Browse content similar to 14/04/2016. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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stage is to look at this pipeline and make sure we are encouraging | :00:00. | :00:00. | |
women every step to make sure we have more women on board than ever | :00:00. | :00:07. | |
before. THE SPEAKER: The shadow leader of | :00:08. | :00:12. | |
the House. Will the Leader of the House give us the forthcoming | :00:13. | :00:17. | |
business, please? Mr Speaker if you allow me to say that I think the | :00:18. | :00:22. | |
shadow leader, myself and the SNP spokesman all have something in | :00:23. | :00:25. | |
common this morning. We should feel anxious after the march of the | :00:26. | :00:29. | |
deputies before the recess. I would like to congratulate all three for | :00:30. | :00:34. | |
doing a star turn in that last session before recess. There will be | :00:35. | :00:40. | |
another opportunity as well. Monday 18th April there'll be a debate on | :00:41. | :00:44. | |
the introduction of the national living wage and related changes to | :00:45. | :00:50. | |
employee contracts, followed by a debate on educational attainment in | :00:51. | :00:54. | |
North Yorkshire and the Humber. Tuesday, 19th April, will be the | :00:55. | :00:59. | |
remaining stages of the Bank of England and financialfy nanssing | :01:00. | :01:04. | |
bills. The consideration of the Energy Bill, Lords. Followed by a | :01:05. | :01:10. | |
debate There'll be a debate on a motion on | :01:11. | :01:17. | |
record copies of acts. The subject for this debate was determined by | :01:18. | :01:22. | |
the Backbench Business Committee. On Thursday 22nd April, Mr Speaker, the | :01:23. | :01:27. | |
Prime Minister and indeed I think the whole House will participate in | :01:28. | :01:34. | |
a humble address to mark the Queen's 90th birthday. Friday, the House | :01:35. | :01:41. | |
will not be sitting. On 25 April, consideration of Lords amendment | :01:42. | :01:46. | |
followed by a debate on educational funding in London, a Backbench | :01:47. | :01:49. | |
Business Committee debate. Tuesday 26th April is the first day of the | :01:50. | :01:53. | |
remaining stages of the policing and Crime Bill. 27th April consideration | :01:54. | :01:59. | |
of Lords amen mends and 28th April a backbench committee day, where the | :02:00. | :02:04. | |
debate on world autism awareness week, followed by a debate on HMRC's | :02:05. | :02:13. | |
building our future plan, the plan. Friday 29th April, the House is not | :02:14. | :02:17. | |
sitting. I should also inform members that the business of | :02:18. | :02:21. | |
Westminster Hall on 25th April will be a debate on the e-petition | :02:22. | :02:29. | |
relating to meningitis B. Mr Speaker, can I start by | :02:30. | :02:34. | |
congratulating the deputy, the wonderful and magnificent member for | :02:35. | :02:39. | |
Grimsby and all the opposite, and all her opposite numbers on their | :02:40. | :02:44. | |
very impressive appearance last time. It was the first time all | :02:45. | :02:51. | |
three were women. In the word of Annie Lennox, "Sisters are doing it | :02:52. | :02:56. | |
for themselves." I am coming to him in a moment! | :02:57. | :03:02. | |
I also wish the honourable member for Wolverhampton North-East and her | :03:03. | :03:07. | |
fiancee well for their wedding on Saturday. I know there are not many | :03:08. | :03:11. | |
Tories in the chamber today. I gather there is an away day for the | :03:12. | :03:15. | |
Conservative Party, or maybe two away days in different parts of the | :03:16. | :03:19. | |
country. Apparently it is a dress-down event. I have a horrible | :03:20. | :03:25. | |
image of the honourable member for Lichfield preparing his outfit, but | :03:26. | :03:29. | |
I will leave that there! I have seen it before and yes, it is not very | :03:30. | :03:35. | |
pretty! Mr Speaker, I asked on 10th March whether you could hear the | :03:36. | :03:39. | |
slow ebbing down the beach of the authority of the Prime Minister and, | :03:40. | :03:44. | |
boy, wasn't I right! When there is still so much to be done to improve | :03:45. | :03:48. | |
the life chances of the most vulnerable, it is difficult to | :03:49. | :03:53. | |
justify putting middle class tax cuts before the needs of the working | :03:54. | :03:57. | |
poor and the socially disadvantaged. That is not me, it is a Conservative | :03:58. | :04:03. | |
Member of Parliament, the MP for central Suffolk and East Ipswich, | :04:04. | :04:07. | |
even Tories admit the Prime Minister is a busted flush. We had a classic | :04:08. | :04:13. | |
example of this yesterday, I bet the Prime Minister thought he was giving | :04:14. | :04:17. | |
a helpful plug for the kur ri yous ins curious incident of the dog in | :04:18. | :04:25. | |
the night. The author of the book, Mark Haddon was horrified. He | :04:26. | :04:29. | |
treated his agreement with the Smiths, who said "David Cameron stop | :04:30. | :04:33. | |
saying you like the Smiths, no, you don't. I forbid you to like it! " | :04:34. | :04:39. | |
There are 63 private member bills on the paper today. Two new ones were | :04:40. | :04:46. | |
added this week. When the members for Selby and for Donn valley were | :04:47. | :04:51. | |
asked second reading, what day by you? They said, 28th April. Even | :04:52. | :04:56. | |
though they know, you know, I know and everyone else knows that we will | :04:57. | :05:01. | |
not be sitting that day or any other Friday during this session. | :05:02. | :05:04. | |
Incidentally, Mr Speaker, why on Earth do you say, second reading, | :05:05. | :05:09. | |
what day? As if you are Yoda in Star Wars? Why can't you say it in proper | :05:10. | :05:17. | |
English? Yesterday, it is a good impersonation you do, mind you. When | :05:18. | :05:23. | |
you call Andrew Salooo! Yesterday there was an excellent debate on | :05:24. | :05:26. | |
this in Westminster Hall. Many of us think that the present system of | :05:27. | :05:31. | |
private member bills is a waste of time and brings the House into | :05:32. | :05:37. | |
disrepute. When the report is published will the leader make | :05:38. | :05:40. | |
proper time for us to debate changes f that is what the House wants to | :05:41. | :05:45. | |
do? Incidentally, can the leader do something about the small Business | :05:46. | :05:49. | |
Minister? I mean the minister for small business? She has become | :05:50. | :05:55. | |
terribly patronising. She called me "darling" on Question Time last | :05:56. | :06:00. | |
week. All I say to her, is frankly I have been patronised by much better | :06:01. | :06:05. | |
women than you. I have a terrible fear she thinks she's becoming | :06:06. | :06:12. | |
Maggie Smith, from Downton Abbey. She cackles away during the debate | :06:13. | :06:17. | |
that she almost makes makes me seem calm and reasonable. On Tuesday, she | :06:18. | :06:21. | |
praised the role that the community union have played in the steel | :06:22. | :06:25. | |
crisis. Absolutely right. She and her colleagues are the very | :06:26. | :06:29. | |
ministers who are forcing the trade union bill through Parliament and | :06:30. | :06:34. | |
utterly partisan piece of legislation which tries to cut the | :06:35. | :06:38. | |
trade union legs off and is being cut to ribbons in the House of | :06:39. | :06:44. | |
Lords. Wouldn't she be better off listening to Liberty, who say it is | :06:45. | :06:49. | |
a legislation which will destroy the finely balanced relationships | :06:50. | :06:51. | |
between trade unions and business? Can't we have a debate and it cannot | :06:52. | :06:57. | |
be an opposition debate because he has not given us one, on boardroom | :06:58. | :07:04. | |
chair. The chair of the remuneration of bp is giving its chairman a 20% | :07:05. | :07:11. | |
pay hike. Taking his remuneration to ?14 million, in a year the company | :07:12. | :07:16. | |
has made its biggest ever losses and has cut 25% of its workforce. What | :07:17. | :07:20. | |
message does it send from the Government that she's been a | :07:21. | :07:25. | |
non-executive board member of the Department for Business since 2014? | :07:26. | :07:29. | |
Why don't the Government have a big sign printed, put over the | :07:30. | :07:32. | |
department saying, there is one rule for the rich and quite another for | :07:33. | :07:37. | |
the rest of you? Why don't they get 20 of these printed and put one over | :07:38. | :07:42. | |
the Treasury, one over HMRC, one over Downing Street? Fundamentally | :07:43. | :07:46. | |
that is the Government's motto today, isn't it? Finally, can we | :07:47. | :07:51. | |
have a debait on underachievement? Some people on that side of the | :07:52. | :07:55. | |
House this I if you are not a millionaire you are a failure. Can I | :07:56. | :07:59. | |
tell you who has achieved something in life, it is the woman who gets up | :08:00. | :08:05. | |
at 4am to catch the first bus to clean a hotel for 13 hours for the | :08:06. | :08:10. | |
minimum wage, the widower who can make sure he can put food on the | :08:11. | :08:14. | |
table for his children. The middle aged woman who gives up her job to | :08:15. | :08:21. | |
care for her elderly dad. The squady, who goes way beyond the Call | :08:22. | :08:25. | |
of Duty. I would be proud to sit in a house full of people like that, | :08:26. | :08:32. | |
rather than have to face these dead beats over there. A Health Secretary | :08:33. | :08:38. | |
who has alienated the NHS. A Chancellor who produces a budget so | :08:39. | :08:42. | |
unfair that it even made Iain Duncan Smith cry. | :08:43. | :08:49. | |
Mr Speaker, I can first thank all of those who were involved in | :08:50. | :08:56. | |
organising the security stands in Portcullis House yesterday? I hope | :08:57. | :09:01. | |
all members on all sides will take advantage of the equipment on | :09:02. | :09:06. | |
display there. I am pleased to learn they run out of equipment such was | :09:07. | :09:11. | |
the degrie of interest. The shadow leader talked about poverty. Let me | :09:12. | :09:16. | |
remain this - child poverty under this Government is falling. | :09:17. | :09:21. | |
Unequality under this Government is falling T proportion of tax paid by | :09:22. | :09:26. | |
the wealthiest in our society is rising.ly take no lessons from that | :09:27. | :09:30. | |
-- I will take no lessons from that side after a shall billion lick | :09:31. | :09:37. | |
decade in Parliament when they left 2.5 million unemployed, communities | :09:38. | :09:40. | |
struggling with a failing economy. We have turned it away in a -- | :09:41. | :09:43. | |
around in a way they couldn't have done. About the private member | :09:44. | :09:48. | |
bills, of course it is open to any Select Committee to bring a matter | :09:49. | :09:51. | |
to this House. I am very responsive to the thought we should have a | :09:52. | :09:55. | |
detailed discussion about the recommendations they make and we | :09:56. | :09:59. | |
should look at ways to improve the system. I was a little surprised to | :10:00. | :10:09. | |
hear a star wars joke from the jar jar binnings of the Labour Party. I | :10:10. | :10:15. | |
regard you as greater stature than Yoda and I am surprised he would | :10:16. | :10:20. | |
even make that comparison. On the trade union bill, can I remain the | :10:21. | :10:24. | |
honourable gentleman that the purpose is to stop trade unions | :10:25. | :10:30. | |
holding the public to ransom. We see time and again relatively small | :10:31. | :10:33. | |
groups of working bringing our transport system to a halt, which | :10:34. | :10:37. | |
does damage to far, far more workers. That is why we are the | :10:38. | :10:41. | |
party of the workers. We are representing the millions travelling | :10:42. | :10:46. | |
to work, not a tiny minority of trade unionists who want to cause | :10:47. | :10:51. | |
trouble for our country. On the subject of boardroom pay, it is of | :10:52. | :10:57. | |
course a matter for shareholders and board members as to what to pay | :10:58. | :11:05. | |
directors. I would not condone large pay rises, I hope all those involved | :11:06. | :11:12. | |
in attending general meetings t shareholders will look carefully to | :11:13. | :11:19. | |
ensure the message is sent out and consistent with a well motivated | :11:20. | :11:29. | |
workforce. We have a debate every Wednesday about the underunder | :11:30. | :11:33. | |
achievers. The biggest is the leader of the opposition. | :11:34. | :11:38. | |
I will also Mr Speaker be joining the Conservative Party away day this | :11:39. | :11:42. | |
afternoon. There is one event for the Conservative Party. The truth is | :11:43. | :11:46. | |
on their side they would really struggle to hold an away day, such | :11:47. | :11:50. | |
as the divisions in their party, such as the desire to remove their | :11:51. | :12:10. | |
leader. Image Image sitting bebehind one underachieves week after week. | :12:11. | :12:13. | |
THE SPEAKER: We must hear the leader of the House. | :12:14. | :12:18. | |
Finally something which will unite all in the House apart from | :12:19. | :12:24. | |
Tottenham supporters, good luck to Leicester City in their final games. | :12:25. | :12:33. | |
It would be an extraordinary achievement 2,500-1 outsiders to | :12:34. | :12:36. | |
win. Talking of outsiders, I have been trying to put a few quid on | :12:37. | :12:39. | |
another rank outsider. I have been to the bookies. I asked the bookies | :12:40. | :12:44. | |
if they would let me have a bet on the shadow leader winning the battle | :12:45. | :12:50. | |
to succeed, due in due course, as the next speaker. I have to tell the | :12:51. | :12:54. | |
House that the bookies thought it was so bizarre they wouldn't even | :12:55. | :12:56. | |
take my money. The European referendum campaign has | :12:57. | :13:10. | |
kicked off with a controversy about Government leaflets and now the | :13:11. | :13:13. | |
local election campaign in Southend is marred in controversy. Would my | :13:14. | :13:17. | |
Right Honourable friend find time for a debate on the conduct of local | :13:18. | :13:23. | |
authorities behaviour during local election campaigns, because it is | :13:24. | :13:27. | |
claimed that my local authority in Southend, which consists of seven | :13:28. | :13:34. | |
individual groupings is sending out blatant party electioneering letters | :13:35. | :13:40. | |
about an energy company and including articles in magazines | :13:41. | :13:42. | |
without the appropriate election in print. | :13:43. | :13:49. | |
There are very clear rules as to how to conduct themselves in referendum | :13:50. | :13:54. | |
and election campaigns and four local authorities it is a matter for | :13:55. | :13:58. | |
the Chief Executive to ensure those rules are kept. There are | :13:59. | :14:01. | |
appropriate authorities to complain to if that does not happen and I | :14:02. | :14:05. | |
hope he will do that. As regards to the overall national leaflet for the | :14:06. | :14:11. | |
Government it has a fine picture on it. Can I thank him for announcing | :14:12. | :14:18. | |
the business for next week and also paid tribute to a very efficient | :14:19. | :14:23. | |
deputy when we were able to make it the victory might honourable friend | :14:24. | :14:28. | |
the member for South Cheshire who was an undoubted star of the show. | :14:29. | :14:35. | |
This little tired stuff was put forward to the House. I tried to get | :14:36. | :14:41. | |
a bet in Scotland as to who would succeed in the race to be the next | :14:42. | :14:46. | |
First Minister. The odds are better for him than the actual Conservative | :14:47. | :14:54. | |
candidate Ruth Davidson herself. Yesterday my honourable friend the | :14:55. | :14:58. | |
member from Ruby is the issue of those working in the benefits | :14:59. | :15:01. | |
investigators against those working in the affluent union in the HMRC. | :15:02. | :15:07. | |
After appearing there was a tad bemused and embarrassed, deeply | :15:08. | :15:11. | |
masted seem to doubt the robustness of the figures. I say that my | :15:12. | :15:18. | |
honourable friend perhaps got these figures wrong. It is reported in the | :15:19. | :15:22. | |
Guardian This Morning that the 3200 figure quoted by my Right Honourable | :15:23. | :15:29. | |
friend has now sworn to 3700 of benefits investigators compared to | :15:30. | :15:38. | |
320 in the affluent unit. Can we have a debate about these relative | :15:39. | :15:43. | |
numbers and if the Prime Minister still has a mind to Charles and he | :15:44. | :15:46. | |
can perhaps come to the Beard himself and tell us what the figures | :15:47. | :15:50. | |
actually are. Speaking of the Prime Minister he has now consistently and | :15:51. | :15:54. | |
repeatedly refused to come before the Liaison Committee to answer | :15:55. | :15:58. | |
questions about the EU referendum. It is an absolute disgrace. He has a | :15:59. | :16:02. | |
responsibility and obligation to come before the Committee chairs to | :16:03. | :16:06. | |
answer these questions. I don't know why he has this anxiety and viruses | :16:07. | :16:11. | |
but I am certain that a gentle approach from the Leader of the | :16:12. | :16:18. | |
House -- nervousness. To take up his responsibilities and have a quiet | :16:19. | :16:22. | |
chat with those Committee chairs and Liaison Committee. We were promised | :16:23. | :16:25. | |
several statements on military action in Syria and we haven't had | :16:26. | :16:32. | |
any at all. I perhaps know the reason why there hasn't been | :16:33. | :16:36. | |
statements, because there is nothing to report. There has been no | :16:37. | :16:41. | |
military operations since the beginning of March and the last time | :16:42. | :16:46. | |
the fabled Princeton system was used was February 18. We are supposedly | :16:47. | :16:52. | |
engaged in Syria to support opposition forces fighting Daesh on | :16:53. | :16:55. | |
the ground but there is little evidence that that is happening. | :16:56. | :17:01. | |
Even if it is just the Defence Secretary counters house to tell us | :17:02. | :17:02. | |
that nothing much sexy happening. It is not the fabled monster of law | :17:03. | :17:15. | |
it is in fact a hollowed out old wreck and has been stuck in the deep | :17:16. | :17:26. | |
for a number of decades. He says Scottish Tories and I couldn't | :17:27. | :17:34. | |
possibly add to that. The chaotic we were party take over the opinion | :17:35. | :17:41. | |
poll is perhaps a testament to the Conservative government itself. -- | :17:42. | :17:46. | |
Labour Party. I can reassure the honourable gentleman I have | :17:47. | :17:49. | |
absolutely no expectation or desire to be the next First Minister of | :17:50. | :17:54. | |
Scotland. However I am equally convinced that the Conservative | :17:55. | :17:57. | |
leader in Scotland would indeed be an excellent First Minister of | :17:58. | :18:01. | |
Scotland and I had to say whatever the outcome of the other selections | :18:02. | :18:04. | |
it is clear that the Scottish people think she would be a better First | :18:05. | :18:08. | |
Minister than the current Labour leader in Scotland and I suspect | :18:09. | :18:12. | |
that is something we could agree on. On the issue of HMRC, there are | :18:13. | :18:17. | |
thousands of people in HMRC whose job is day in day out to insured the | :18:18. | :18:20. | |
secure the right amount of tax elsewhere. This government has a | :18:21. | :18:28. | |
record that is far better than the predecessors in securing the | :18:29. | :18:33. | |
repayment of tax from overseas centres, in tightening up the rules | :18:34. | :18:36. | |
and closing loopholes, things that were never done when the Labour | :18:37. | :18:40. | |
Party was in power during the last decade. On the question of the | :18:41. | :18:45. | |
Liaison Committee, I know there are discussions between the chair of | :18:46. | :18:49. | |
that Committee and number ten, dates have been provided and promised to | :18:50. | :18:53. | |
the future. I have no doubt the Prime Minister will continue to give | :18:54. | :18:55. | |
evidence to the Liaison Committee in a proper way. On Syria, the last | :18:56. | :19:01. | |
statement by the International Development Secretary was in | :19:02. | :19:04. | |
February and I expect a statement from the Ministry of Defence in the | :19:05. | :19:08. | |
very near future to update on defence matters in Syria. It is | :19:09. | :19:14. | |
right and proper and the House was also able to question the Foreign | :19:15. | :19:18. | |
Secretary back in March about what were very important issues. I think | :19:19. | :19:23. | |
we hope in this country that the ceasefire that has been in place in | :19:24. | :19:27. | |
Syria, not completely kept but has at least taken things thawed a step, | :19:28. | :19:33. | |
can continue. He mentioned the Labour Party but what he saw | :19:34. | :19:41. | |
headlights is sometimes... I am very grateful to the backbenchers | :19:42. | :19:44. | |
business committed to finding time for debate on the important issue, | :19:45. | :19:51. | |
as read of the self to decide these matters. Will he confirm to me that | :19:52. | :19:56. | |
despite the fact that debate to be replied to by a Cabinet officers | :19:57. | :19:59. | |
there is nonetheless remains has business, much for a free Bob Dudley | :20:00. | :20:04. | |
for Conservative Party, an opportunity for us to say in the | :20:05. | :20:08. | |
House of Lords we feel strongly on these matters and wanted to be | :20:09. | :20:16. | |
known. Of course it is a custom and practice forgotten Mr is to be in | :20:17. | :20:22. | |
this House week in week out to respond to backbench business | :20:23. | :20:26. | |
debates. Add a bit of that kind will be no different. It is assigned | :20:27. | :20:30. | |
earlier on the order paper and the House can discuss these issues | :20:31. | :20:33. | |
shortly. The honourable gentleman on the other side who wish to speak | :20:34. | :20:36. | |
against, I think the Shadow leader will wish to speak favour. To | :20:37. | :20:43. | |
continue the Star Wars theme, it is grateful but I am, Mr Speaker. In | :20:44. | :20:52. | |
the leader announcement on the future business, members will look | :20:53. | :20:55. | |
as there are four days in the next two weeks in which there are | :20:56. | :20:59. | |
backbench debates to take place and I believe that after that, there | :21:00. | :21:04. | |
could be two weeks of business before the Queen's Speech. We are | :21:05. | :21:09. | |
still some way short of our 27 days in the parliament and they do | :21:10. | :21:13. | |
anticipate an amicable accommodation over the number of days for | :21:14. | :21:16. | |
backbench business before the Queen's Speech. I know we have just | :21:17. | :21:22. | |
had questions to the Minister for Women and Equalities but one thing | :21:23. | :21:25. | |
which did occur to me to relate to submit a question was that on the | :21:26. | :21:29. | |
white paper on education, the removal of the requirement to have | :21:30. | :21:35. | |
parent governors, and it is a removal of a requirement, parents | :21:36. | :21:38. | |
will still be governors in other categories but it is the removal of | :21:39. | :21:42. | |
the requirement to have parent governors that it will | :21:43. | :21:45. | |
disproportionately impact on women, particularly in primary schools, | :21:46. | :21:49. | |
given the number of primary schools which are yet to convert. I wonder | :21:50. | :21:54. | |
if we could have a statement from the Minister for Women and equality | :21:55. | :21:57. | |
is about the impact of the implications of the white paper on | :21:58. | :22:04. | |
women and other minorities? Of course this is a subject that was | :22:05. | :22:09. | |
discussed in this House yesterday. We have just had women and old is | :22:10. | :22:15. | |
questions of course, if any measures, there will be | :22:16. | :22:18. | |
opportunities to debate them. If I may, he makes an important point | :22:19. | :22:22. | |
about service coming forward. As a government tester I would not | :22:23. | :22:26. | |
normally make a representation to Backbench Business Committee, if I | :22:27. | :22:28. | |
could break that rule. I think it would be a very good idea that we | :22:29. | :22:33. | |
have a number of requests over the weeks of this session for members on | :22:34. | :22:35. | |
both sides to talk about the work being done by voluntary sector | :22:36. | :22:40. | |
groups in their constituencies. I would venture to suggest to the | :22:41. | :22:44. | |
business backbench Committee that providing an opportunity to do that | :22:45. | :22:46. | |
over the next three or four weeks would be a valuable response to | :22:47. | :22:51. | |
those requests. I think most of a subgroup Sudbury Valley and we wish | :22:52. | :22:54. | |
to pay to be two and having a base debate would be valuable in my view. | :22:55. | :23:02. | |
According to recent polling by you Gulf, 85% of the public believe that | :23:03. | :23:07. | |
the recently produced EU leaflet produced by the Government was | :23:08. | :23:10. | |
biased and 50% of the public disapproval of it completely. Can we | :23:11. | :23:13. | |
therefore have a statement from the Government stating that no further | :23:14. | :23:17. | |
such materials will be produced during the referendum campaign? And | :23:18. | :23:24. | |
also can they confirm that the leaves and remain campaigns | :23:25. | :23:26. | |
following yesterday's declination will have parity in terms of | :23:27. | :23:30. | |
funding, spending power and media coverage going forward? The | :23:31. | :23:36. | |
Government position has been to support remaining in the European | :23:37. | :23:39. | |
Union and that was the context in which the leaflet was distributed. | :23:40. | :23:42. | |
It has clearly provoked strong views around the country. In those | :23:43. | :23:47. | |
households where it has been discovered, certainly in my | :23:48. | :23:51. | |
household it was rather buried in the Peter leaflets. But what I would | :23:52. | :23:58. | |
say to you, it is of -- fundamental importance over the coming weeks | :23:59. | :24:02. | |
that both sides of the argument received the appropriate support | :24:03. | :24:04. | |
under the rules that were set out in the act that we debated in the past | :24:05. | :24:08. | |
last year. I'm sure that'll be the case and the Government will want to | :24:09. | :24:12. | |
ensure that that happens and the broadcasters will also want to | :24:13. | :24:15. | |
ensure there is a proper balance between the two sides in the debate. | :24:16. | :24:21. | |
In the middle of all the work I have done on the steel industry recently | :24:22. | :24:24. | |
and local transport, I received a phone call from a distraught couple | :24:25. | :24:30. | |
who run a rescue centre in my constituency. -- rack shelf is that | :24:31. | :24:35. | |
I centre. They are nursing back to health care job in the last week | :24:36. | :24:38. | |
with spines were cut off by a pair of scissors. -- hedgehog. They | :24:39. | :24:45. | |
expressed their frustration to the perpetrators of this wicked act are | :24:46. | :24:47. | |
very unlikely to be brought to justice. Can we have a debate not | :24:48. | :24:52. | |
only on the need to extend and increased population of hedgehogs as | :24:53. | :24:55. | |
I know the honourable member for Plymouth is often called but also | :24:56. | :24:59. | |
the need to increase protections for these wonderful creatures? I | :25:00. | :25:07. | |
absolutely agree. I saw the picture that hedgehog, it was shocking and | :25:08. | :25:11. | |
it sometimes beggars believe how low and unpleasant some people in our | :25:12. | :25:13. | |
society can be, utterly unacceptable. We do from time to | :25:14. | :25:19. | |
time find extraordinary examples of maltreatment of animals. What I | :25:20. | :25:22. | |
would say to her is the law does allow prosecution of people who have | :25:23. | :25:25. | |
committed the offences and they certainly would hope in a case like | :25:26. | :25:28. | |
the one that hedgehog is the perpetrators could be found they | :25:29. | :25:31. | |
would be prosecuted but that is a matter for the independent | :25:32. | :25:34. | |
prosecution authorities but I urge them to take that issue very | :25:35. | :25:37. | |
seriously. The Government will of course continue to look at ways of | :25:38. | :25:41. | |
ensuring that we provide proper protection for animals in our | :25:42. | :25:45. | |
society. I'm sure she will now be joining the campaign being led by | :25:46. | :25:49. | |
Right Honourable friend for Plymouth Sutton to provide the protection | :25:50. | :25:51. | |
that is clearly supported by many tens of thousands of people. Can I | :25:52. | :25:57. | |
ask him whether it would be possible to have an early debate on the | :25:58. | :26:01. | |
potential role by the House of Commons in providing information to | :26:02. | :26:05. | |
the public in the EU referendum campaign? The public are now clearly | :26:06. | :26:09. | |
given up any hope of getting objective information from the | :26:10. | :26:13. | |
Government. In order to ensure that we can maintain trust in our | :26:14. | :26:17. | |
institutions, does my Right Honourable friend agree that there | :26:18. | :26:22. | |
is a role for the House of Commons library to produce information | :26:23. | :26:27. | |
perhaps in a specialised website? So that my constituents and other | :26:28. | :26:31. | |
constituents can actually see the facts in relation to how much we | :26:32. | :26:35. | |
paid to the European Union each week, the negative balance of trade | :26:36. | :26:40. | |
with the European Union as the impossibility of delivering our | :26:41. | :26:42. | |
manifesto commitment to reduce net migration etc. Could we not put that | :26:43. | :26:46. | |
on a dedicated House of Commons site which by the respected as being | :26:47. | :26:52. | |
objective? I we would we would all pay tribute to the work done by the | :26:53. | :26:56. | |
House of Commons Ivory which is a valuable service that provides very | :26:57. | :27:01. | |
dispassionate analysis -- library. It publishes the work that it | :27:02. | :27:04. | |
produces but that this brass as members to ask for that work in the | :27:05. | :27:08. | |
first place and I am sure my honourable friend will seek that | :27:09. | :27:11. | |
kind of analysis on his behalf so it can be published by the public as a | :27:12. | :27:14. | |
whole to judge for themselves the rights and wrongs. It has happened | :27:15. | :27:23. | |
again. Another young boy has been tragically stabbed to death in my | :27:24. | :27:30. | |
constituency. Myron was a talented young rapper who was well loved by | :27:31. | :27:34. | |
his family and friends. We have had the debate in here, the backbench | :27:35. | :27:39. | |
business debate and we were looking to set up a commission. At the last | :27:40. | :27:45. | |
business questions the deputy Leader of the House said to me to go ahead | :27:46. | :27:50. | |
and set up the commission will stop I will do that but what I want to | :27:51. | :27:53. | |
know is how can I access government funds to ensure that that the | :27:54. | :27:59. | |
commission is successful and how can we ensure that the Government | :28:00. | :28:01. | |
respond to the recommendations from it? | :28:02. | :28:07. | |
I am shocked to learn what she just said. It is a tragedy when we lose a | :28:08. | :28:13. | |
young person in such circumstances. So have that occur more than once in | :28:14. | :28:17. | |
her constituency must be difficult for her. I would send all our | :28:18. | :28:22. | |
condough lenses to the family and friends of the Young Vic timg. If it | :28:23. | :28:30. | |
is helpful -- the young victim. When I was tis secretary we introduced | :28:31. | :28:34. | |
further measures to try and frighten up the law so there is a clear | :28:35. | :28:39. | |
presumption of a jail sentence if somebody is caught carrying a knife | :28:40. | :28:44. | |
for a second time. We need to convince young people of the dangers | :28:45. | :28:48. | |
of carrying a knife. That is a task I think we should all share across | :28:49. | :28:50. | |
this House. As a result of his disabilities my | :28:51. | :29:03. | |
constituent, Daniel, Barbali needs a ceiling hoist in his bedroom. He, | :29:04. | :29:07. | |
like every one else, likes to travel and would like to stay in hotels | :29:08. | :29:12. | |
from time to time. He finds few hotels make provisions for this in | :29:13. | :29:16. | |
their bedrooms, even the largest hotels. Could we debate how large | :29:17. | :29:20. | |
hotels could provide at least one or two rooms in every one of their | :29:21. | :29:27. | |
properties which has a ceiling hoist so people like my constituent can | :29:28. | :29:30. | |
travel around and stay in different parts of the country? I think my | :29:31. | :29:35. | |
honourable friend makes an important point and one I had not had brought | :29:36. | :29:40. | |
to me before. He makes a valuable contribution. I think this is a | :29:41. | :29:45. | |
subject where I would encourage him to bring about the minister | :29:46. | :29:47. | |
responsible for the House to put these points to him. By bringing the | :29:48. | :29:53. | |
point up in this House he will encourage hotel chains to think of | :29:54. | :29:55. | |
doing something they have not thought of doing in the past. Can we | :29:56. | :30:02. | |
have an early debate entitled "liberal democracy in the 21st | :30:03. | :30:10. | |
century "to celebrate the hereditary section. Seven candidates have been | :30:11. | :30:16. | |
declared, they will face an electorate of three -. The count | :30:17. | :30:26. | |
will be conducted by elect roral reform -- electoral reform services | :30:27. | :30:29. | |
and the first votes for each candidate and the position after the | :30:30. | :30:34. | |
transfer of votes will be available in the printed paper office. How | :30:35. | :30:38. | |
long are we going to have a situation where a party rejected | :30:39. | :32:41. | |
I'd like to pay tribute to everyone involved in organising successful | :32:42. | :32:54. | |
event. Having been liberated by retirement, he said this week that | :32:55. | :33:00. | |
at least once a month he was approached in his office by the | :33:01. | :33:05. | |
Prime Minister, other ministers in order to favour Tory Party donors, | :33:06. | :33:10. | |
ex-MPs, or other Conservatives officeholders to favour them in | :33:11. | :33:14. | |
appointments, public appointments. When can we have a debate on pit | :33:15. | :33:18. | |
village to discover a wide, for the past six years, the Merit for | :33:19. | :33:24. | |
applicants to these key top dogs was decided on their party Tory card on | :33:25. | :33:28. | |
the amount of money in their wallets. There are times I have just | :33:29. | :33:40. | |
take back and continued amazement at the cheek of the Labour Party. They | :33:41. | :33:44. | |
spent 13 years in government packing the public sector with their | :33:45. | :33:47. | |
grannies and six years later we are still trying to achieve a sensible | :33:48. | :33:50. | |
balance in our public services. I will take no lessons from them, we | :33:51. | :33:55. | |
are trying to provide a proper balance of expertise, background, | :33:56. | :34:03. | |
gender, skills, to make sure we have a properly representative public | :34:04. | :34:07. | |
centre and not one that is packed with the Labour cronies we inherited | :34:08. | :34:14. | |
in 2010. My constituent tells me that a year ago he discovered that | :34:15. | :34:19. | |
his energy supplier had been changed without his consent and it took him | :34:20. | :34:22. | |
a lot of time and effort to resolve the matter but it still wasn't clear | :34:23. | :34:25. | |
whether this was a genuine mistake or an underhand marketing pink pig. | :34:26. | :34:29. | |
It is however a serious problem. It is estimated there by 5000 such | :34:30. | :34:34. | |
cases a year. I wonder if we could have an debate to consider the | :34:35. | :34:37. | |
obligations of energy suppliers to prevent erroneous transfers and to | :34:38. | :34:39. | |
make sure they have a valid contract before the takeover supply. This is | :34:40. | :34:45. | |
an important point, there are vulnerable consumers committed on | :34:46. | :34:51. | |
the doorstep to make changes when it is not appropriate to do so, | :34:52. | :34:56. | |
especially of the kind that it has been provided. It is the rule of the | :34:57. | :35:00. | |
modem to look now at the issues and to deal with complaints against | :35:01. | :35:03. | |
different organisations but of course this is an example of the | :35:04. | :35:07. | |
kind of consumer issue that should be brought before this House on a | :35:08. | :35:10. | |
regular basis and I would encourage my friend to use one of the | :35:11. | :35:15. | |
challenge is available and do that. It was claimed in Prime Minister's | :35:16. | :35:18. | |
Questions yesterday by the honourable member for pinball but | :35:19. | :35:21. | |
Lancashire County Council is proposing to cut all funding to nine | :35:22. | :35:27. | |
women's refuges. There are presented of other council tells me the | :35:28. | :35:29. | |
opposite is the case, that the Government appalled this at putting | :35:30. | :35:33. | |
people money and the Council are filling the gap. Can we have an | :35:34. | :35:38. | |
urgent debate on the funding of women's refuges? This situation is | :35:39. | :35:41. | |
far too serious proportions to distort for their own political | :35:42. | :35:48. | |
purposes. Two points. First we learned in Prime Minister's | :35:49. | :35:50. | |
Questions yesterday that the Government has provided many | :35:51. | :35:54. | |
millions of pounds to work refuges and she has many opportunities to | :35:55. | :35:56. | |
bring forward the base to this House, where she was to have a | :35:57. | :35:59. | |
debate with my revenge is very able to do so. Can we have a debate on | :36:00. | :36:06. | |
the 2% levy that the Chancellor allowed councils to charge for | :36:07. | :36:13. | |
social care. It seems Bradford Council is only spending a small | :36:14. | :36:18. | |
proportion of that money despite only a small proportion being spent | :36:19. | :36:21. | |
on the care home sector. Can we have a debate so that what was intended | :36:22. | :36:27. | |
by the Government it is and is sure that this goes to what it was funded | :36:28. | :36:31. | |
to. So that councils around the country are spending is to help | :36:32. | :36:34. | |
those care homes pay for things like the national living wage which I | :36:35. | :36:37. | |
thought the phone tension and not spending it on things that were not | :36:38. | :36:43. | |
intended. Treasury questions session on Tuesday will provide an | :36:44. | :36:47. | |
opportunity for him to raise that were Treasury measures but what is | :36:48. | :36:51. | |
identified is what we often find ourselves that when it comes to | :36:52. | :36:53. | |
Labour councils, they don't spend the money on services that matter, | :36:54. | :36:57. | |
this depended on bloated bureaucracies and open... Huge | :36:58. | :37:06. | |
portions of the standing orders of this place after... They go out of | :37:07. | :37:13. | |
their way to prevent new representation and to ensure | :37:14. | :37:14. | |
stacking in favour of the Government. They pay Committee has a | :37:15. | :37:19. | |
number of occasions done reviews of the standing orders and produced a | :37:20. | :37:25. | |
very comprehensive suggestion of reviews last year. Will the | :37:26. | :37:28. | |
Government committed to either clicking on the reviews of the | :37:29. | :37:32. | |
procedure Committee, or ripping up the standing orders and starting | :37:33. | :37:34. | |
again with something a lot more workable? I think we have been open | :37:35. | :37:41. | |
to change over the years since 2010 since we first entered government. | :37:42. | :37:44. | |
We have made extensive changes to the way this House works. We have | :37:45. | :37:48. | |
been open to new ideas. I am open to new ideas. I listened very carefully | :37:49. | :37:52. | |
and discuss very regularly bots and dishes brought forward by the | :37:53. | :37:55. | |
procedure Committee. We have in the time allocated to the Backbench | :37:56. | :37:58. | |
Business Committee and opportunity for the House to bring forward its | :37:59. | :38:02. | |
own thoughts about what needs to happen and change. I will dispute | :38:03. | :38:06. | |
what she says about there being no opportunity for backbenchers to get | :38:07. | :38:09. | |
their views heard and I will say to her I am open as Leader of the House | :38:10. | :38:13. | |
to look at ways in which we can do things better. May the force be with | :38:14. | :38:19. | |
you, Mr Speaker. I am looking forward to the Conservative love in | :38:20. | :38:24. | |
later today and can I commend similar no knives allowed event for | :38:25. | :38:28. | |
the Labour Party as well? Probably the biggest thing you regret as | :38:29. | :38:32. | |
being Speaker, that you can come to the event. -- can't come to the | :38:33. | :38:39. | |
event. One name that will be on anybody's lips at this loving will | :38:40. | :38:46. | |
be Fraser Cameron. An eurocrat who since the Dutch referendum has said | :38:47. | :38:50. | |
that the EU should ban any further referendums on anything to do with | :38:51. | :38:55. | |
the EU. Could the Leader of the House go to the dispatch box and | :38:56. | :39:00. | |
make a statement now to inform Fraser, we would call him Mr Cameron | :39:01. | :39:04. | |
in case there is any doubt, that we live in a democracy, we actually | :39:05. | :39:08. | |
believe in what people say and it is this Conservative government that is | :39:09. | :39:11. | |
giving a referendum to the British people and it will be a British | :39:12. | :39:14. | |
Government that will decide when we have referendums on such matters. I | :39:15. | :39:20. | |
think he has found an item on Europe that the Shadow leader and I would | :39:21. | :39:24. | |
agree on. The idea that we would deny people across the European | :39:25. | :39:27. | |
Union and the opportunity in the future to have a referendum on key | :39:28. | :39:31. | |
issues of importance to them is an absurd one. In a democracy there is | :39:32. | :39:35. | |
a time and place by referendum and a time and a place to consult the | :39:36. | :39:39. | |
people. The idea we would not do that in the future is a ludicrous | :39:40. | :39:43. | |
one and one that to my mind the author of should be profoundly | :39:44. | :39:48. | |
embarrassed about his comments. Can I offer an apology to the Leader of | :39:49. | :39:52. | |
the House, during foreign funds questions earlier this week, when | :39:53. | :39:59. | |
certain members of the alt European brigade on his ventures shouted and | :40:00. | :40:03. | |
people who are pro-Europeans, I called Ella Bond a grumpy old men, I | :40:04. | :40:11. | |
realised that was a deeply ageist comment and I apologise for it but | :40:12. | :40:17. | |
could I also have an early debate on consumer power? We know have social | :40:18. | :40:21. | |
media where we could take on the BP 's and pay these disgrace wages to | :40:22. | :40:27. | |
the Chief Executive, take on the Company 's your taking all the perks | :40:28. | :40:32. | |
that ordinary workers have in order to compensate for the living wage. | :40:33. | :40:36. | |
Can we have a debate on empowering consumers to punish these greedy | :40:37. | :40:41. | |
people? The honourable gentleman makes an important point. It is | :40:42. | :40:44. | |
always worth remembering in our society, | :40:45. | :40:49. | |
change the law on this and that, one of the most powerful weapons | :40:50. | :40:52. | |
available today through the emergence of social media and mass | :40:53. | :40:55. | |
communication society is direct consumer pressure on companies. If | :40:56. | :40:59. | |
consumers disapprove of corporate behaviour they take their business | :41:00. | :41:03. | |
elsewhere, it is very quick to impact the performance of those | :41:04. | :41:06. | |
companies and the need to learn the lessons pretty quickly. The power of | :41:07. | :41:09. | |
the consumer today is perhaps more than it has ever been. Earlier this | :41:10. | :41:14. | |
week the National Crime Agency stated that northern ports and in | :41:15. | :41:20. | |
particular those on the Humber such as Hull, Grimsey and Ning are being | :41:21. | :41:24. | |
targeted by people smugglers. When I last raised this with the ministers | :41:25. | :41:27. | |
they give me an assurance that adequate resources were in place. In | :41:28. | :41:33. | |
view of the agency has now said, could be arranged for a Home Office | :41:34. | :41:37. | |
minister to make a statement on this? And used as a matter of | :41:38. | :41:44. | |
concern. -- I know this is. We do not want to see smaller ports used | :41:45. | :41:49. | |
in this way and if they are the extra measures can sometimes be a | :41:50. | :41:53. | |
disruption to legitimate trade. The Transport Secretary is here this | :41:54. | :41:57. | |
week. Can I suggest it is picked up with him but I will make sure the | :41:58. | :42:00. | |
Home Office ministers are also aware of the concerns he has raised? | :42:01. | :42:05. | |
Leader of the House and perhaps yourself may recall my recent | :42:06. | :42:10. | |
adjournment debate regarding the staffing crisis at the mid Yorkshire | :42:11. | :42:14. | |
hospitals trust, where staff had actually confirmed that they were | :42:15. | :42:19. | |
unable to deliver basic care due to lack of trained staff. I was | :42:20. | :42:24. | |
therefore highly alarmed this week to learn that the A department at | :42:25. | :42:28. | |
Dewsbury District Hospital was operating with last than half of the | :42:29. | :42:34. | |
minimum safe staffing requirement. Given this very alarming information | :42:35. | :42:37. | |
will be Leader of the House agree we should have an urgent debate to look | :42:38. | :42:43. | |
at this issue? Clearly that it is a definite problem for her and her | :42:44. | :42:46. | |
constituents. What I will do is make sure the Secretary of State is aware | :42:47. | :42:49. | |
of the concerns he has raised This Morning. She might want to bring | :42:50. | :42:52. | |
forward a debate but the experience is usually that it is best to go | :42:53. | :42:56. | |
straightaway and there is an issue here to take a look and I hope that | :42:57. | :42:59. | |
she has had a birthday on Saturday. Thanks to his decision-making, next | :43:00. | :43:18. | |
Thursday there's going to be a demonstration of the landmines and | :43:19. | :43:21. | |
their removal by some of the most in Porton bodies including from | :43:22. | :43:27. | |
Scotland. Given the importance of this humanitarian effort could we | :43:28. | :43:32. | |
have a debate in this Parliament about the impact of the current | :43:33. | :43:34. | |
conflicts going out throughout the world? Landmines have created some | :43:35. | :43:45. | |
horrendous injuries and there are many thousands of people around the | :43:46. | :43:50. | |
world with consequences of landmines so the work being done by people | :43:51. | :43:55. | |
across our society from members of the Royal Family downwards to clear | :43:56. | :44:00. | |
landmines and support their clearance is immensely valuable and | :44:01. | :44:03. | |
I pay tribute to those in his constituency and Scotland who have | :44:04. | :44:08. | |
been part of that. The Secretary of State for Defence is he on Monday | :44:09. | :44:15. | |
and me want to -- he may want to highlight that work with him. I | :44:16. | :44:22. | |
refuse at that they contacted by my constituent whose father sadly died | :44:23. | :44:29. | |
while waiting two hours for an ambulance to arrive. The inquest | :44:30. | :44:38. | |
which followed identified that despite the lifeline service | :44:39. | :44:41. | |
provider having his full medical history they failed to convey any | :44:42. | :44:44. | |
information to the Ambulance Services and if they had done so | :44:45. | :44:52. | |
their previous -- his previous heart problems would have been identified. | :44:53. | :44:57. | |
Could we have a debate so that any information is conveyed with the 999 | :44:58. | :45:05. | |
call? That is a shocking story, very disturbing, and we send out our | :45:06. | :45:11. | |
condolences and good wishes to his family and distress that that could | :45:12. | :45:17. | |
happen. One wishes that the housing association could act quickly to | :45:18. | :45:21. | |
make sure that on the ground that could not happen again but I will | :45:22. | :45:25. | |
also make sure my colleagues unaware of this having happened and ask them | :45:26. | :45:31. | |
to look at whether or not this has to be changed for the future. Can we | :45:32. | :45:37. | |
have a statement from a government minister on the crisis in funding | :45:38. | :45:42. | |
for local services? How can it be fair that every household has lost | :45:43. | :46:03. | |
?414 .74? Every house in Epsom and has only lost ?13 and 12p. He might | :46:04. | :46:16. | |
look at the absolute figures. We attempt to provide a fair balance | :46:17. | :46:21. | |
for funding around the country and make decisions that ensure that | :46:22. | :46:25. | |
local authorities have funding they can use to deliver necessary | :46:26. | :46:28. | |
services and that allows us to meet our national targets. Councils still | :46:29. | :46:33. | |
receive far less than those in his area. When the house rose for the | :46:34. | :46:43. | |
summary says that evening a local shopkeeper in my constituency was | :46:44. | :46:47. | |
tragically killed. He was a much loved gentle and friendly man and he | :46:48. | :46:52. | |
will be sorely missed by many in the south side of Glasgow. He was also a | :46:53. | :46:59. | |
member of the Muslim community and the police have identified that | :47:00. | :47:02. | |
there is religious aggravation by the killing. Can we have a debate on | :47:03. | :47:09. | |
the persecution that the community faces in this country and around the | :47:10. | :47:13. | |
world and discuss what the government is doing to tackle this | :47:14. | :47:21. | |
cancerous form of sectarianism? Can I say how deeply shocked we all were | :47:22. | :47:26. | |
by this terrible murder? Even more shocked by the motivation by that | :47:27. | :47:31. | |
Margo. I know the Muslim community well. I have met members of the | :47:32. | :47:37. | |
community and now the good work they do in our country and the positive | :47:38. | :47:42. | |
role they tried to play in our communities. I know the way in which | :47:43. | :47:45. | |
there might want to bridge gaps between different communities in | :47:46. | :47:49. | |
this country and the fact he had published a message of goodwill to | :47:50. | :47:55. | |
questions is a sign of what a valuable part of his community they | :47:56. | :48:02. | |
are. They are persecuted around the world and we should always be | :48:03. | :48:08. | |
willing to be their defenders. The Leader of the House of Lords aware | :48:09. | :48:16. | |
that we have just had questions and the Secretary of State for women and | :48:17. | :48:21. | |
equality is as informed as she is happy to have topical questions as | :48:22. | :48:25. | |
part of this Question Time to allow members to raise issues which have | :48:26. | :48:30. | |
come up. Can he give the host any indication as to when it might be | :48:31. | :48:40. | |
implemented? I am very open to changes and as we move into a new | :48:41. | :48:43. | |
session and may provide the opportunity for us to make changes | :48:44. | :48:49. | |
of that kind. I have talked before about whether we should consider | :48:50. | :48:53. | |
merging together business and Leader of the House questions and other | :48:54. | :48:56. | |
areas where might we could make changes. We are considering these | :48:57. | :49:05. | |
issues and we are open to making that kind of change. The case for | :49:06. | :49:13. | |
reform of the Private Members' Bill system was made by myself and other | :49:14. | :49:18. | |
members during a Westminster debate yesterday. There is a clear demand | :49:19. | :49:22. | |
in this place and the public appetite for a fairer system. The | :49:23. | :49:28. | |
general public think it is a farce. Will he bring forward plans to | :49:29. | :49:34. | |
reform timetabling of private members' bills? I do not think the | :49:35. | :49:38. | |
general public have an idea about what we do with regard to private | :49:39. | :49:44. | |
members' bills. Sometimes there are examples of the system working well | :49:45. | :49:48. | |
such as when we had the debate on assisted dying which I thought was | :49:49. | :49:51. | |
this how is that it's best. There have been cases when it could not be | :49:52. | :50:00. | |
understood what was happening. I have talked to the chair of the | :50:01. | :50:05. | |
committee and I am receptive to looking at ways of improving the | :50:06. | :50:09. | |
system and am waiting for them to report to me about the discussion. | :50:10. | :50:16. | |
My question is one I would have liked to have asked as a topical to | :50:17. | :50:20. | |
the woman inequalities team. This year the Northern Ireland assembly | :50:21. | :50:25. | |
voted to maintain the ban on abortion even in cases of rape, | :50:26. | :50:32. | |
incessant fatal abnormality and women accessing abortion would face | :50:33. | :50:39. | |
life imprisonment. In light of the criminalisation of that vulnerable | :50:40. | :50:41. | |
young women in the last month who elsewhere in the UK and in Europe | :50:42. | :50:47. | |
would have received help from health care professionals and would not | :50:48. | :50:51. | |
have faced imprisonment, and as it is the responsibility of their | :50:52. | :50:55. | |
supposed to uphold the human rights of women in Northern Ireland, can we | :50:56. | :51:01. | |
have a debate on this issue, because there are many members who would | :51:02. | :51:06. | |
like to contribute? I understand her concern. I am not personally in | :51:07. | :51:13. | |
favour of women who seek an abortion being punished for doing so. This is | :51:14. | :51:19. | |
a devolved matter. We have taken a conscious decision to pass that | :51:20. | :51:23. | |
decision until hands of the assembly in Northern Ireland and we cannot | :51:24. | :51:27. | |
have it both ways. We cannot say it is your decision but if we do not | :51:28. | :51:31. | |
like it we will start to debate on the issue. I agree with her. I think | :51:32. | :51:39. | |
we should make the kind of statements that she has just made | :51:40. | :51:44. | |
and I have just made but ultimately it will be a matter for the Northern | :51:45. | :51:50. | |
Ireland assembly. Would the leader consider having a statement or | :51:51. | :51:55. | |
debate on government time on the future of supported and specialist | :51:56. | :51:59. | |
housing provision? It was raised by the member for Milton a few moments | :52:00. | :52:04. | |
ago and raised that PMQs yesterday and we had a debate on Tuesday where | :52:05. | :52:10. | |
a number of opposition members were in attendance and it is a very | :52:11. | :52:16. | |
important issue, important for the victims of domestic violence, for | :52:17. | :52:20. | |
veterans, elderly people, people with learning disabilities and | :52:21. | :52:25. | |
mental health issues and there is a huge question hanging over the | :52:26. | :52:29. | |
viability of specialist than supporting housing. If there could | :52:30. | :52:33. | |
be statement or debate that would be very helpful. I understand the | :52:34. | :52:40. | |
importance of that kind of housing. I visited a refuge in | :52:41. | :52:44. | |
Gloucestershire a few weeks ago and Ireland stand the nature of the | :52:45. | :52:49. | |
challenge. We listened carefully to the representations made a few weeks | :52:50. | :52:54. | |
ago. I will make sure that ministers are aware of the concerns he has | :52:55. | :53:00. | |
raised unless we have opportunities to debate this perhaps he would like | :53:01. | :53:05. | |
to have a discussion with the chairman of the business committee | :53:06. | :53:08. | |
and ask him to bring forward a debate. It is two years since the | :53:09. | :53:17. | |
abduction of over 200 young schoolgirls by Boko Haram in Nigeria | :53:18. | :53:22. | |
and I am sure everybody in this house sends our sympathies to their | :53:23. | :53:26. | |
parents. We can only imagine what that must be like. I would welcome a | :53:27. | :53:31. | |
statement of what kind of support of any we are giving from this country | :53:32. | :53:40. | |
to try to recover these girls. I endorse what she has just said. It | :53:41. | :53:45. | |
was a shocking incident and remains a matter of deep concern to the | :53:46. | :53:50. | |
international community. We have been seeking to provide as much | :53:51. | :53:55. | |
assistance as we can to the Nigerian government to identify what may have | :53:56. | :53:59. | |
happened, to help them identify ways of retrieving the girls and we will | :54:00. | :54:04. | |
continue to do that. For the Foreign Office that is a matter of great | :54:05. | :54:09. | |
concern. First and foremost it is a matter for the Nigerian government | :54:10. | :54:13. | |
but we stand alongside them at a Commonwealth country to address a | :54:14. | :54:17. | |
challenge that remains an international blight that needs to | :54:18. | :54:23. | |
be solved. During the recess I spoke at a conference and saw the | :54:24. | :54:29. | |
wonderful work volunteers of the ambulance service do. Calls for a | :54:30. | :54:36. | |
debate on the role of volunteering and including the hours that they | :54:37. | :54:45. | |
contribute to the Welsh economy. I pay tribute to that work around the | :54:46. | :54:51. | |
country, not just in his constituency, but volunteers who | :54:52. | :54:57. | |
turn up at events, and we are immensely grateful for what they do. | :54:58. | :55:09. | |
In their women and equality is questions the Minister of State | :55:10. | :55:14. | |
indicated he would welcome a debate on maternity discrimination. Will he | :55:15. | :55:17. | |
arrange a debate on government time on the subject? There are a number | :55:18. | :55:24. | |
of ways in which you can bring to the chamber what is an important | :55:25. | :55:28. | |
issues. One is what we have described than the other is the | :55:29. | :55:33. | |
adjournment debate system. If she wants such a debate she should bring | :55:34. | :55:40. | |
forward either you or someone from the backbench committee to bring | :55:41. | :55:48. | |
forward a debate. GCSE and A-level exams in so-called minority | :55:49. | :55:53. | |
languages, providers have said they will stop doing so despite promises | :55:54. | :55:56. | |
last year that these exams would continue. Could we have a debate on | :55:57. | :56:01. | |
what action we could take as the House of Commons to stop the | :56:02. | :56:08. | |
language of many of my constituents from being downgraded? I understand | :56:09. | :56:15. | |
the concern he has raised. The Secretary of State will be here on a | :56:16. | :56:21. | |
week on Monday and will -- he will have the opportunity to raise that | :56:22. | :56:26. | |
issue. We need a balance between good range of international | :56:27. | :56:30. | |
languages and given the ties that we are building and have built and will | :56:31. | :56:34. | |
continue to build with India that is an important issue but we also want | :56:35. | :56:39. | |
to make sure that the quality of education is right for those in | :56:40. | :56:43. | |
migrant communities to meet employment challenges. Suggesting | :56:44. | :56:49. | |
that that because the duty has a negative balance of payments with | :56:50. | :56:53. | |
the European Union we should be seeking to leave. Given we have a | :56:54. | :56:59. | |
global trade deficit, perhaps we should be seeking to leave the | :57:00. | :57:11. | |
world? Our current trade position is that we have the trade deficit with | :57:12. | :57:15. | |
the European Union, a trade surplus with the rest of the world, and it | :57:16. | :57:20. | |
is the government strategy to try to improve our trade ties around the | :57:21. | :57:32. | |
world inside Europe and elsewhere. Order. Point of order. I | :57:33. | :57:34. |