Now

:45:10. > :45:12.Mr Speaker, I can't pretend that I got the impression that Sir Gerald

:45:13. > :45:20.did not entirely approve of myself, which is quite understandable. I was

:45:21. > :45:24.never sure whether that was because I was once the member of Parliament

:45:25. > :45:28.for Basildon or was it because of my views on the state of Israel. But

:45:29. > :45:37.what I can say without hesitation was that he was a commanding figure

:45:38. > :45:40.in this house, a great orator, and I for one would not have wished to

:45:41. > :45:45.have got on the wrong side of him. As a result of his death, and I'm

:45:46. > :45:51.really glad that he did become father of the house, I am number 14

:45:52. > :45:55.on the list and as I look round the house, there are a number of

:45:56. > :45:59.colleagues in front of me in the queue and I see that they are in

:46:00. > :46:04.extremely good health, so I'm not holding my breath about my becoming

:46:05. > :46:11.Father of the house. Now, turning to my question to the leader of the

:46:12. > :46:16.house, will my right honourable friend find time for a debate on

:46:17. > :46:20.fake news? An increasing number of constituents are complaining to me

:46:21. > :46:27.about what were once reliable websites giving full synth and --

:46:28. > :46:31.falls information and the number of scams. I have to tell my right

:46:32. > :46:34.honourable friend the leader of the house that only this week it was

:46:35. > :46:37.announced that Warren Baiji and Faye Dunaway opened an envelope

:46:38. > :46:43.suggesting that I had won an Oscar for being the leading actor was the

:46:44. > :46:46.-- Warren Beatty. I'm delighted to tell my right honourable friend that

:46:47. > :46:50.they opened the wrong envelope and it has now been given the award to

:46:51. > :46:56.the rightful recipient, Mr Tony Blair, for his performance at the

:46:57. > :47:04.press conference following the publication of the Chilcot Report.

:47:05. > :47:11.Mr Speaker, I understand that there is genuine concern about the wide

:47:12. > :47:15.availability of misleading, sometimes very deliberately

:47:16. > :47:18.misleading information on various websites. Now, inevitably, the

:47:19. > :47:23.international character of the Internet means that it is not

:47:24. > :47:29.straightforward to try to address this problem but my honourable

:47:30. > :47:33.friend, the Minister for digital and culture, is convening a roundtable

:47:34. > :47:36.with a broad range of people in the news industry on the 14th of March

:47:37. > :47:43.where this will be one of the subject under discussion. Mr

:47:44. > :47:51.Speaker, when I came to the house in 1979, I admit that Gerald Kaufman

:47:52. > :47:54.was at part of a wonderful gang of John Smith, Roy Hattersley, and a

:47:55. > :47:58.group of people who at that time were getting used to being in

:47:59. > :48:01.opposition and of course, we had to get used to opposition because we

:48:02. > :48:09.were in opposition for a very long time. But during that time, I used

:48:10. > :48:11.to see Gerald Kaufman at all of us will say he was a great

:48:12. > :48:16.parliamentarian but Mr Speaker, when I came into the house, when the wind

:48:17. > :48:22.ups were taken much more seriously, when the house took Debaty more

:48:23. > :48:25.seriously in terms of attendance, the one thing you could guarantee,

:48:26. > :48:31.if Gerald was at the dispatch box, the house would be packed. He was

:48:32. > :48:36.the funniest, he was the most incisive, he was the most brilliant

:48:37. > :48:40.debater I ever saw in this house. And I have seen some very good

:48:41. > :48:45.debaters in this house. But Gerald in his prime was peerless. I think

:48:46. > :48:50.people should remember, you know, when I look here, where he sat for

:48:51. > :48:57.so many years, and remember, when he was on the liaison committee with

:48:58. > :49:01.me, as a chairman of the select committee, but I remember him

:49:02. > :49:05.sitting just there, and as he got older, and of course, the wonderful

:49:06. > :49:10.thing about Gerald, in his later years, he didn't lose any of his

:49:11. > :49:17.brainpower, he'd lost none of his brainpower. His body let him down.

:49:18. > :49:20.His brain certainly didn't. Some of you will remember last it was the

:49:21. > :49:24.Centenary of the birth of Harold Wilson and Gerald gave me a

:49:25. > :49:28.tremendous amount of information, about when he worked for Harold

:49:29. > :49:32.Wilson in number ten. If I could just give the house one little

:49:33. > :49:38.instance, he was in number ten one night and the phone rang and it was

:49:39. > :49:42.president Lyndon Johnson of the USA asking to speak to Harold Wilson.

:49:43. > :49:46.Gerald says, "I took the phone call and post it to Harold, and it was

:49:47. > :49:51.Lyndon B. Johnson, begging Harold to send at least a token force to

:49:52. > :49:57.Vietnam, a British force to Vietnam" . He described how Harold listened

:49:58. > :50:02.patiently, he was a good friend of LBJ but at the end, he said, "I'm

:50:03. > :50:09.sorry, old bean, not even a Scottish pipers banned". If you talk to

:50:10. > :50:12.Gerald about where the party had been, and I have two reveal some

:50:13. > :50:16.uncomfortable things that some people on our benches will remember,

:50:17. > :50:21.when the Labour Party was in trouble, they always mention this,

:50:22. > :50:24.Gerald was the brains behind Solidarity, the group within the

:50:25. > :50:30.Labour Party that wanted to be very careful about a shift to the hard

:50:31. > :50:34.left. That work with Roy Hattersley, John Smith and a bunch of others was

:50:35. > :50:40.very important indeed in terms of how that Labour Party survived and

:50:41. > :50:44.thrived and won the election in 1997. On these benches, we must pay

:50:45. > :50:51.tribute to the man that kept the ship moving towards a decent target.

:50:52. > :50:57.But can I also say that when I first met Gerald, he had a great friend,

:50:58. > :51:02.Eric Varney. Many people don't remember Eric because he died very

:51:03. > :51:06.young. But he and Gerald were very close friends. I think it right to

:51:07. > :51:13.mention Eric's named today in terms of that period of Gerald's life when

:51:14. > :51:19.he was a very happy man. Can I also just say one last thing? You never,

:51:20. > :51:26.ever wanted to cross Gerald on things like films. I remember being

:51:27. > :51:35.very foolish, going into the members tea room, being very enthusiastic

:51:36. > :51:40.about seeing a new film and I think one particular... I had seen

:51:41. > :51:43.Superman for the first time. Gerald had been to see it and he gave this

:51:44. > :51:49.caustic review of everything that was wrong with American cinema at

:51:50. > :51:55.that time, everything about the plot, the acting, and he said," but

:51:56. > :52:03.you liked it, Barry, so it couldn't be all bad". Gerald has left a

:52:04. > :52:09.legacy. He did not have any children but he has left a legacy both in

:52:10. > :52:12.this house, in the country, and in his constituency. I used to tease

:52:13. > :52:15.him because you remember, Harold Wilson was born in Huddersfield and

:52:16. > :52:19.had to go to Lancashire to get a seat. Of course, Gerald was a real

:52:20. > :52:24.Leeds man and had to go to Manchester to get a seat and be in

:52:25. > :52:31.this house. The one interesting thing, some people talked about

:52:32. > :52:34.Gerald's sense of style, and it did push the boundaries in some ways,

:52:35. > :52:44.even in terms of the wonderful suits, and all his life, he kept

:52:45. > :52:49.faithful to the same Leeds tailor and would specify which Huddersfield

:52:50. > :52:54.mill the cost would be spun in and woven in. -- the cloth would be. A

:52:55. > :52:58.man of great talent and common-sense, of brilliance in terms

:52:59. > :53:04.of laboratory. We owe him so much. Not only as a party, not only as a

:53:05. > :53:10.house, but as a country. I thank the honourable gentleman for his

:53:11. > :53:18.heartfelt tribute, particularly, if I may say so, for his reminder of

:53:19. > :53:24.the key political role that Gerald played at that particular time in

:53:25. > :53:32.the Labour Party's history. I will take careful note of that request!

:53:33. > :53:36.Mr Speaker, I'm afraid I'm unable to add any anecdotes about the life of

:53:37. > :53:41.the late Father of the house but I do of course associate myself with

:53:42. > :53:44.the expressions of sympathy to his family and friends. Mr Speaker,

:53:45. > :53:52.earlier this week the all-party group on retail crime met and

:53:53. > :53:55.reviewed a recent survey of the increasing levels of violence, both

:53:56. > :54:00.verbal and physical, against people who work in the retail trade. Could

:54:01. > :54:01.the leader of the house find time for an early debate on this serious

:54:02. > :54:14.issue? I cannot offer an early debate in

:54:15. > :54:18.government time, there may be other opportunities, but I am sure we

:54:19. > :54:23.share his sense of revulsion at the threats that shop workers and others

:54:24. > :54:27.that the retail trade face. This is something that should not be

:54:28. > :54:31.tolerated in any decent society and I am sure everyone would agree on

:54:32. > :54:34.the importance of not just the police but of citizens who might

:54:35. > :54:38.have information about such attacks would like to make sure they are

:54:39. > :54:45.deterred and perpetrators appropriately punished. Can I thank

:54:46. > :54:50.you and the leader for the opportunity to pay tribute to Sir

:54:51. > :54:54.Gerald? Since my selection of parliamentary candidate I was lucky

:54:55. > :54:58.to attend many community meetings and events with my next-door

:54:59. > :55:02.neighbour. Often these would reflect the causes he championed such as the

:55:03. > :55:07.rights of the Palestinians or cashmere and I remember doing a

:55:08. > :55:13.Bollywood dance routine with them! On an open-air stage in a market

:55:14. > :55:17.years ago. His dance moves should up my own, even though at the time he

:55:18. > :55:22.was well into his 80s. What was remarkable was the admiration and

:55:23. > :55:27.the extraordinarily high esteem in which he was held by his

:55:28. > :55:32.constituents. I genuinely do not think I have come across another MP

:55:33. > :55:37.who was so widely admired by the constituents. That is largely

:55:38. > :55:41.because he was such a fierce champion of their interests in

:55:42. > :55:45.parliament and in Manchester. Also because he was so assiduous in his

:55:46. > :55:47.dealings with them and his communication with them and

:55:48. > :55:51.residents often used to tell me how they would write to Sir Gerald and

:55:52. > :55:56.receive a handwritten reply by return. Sometimes these would

:55:57. > :56:01.reflect his sharp tongue and a particular favourite of mine was I

:56:02. > :56:04.agree with your concerns on this issue, unfortunately there is no

:56:05. > :56:11.point me writing to the Chancellor because he is useless and he will

:56:12. > :56:15.not listen to me! Perhaps the only thing sharper than Sir Gerald's

:56:16. > :56:19.tongue and mind was his dress sense. In Parliament we will miss his

:56:20. > :56:22.remarkable suits and shirts almost as much as the people of Manchester

:56:23. > :56:32.will miss his quiet remarkable service. He made his point well. We

:56:33. > :56:41.will be searching YouTube to see if a video of this dance routines are

:56:42. > :56:45.five! Can I add my commiserations to the family of Sir Gerald? He was not

:56:46. > :56:49.only a legend in this place but had a formidable career before he

:56:50. > :56:55.arrived your working for the BBC on satirical programmes like that was

:56:56. > :57:02.the week that was. I was too young but I have seen some of the stuff

:57:03. > :57:07.going on there. In 2020 Plymouth under UK will be celebrating the

:57:08. > :57:17.400th anniversary of the Mayflower ship leaving Plymouth to find the

:57:18. > :57:22.American colonies. Can we have a debate on the possibility of a

:57:23. > :57:29.Mayflower national walking trail through the places that the pilgrims

:57:30. > :57:35.travelled through? I think that sounds an excellent idea. I hope

:57:36. > :57:40.that might perhaps be an adjournment debate opportunity to pursue this

:57:41. > :57:43.further but it is something to which the government would be sympathetic

:57:44. > :57:53.but would need a great deal of local work to try to make this happen. I

:57:54. > :57:58.would like to add to the tributes to Sir Gerald Kaufman who was a good

:57:59. > :58:02.friend of mine for many years. Was elected in 1970 at the same election

:58:03. > :58:08.as the member for Bolsover and he was one of that generation of MPs

:58:09. > :58:13.who did not quite get to the cabinet because he was really in the wrong

:58:14. > :58:16.place at the wrong time. He was a Minister of State in 1979 when

:58:17. > :58:23.Labour left authors, sadly for 18 years. For many of us, including

:58:24. > :58:28.general. If things had been different I think Gerald would have

:58:29. > :58:34.read the cabinet and would have been unimpressive minister. E was quick,

:58:35. > :58:39.witty, and he had the rare ability to think on his feet, not something

:58:40. > :58:46.many people are able to do. I used to see it on a regular basis

:58:47. > :58:52.including in PLP meetings and other were moments in the middle, some of

:58:53. > :58:58.you may know that PLP meetings have had their moments of interest... I

:58:59. > :59:09.do not think I am breaking any confidence! They are virtually open

:59:10. > :59:15.to the public at the moment. Gerald certainly lightened the tone. Were

:59:16. > :59:20.times when I was chairman of PLP meetings when I would find myself

:59:21. > :59:23.moment finally discombobulated by his sartorial magnificence. Just as

:59:24. > :59:27.you are seeing something sensitive and female black walks in and he

:59:28. > :59:32.always had something interesting to say -- and Sir Gerald Kaufman walks

:59:33. > :59:38.in and he was had something interesting to say. He was never put

:59:39. > :59:47.on hold. He often had views that seemed at odds compared to his

:59:48. > :59:55.public reputation. In some ways he was rebellious but he was also a

:59:56. > :00:00.natural. Every Labour leader recognise that, that he had very

:00:01. > :00:04.loyal qualities. Privately when Tony Blair was Prime Minister if he had

:00:05. > :00:09.any criticism they were not made public but he would say to me in

:00:10. > :00:14.conversation, he would start any criticism with, as you know, I bow

:00:15. > :00:18.to no man in my admonition of the Prime Minister, and then he would go

:00:19. > :00:21.on to say something acerbic about something the government had just

:00:22. > :00:28.done. He will be very deeply missed by many of us on all sides of the

:00:29. > :00:33.house. Not an entirely unrelated issue because Gerald represented a

:00:34. > :00:38.city that has a strong footballing tradition, one of the strongest, the

:00:39. > :00:42.local footballing team in my constituency Leyton Orient has been

:00:43. > :00:45.signed with the winding up order yesterday. This was not something I

:00:46. > :00:49.was going to raise with you. The order was served because the order

:00:50. > :00:53.has caused mayhem in two and half years and has taken the club down

:00:54. > :00:59.from some of its highest point to some of its lowest has not paid the

:01:00. > :01:05.HMRC for a number of years. No body knows exactly how much he owes HMRC

:01:06. > :01:09.but it is rumoured to be about a quarter of ?1 million. We are seeing

:01:10. > :01:12.this pattern and footballer and a fairly regular basis. We have had

:01:13. > :01:16.debates and statements on the governance of football clubs and the

:01:17. > :01:22.administration but I think we could do with another statement or a

:01:23. > :01:25.debate on the governance of football clubs because we are seeing people

:01:26. > :01:31.of increasingly dubious character buying up football teams in Britain

:01:32. > :01:34.for whatever mendacious reasons they have, and I think a lot is going to

:01:35. > :01:46.come out about the order of Leyton Orient. I am sure the house welcome

:01:47. > :01:50.his tribute to Sir Gerald Kaufman. On Leyton Orient and football, we

:01:51. > :01:55.had a debate about the governance of football about two weeks ago so I do

:01:56. > :02:02.not think I can offer a further debate on government time in the

:02:03. > :02:05.short-term but I will undertake to report his concerns about Leyton

:02:06. > :02:13.Orient and the general issue that he raises to the Secretary of State.

:02:14. > :02:18.May I associate myself with the tributes paid by members to the late

:02:19. > :02:23.Father of that house? It speaks volumes of the depth of knowledge

:02:24. > :02:25.and wisdom in this house that the late Sir Gerald was a member of this

:02:26. > :02:31.house and the government before I and many other members were born and

:02:32. > :02:35.although I only overlapped in service of this house for regular

:02:36. > :02:40.and a half with Sir Gerald I think I am on safe ground in seeing his

:02:41. > :02:43.wisdom, judgment, which and experience will all be sorely missed

:02:44. > :02:49.from the deliberations of this house in the future. Today the Joe

:02:50. > :02:56.Humphreys memorial trust, a trust set up in memory of John Humphrys, a

:02:57. > :03:02.14-year-old boy from my constituency who drop dead suddenly while jogging

:03:03. > :03:05.in 2012, are holding an important conference in the city of Leicester

:03:06. > :03:09.to bring together professionals from the world of sport at the medical

:03:10. > :03:15.profession to discuss sudden arrhythmic death syndrome, also

:03:16. > :03:19.known as sudden adult death syndrome, what can be done to raise

:03:20. > :03:23.awareness of it and prevent it. Will he join in paying tribute to Joe

:03:24. > :03:28.Humphrys' family and those who work with the trust and can we have a

:03:29. > :03:40.debate on sudden arrhythmic death syndrome? I would join him in paying

:03:41. > :03:43.tribute to Joe's family and to the others working with them and so very

:03:44. > :03:50.much welcome the initiative that he has described to encourage a

:03:51. > :03:59.fruitful exchange of ideas about how we can do more to detect and treat

:04:00. > :04:03.these very distressing conditions because the death in particular of

:04:04. > :04:11.young person causes such devastation to their families and friends. We do

:04:12. > :04:14.have some of the fastest improvements in hospital death rates

:04:15. > :04:19.for stroke and heart attacks anywhere in Europe. I think there is

:04:20. > :04:22.some evidence that is partly due to the creation of specialist stroke

:04:23. > :04:27.and cardiac unit but there's agreed deal more to be done. I know the

:04:28. > :04:31.Department of Health will want to report the work being happening in

:04:32. > :04:36.Leicestershire. And I associate myself with everything that has been

:04:37. > :04:40.said about Sir Gerald Kaufman? In his role as father of the house,

:04:41. > :04:45.kindness and wisdom have been outstanding characteristics. I

:04:46. > :04:50.cannot help feeling listening to the warmth of these tributes that a

:04:51. > :04:53.procedure in the Scottish parliament where the death of a sitting member

:04:54. > :04:57.is followed by a motion of condolence led by the party leaders,

:04:58. > :05:02.which provides a real opportunity to hear some of the warmth and the

:05:03. > :05:08.humour and insight we have heard from so many members today, and

:05:09. > :05:16.certainly someone of Gerald's stature, would have been worthy of

:05:17. > :05:18.such a motion. The house could have done with Sir Gerald Kaufman here

:05:19. > :05:21.today because he had been a member for most that years when the late

:05:22. > :05:28.Donald Dewar brought forward the Scotland Bill and at the heart of

:05:29. > :05:32.that and Donald Dewar's genius was to put forward the principle that

:05:33. > :05:36.anything that was not specifically reserved to this parliament was

:05:37. > :05:39.automatically devolved to Scotland, so when the Secretary of State for

:05:40. > :05:42.Scotland was caught in the headlights yesterday and the Prime

:05:43. > :05:45.Minister was seemingly unaware of that foundation principal of the

:05:46. > :05:51.Parliament, it was not just in sensitivity towards goal and, not

:05:52. > :05:54.just a betrayal of commitments made in the referendum campaign, it was

:05:55. > :06:00.striking at the heart of the devolution statute itself. Perhaps

:06:01. > :06:03.rather than resting on civil service gobbledygook the Leader of the House

:06:04. > :06:10.would show some awareness of the seriousness of not agreeing that

:06:11. > :06:13.everything that is not specifically devolved automatically goes to the

:06:14. > :06:21.Scottish Parliament including fishing, farming and a range of

:06:22. > :06:29.other issues? What happened with the Scotland Act... He is correct in

:06:30. > :06:34.having described that acts, but what happened as it was taken through

:06:35. > :06:38.Parliament in the context of the United Kingdom's continuing

:06:39. > :06:45.membership of the European Union and with a clear knowledge on all sides

:06:46. > :06:52.that other certain powers that were exercised at that level. We are now

:06:53. > :06:57.in a very different situation and whichever side any of us took in the

:06:58. > :07:05.referendum there is an understanding that the decision that the UK

:07:06. > :07:12.electorate made represents a profound change of course for the

:07:13. > :07:19.United Kingdom. This is exactly why the UK Government is talking to the

:07:20. > :07:26.Scottish Government at ministerial and official level about how exactly

:07:27. > :07:35.to deal with the repatriation of powers from Brussels to ensure that

:07:36. > :07:37.they are correctly allocated, and he does oversimplify the position

:07:38. > :07:43.because to take the fisheries question that he cited, the powers

:07:44. > :07:52.exercised by the European Union deal with matters both which might well

:07:53. > :07:56.involve the devolved administrations exercising jurisdiction but also

:07:57. > :08:02.involve the settling of matters between the European Union and third

:08:03. > :08:07.countries that involve United Nations conventions which, under the

:08:08. > :08:15.terms of the Scotland Act, would be reserved matters. It is that

:08:16. > :08:18.conundrum that has to be addressed. May I also associate myself with the

:08:19. > :08:24.very many comments made about the late Sir Gerald Kaufman? I cannot

:08:25. > :08:29.claim to have known him very well but that does not diminish the

:08:30. > :08:33.respect that myself and fellow Welsh members on the side of the house

:08:34. > :08:41.have for him. I would like to send our sympathies to his family. Can I

:08:42. > :08:44.inform him that there are several developments at Park homes in my

:08:45. > :08:49.constituency, developments where the owners pay council tax, utility

:08:50. > :08:54.bills and maintenance charges, but when it comes to selling their

:08:55. > :08:59.properties in addition to the estate agents fees they have to pay 10% of

:09:00. > :09:00.their sale price to the site owners. Can we have a debate on the iron

:09:01. > :09:11.furnace of this additional charge? My honourable friend as always is

:09:12. > :09:14.speaking up for his constituents. The situation we have is the site

:09:15. > :09:17.owners entitlement to receive a commission an implied term in all

:09:18. > :09:23.agreements and my understanding is that commission is an important

:09:24. > :09:27.income strand for Park Home businesses which means they can

:09:28. > :09:31.ensure that the sites are properly managed and maintained. This issue

:09:32. > :09:33.was looked at in 2012 by the communities and local government

:09:34. > :09:40.select committee which recommended that the 10% or less commission rule

:09:41. > :09:45.should remain in place. The government then agreed the current

:09:46. > :09:51.position should continue but we have a further review of the mobile homes

:09:52. > :09:53.act 2013 this spring and that will provide a further opportunity to

:09:54. > :10:00.listen to representations and consider how the present system is

:10:01. > :10:05.operating. Gerald Kaufmann was justly proud that he was the longest

:10:06. > :10:11.serving member of Parliament for Manchester ever and as he would tell

:10:12. > :10:16.you from time to time, both continuously and by broken service,

:10:17. > :10:22.he was particularly proud of that. When I became leader of the council

:10:23. > :10:27.in 1984, I went to see Gerald because he had not always been

:10:28. > :10:32.appreciative of the efforts of Manchester City Council offices to

:10:33. > :10:38.deliver services to his constituents. I came to an agreement

:10:39. > :10:43.with him that if, after he had contacted a department twice, that

:10:44. > :10:47.he came to me, if I couldn't sort it out, he could be as critical as he

:10:48. > :10:52.liked and we kept that. My phone went one morning, and this will not

:10:53. > :10:59.be one of the most famous acidic comments that Gerald made, but it

:11:00. > :11:03.reminds me of him and I think it's a bit he said, "Graham, do they employ

:11:04. > :11:08.human beings in the housing department?" He was very

:11:09. > :11:12.dissatisfied with the treatment of a family who were in severe housing

:11:13. > :11:17.difficulty. But what was more remarkable about that comment and

:11:18. > :11:25.that particular lunchtime phone call was that it was the day when he was

:11:26. > :11:29.the centre of worldwide media attention because as the honourable

:11:30. > :11:35.member referred to, he was the Shadow Foreign Secretary in charge

:11:36. > :11:37.of changing Labour's policy of unilateralism to multilateralism and

:11:38. > :11:45.he took time off in the middle of that media hubbub to take up the

:11:46. > :11:52.cudgels on behalf of one of his -- of a family of his constituents. He

:11:53. > :11:56.was a ferocious Tribune on behalf of, first of the people of our

:11:57. > :12:01.quick, his first Manchester constituency, and secondly on behalf

:12:02. > :12:09.of the people of Alton. He loved this place. -- golden. He intended

:12:10. > :12:12.to stay here as long as he did. When he started drawing his pension,

:12:13. > :12:16.there was obviously a lot of interest from the Young Turks in his

:12:17. > :12:19.constituency who rather fancied that they would do a better job of

:12:20. > :12:26.representing the people of Manchester Gorton and when they

:12:27. > :12:32.sidled up to him and asked him, "Gerald, are you standing in the

:12:33. > :12:38.next general election?" He would say, "Yes, and the one after". And

:12:39. > :12:42.that was always his reply, even recently. His love of musicals has

:12:43. > :12:50.been referred to. He was a personal friend of Stephen Sondheim, the

:12:51. > :12:53.American lyricist and songwriter. He brought Stephen Sondheim to

:12:54. > :12:59.Manchester with some of his plays which we put on, on stage, in

:13:00. > :13:05.Manchester. Mr Speaker, I guess you have been never serenaded by Gerald

:13:06. > :13:10.Kaufmann but I have had my office opposite is for the last 18 years.

:13:11. > :13:13.If he'd been to a particularly good musical in the West End the night

:13:14. > :13:19.before, you could hear him singing the songs from the musical, which is

:13:20. > :13:28.not the image that most of the public would have had. -- would have

:13:29. > :13:32.had of him. A number of colleagues have mentioned his book, Had To Be A

:13:33. > :13:35.Minister Noble. I Went With Gerald And The Other Manchester Mps To See

:13:36. > :13:47.A Labour Minister Of Health With. I went to see a Labour Minister of

:13:48. > :13:49.health because there were health issues in Manchester. The Labour

:13:50. > :13:53.Minister mentioned he had read the book and we went out not

:13:54. > :13:57.particularly satisfied with the meeting and Gerald, in a very loud

:13:58. > :14:03.whisper as we were leaving, said, "He might have read it but he didn't

:14:04. > :14:08.understand it". The minister is no longer a member of this house.

:14:09. > :14:16.Gerald loved his constituents. He cared passionately about his party

:14:17. > :14:19.and we will miss him. The honourable gentleman reminds us that although

:14:20. > :14:24.an adopted son of the city, Gerald Kaufman always felt his roots were

:14:25. > :14:27.very much embedded in Manchester and he always strove to represent the

:14:28. > :14:33.interests both of his own constituents but also the city more

:14:34. > :14:36.widely. Thank you, Mr Speaker, can I also associate myself with a lovely

:14:37. > :14:40.tribute we heard in relation to the late Father of the house. As a new

:14:41. > :14:43.member, I did not have the opportunity to get to know him well

:14:44. > :14:46.but what I have heard today as provided a tremendous insight from

:14:47. > :14:51.which I can only conclude he will be a very sad and great loss to his

:14:52. > :14:56.friends and family. Can we have a debate, Mr Speaker, on what it

:14:57. > :14:59.actually means to be, "Committed to the best possible outcome for the

:15:00. > :15:03.United Kingdom following its departure from the European Union"?

:15:04. > :15:06.Would the leader of the house not agree with me that we all want the

:15:07. > :15:09.best possible deal following the referendum result in the

:15:10. > :15:16.circumstances but we may disagree on what that deal might look like? To

:15:17. > :15:19.this end, would he not agree with me that as for organisations bidding

:15:20. > :15:24.for government contracts, subscribe themselves to the government's

:15:25. > :15:30.political view on Brexit is not only wrong but would take us down a

:15:31. > :15:33.dangerous path for the future. There will certainly be, I can assure the

:15:34. > :15:40.honourable lady, many opportunities to have the sort of debate that she

:15:41. > :15:44.seeks. When all views, including her own, can be expressed in full. The

:15:45. > :15:51.allocation of government contracts takes place under a fair and

:15:52. > :16:00.transparent process that is laid down by the Cabinet Office. Thank

:16:01. > :16:09.you, Mr Speaker. We all feel a real sense of loss at the passing of Sir

:16:10. > :16:13.Gerald Kaufmann. -- Gerald Kaufman. The reason why we remember his many

:16:14. > :16:16.qualities, as members have done this morning, like his personality, his

:16:17. > :16:22.humour and his powerful intellect, his dress, his individuality and

:16:23. > :16:27.charm, but I think what we can say is in missing him, Mr Speaker, the

:16:28. > :16:31.greatest tribute we can give is to ensure that his memory lives on and

:16:32. > :16:36.the example he set us all, that we never forget that. I mean, looking

:16:37. > :16:42.at his past, saying to the leader of the house, I saw he was shadow... A

:16:43. > :16:47.former Shadow Home Secretary in the 80s I'm sure he would continue to

:16:48. > :16:51.wish me to hold the government to account as he did in the 80s and can

:16:52. > :16:54.I ask the leader of the house, can we have an urgent debate on

:16:55. > :16:57.policing, given that astonishingly, the government has today failed to

:16:58. > :17:03.come forward with a statement on policing and the crisis in policing

:17:04. > :17:09.that we face? Forces including my own rationing their responses to the

:17:10. > :17:16.public in the face of a 15% reduction in the number of police

:17:17. > :17:20.officers between 2010 and 2020. It is not good enough. We need a

:17:21. > :17:28.debate. It is a crisis. What does the leader say to that? I... First

:17:29. > :17:31.of all, I salute the honourable gentleman's tribute to Gerald

:17:32. > :17:35.Kaufman and I would say in response to his challenge about the police

:17:36. > :17:40.that yes, the police is indeed like all parts of the public sector have

:17:41. > :17:45.had to face up to the need for very difficult decisions about budget

:17:46. > :17:48.priorities, decisions made necessary by the parlous state of the public

:17:49. > :17:53.finances which the government inherited in 2010 but I think that

:17:54. > :17:58.chief constables and police and crime commissioners have responded

:17:59. > :18:04.extraordinarily well, and the Testament of that is the fact that

:18:05. > :18:08.despite the reductions in police funding that he has described, there

:18:09. > :18:14.has been a significant fall in crime in this country and I would want to

:18:15. > :18:19.pay tribute to the work that the police are doing and the leadership

:18:20. > :18:25.they have been showing, inserting those priorities and getting on with

:18:26. > :18:29.the job successfully. -- in setting those priorities. I apologise to the

:18:30. > :18:33.house and yourself Mr Speaker for not being here earlier. It was just

:18:34. > :18:38.not possible to be here, as I indicated yesterday. I would also

:18:39. > :18:43.like to say a few words about Gerald Kaufman. I pay tribute to him, as

:18:44. > :18:50.are the honourable members have done on both sides, because if there ever

:18:51. > :18:55.was a one-off, it was Gerald, in the way in which he approached his job,

:18:56. > :19:01.the way in which he held his various enthusiasms, not least films,

:19:02. > :19:07.Singing In The Rain, apparently, he saw 70 times. And then he was not

:19:08. > :19:15.satisfied entirely with that, he made an appointment and wrote about

:19:16. > :19:18.it, and when he saw Gene Kelly in Hollywood, it must have been one of

:19:19. > :19:22.the high moments of his life. I first came across him, I knew of

:19:23. > :19:28.Gerald before I came here in the mid-60s, because he was quite a

:19:29. > :19:33.well-known journalist by then and wrote a regular column in the new

:19:34. > :19:39.statesman. But when I came here, he was what we now call the spin doctor

:19:40. > :19:42.for Harold Wilson. If you look at all the sort of diaries about the

:19:43. > :19:49.kitchen cabinet, the rows that went on, the difficulties about Harold

:19:50. > :19:56.Wilson's private secretary and the rest of it, all very interesting,

:19:57. > :20:00.gossipy stuff, perhaps politically interesting as well. But you won't

:20:01. > :20:07.find a single mention of any of that from Gerald. He never wrote about it

:20:08. > :20:11.when he could easily have done so as a professional journalist, and he

:20:12. > :20:14.might have kept a diary for we know. And the reason he did not write

:20:15. > :20:18.about it was that he was so dedicated to Harold Wilson as his

:20:19. > :20:25.employer, that he didn't gossip about what went on in private

:20:26. > :20:31.proceedings and as I said, none of those exploits of the kitchen

:20:32. > :20:37.cabinet which became so well known in political circles at ten Downing

:20:38. > :20:42.St was written about by Gerald, and for that reason. I once went out, I

:20:43. > :20:48.was in the members lobby once during various days when he was the spin

:20:49. > :20:52.doctor, and he said, "Come here a moment", so I came. "Look At those

:20:53. > :20:57.two", two of my labour colleagues. They were chatting together, simply

:20:58. > :21:02.innocent as far as I was concerned. He said, "Do you know? Those two

:21:03. > :21:07.were hardly on speaking terms until recently and look at them now". What

:21:08. > :21:12.he was implying was that they were plotting against Harold. If Harold

:21:13. > :21:19.had paranoia, then his spin doctor contributed to that. But he did so

:21:20. > :21:26.out of a dedication to what he saw as the Labour government being led

:21:27. > :21:34.by Gerald Kaufman. When he spoke in the house, when Harold Wilson died,

:21:35. > :21:40.he said at that time, he was telling us about he was a junior minister in

:21:41. > :21:48.environment, dealing with transport matters. He said," I received a memo

:21:49. > :21:50.from the Prime Minister saying, would you make provision for former

:21:51. > :21:57.Prime Minister is to have a car and a chauffeur?" He said, "At that

:21:58. > :22:03.moment, I knew Harold Wilson was going to retire". He was probably

:22:04. > :22:08.right. Two other points I would make, if I may before I sit down. He

:22:09. > :22:16.was a dedicated, as has been mentioned by others including

:22:17. > :22:20.Manchester colleagues of his, dedicated in casework. You know, as

:22:21. > :22:23.you mentioned it yesterday, Mr Speaker, how he would rise in the

:22:24. > :22:29.chamber and ask why he hasn't had a reply about so and so. It wasn't

:22:30. > :22:35.just occasionally. He did it quite frequently and it showed his

:22:36. > :22:39.dedication, despite the fact that he did 46 years, he was as dedicated as

:22:40. > :22:45.a constituency member of Parliament from all accounts as he was on his

:22:46. > :22:49.first week, or his first year here. That says a great deal and it also

:22:50. > :22:55.says a great deal about members of parliament in general because there

:22:56. > :23:01.are very few now who don't take great care of their constituents in

:23:02. > :23:06.replying as promptly as possible and assiduously. The last point I want

:23:07. > :23:10.to make is perhaps controversial. Gerald was born in 1930. If ever

:23:11. > :23:16.there was a person of Jewish origin who understood the horrors of what

:23:17. > :23:24.was to take place by the time he was 15, it was Gerald. He knew from the

:23:25. > :23:25.very beginning, when the stories came out, and the statements made in

:23:26. > :23:42.the House of Commons, how sharp-macros are being sorted

:23:43. > :23:46.now hundreds of thousands and then in their millions for no other

:23:47. > :23:54.reason than that they shared the same origin as Gerald and did it

:23:55. > :23:57.myself. -- how Jews. He was an ardent supporter of Israel, before

:23:58. > :24:02.he was a member of Parliament, during the 1967 war, I remember his

:24:03. > :24:09.eagerness that Israel should survive, his great fear, shared by

:24:10. > :24:14.many others who became critics, that if it was otherwise, the Jewish

:24:15. > :24:23.population could be forced into the sea as the threats were made at the

:24:24. > :24:26.time. But later, he became a harsh critic of Israel. And he became a

:24:27. > :24:31.harsh critic of Israel, not because he ceased to be concerned about

:24:32. > :24:35.Jews, that is a false accusation made against him and which was made

:24:36. > :24:44.from time to time, but he believed that Israelis were showing a total

:24:45. > :24:47.lack of consideration the Palestinians, that they were

:24:48. > :24:58.treating Palestinians in many instances with contempt and he felt

:24:59. > :25:02.as strong -- a strong urge to speak out as he did. I know he antagonised

:25:03. > :25:09.a number of people in the Jewish community by doing that. But Gerald

:25:10. > :25:11.was the sort of person who not the sort of person who would feel

:25:12. > :25:17.intimidated because people didn't like what he said. I think he was

:25:18. > :25:21.right and one would expect me to say that because I, too, have very

:25:22. > :25:24.strong feelings about the way in which Palestinians have been

:25:25. > :25:30.treated, the contempt for their human rights and the fact that as

:25:31. > :25:35.far as I can see, the Israeli authorities, the leading people show

:25:36. > :25:35.no desire to bring about a sovereign, independent Palestine

:25:36. > :25:48.along with Israel. In conclusion, Gerald was not the

:25:49. > :25:52.easiest person to get on with. I had my own occasional rows and we made

:25:53. > :25:57.up and spoke about films. Was difficult in many instances but how

:25:58. > :26:00.many people with such courage and determination and single-mindedness

:26:01. > :26:07.are not really difficult when you assess their lives? He did good, he

:26:08. > :26:10.wanted to do good, he was dedicated to the Labour Party and the labour

:26:11. > :26:21.movement and to this country. We shall miss him a great deal. I thank

:26:22. > :26:28.the gentleman for what he has said. I wish to add my tributes on behalf

:26:29. > :26:32.of myself and my party to the late and much missed father of the house

:26:33. > :26:39.Sir Gerald Kaufman. He was an extraordinary servant for Manchester

:26:40. > :26:47.that he represented for such a remarkable number of years, but he

:26:48. > :26:55.was actually originally a Leeds boy, born in Leeds. And someone who went

:26:56. > :27:01.to schools in Leeds and developed a lot of his political thinking in

:27:02. > :27:09.Leeds and Leeds is proud of him and paid tribute to him. He was also the

:27:10. > :27:18.son of Jewish refugees who escaped in Poland and in these troubled

:27:19. > :27:25.times for the son of foreign refugees fleeing persecution to end

:27:26. > :27:30.up as leader of this house is not only an enormous tributes to him and

:27:31. > :27:34.his family, it is also something that surely must send out a very

:27:35. > :27:37.clear message today in these troubled times, and that is

:27:38. > :27:44.something we should all reflect on and be proud of his achievement. He

:27:45. > :27:49.was the huge parliamentarian, a real defender of this Parliament, and all

:27:50. > :27:53.of us who regard ourselves as parliamentarians ahead of roles

:27:54. > :27:59.government and in party have certainly lost one of her own. When

:28:00. > :28:08.it comes to my party it has to be said that he was not always the

:28:09. > :28:17.greatest fan of Liberal Democrats! With good reason. That is an

:28:18. > :28:20.understatement. Largely because of Liberal Democrats snapping at his

:28:21. > :28:28.heels for so many years but he was clearly not going to be shifted as

:28:29. > :28:31.long as that continued. He has clearly a very large personal vote

:28:32. > :28:39.mag as well as what was a safe Labour seat. He was someone who

:28:40. > :28:44.spoke without fear or favour and he will be long remembered for that,

:28:45. > :28:50.and I think some of that goes back to that leads origin and that famous

:28:51. > :28:55.Yorkshire bluntness. He had the courage to disagree with his own

:28:56. > :29:01.party leaders and colleagues, he had the courage to criticise

:29:02. > :29:05.journalists. As a former journalist. He had the courage, whatever people

:29:06. > :29:11.may feel about his views, as a proud Jewish man to speak out on the

:29:12. > :29:15.situation in Israel and Palestine and the legacy from that is we must

:29:16. > :29:21.get to a stage where we do not see that particular issue as having to

:29:22. > :29:30.take one side or another but fight as Sir Gerald did for justice, for

:29:31. > :29:33.peace and resolution. I am very pleased to say he supported

:29:34. > :29:38.consistently the campaign for furnace when it comes to the

:29:39. > :29:43.situation with pub companies and their landlords and I am very proud

:29:44. > :29:49.to say he was one of those people as a parliamentarian who stood up for

:29:50. > :29:54.Parliament in the vault in November 20 14th when Parliament and MPs

:29:55. > :29:58.defeated the government on a three line whip when ministers had not

:29:59. > :30:07.listened. I am very light, Prodi was involved in that. -- very proud he

:30:08. > :30:13.was involved. Can we have on the situation regarding the way that we

:30:14. > :30:20.tax hubs? 37% of pubs in this country are facing a rate rise. Many

:30:21. > :30:26.facing rises of ?10,000 or more which will put many pubs in this

:30:27. > :30:29.country out of business or for pubs in Manchester, Leeds and London and

:30:30. > :30:34.around the country can we have a debate on government time about how

:30:35. > :30:42.we can recognise the social value of pubs in the tax system which does

:30:43. > :30:47.not happen at the moment. I cannot offer a specific government debate

:30:48. > :30:52.on that subject but I can assure him that the debate on the forthcoming

:30:53. > :30:59.Budget Statement will I am confident provide him with the opportunity to

:31:00. > :31:07.raise all those questions. The last Father of the house to die in office

:31:08. > :31:11.was in 19 29th of this is a very unusual moment for us and I support

:31:12. > :31:15.the call that maybe we should have a formal means of making sure we pay

:31:16. > :31:27.tribute to any member and it is not a decision left up to only the

:31:28. > :31:30.Speaker and the chairman. Many LGBT people are grateful to general

:31:31. > :31:35.because he campaigned for a very long time when it was very

:31:36. > :31:38.unfashionable and long before equal marriage was introduced. He was had

:31:39. > :31:44.an absolutely impeccable record on that. He loved musicals to a point

:31:45. > :31:50.of distraction. Everybody has referred to singing in the rain and

:31:51. > :31:55.that being his favourite musical. When the DC MS select committee I

:31:56. > :31:59.was on when he was chairman were on tour and I use the term onto

:32:00. > :32:03.advisedly, because every year he insisted the committee had to go to

:32:04. > :32:09.the west Coast of America, so he had to find something we had to

:32:10. > :32:12.investigate on the west Coast of America, he would welcome all of us

:32:13. > :32:18.to breakfast by singing good morning, good morning. I remember

:32:19. > :32:22.him being very angry once when the member for Litchfield said one

:32:23. > :32:26.morning, that great song sung by Debbie Reynolds and he pointed out

:32:27. > :32:37.Debbie Reynolds danced in the routine but she was dubbed, you

:32:38. > :32:48.should know that. He was a great friend of Stephen Sondheim and he

:32:49. > :32:54.used every gal -- he used to tell me, lines from Sweeney Todd, stick

:32:55. > :33:05.to priest, he said. His favourite lyric was Shepheard's pie leopard

:33:06. > :33:08.with Leopard on top. I think he probably outlived his dealer from

:33:09. > :33:14.Leeds because he was certainly wearing from a line in the end and

:33:15. > :33:29.that was not enough to have a load suit, you had to have a loud shirt

:33:30. > :33:32.as well. I remember he was called in Las Vegas airport and he wanted to

:33:33. > :33:40.go and buy a jumper and so he went with Claire Ward and he's so a stall

:33:41. > :33:43.and went straight in there and he and Claire could not decide between

:33:44. > :33:53.two of the jumpers and asked me for advice. I said, Gerald, they are

:33:54. > :33:58.hideous. He bought both! He was at university with Rupert Murdoch.

:33:59. > :34:02.Rupert Murdoch had never given evidence to a select committee at

:34:03. > :34:08.this time. We went to Fox Studios to as it were your time his then. There

:34:09. > :34:15.was this great when Rupert arrived at the end of a very long avenue of

:34:16. > :34:21.trees and we were at the other end and we marched towards each other

:34:22. > :34:25.like the gunfight in the OK Corral and I told the story of the lunch we

:34:26. > :34:30.had with Rupert Murdoch when the phone hacking scandal was happening

:34:31. > :34:34.and how Gerald had teased Rupert about idea got him thrown out of the

:34:35. > :34:37.Labour Party at university for corruptly organising the election of

:34:38. > :34:42.the wrong person, I think they opened the wrong envelope! It feels

:34:43. > :34:50.like that has been happening for six years in British politics! I told

:34:51. > :34:53.this story about how Rupert Murdoch was so aggressive in the meeting and

:34:54. > :34:59.he kept hitting is hand on the table with his rings. I thought it was so

:35:00. > :35:03.funny we were doing this. I told the journalists we were doing all of

:35:04. > :35:08.this at Fox Studios and the Judy Garland room. About three weeks

:35:09. > :35:13.later Gerald came up to me in one of the divisional lobbies and he was

:35:14. > :35:17.furious with me. Everybody has referred to his reputation for a

:35:18. > :35:25.sharp dig. He said, you should know better. You told that story. We were

:35:26. > :35:31.on tour. I thought he was going to say what goes on tour stays on tour.

:35:32. > :35:39.He said it was not the Judy Garland room, it was the Shirley Temple run.

:35:40. > :35:44.I hope it is all right for me to refer to something that has been

:35:45. > :35:49.said in the PLP, but he once started a contribution in the PLP with the

:35:50. > :35:56.words, as Lana Turner once said to me... Young Member of Parliament

:35:57. > :36:08.said, what seats did she is that for? He was also a fan of Betty

:36:09. > :36:13.Davis. Thinking about the last few years, Betty Davis said once, old

:36:14. > :36:20.age is no place for sissies. I think Gerald would agree. It was a veil

:36:21. > :36:25.for him sometimes the coming here. He was quite frail. He was

:36:26. > :36:28.determined when he had to represent his constituents that there were

:36:29. > :36:33.issues he cared about he would be here and make sure he was here. The

:36:34. > :36:38.last year I think was tough for him. I know you visited and Clare Ward

:36:39. > :36:44.visited regularly. He was still singing musicals last Tuesday. I do

:36:45. > :36:50.not know whether it was Sweeney Todd or singing in the rain. I went last

:36:51. > :36:56.night, I am moving on to the subject, he used to get very angry

:36:57. > :37:01.about ticket touts because he thought that was very unfair that

:37:02. > :37:07.people who contributed nothing to the performance, did not contribute

:37:08. > :37:11.to the venue, did not enhance the performance for anybody, managed to

:37:12. > :37:16.make in some cases thousands and tens of thousands of pounds on their

:37:17. > :37:20.secondary ticket market. I hope the government is very soon going to do

:37:21. > :37:25.something about this. We are still waiting for a review. Can we have a

:37:26. > :37:33.Sir Gerald Kaufman memorial debate on ticket touts and the pernicious

:37:34. > :37:37.scum they are? I cannot help remarking that if Sir Gerald Kaufman

:37:38. > :37:42.is able to sing along with the numbers from Sweeney Todd he must've

:37:43. > :37:48.had a very good musical year indeed, pretty challenging lines. In

:37:49. > :37:55.response to his question about ticket touts, will I refer to the

:37:56. > :38:00.Secretary of State for culture media and sport, his point about wanting

:38:01. > :38:04.an review, and draw his attention to the efforts being made through the

:38:05. > :38:15.Digital economy bill to try to limit what some of these ticket bought is

:38:16. > :38:23.unable to pick up tickets and sell them at extortionate cost. First I

:38:24. > :38:29.would like to pay tribute to late father of the house and Billy Mack.

:38:30. > :38:35.Having arrived in the house in 2015I did. Get the opportunity to learn

:38:36. > :38:39.from him but one of my observations was how stylish and dapper his sense

:38:40. > :38:45.of dress was. One of the days he went through the lobby with a

:38:46. > :38:49.fabulous panama hat on. He spent time with two of my parliamentary

:38:50. > :38:54.colleagues on an overseas trip to Jordan and they spoke very highly of

:38:55. > :38:58.him and spoke of how interesting all his Parliamentary stories were. I am

:38:59. > :39:03.going to leave it to those parliamentarians that had the

:39:04. > :39:09.pleasure and good fortune to serve along with Sir Gerald between 1970

:39:10. > :39:13.until 2017 to be longer tribute to him and I would like to offer my

:39:14. > :39:20.condolences to his family who are here today.

:39:21. > :39:26.The Hansard Society, widely respected, as an expert on

:39:27. > :39:34.Parliament and democracy, has warned the current process of scrutiny is

:39:35. > :39:37.not fit for purpose. The society's directors have warned that if

:39:38. > :39:40.Parliament is to fulfil its responsibility to hold the

:39:41. > :39:45.government to account, MPs need better procedures. Will the leader

:39:46. > :39:50.please inform the house if he is taking these concerns seriously and

:39:51. > :39:54.will he urgently review the Parliamentary scrutiny process now

:39:55. > :40:01.so that any necessary changes can be made before the great repeal bill is

:40:02. > :40:05.introduced? The Honourable lady makes a very serious and important

:40:06. > :40:11.point and the government and I personally are indeed giving close

:40:12. > :40:13.attention to this question of how, given the implications of the Brexit

:40:14. > :40:20.process for both primary and secondary legislation, we can ensure

:40:21. > :40:26.that there is proper, fully adequate Parliamentary scrutiny and

:40:27. > :40:30.Parliamentary debate. In terms of one point arising out of the Hansard

:40:31. > :40:37.Society in particular, I can give some reassurance to her, I hope, in

:40:38. > :40:42.that any additional powers for secondary legislation that might be

:40:43. > :40:49.sought in new primary legislation, such as the Gabi appeal Bill, will

:40:50. > :40:55.of course themselves need to be approved by parliament through the

:40:56. > :41:02.normal process. -- such as the Repeal Bill. So when a process that

:41:03. > :41:04.comes elite Matt Gohdes any kind of enabling power comes through,

:41:05. > :41:08.Parliament will be able to debate and decide properly on questions

:41:09. > :41:16.concerning the scope, the definition and the duration of those powers. Mr

:41:17. > :41:19.Speaker, it has been wonderful to hear from a long-standing colleagues

:41:20. > :41:23.of Sir Gerald but I remember when I was first elected as a new MP in

:41:24. > :41:27.2010, I distinctly remember taking an office on the second corridor

:41:28. > :41:31.above Star chamber Court for my office on the basis that if it was

:41:32. > :41:35.good enough for Sir Gerald, it was good enough for me. I remember to my

:41:36. > :41:39.delight, the first week I was there, there was a knock on the door and it

:41:40. > :41:43.was the man himself, Sir Gerald. I was a young MP, only 29 when first

:41:44. > :41:47.elected, I did not know anyone down here and I was away from home. He

:41:48. > :41:49.knocked on the door, our constituencies are quite close to

:41:50. > :41:52.one another, and he invited me to his office for a drink which I

:41:53. > :41:57.thought was a wonderful gesture, we talked for hours about how Lord

:41:58. > :42:02.Wilson, Jim Callaghan, the Winter of discontent, the 83 manifesto about

:42:03. > :42:06.the SDP. He was a living inside to be the of Labour and British

:42:07. > :42:10.history. We talked about foreign policy, Kashmir, Israel and

:42:11. > :42:13.Palestine. Many of the Labour Party's foreign policy positions are

:42:14. > :42:17.for now one is that he set as Shadow Foreign Secretary in that time. He

:42:18. > :42:20.also took very great delight when I expressed my admiration for his

:42:21. > :42:24.rather more palatial office than mine. He told me he had been given

:42:25. > :42:30.that over the express competing demands of Tony Benn on the basis he

:42:31. > :42:33.had had longer continuous service would still mattered a great deal to

:42:34. > :42:37.him. I believed for some of the distinguished and experience to take

:42:38. > :42:40.so much time and interest in lots of new members, actually, is the mark

:42:41. > :42:43.of someone who is not just a great and true parliamentarian but a great

:42:44. > :42:47.colleague as well. We really will miss him a great deal. One piece of

:42:48. > :42:50.advice he gave me that day was to never hesitate to raise on the floor

:42:51. > :42:53.of the House of Commons a constituency problem that you hadn't

:42:54. > :42:59.been able to resolve through paperwork alone. In that spirit and

:43:00. > :43:02.in homage to Sir Gerald, can we have, Mr Speaker, a debate about

:43:03. > :43:07.decent access to universal broadband in all parts of this country? My

:43:08. > :43:11.constituent, Peter Edwards, runs a business from home and his business

:43:12. > :43:15.is severely hampered by poor broadband speeds and BT have not

:43:16. > :43:18.been able to resolve this satisfactorily for me with

:43:19. > :43:21.correspondence. Surely Mr redwoods should not have to wait to get a

:43:22. > :43:23.decent broadband connection and universal access to good broadband

:43:24. > :43:29.speeds should be available to everyone? I'm grateful to the

:43:30. > :43:33.honourable gentleman and I think all of us know from our constituency

:43:34. > :43:40.experience how important it is for businesses, large and small, to have

:43:41. > :43:44.fast broadband access in order to compete and to sell to customers. If

:43:45. > :43:48.the honourable gentleman would like to let me have some details of the

:43:49. > :43:54.particular case, I will refer to the minister responsible for digital

:43:55. > :43:59.affairs. Thank you, Mr Speaker. I did not know the late Father of the

:44:00. > :44:03.house but as a student of politics, I was aware of him for many years.

:44:04. > :44:09.Lilly from the tributes today, he combined great intellect, a

:44:10. > :44:13.principled and political acumen with warmth, humour and insight and I

:44:14. > :44:18.would like to pass on my sincere condolences to his family, if they

:44:19. > :44:22.are here, watching, and also to his friends, particularly those on both

:44:23. > :44:26.sides of the house. I'm very grateful to the honourable member

:44:27. > :44:31.for Rhondda of reminding us for the work Sir Gerald did campaigning for

:44:32. > :44:33.LGBT rights, and as a gay woman, I'm very grateful for that and

:44:34. > :44:37.particularly conscious of the fact that Sir Gerald did it at a time

:44:38. > :44:41.when it was not fashionable to support LGBT rights and when sadly,

:44:42. > :44:44.not all political parties in this house supported them but that has

:44:45. > :44:49.now changed and is in great part due to the work of people like Sir

:44:50. > :44:53.Gerald. Mr Speaker, earlier this week, I wrote to the Home Secretary,

:44:54. > :44:59.expressing my concerns about the circumstances surrounding the

:45:00. > :45:03.deportation of Irene Clenell, who has already been mentioned today by

:45:04. > :45:07.the shadow leader of the house. Can we have a debate, Mr Speaker, about

:45:08. > :45:13.flexibility and discretion in the immigration system, the need to

:45:14. > :45:17.respect basic human dignity, family life, and also the need for due

:45:18. > :45:21.process? Can I suggest that such a debate would be a fitting tribute to

:45:22. > :45:28.the late Father of the house, who clearly believed in such principles?

:45:29. > :45:30.Mr Speaker, I completely understand the strength of feeling, as

:45:31. > :45:35.expressed by the honourable lady, about this particular case. But my

:45:36. > :45:39.understanding is that Irene Clenell has spent the majority of her life,

:45:40. > :45:42.including her married life, in Singapore, that a number of

:45:43. > :45:51.applications in her case were refused between 2003 and 2008, and

:45:52. > :45:57.that since July 2014, she has had no legal basis to remain in the UK. I

:45:58. > :46:01.would stress that all applications for leave to remain are considered

:46:02. > :46:07.on their individual merits and in line with the immigration rules and

:46:08. > :46:14.subject to the various appeal mechanisms that exist under UK law.

:46:15. > :46:20.Obviously, the honourable lady is welcome to raise that particular

:46:21. > :46:24.case directly with the Home Secretary or the Immigration

:46:25. > :46:35.Minister. But the facts are as I have outlined them. Like many people

:46:36. > :46:40.here and thousands of people across the country, my life was impacted by

:46:41. > :46:47.Sir Gerald Kaufman, not least because I was given a copy of his

:46:48. > :46:49.book for my 21st birthday, How To Be A Minister and it probably had

:46:50. > :46:53.something to do with the fact that 25 years later, I did government

:46:54. > :46:58.minister and I have not forgotten brilliant advice that was written in

:46:59. > :47:04.a book by Gerald about how to deal with one's Parliamentary ministerial

:47:05. > :47:07.box and with civil servants and how to get things done rather than just

:47:08. > :47:13.be a spectator in government. I'm eternally grateful for the advice

:47:14. > :47:16.that he gave in that book. Those who have paid tribute are right to refer

:47:17. > :47:24.to his assiduous miss with regard to his constituents. I learned,

:47:25. > :47:29.entering the same entering the house at the same time as the honourable

:47:30. > :47:32.member for Rhondda, that this session, business question, is the

:47:33. > :47:36.most important of the week and is valued by MPs for that very reason,

:47:37. > :47:40.in some ways more important than Prime Minister's Questions because

:47:41. > :47:43.barring the rare occasions when Mr Speaker as to curtail our efforts on

:47:44. > :47:46.Thursday morning, it is an opportunity for every member of the

:47:47. > :47:51.house here on Thursday to raise a point and Sir Gerald often used this

:47:52. > :47:57.session to raise a point and on almost all the occasions when he did

:47:58. > :48:01.so it was a point that was related to a piece of constituency casework.

:48:02. > :48:04.A government department that had failed to answer a letter, a

:48:05. > :48:07.minister that hadn't been assiduous in coming back with a quick reply or

:48:08. > :48:12.even some other institution that had failed to treat a piece of

:48:13. > :48:15.correspondence from a member of Parliament, acting on behalf of

:48:16. > :48:22.their constituent, with the appropriate respect and furnish an

:48:23. > :48:26.appropriate reply. He was absolutely right about that. I think the

:48:27. > :48:29.strongest thing about our democracy, whatever one thinks about the

:48:30. > :48:32.electoral systems and so on, the strongest thing about our democracy

:48:33. > :48:36.is that representative link between members of Parliament and their

:48:37. > :48:40.constituents. And the way in which members of Parliament to use this

:48:41. > :48:45.place and their title as a member of Parliament on behalf of their

:48:46. > :48:49.constituents, to help them, not to enrich themselves in any way, not to

:48:50. > :48:53.burnish their own reputation but simply to help the weak against the

:48:54. > :48:58.strong, which is what democracy should really be about. Sir Gerald,

:48:59. > :49:03.I think, more than anyone in this house, showed us all how that ought

:49:04. > :49:07.to be done. And all of us would do well to remember, whatever heights

:49:08. > :49:11.we get to in politics, whether it is just this backbench or the

:49:12. > :49:16.ministerial office, should remember that is why we are here, and he was

:49:17. > :49:18.an exemplar of how to do that. He was also extremely, as has been

:49:19. > :49:26.mentioned earlier, politically brave. I think that my honourable

:49:27. > :49:30.friend was right to mention, he said it was controversial at the end of

:49:31. > :49:35.his remarks but it was right to mention Gerald's position on the

:49:36. > :49:38.state of Israel and its treatment of the Palestinian people. It was

:49:39. > :49:43.extremely brave of him to raise those issues in this house in the

:49:44. > :49:48.way that he did. It is to his eternal credit that he did so. I

:49:49. > :49:53.just want to mention one other thing about him. People have mentioned how

:49:54. > :49:56.dedicated he was to his constituency. I was having tea in

:49:57. > :50:00.the tearoom one morning, as I often do, probably with my honourable

:50:01. > :50:04.friend, the member for the Rhondda, and as we were sat there, Gerald

:50:05. > :50:09.came in, dressed, as usual, in a colourful fashion, and I think my

:50:10. > :50:13.honourable friend and I had a brief debate about exactly what colour his

:50:14. > :50:20.suit was and whether a word existed in the English language to describe

:50:21. > :50:22.that,. But -- that colour. But he seemed to have a spring in his step

:50:23. > :50:26.that particular morning, only about four years ago, I think, and he

:50:27. > :50:29.looked absolutely delighted. We wonder if he had been to a musical

:50:30. > :50:32.the night before because he was whistling and had a spring in his

:50:33. > :50:36.step as he came into the tea room and then the penny dropped. The

:50:37. > :50:41.boundary commission proposals had just been published and Manchester

:50:42. > :50:47.Gorton was not to be dissected or split up in any way. Sir Gerald was

:50:48. > :50:50.absolutely delighted that he could go on saying, "Yes, I will be

:50:51. > :50:54.standing at the next election and the one after", as honourable

:50:55. > :50:57.members referred to earlier. My friend from the Rhondda also

:50:58. > :51:00.mentioned Rupert Murdoch and as this is a business question session, I

:51:01. > :51:05.think Gerald would have wanted this issue to be raised. The leader of

:51:06. > :51:10.the house will have read the press reports about the speech being made

:51:11. > :51:17.today in relation to the takeover by 20th Century Fox, the proposed

:51:18. > :51:21.takeover of Sky. I just wondered if he would like to tell the house how

:51:22. > :51:29.the government intends to inform the house of its intentions in relation

:51:30. > :51:33.to that announcement? Indeed, the honourable gentleman raises an

:51:34. > :51:40.important issue about media ownership. He will know, that my

:51:41. > :51:42.right honourable friend the Secretary of State has do act in a

:51:43. > :51:47.quasi-judicial role in taking decisions about any proposed merger

:51:48. > :51:53.and it would therefore be wrong for her to express any kind of you in

:51:54. > :51:57.advance of any formal notification being made. -- kind of view. If

:51:58. > :52:04.there is a formal notification, she will take whatever decisions fall to

:52:05. > :52:10.her by law to do. Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. Anyone who shares

:52:11. > :52:14.the love of musicals, Judy Garland, Betty Davis, and can begin a

:52:15. > :52:18.sentence with the words, "As Lana Turner once said to me..." Is

:52:19. > :52:22.positively sounded my book, although not knowing him well at all, it is

:52:23. > :52:29.clear that there is much admiration for him, particularly amongst his

:52:30. > :52:34.colleagues on the Labour benches so I which is family, friends and

:52:35. > :52:38.colleagues on the Labour benches Mike is -- my sincere condolences.

:52:39. > :52:42.Mr Speaker, on the 24th of this month, it will be exactly one year

:52:43. > :52:48.since the shopkeeper Asad Shah was killed in my constituency, by a man

:52:49. > :52:56.by the name Tanvir Ahmed. Members may know that in the newspapers

:52:57. > :53:01.today, there is coverage of a celebration, I hate to call it that,

:53:02. > :53:07.celebrating his death and treating his murder with veneration in

:53:08. > :53:14.Pakistan. Mr Shah was one of the most gentle and kind people ever to

:53:15. > :53:19.own a shop anywhere in the UK. He was loved by many people on the

:53:20. > :53:24.south side of Glasgow. So will the leader of the house join me in

:53:25. > :53:27.condemning that horrifying display that we can see in newspaper

:53:28. > :53:32.coverage and online coverage, and will he also do something to make

:53:33. > :53:38.sure that what we remember is the kindness of this wonderful man, his

:53:39. > :53:39.wonderful family, and not the demagoguery of the man who took him

:53:40. > :53:54.from us? honourable gentleman and I'm sure

:53:55. > :54:00.with the entire house in expressing unreserved revulsion and

:54:01. > :54:05.condemnation of the event that he has described. It is frankly

:54:06. > :54:15.sickening to hear that human beings could be prepared to behave in such

:54:16. > :54:19.a fashion. I remember just under a year ago, from reading and seeing

:54:20. > :54:27.news reports of the sense of shock and genuine grief on the part of

:54:28. > :54:28.people in the south side of Glasgow, people from very different

:54:29. > :54:38.and religious heritage, in feeling and religious heritage, in feeling

:54:39. > :54:48.that they had lost a friend and a devoted champion of community life

:54:49. > :54:54.and that is how we should remember and I think in a sense the best

:54:55. > :55:03.tribute would be for people in Glasgow in particular but for all of

:55:04. > :55:13.us to redouble our resolve to eradicate from our society this

:55:14. > :55:22.scourge of bigotry, whether based on racial or religious or any other

:55:23. > :55:27.grounds. And I hope very much that the Pakistani High Commission in

:55:28. > :55:34.London, which I think we'll have been equally appalled at these news

:55:35. > :55:39.reports, will have taken note of the words honourable gentleman has

:55:40. > :55:46.spoken. As a fellow greater Manchester MP it was my privilege to

:55:47. > :55:50.visit Sir Gerald in his constituency and see the esteem his constituents

:55:51. > :55:56.held him in and I know he will be greatly missed in that constituency

:55:57. > :56:03.and by everybody in this House. I will miss his sartorial elegance. I

:56:04. > :56:07.remember when he turned up in a particularly flamboyant number and

:56:08. > :56:13.my friend commented that there must be several deckchairs in Blackpool

:56:14. > :56:17.that are missing their seats. My last memory of Sir Gerald is of him

:56:18. > :56:32.standing there at the Benjamin King in barnstorming speech about forced

:56:33. > :56:38.academies status of schools. And the Government backtracked. As well as

:56:39. > :56:43.education, the NHS was close to his heart. With that in mind I would

:56:44. > :56:49.like to request that we have an urgent debate about the activities

:56:50. > :56:54.of NHS shared business services. When I worked for Pennine acute

:56:55. > :56:59.hospitals, NHS shared business services put in a bid to run our

:57:00. > :57:01.payroll services and we as trade union reps did a quick search of the

:57:02. > :57:08.Internet and found a catalogue of woeful errors that the group had

:57:09. > :57:11.left in their wake with all the NHS contract to the already held and

:57:12. > :57:15.therefore I would like to request an urgent debate into why they were

:57:16. > :57:29.allowed to carry on performing NHS work. The issue now honourable lady

:57:30. > :57:35.referred to with SBS was identified in March 2016 and he immediately

:57:36. > :57:46.established an incident team which is still working to resolve the

:57:47. > :57:51.issue and a team has now reviewed thousands of items of

:57:52. > :57:55.correspondence. 2500 were identified as having potential risk of harm and

:57:56. > :58:01.required further investigation. Local GPs have now identified nearly

:58:02. > :58:09.2000 of those as having no patient harm. There remain 537 active cases

:58:10. > :58:16.which are still being followed up so we can be absolutely certain that

:58:17. > :58:22.patient. So far there is no evidence patient. So far there is no evidence

:58:23. > :58:26.to suggest actual harm. Obviously when that investigation has been

:58:27. > :58:33.completed I'm sure it would be reasonable for the relevant health

:58:34. > :58:37.minister to report to the House. I would like to associate myself with

:58:38. > :58:43.the many wonderful tributes today to Sir Gerald Kaufman and also share my

:58:44. > :58:44.condolences with the family. Interesting to hear so many stories

:58:45. > :58:49.because then you remember one of because then you remember one of

:58:50. > :58:54.your own. As an very new member to the House, within the first month I

:58:55. > :58:57.got my first opportunity to have a chat with him in the lobbies and I

:58:58. > :59:01.remember quite clearly saying to him that I liked the look of his new

:59:02. > :59:07.site to which I got a long, languishing look up and down slowly

:59:08. > :59:14.to see you're not doing too bad either so I would just like to

:59:15. > :59:18.assure the House that I will aspire to his sartorial condition in the

:59:19. > :59:28.future. The UK Government claims to sport a world -- support a world

:59:29. > :59:29.free of nuclear weapons through disarmament but boycotts

:59:30. > :59:51.negotiations at the UN to ban them. The Government's position is very

:59:52. > :00:02.clear that we are a party to the Non-Proliferation Treaty. That gives

:00:03. > :00:09.particular responsibilities to the acknowledged nuclear powers. We

:00:10. > :00:15.remain an active supporter of the independent inspectorate and we are

:00:16. > :00:24.a very active supporter of multilateral nuclear and disarmament

:00:25. > :00:28.-- nuclear disarmament but that must take place in a way that is

:00:29. > :00:32.genuinely multilateral. It is sometimes easy to come up with

:00:33. > :00:38.suggestions for unilateral action or slogans that do not actually deliver

:00:39. > :00:45.what is needed in the form of detailed treaties which help to

:00:46. > :00:51.reduce the nuclear threat. It has been really good to remember Sir

:00:52. > :00:56.Gerald Kaufman today. I used to talk to him in the members' Kieran

:00:57. > :01:04.whenever I could and I got some great recommendations for films from

:01:05. > :01:08.him. Could we have a debate on the rent to buy sector? Customers are

:01:09. > :01:14.being ripped off across the country. In my constituency, young families

:01:15. > :01:21.struggling to get by are being told they can buy a cot for their baby

:01:22. > :01:33.for just ?5 per week but because of interest rates they end up paying

:01:34. > :01:42.?780 for a ?283 cot. It is not on. I think it is very important that

:01:43. > :01:48.people who are tempted by offers of apparently cheap finance really do

:01:49. > :01:52.look hard at the underlying terms and conditions before they commit

:01:53. > :02:01.themselves to what turned out to be quite extraordinary and extortionate

:02:02. > :02:08.repayments. It is not always the right answer to try to use the law

:02:09. > :02:12.to deal with these matters. Sometimes it has the effect of

:02:13. > :02:16.driving this kind of activity underground, but this is the sort of

:02:17. > :02:23.question the Government keeps under review the whole time. As a

:02:24. > :02:26.relatively new member, I confess I never had the opportunity to get to

:02:27. > :02:31.know Sir Gerald Kaufman personally but I can tell by the words in the

:02:32. > :02:34.tributes paid to him today that I have seriously missed out but I

:02:35. > :02:42.would like to extend my something to his friends and family. -- my

:02:43. > :02:47.sympathy. My constituent was medically disqualified from driving

:02:48. > :02:53.but with favourable reports from his but with favourable reports from his

:02:54. > :03:03.doctor he reapplied for to the DVLA. Could we have a statement about the

:03:04. > :03:10.time taken for DVLA reviews? Is still waiting for a conclusion. The

:03:11. > :03:14.best advice I could give the honourable gentleman is to pursue

:03:15. > :03:20.this directly with transport ministers and Chief Executive of the

:03:21. > :03:31.DVLA. The right principle I think has to be that somebody who has

:03:32. > :03:34.health grounds should be able to health grounds should be able to

:03:35. > :03:39.reapply and have their case looked at fairly on the basis of evidence

:03:40. > :03:42.but those assessing the evidence clearly do have to satisfy

:03:43. > :03:52.themselves that other road users and pedestrians would not be put at risk

:03:53. > :03:58.if the license were to be restored. May I associate myself with the

:03:59. > :04:00.comments about Gerald Kaufman? I hope while I am the year I would

:04:01. > :04:06.achieve a fraction of his stature in achieve a fraction of his stature in

:04:07. > :04:13.the House. Following his passion for all things related to culture, and

:04:14. > :04:14.given the recent by-election in my city of Stoke-on-Trent, and

:04:15. > :04:19.appalling coverage that was written appalling coverage that was written

:04:20. > :04:25.about it, can I call for a debate on government time about why my great

:04:26. > :04:33.city should be worded the city of culture in 2021? The honourable lady

:04:34. > :04:37.has launched the campaign this afternoon and I am sure she may have

:04:38. > :04:41.opportunities whether in question to ministers or in debates of the

:04:42. > :04:52.various kinds to make that case even more strongly. I think most of us

:04:53. > :04:58.know that the terms that make up the modern city of Stoke-on-Trent have

:04:59. > :05:03.an amazing history of cultural contributions to our country. Most

:05:04. > :05:13.notably through our pottery industry but also in the role that Stoke has

:05:14. > :05:18.played in the Industrial Revolution and in the development of British

:05:19. > :05:25.industry and technology over so many years. We are seeing with Hull this

:05:26. > :05:30.year the difference being designated city of culture can make to the

:05:31. > :05:36.self-confidence of a city. I hope that without prejudice to any

:05:37. > :05:41.decision in future that Stoke-on-Trent could be city of

:05:42. > :05:44.culture one day as well. I would like to associate myself with the

:05:45. > :05:49.remarks of the Leader of the House. Sorry, the father of the House. I

:05:50. > :05:54.did not know Gerald as well as some of my colleagues but I always found

:05:55. > :05:55.him immensely kind. I wish to raise my Private Members' Bill

:05:56. > :06:02.boundaries. Last year over 140 boundaries. Last year over 140

:06:03. > :06:08.members of this House from every region and every single part of --

:06:09. > :06:14.every single party, stayed on a Friday to thought overwhelmingly for

:06:15. > :06:19.this bill. It was the will of this House and yet instead of the

:06:20. > :06:24.Government allowing it to progress to committee, and of the wish to

:06:25. > :06:29.vote against it at the third reading, they chose to engage what I

:06:30. > :06:32.can only describe as a series of dirty tricks to prevent this bill

:06:33. > :06:37.getting into committee. I suspect it is because they feared I had the

:06:38. > :06:40.support of the committee and it would have progressed to third

:06:41. > :06:44.reading. I would remind the Leader of the House that we had a

:06:45. > :06:48.referendum in this country in which the sovereignty of Parliament and

:06:49. > :06:51.the will of this House was an important feature and yet this has

:06:52. > :06:56.demonstrated that the will of this House counts for nothing if it

:06:57. > :07:03.clashes with the will of the lady in Number Ten. I have worked with the

:07:04. > :07:10.Leader of the House very well in the past and I found him to be a decent

:07:11. > :07:17.man. This has not reflected well on them and I think it has not been

:07:18. > :07:21.well done -- on him. There is no doubt in our commitment to her

:07:22. > :07:28.Private Members' Bill but I think in fairness she must acknowledge that

:07:29. > :07:35.the Government are government itself has a majority and it came to office

:07:36. > :07:38.with a particular commitment of its own in regards to boundary changes

:07:39. > :07:43.on which it had fought and won a general election. In respect to the

:07:44. > :07:53.statement in regards to committee stage, I think it is possible for

:07:54. > :08:00.her committee to meet and begin debating irrespective of whether a

:08:01. > :08:10.resolution has been secured, and my advice would be for that committee

:08:11. > :08:18.to convene and begin its work. In May 2005 I was in the tearoom and I

:08:19. > :08:29.was rather chuffed to be sitting near Sir Gerald Kaufman, listening

:08:30. > :08:34.to him talk to people and a Bacharach three came in and said the

:08:35. > :08:42.Q2 join the others was short and anyone could do so. Gerald turned to

:08:43. > :08:43.me and told me to go, he said one day it might help you to be Leader

:08:44. > :08:50.of the House. I slightly glazed over of the House. I slightly glazed over

:08:51. > :08:58.at the thought of my age and how long I would be here and the AJ

:08:59. > :09:02.would be at two the Leader of the House, and I heard this voice saying

:09:03. > :09:05.to go and I did and I have to say to go and I did and I have to say

:09:06. > :09:11.yesterday, Mr Speaker, the women in this House were sent a list of where

:09:12. > :09:17.they stood in the ranking of women elected to this House and I'm

:09:18. > :09:22.ashamed to say, Mr Speaker, that I took an amount of pleasure in

:09:23. > :09:31.noticing how many women who came in the same year of me -- as me that I

:09:32. > :09:38.I am 264 and the member opposite who I am 264 and the member opposite who

:09:39. > :09:47.was actually at school in Bridgend comes after me as 265. I cannot

:09:48. > :09:49.begin to tell you the pleasure Sir Gerald will always give me in terms

:09:50. > :09:59.of that little piece of advice. While sitting there, he spoke of the

:10:00. > :10:07.importance of focusing on the people who send you hear. In doing so, can

:10:08. > :10:12.I ask the leader of the House, is he aware that the automotive industry

:10:13. > :10:20.has an economic value to the economy of this country of 71.6 billion per

:10:21. > :10:29.year? With an additional 18.9 billion in added value? Some 169,000

:10:30. > :10:35.people are directly employed on over 184,000 are accessed employment in

:10:36. > :10:42.the wider industry. 12% of the total value of UK exports and goods comes

:10:43. > :10:46.from the 13 manufacturers building 70 models of cars and the 2000

:10:47. > :10:56.component providers working in that industry. Never mind the 4 billion

:10:57. > :11:01.invested in automotive R and D. Given the events of Bridgend

:11:02. > :11:08.yesterday, can we have automotive Summit composed of honourable

:11:09. > :11:11.members, appropriate ministers, companies and trade unions involved

:11:12. > :11:21.in this great British industry that we need to be working to ensure the

:11:22. > :11:33.future of? Post Brexit. I completely understand the vital importance of

:11:34. > :11:33.the automotive industry. There will be

:11:34. > :11:40.questions to the Secretary of State for the song 14 March. I will

:11:41. > :11:47.certainly ensure that he is aware before then of the honourable lady's

:11:48. > :11:50.concerns. And I hope she will know that she is very committed

:11:51. > :11:58.personally to doing all that is within the power of government to

:11:59. > :12:01.ensure that the UK automotive industry is competitive, is able to

:12:02. > :12:06.deal with the challenges posed by Brexit and with the wider issues of

:12:07. > :12:09.global competition and digital technology, and that we are also

:12:10. > :12:13.determined as a government to try to ensure that we have an industrial

:12:14. > :12:24.strategy that works to deliver jobs and prosperity to every part of this

:12:25. > :12:31.country. I would like to give me warm tributes to the recently passed

:12:32. > :12:38.father of the House. The Tory led Coalition which currently leads

:12:39. > :12:44.Stirling Council was forced to back down on one of their policies. Could

:12:45. > :12:51.we have a debate here of the provision of public services more

:12:52. > :12:55.generally, so we could educate councillors in sterling that

:12:56. > :13:02.privatisation is not the answer for the services. Local authorities of

:13:03. > :13:05.all political colours and national government has to consider what

:13:06. > :13:13.outcome is going to be best for the people who we serve and the people

:13:14. > :13:16.using particular services. It is the quality of the outcome for the

:13:17. > :13:20.service user that seems to be more important than whether that happens

:13:21. > :13:27.to be provided by directly managed service or one managed through a

:13:28. > :13:39.contract of some kind. In paying tribute to Sir Gerald, I speak as

:13:40. > :13:48.the newest member of the House. I never got the privilege to speak to

:13:49. > :14:05.Sir Gerald. I received a note from him upon my election. Without

:14:06. > :14:09.quoting verbatim, it said that I should be comfortable. He then gave

:14:10. > :14:14.me a chequered history of my three immediate predecessors of whom he

:14:15. > :14:21.had served with. I will never release the letter. Especially to my

:14:22. > :14:26.immediate predecessor who is the assembly minister for my

:14:27. > :14:35.constituency. It is something that will live with me for the rest of my

:14:36. > :14:42.life. The key point of Sir Gerald's work was in camping things

:14:43. > :14:46.constituency. Ford affects many hundreds of workers in my

:14:47. > :14:52.constituency. Can I echo the calls for an automotive Summit, but also

:14:53. > :14:58.not just to wait for questions for the Secretary of State for energy,

:14:59. > :15:02.but to have a statement on the floor of the House to explain what the

:15:03. > :15:05.Prime Minister meant yesterday by ongoing discussions with the

:15:06. > :15:09.automotive industry and how it is exactly he will help the people of

:15:10. > :15:20.Bridgend and ensure that Ford continues in the years I had. As I

:15:21. > :15:27.said in response to his honourable friend, ahead of questions on the

:15:28. > :15:34.14th, I will ensure that these concerns are expressed. I will ask

:15:35. > :15:45.him to consider the request for a summit and a statement. Can I echo

:15:46. > :15:50.the tributes to Sir Gerald? I offer my condolences to his friends and

:15:51. > :16:02.family. Following the promises of neural federalism, too promising

:16:03. > :16:09.agriculture and fisheries being devolved infill, can I ask the

:16:10. > :16:15.leader of the House if a facility of debate on wrought? Referendum

:16:16. > :16:19.promises made to the Scottish people? The promise I remember being

:16:20. > :16:29.broken is that the referendum in Scotland would settle the issue for

:16:30. > :16:35.a generation. Point of order. Can I thank the leader of the House and

:16:36. > :16:41.all colleagues who over the last two hours have contributed so eloquently

:16:42. > :16:48.and with feeling, based on their knowledge and appreciation of the

:16:49. > :16:55.late Sir Gerald. These are very difficult, fraught and perhaps even

:16:56. > :17:02.harrowing times. For members of Sir Gerald's family. I hope they will

:17:03. > :17:09.derive some succour and comfort from knowledge of the affection and

:17:10. > :17:17.esteem in which there are great family member was held in this

:17:18. > :17:22.House. To conclude, reference was made to the fact that I myself and

:17:23. > :17:27.others had visited Sir Gerald in recent months. I visited him twice

:17:28. > :17:35.at his London home. Most recently in January. I shall always treasure my

:17:36. > :17:42.very close memory of the conversations that we had. His

:17:43. > :17:51.recollection of historical anecdotes was second to none. And often

:17:52. > :17:55.extremely amusing. He was a very special person. He was certainly a

:17:56. > :18:03.great parliamentarian. And I'm sure people will understand if I see that

:18:04. > :18:11.alongside being an outstanding and indefatigable member of Parliament

:18:12. > :18:14.in his constituency, Gerald was quintessentially a House of Commons

:18:15. > :18:24.person. On behalf of colleagues, I can offer no greater tribute to Sir

:18:25. > :18:33.Gerald than to say that. Point of order. I echo those elegant remarks.

:18:34. > :18:40.I know you were in the chair when the unaccompanied children in Greece

:18:41. > :18:41.and Italy occurred. You cut the time on it immediately before I