Browse content similar to 21/07/2016. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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tackle this. We know what it can lead to and therefore we have to | :00:00. | :00:00. | |
stamp it out before it becomes something even more vile. | :00:00. | :00:07. | |
THE SPEAKER: Questions to the minutester for women and equal -- | :00:08. | :00:11. | |
Minister for Women and equalities. Thank you, Mr Speaker. I am proud | :00:12. | :00:14. | |
of... Number one. Thank you, Mr Speaker. As the House | :00:15. | :00:30. | |
has just been discussing hate crime of any kind, including that targeted | :00:31. | :00:37. | |
at communities has no place in our society. I am sure I speak for the | :00:38. | :00:43. | |
whole House when I say how appalled I am. The Government is monitoring | :00:44. | :00:47. | |
this situation, working across Government departments and also with | :00:48. | :00:51. | |
the police, the Crown Prosecution Service and community partners too | :00:52. | :00:55. | |
to provide reassurance and to send out a clear message that hate crime | :00:56. | :00:59. | |
will not be tolerated and we will take action against those who | :01:00. | :01:05. | |
promote hatred. I am proud of the neath partnership | :01:06. | :01:10. | |
which has been working to counter the rise in hate crime, more | :01:11. | :01:16. | |
prevalent since the referendum by holding hate crime sessions. We | :01:17. | :01:20. | |
should all say no to hate crime. What steps is the minister taking to | :01:21. | :01:27. | |
adopt this practise and roll it out across the country to heal | :01:28. | :01:33. | |
divisions? Communities? I will be interested to talk to her about the | :01:34. | :01:38. | |
community she is in. She highlights one of the most effective things we | :01:39. | :01:42. | |
can do is to work at community level to spread a message of inclusion and | :01:43. | :01:48. | |
acceptance andal rans across our society. So the broader work which | :01:49. | :01:52. | |
is happening in Government is not just through policing and the Home | :01:53. | :01:58. | |
Office, it is also through DCLG and in my Department of Education | :01:59. | :02:02. | |
through schools. Can I welcome my Right Honourable | :02:03. | :02:05. | |
friend to her position. Does she feel, as I do, that we should be | :02:06. | :02:12. | |
looking at online hate crime, which is often where people can suffer the | :02:13. | :02:19. | |
most? Does she believe, as I do, the platforms and social media outlets | :02:20. | :02:22. | |
should do more to standardise reporting in this area? And take | :02:23. | :02:25. | |
more action against the perpetrators? | :02:26. | :02:32. | |
I agree that the online element of this crime is important to address. | :02:33. | :02:41. | |
One of the things the government has done is to strengthen online | :02:42. | :02:43. | |
reporting and part of the increase in hate crime came through that tool | :02:44. | :02:49. | |
that we set up, that website where people can more effectively report | :02:50. | :02:52. | |
online. She is right to say that there are different channels where | :02:53. | :02:56. | |
we see hate crimes perpetrated and all of them need a strong response. | :02:57. | :03:06. | |
The Minister's and is on online hate crime is welcome but given the level | :03:07. | :03:13. | |
of bile and hatred that exists in certain parts of social media, it is | :03:14. | :03:17. | |
essential that law enforcement agencies chase this down, with | :03:18. | :03:23. | |
specific cases brought to court to ensure that there is no hiding place | :03:24. | :03:28. | |
for this behaviour on social media. I agree with him. As crime moves on | :03:29. | :03:35. | |
to different forms, including online, that the CPS, collectively, | :03:36. | :03:42. | |
take strong action and show that this sort of attitude across our | :03:43. | :03:45. | |
country will not be tolerated, and where ever it raises its head, we | :03:46. | :03:51. | |
will take action against it. It may be a special occasion when all 12 | :03:52. | :03:55. | |
members of both the government and opposition front bench as are | :03:56. | :04:01. | |
female. Mr Speaker, last night, Kettering Borough Council last | :04:02. | :04:06. | |
motion condemning racism, xenophobia and hate crime. I am proud to be a | :04:07. | :04:12. | |
member of Kettering Borough Council and do have supported that motion. | :04:13. | :04:16. | |
Would my Right Honourable Friend and courage other local authorities to | :04:17. | :04:24. | |
do the same? The merit in making the point about the make-up of the front | :04:25. | :04:28. | |
bench is that it is now on the record in Hansard for ever. | :04:29. | :04:33. | |
Minister. Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. Perhaps appropriate given | :04:34. | :04:40. | |
it is questions for women and the qualities in particular. I should | :04:41. | :04:43. | |
say that when we decide as a government to draw across government | :04:44. | :04:46. | |
departments to answer this question there was no attempt to make sure | :04:47. | :04:51. | |
that we had an all - woman list of ministers to answer questions, but I | :04:52. | :04:55. | |
think it shows how things are changing in Parliament in terms of | :04:56. | :04:58. | |
female representation and, alongside the fact we have as of last week got | :04:59. | :05:04. | |
away second female Prime Minister. To come to My Honourable Friend was | :05:05. | :05:09. | |
Mike very important question, I'd like to applaud Kettering Borough | :05:10. | :05:13. | |
Council for its strong stance against racism. I think part of how | :05:14. | :05:18. | |
we can ensure that we stamp out hate crime and racism generally is, not | :05:19. | :05:24. | |
only to work strongly on the ground, but those people in positions of | :05:25. | :05:28. | |
authority, community leaders included, need to advocate of the | :05:29. | :05:32. | |
kind of society, the kind of inclusive society that we all want. | :05:33. | :05:37. | |
So those steps that Kettering Borough Council has taken are | :05:38. | :05:39. | |
particularly well Act and I hope that other councils follow suit. -- | :05:40. | :05:50. | |
welcome. It was amazing to see people of multi-faith and no faith | :05:51. | :05:54. | |
engaging together through sport and other activities. Does the Minister | :05:55. | :05:57. | |
agree that these events should be encouraged where possible in these | :05:58. | :06:02. | |
troubled times where we are seen an alarming rise in hate crime? Yes, I | :06:03. | :06:07. | |
think we all have our own experience at constituency level. My local | :06:08. | :06:17. | |
Amadiyah Muslim community holds an event that brings together all sides | :06:18. | :06:20. | |
of the community and those fundraising that benefits the | :06:21. | :06:24. | |
Amadiyah community stop these are the kinds of community leadership I | :06:25. | :06:29. | |
was referring to. As MPs we can play a real role in encouraging and | :06:30. | :06:32. | |
supporting that when we see happening in narrowing the Cal at | :06:33. | :06:41. | |
is. -- in our own localities. I am really proud to be one of the women | :06:42. | :06:45. | |
on the front bench, if we have got an all women front bench. It seems | :06:46. | :06:49. | |
that we might be taking over the world, slowly but surely. Which is | :06:50. | :06:55. | |
fantastic. We have heard from many members on all sides of the House | :06:56. | :06:59. | |
that there's been a dramatic wave of hate crime and intolerance towards | :07:00. | :07:08. | |
EU nationals and members of the McAfee community living in the UK. I | :07:09. | :07:12. | |
have been encouraged by members of the public who have challenged this | :07:13. | :07:15. | |
behaviour and shown what a great multicultural Britain we are, but | :07:16. | :07:19. | |
like many across this House and the country I was dismayed and upset by | :07:20. | :07:27. | |
the Sun columnist Kelvin MacKenzie's disgraceful Islamophobia attack on | :07:28. | :07:32. | |
the Channel 4 News presenter Fatima Manji. Could we explain that all | :07:33. | :07:39. | |
members of the South Regardez comments as unacceptable and all the | :07:40. | :07:42. | |
Minister join me in urging Mr MacKenzie to make a full public | :07:43. | :07:47. | |
apology and urge the Sun newspaper and other media to be more | :07:48. | :07:51. | |
responsible in what they allow on their media outlets Butt never again | :07:52. | :07:59. | |
must she ask such a long question. It was far too long, albeit very | :08:00. | :08:04. | |
important. Minister. Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. She raises an | :08:05. | :08:09. | |
important question. Not the first time that John MacKenzie has written | :08:10. | :08:14. | |
and said things that are on the controversial -- Kelvin MacKenzie. I | :08:15. | :08:22. | |
think it is for him to decide how he wants to respond to the wave of | :08:23. | :08:26. | |
criticism he has received since writing that article. From my | :08:27. | :08:32. | |
perspective am I am proudly live in a country where men and women are | :08:33. | :08:35. | |
equal, but that includes women having the right to be able to wear | :08:36. | :08:39. | |
what they want and to be able to get on in their job, wearing what they | :08:40. | :08:44. | |
want to be able to wear, and that includes needs -- newscasters and | :08:45. | :08:51. | |
journalists, in my view. We need to have some kind of consensus around | :08:52. | :08:56. | |
not rising to the bait of people like Kelvin MacKenzie and I hope | :08:57. | :09:02. | |
that we can give his comments the derision that they deserve. The | :09:03. | :09:08. | |
Minister has put the bigoted fellow in its place pretty comprehensively. | :09:09. | :09:16. | |
Thank you, Mr Speaker, with permission I will answer questions | :09:17. | :09:21. | |
two, three and ten together. We have reformed the pension system to | :09:22. | :09:24. | |
introduce a simple estate pension with automatic and Roman, the triple | :09:25. | :09:29. | |
lock, protection of benefits and new pension freedoms will ensure that | :09:30. | :09:33. | |
engineers, both women and men have greater protection, security and | :09:34. | :09:39. | |
choice. -- that pensioners. I thank the Minister for that answer. The | :09:40. | :09:49. | |
new state pension will see, a man born on the same day slightly later | :09:50. | :09:53. | |
but was received pensions under the new arrangements. Sugar Pensions | :09:54. | :10:00. | |
Minister -- pensions commission be established to end these | :10:01. | :10:05. | |
inequalities? I thank the honourable gentleman for his welcome. ?1.1 | :10:06. | :10:09. | |
billion was committed to reduce the maximum delay anyone with experience | :10:10. | :10:13. | |
in claiming their state ancient. As a result of the government's triple | :10:14. | :10:18. | |
lock, the basic state pension has risen by ?570 per year. The | :10:19. | :10:22. | |
government position on this policy is very clear. The current review by | :10:23. | :10:29. | |
John Criddle and into the state ancient age is critical to ensure | :10:30. | :10:33. | |
that the existing inequalities in the current pension system do not | :10:34. | :10:37. | |
plague future retirees. Does the Mr agree that the leader strip is in | :10:38. | :10:42. | |
life expectancy such as those amongst the poorest women in society | :10:43. | :10:45. | |
and across UK regions must be closely examined to prevent gender | :10:46. | :10:55. | |
inequality? I absolutely agree. It is important to prevent gender | :10:56. | :10:59. | |
inequality. But we must acknowledge that across the country people are | :11:00. | :11:03. | |
living longer, and if we want to have a sustainable, affordable | :11:04. | :11:06. | |
ancient system we must equalise the state pension age for men and women. | :11:07. | :11:13. | |
-- pension system. Mr Speaker, for get the triple lock and other | :11:14. | :11:18. | |
measures that the Minister promoted, the simple fact is, according to the | :11:19. | :11:24. | |
Institute for Fiscal Studies, 14% of women in future will receive a law | :11:25. | :11:27. | |
income at state pension age than they would have otherwise under the | :11:28. | :11:31. | |
current system. What discussion is the Minister having with colleagues | :11:32. | :11:35. | |
from the DWP to prevent this from happening? The new state pension is | :11:36. | :11:42. | |
more generous to many women. Over 3 million women stand to gain ?550 per | :11:43. | :11:47. | |
year more by 2030 as a result of these changes. Can I take this up | :11:48. | :11:57. | |
unused -- this chance to -- to welcome the Minister to her place? | :11:58. | :12:03. | |
As a fellow feminist she will agree that the generation of women were | :12:04. | :12:06. | |
talking about is our mothers are what the generation who broken the | :12:07. | :12:13. | |
barriers on equal pay. What message does it send to a future generation | :12:14. | :12:16. | |
burdened by student debt, what incentive is there for younger women | :12:17. | :12:24. | |
to save for their future? I thank the honourable lady for her welcome. | :12:25. | :12:28. | |
In fact what we have seen from the reforms the government has made is | :12:29. | :12:31. | |
that woman of her age and my age are doing more now to save for their | :12:32. | :12:35. | |
future than ever before. It is important to reflect that some of | :12:36. | :12:38. | |
the previous arrangements dating back to the 1940s, and the world has | :12:39. | :12:43. | |
moved on an incredible amount since that time and I would argue, | :12:44. | :12:51. | |
absolutely for the better. Thank you, Mr Speaker. With your | :12:52. | :12:54. | |
permission I am going to group this question with questions five and | :12:55. | :13:00. | |
seven. This area is a real success story. We have more women on boards | :13:01. | :13:04. | |
than ever before but we know we have got to do more. I fully endorse the | :13:05. | :13:11. | |
target of 33% of women on FTSE 250 boards by 2020. To achieve this we | :13:12. | :13:16. | |
have established the Hampton Alexander review which will have a | :13:17. | :13:19. | |
focus on improving gender representation in the all important | :13:20. | :13:28. | |
executive lair of FTSE complete. The statutory mail on the government | :13:29. | :13:33. | |
front bench. I would have invited the member for Shipley, but I | :13:34. | :13:37. | |
suspect that might have been a divisible proposition. Mr Andrew | :13:38. | :13:44. | |
Stevenson. I thank the Minister for that answer. Does the Minister agree | :13:45. | :13:51. | |
that the 33% target of women on FTSE 250 boards is achievable? I do, | :13:52. | :13:56. | |
absolutely. There will be some steps we need to take but so far the | :13:57. | :14:01. | |
proposal of working voluntarily with as this has seen some real progress, | :14:02. | :14:06. | |
and we have seen a doubling of women on boards in the FTSE 350 boards to | :14:07. | :14:18. | |
23% now from 2010. And the number of all-male board has dropped from 152, | :14:19. | :14:27. | |
252, today. I expect that we can meet this ambitious and achievable | :14:28. | :14:31. | |
target by 2020. Can I congratulate the front bench on its fantastic, | :14:32. | :14:39. | |
it's fantastically women representation on the front bench as | :14:40. | :14:43. | |
well. Kent University is taking the lead in having almost half of the | :14:44. | :14:47. | |
board of governors being women. What is her department doing to ensure | :14:48. | :14:51. | |
that more women in senior leadership roles at universities? I should | :14:52. | :14:59. | |
start biking graduating Weymouth University for making what is | :15:00. | :15:03. | |
fantastic progress. -- biking graduating Weymouth University. A | :15:04. | :15:10. | |
third of governing bodies are now gender balanced. It is good that we | :15:11. | :15:18. | |
now have the high education funding Council for England which has set an | :15:19. | :15:22. | |
aspirational target of 40% of women on governing bodies. There is an | :15:23. | :15:30. | |
Athena Swan Charter Mark which is something that I strongly support. I | :15:31. | :15:38. | |
would like to congratulate the Secretary of State. She's long been | :15:39. | :15:42. | |
a role model to many women and I know that when she came to | :15:43. | :15:44. | |
Parliament in 2005 it look very different ways. May I ask the | :15:45. | :15:49. | |
Secretary of State what her department is doing to ensure that | :15:50. | :15:52. | |
women across the UK, not just in London, have access to senior | :15:53. | :15:58. | |
executive roles, and can she reassure me that these women will be | :15:59. | :16:01. | |
encouraged not just into traditional sect is usually occupied by women? | :16:02. | :16:09. | |
There are two parts to the question. First, we have extended the women's | :16:10. | :16:13. | |
business Council to 20 members, including organisations based in | :16:14. | :16:16. | |
Scotland and Wales, so we are expanding and making sure that the | :16:17. | :16:21. | |
geographical focus is UK wide, and we are changing so that it has got | :16:22. | :16:25. | |
greater representation of the kinds of industries she's talked about, | :16:26. | :16:29. | |
such as engineering, defence and construction. A good example of that | :16:30. | :16:34. | |
is the Halfords group which is based in the West Midlands whose board is | :16:35. | :16:40. | |
50% women, and in fact their Chief Executive is female, too, and we | :16:41. | :16:43. | |
have got to champion best practice. Will the government lead by example | :16:44. | :16:47. | |
and increasing the number of women in senior management roles in its | :16:48. | :16:51. | |
departments, agencies and other organisations with which it has an | :16:52. | :16:58. | |
influence, including the NHS? We are certainly going to try to make sure | :16:59. | :17:03. | |
that we lead by example. The fact that we have our second female Prime | :17:04. | :17:07. | |
Minister is a very, very good, strong and historic start. As she | :17:08. | :17:13. | |
recognises, the public sector needs to make progress in this, as does | :17:14. | :17:14. | |
the private sector. The minister has mentioned getting | :17:15. | :17:26. | |
female representation in the boardrooms. It is a fact and | :17:27. | :17:30. | |
researched by the Guardian that there are more men called "John" and | :17:31. | :17:37. | |
a fine name it s Mr Speak e that our bosses in the FTSE-100 companies | :17:38. | :17:41. | |
than there are women all together running those companies too. So, | :17:42. | :17:46. | |
what more can this Government do to make sure that women actually see it | :17:47. | :17:52. | |
as their role to run FTSE-100 companies? He's right to point out | :17:53. | :17:57. | |
the problem. In spite of the progress, the reality is if you look | :17:58. | :18:02. | |
at the FTSE 350 companies, only 18 of them have female CEOs. What we | :18:03. | :18:07. | |
need to do is make sure that women are aiming high, but also ensure | :18:08. | :18:12. | |
that, for example, when women have children and come back into the | :18:13. | :18:16. | |
workplace, that their careers are not hindered by that and indeed they | :18:17. | :18:20. | |
can still go on and get to the very top. | :18:21. | :18:30. | |
318 female executive women run 238 across genders. 122 held roles where | :18:31. | :18:39. | |
they heldfy man shall -- held financial roles. | :18:40. | :18:44. | |
Well, I really welcome that question as somebody whose background is | :18:45. | :18:51. | |
being a chartered accountantment actually some of the accounting | :18:52. | :18:56. | |
firms have done great work on pulling through their best and | :18:57. | :19:00. | |
brightest women. It is seeing women in the roles which are pivotal on a | :19:01. | :19:05. | |
board. That is the next step we want to see companies take. | :19:06. | :19:09. | |
Thank you. Can I welcome my Right Honourable friend to her post. She | :19:10. | :19:13. | |
is there on merit and the Conservative Party have shown that | :19:14. | :19:17. | |
women can get to the very top by merit. So, when she's looking at | :19:18. | :19:21. | |
these particular issues, can she give me an assurance that merit will | :19:22. | :19:26. | |
always be the deciding factor on whether people are promoted to a | :19:27. | :19:31. | |
role or not, irrespective of people's gender, race or sexual | :19:32. | :19:35. | |
inclination, that we are recruiting people, recruiters should be blind | :19:36. | :19:39. | |
to those things? Well, I have great news for him. There are plenty of | :19:40. | :19:44. | |
fantastic women out there who are ready, willing and able to get into | :19:45. | :19:48. | |
those top jobs. I can assure him there'll be no come poem on -- | :19:49. | :19:53. | |
compromise on merit. We might see a raising of the performance levels. | :19:54. | :19:58. | |
Six, Mr Speaker. Thank you, Mr Speaker, the | :19:59. | :20:07. | |
Government set out the assessment of the welfare policies in the well | :20:08. | :20:12. | |
form and work act. Every Government policy change is carefully | :20:13. | :20:15. | |
considered in line with the legal obligations. | :20:16. | :20:21. | |
Thank you, Mr Speaker. In gender have said from 2010, 26 billion of | :20:22. | :20:29. | |
cuts have been made. 86% of that figure has come from women's income. | :20:30. | :20:32. | |
The statement made by the Secretary of State for work and mention | :20:33. | :20:37. | |
concludes the child policy are carrying on. That will also have an | :20:38. | :20:42. | |
effect on women's incomes. What is she doing to redress that balance? | :20:43. | :20:47. | |
I thank the honourable lady for that question. It is really important to | :20:48. | :20:51. | |
reflect on the economic statistics. There are more women in work than | :20:52. | :20:56. | |
ever before. With the roll out of universal credit it will be a | :20:57. | :20:59. | |
position where being in work pays. It is important to focus on the | :21:00. | :21:03. | |
reforms we have made are assessing people into work and making sure | :21:04. | :21:05. | |
that women are at the forefront of that. | :21:06. | :21:11. | |
Mr Speaker, the minister will be aware of the continuing concern | :21:12. | :21:19. | |
across the United Kingdom on welfare proposals on women with young | :21:20. | :21:23. | |
families. Will she keep under review that continuing concern right across | :21:24. | :21:27. | |
the entire country to ensure that there's no continuing disadvantage | :21:28. | :21:30. | |
to females, particularly with young families? The honourable gentleman | :21:31. | :21:36. | |
makes a really important point about women with families and the | :21:37. | :21:39. | |
childcare support that this Government has invested in, doubling | :21:40. | :21:46. | |
free care child from 15 to 30 hours for 15,000 working parents for three | :21:47. | :21:50. | |
and four year olds. Is an example of how we are making sure that women | :21:51. | :21:55. | |
can get back into work. Can I welcome the Secretary of State | :21:56. | :22:02. | |
and all new anyone ministers and existing ministers to their place. | :22:03. | :22:08. | |
Priority to Brexit it was said it was could ?36 billion to tax every | :22:09. | :22:13. | |
year, not just public services, it will be our jobs, livelihoods and | :22:14. | :22:19. | |
those on low incomes. We know that 80% of wells fall on women. Can the | :22:20. | :22:24. | |
minister assure me these cuts will not fall on women's shoulders? | :22:25. | :22:30. | |
What we are very conscious of is the honourable lady would have heard the | :22:31. | :22:33. | |
Prime Minister say yesterday we have to make the changes which will come | :22:34. | :22:37. | |
about as a result of the EU referendum work for everybody across | :22:38. | :22:40. | |
society and of course that includes women. | :22:41. | :22:47. | |
Thank you. The Equality and Human Rights Commission performs a very | :22:48. | :22:53. | |
important and valuable role. Its appointed the chair and board are | :22:54. | :22:57. | |
well equipped. The commission receives and will continue to | :22:58. | :23:00. | |
receive sufficient funds to enable it to fulfil its full range of | :23:01. | :23:05. | |
statutory duties. I thank the minister for her answer. Can he stop | :23:06. | :23:10. | |
the rumour there are cuts on the way to the HRC budget. 69% down on what | :23:11. | :23:17. | |
it was in 2010. In this climate of post Brexit racism of employment fee | :23:18. | :23:22. | |
charges, is needed more now than ever. It is operating on less than | :23:23. | :23:26. | |
the old Disability Rights Commission, which is only one part | :23:27. | :23:31. | |
of its multiple good works. Mr Speaker, I am very happy to Scottish | :23:32. | :23:38. | |
these rumours when the ERHC was established in 2007 it was done | :23:39. | :23:42. | |
without a full understanding of what it would need from a budgetary point | :23:43. | :23:46. | |
of view. Nearly ten years later we have a better understanding of the | :23:47. | :23:49. | |
running costs and constituency costs of that organisation. It did have a | :23:50. | :23:53. | |
reduction in function in 2013. They have had to make significant | :23:54. | :23:57. | |
savings. At each stage they have done so after huge discussions | :23:58. | :24:03. | |
between our ministry and the ERHC. They are not discussing -- disputing | :24:04. | :24:07. | |
they will be able to fulfil their statutory functions to the highest | :24:08. | :24:10. | |
possible standard. Thank you. With permission I will | :24:11. | :24:17. | |
answer questions nine and 11 together. Spending to support people | :24:18. | :24:20. | |
with disabilities and health conditions will be higher in real | :24:21. | :24:25. | |
terms in every year to 2020 than it was in 2010. The Government set out | :24:26. | :24:30. | |
our assessment of the impact of the welfare policies and work act with | :24:31. | :24:34. | |
similar assessments for previous changes. | :24:35. | :24:39. | |
Mr Speaker, can UN committee on economic and cultural rights called | :24:40. | :24:43. | |
for this Government's regressive cuts to social security to be | :24:44. | :24:48. | |
reversed and for a comprehension assessment on their impact on | :24:49. | :24:53. | |
vulnerable women, children and disabled people. Will she commit to | :24:54. | :24:57. | |
raising these concerns with her colleagues so these shameful cuts | :24:58. | :25:01. | |
are abandoned? I thank the honourable lady for her question. | :25:02. | :25:05. | |
Spending on the main disability benefits went up by ?3 billion in | :25:06. | :25:09. | |
real terms over the course of the last Parliament. Spending on dip and | :25:10. | :25:15. | |
DLA will be higher than spending was on DLA in 20106789 our welfare | :25:16. | :25:22. | |
reforms will ensure the billions we spend better reflect today's | :25:23. | :25:26. | |
understanding of disability and it will enable disabled people to live | :25:27. | :25:28. | |
independent lives. Thank you. Can I give a personal | :25:29. | :25:34. | |
welcome to the minister, a former colleague on the education Select | :25:35. | :25:36. | |
Committee. The minister will be aware of the long promised work and | :25:37. | :25:40. | |
health programme from our Government and that disabled people are still | :25:41. | :25:45. | |
awaiting publication of the green paper to map out what employment | :25:46. | :25:48. | |
support will be made available for those with disabilities. Does the | :25:49. | :25:54. | |
minister agree with me that her Government must now map out the time | :25:55. | :25:58. | |
line for publication and ensure sufficient funding is made available | :25:59. | :26:05. | |
for disabled people who have born the brunt of austerity cuts I thank | :26:06. | :26:10. | |
the lady for her welcome. I very much enployed -- enjoyed the time we | :26:11. | :26:15. | |
spent on the education committee together. We will produce the paper | :26:16. | :26:21. | |
to build a strategy which will work for them. It is critically important | :26:22. | :26:25. | |
that we get more disabled people into work. I spent time before the | :26:26. | :26:29. | |
general election as a PPS to the minister for disabled people. I know | :26:30. | :26:32. | |
how hard he worked to promote disability confident, to make sure | :26:33. | :26:37. | |
we have good examples and companies we can champion who show that | :26:38. | :26:39. | |
bringing disabled people into work is not only good for disabled people | :26:40. | :26:44. | |
but good for the economy and good for individual companies. | :26:45. | :26:48. | |
Number one, Mr Speaker. Thank you, Mr Speaker. I am | :26:49. | :26:52. | |
delighted to be able to stand at the dispatch box today as the Minister | :26:53. | :26:56. | |
for Women and equalities. I want the House to know this Government is one | :26:57. | :27:01. | |
which is committed to tackling inequality wherever it exists so we | :27:02. | :27:04. | |
can have a country for everyone. We want to see opportunity levelled up. | :27:05. | :27:08. | |
We should never accept the status quo in a society where there are | :27:09. | :27:16. | |
still some of our girls undergoing FGM. Where home phobic bullying | :27:17. | :27:23. | |
takes place. It was a part of my work and I will bring all that | :27:24. | :27:28. | |
passion and practicality to my role as Minister for Women and | :27:29. | :27:31. | |
equalities. Can I welcome the new Secretary of | :27:32. | :27:36. | |
State to her place? She will no doubt have heard the Prime Minister | :27:37. | :27:39. | |
say in answer to my colleague's question, which was more to do with | :27:40. | :27:43. | |
violence against women, it is the best way to ratify the Istanbul | :27:44. | :27:49. | |
convention. Will the new Secretary of State support my honourable | :27:50. | :27:54. | |
friend's bill which commits the Government to do more by ratifying | :27:55. | :27:58. | |
the convention? I take on board the points he made. I spent much of the | :27:59. | :28:03. | |
last three-and-a-half years internationally pressing for | :28:04. | :28:07. | |
stronger action to combat violence against women and girls, including | :28:08. | :28:11. | |
being at the commission on status of women earlier this year, in March, | :28:12. | :28:16. | |
where I was with my honourable friend, the minister for equalities. | :28:17. | :28:20. | |
He is right to highlight this issue. I will get back to him with an | :28:21. | :28:26. | |
updated Government position. I welcome the Ministry of Defence's | :28:27. | :28:29. | |
decision to allow women to fight on the front line. Can I ask my | :28:30. | :28:33. | |
honourable friend the minister to explain what steps the Government | :28:34. | :28:37. | |
will take to encourage women to take up these new posts? Well, as he has | :28:38. | :28:43. | |
pointed out, there is the recent decision enables women to serve in | :28:44. | :28:49. | |
the Royal Marines t royal armoured corps, infantry, so they will be | :28:50. | :28:54. | |
able to fill those close ground combat roles. With reputting in a | :28:55. | :29:00. | |
range of activity, including improved processes. There is a | :29:01. | :29:04. | |
target of 15% of all recruitments to be female by 2020. | :29:05. | :29:10. | |
Thank you, Mr Speaker. The Government took six long Mondays to | :29:11. | :29:16. | |
release its response to women and equalities into transgender | :29:17. | :29:21. | |
equality. The LGB campaigners have called the Government's response | :29:22. | :29:25. | |
lots of precise words signifying nothing. Why did the Government | :29:26. | :29:34. | |
reject the main recommendations, regarded transpeople should be | :29:35. | :29:39. | |
changed to gender identity? Well, Mr Speaker, I do refute that. | :29:40. | :29:46. | |
The response to the committee took representation from over 12 | :29:47. | :29:50. | |
different Government departments and Government bodies. I was a | :29:51. | :29:54. | |
comprehensive piece of work and many of the recommendations were accepted | :29:55. | :29:58. | |
and followed up. Not least the can commitment to look at gender | :29:59. | :30:02. | |
recognition act, one of the things that transpeople tell me is the most | :30:03. | :30:06. | |
disturbing, long-winded and in much need of reform. This department | :30:07. | :30:11. | |
takes very, very seriously our commitment to transpeople. | :30:12. | :30:18. | |
Will my honourable friend join me in congratulating the organisers of the | :30:19. | :30:22. | |
2016 Essex women's business experience and networking event in | :30:23. | :30:26. | |
Southend? Will her department do all they can to help and encourage women | :30:27. | :30:32. | |
set up their own businesses? Mr Speaker, I am delighted to hear | :30:33. | :30:36. | |
about the success of the experience, which I am told offered a range of | :30:37. | :30:44. | |
networks and opportunities to inspire entrepreneur. The Government | :30:45. | :30:49. | |
is working very hard to support them with not least a 2.2 million woman | :30:50. | :30:56. | |
in broadband package to help women engage the confident they need to | :30:57. | :31:00. | |
start their own businesses. Can I welcome the Secretary of State | :31:01. | :31:05. | |
to her place? A report published this week detailed by 2014, 2015 | :31:06. | :31:11. | |
two-thirds of children classified as living under the poverty line where | :31:12. | :31:16. | |
from families where one parent was in work. Should the Government | :31:17. | :31:21. | |
commit to abandoning the cuts to work allowances which will see low | :31:22. | :31:26. | |
to income families who are struggling to keep their heads above | :31:27. | :31:34. | |
water struggle focus on eleaving these households. One of the most | :31:35. | :31:38. | |
important things we have seen happen under this Government and the last | :31:39. | :31:41. | |
Government was a dramatic fall in unemployment and in the end, as I no | :31:42. | :31:45. | |
efrom my own childhood experience, where my dad spent a year | :31:46. | :31:48. | |
unemployed, the most important thing we can do to combat poverty is to | :31:49. | :31:54. | |
create jobs. She is right to say we want to go beyond that and see | :31:55. | :31:58. | |
people doing better in work. It is not only the right thing for them to | :31:59. | :32:05. | |
do and their own household circumstances, the smart thing | :32:06. | :32:19. | |
In September, I am hosting the first engineering festival. Will the | :32:20. | :32:27. | |
Secretary of State join me there? Well, this Wiltshire festival of | :32:28. | :32:31. | |
engineering does sound like a great initiative. I would be delighted if | :32:32. | :32:35. | |
she could send me details and I will see if I can come along to it. The | :32:36. | :32:41. | |
good news is there is 13,000 more entries by girls to maths and A | :32:42. | :32:47. | |
levels compared to 2010. We need to do more to challenge the per | :32:48. | :32:54. | |
sections which put girls off from doing these subjects. The number of | :32:55. | :33:00. | |
organisations have conveyed disdisappointment at the committee | :33:01. | :33:06. | |
transgender enquiry. Stone wall's insistent and further evidence | :33:07. | :33:09. | |
believing it has sufficient evidence to take proper action. Does the | :33:10. | :33:13. | |
minister accept the assessment that this has been a lost opportunity to | :33:14. | :33:19. | |
ensure that all trans people are clearly protected and will she | :33:20. | :33:24. | |
commit to working them and others to achieve true equality for all | :33:25. | :33:27. | |
trans-people? Well, yes, Mr Speaker. Once again I | :33:28. | :33:32. | |
refute the allegations that this has been a missed opportunity. We have | :33:33. | :33:35. | |
taken on board so many of the recommendations. It with was | :33:36. | :33:39. | |
ground-breaking piece of work. It has encouraged 12 different | :33:40. | :33:41. | |
Government bodies and organisations to look at what they do and makes | :33:42. | :33:46. | |
some strong commitments to the transgender population and we | :33:47. | :33:50. | |
support them and we are looking out for their needs. The Secretary of | :33:51. | :33:54. | |
State said she was committed to stamping out inequality and the | :33:55. | :33:58. | |
Government was committed to stamping out inequality. One of the starkest | :33:59. | :34:03. | |
areas is on sentencing. For every single category of offence a man is | :34:04. | :34:06. | |
more likely to be sent to prison than a woman. To give an example, | :34:07. | :34:12. | |
for child cruelty and neglect. 33% of men convicted were sent to | :34:13. | :34:17. | |
prison. Only 15% of women were sent to prison. Will she write to the | :34:18. | :34:22. | |
chairman of the Sentencing Council to instruct him to treat men and | :34:23. | :34:26. | |
women the same when they come before the courts? | :34:27. | :34:30. | |
The honourable gentleman clearly knows that the judiciary are | :34:31. | :34:36. | |
independent of government, and rightly so. There are no gender | :34:37. | :34:42. | |
preferences in sentencing guidelines. Every sentence is based | :34:43. | :34:45. | |
on the offence committed and other mitigating factors. He also knows | :34:46. | :34:50. | |
that, in the offence he identified, although women are less likely to go | :34:51. | :34:53. | |
to prison, the Saint and says they receive when they do are actually | :34:54. | :34:58. | |
longer than their male counterparts. -- the sentences. This week we have | :34:59. | :35:04. | |
learned that the pensions portfolio has been downgraded from Minister of | :35:05. | :35:09. | |
State to run on the Secretary of State. She agree with me that the | :35:10. | :35:15. | |
vast inequalities facing women and those that will face future | :35:16. | :35:20. | |
pensioners under a new state pension are suddenly shameful that the | :35:21. | :35:25. | |
Minister of State that has not been appointed to deal with these | :35:26. | :35:30. | |
inequalities and the uncertainties that retirees will face following | :35:31. | :35:34. | |
the vote to leave the EU? I thank the honourable gentleman for that | :35:35. | :35:37. | |
question. The Department for Work and Pensions takes his | :35:38. | :35:42. | |
responsibilities seriously on these issues. The department was | :35:43. | :35:45. | |
strengthened by having an additional half of Minister, and I think that | :35:46. | :35:50. | |
it is trivial to focus on the job title when in fact we get qualified, | :35:51. | :35:56. | |
competent and determined people into the right roles. Thank you, Mr | :35:57. | :36:03. | |
Speaker. I can graduate my Right Honourable Friend on her | :36:04. | :36:06. | |
appointment. One of the key decision shall have to date quickly is that | :36:07. | :36:12. | |
the two-year period of discussion on clusters termination comes to an | :36:13. | :36:15. | |
end. I've written to her already. Will she undertake to have a meeting | :36:16. | :36:20. | |
with me and a delegation from the Hindu immunity who are determined to | :36:21. | :36:25. | |
see this illogical discrimination removed from the statute book -- | :36:26. | :36:34. | |
caste the scrum and is in. I will locate his letter at the Department | :36:35. | :36:37. | |
and make sure that I read it very carefully. Urgent question, Neil | :36:38. | :36:46. | |
Carmichael. The reason I applied for an urgent question this morning... | :36:47. | :36:52. | |
We don't need to go into any of that. The right now gentleman needs | :36:53. | :36:58. | |
to ask the Secretary of State for a statement on... He will get his | :36:59. | :37:03. | |
opportunity in a minute. Can I ask about the situation with school | :37:04. | :37:07. | |
funding and whether the department can meet its timetable? Minister, | :37:08. | :37:14. | |
the Secretary of State for Education, Justine Greening. Thank | :37:15. | :37:21. | |
you Mr Speaker. I'm committed to introducing fairer funding for | :37:22. | :37:24. | |
schools. This is an important reform to transparently allocate funding on | :37:25. | :37:31. | |
the basis of schools' and children's' actual needs. As we set | :37:32. | :37:35. | |
out today this government is investing in record levels of | :37:36. | :37:38. | |
funding for schools and with that, fairer funding will set a common | :37:39. | :37:44. | |
foundation allowing schools to maximise the potential of every | :37:45. | :37:47. | |
child. They will no longer be held back by a funding system that is | :37:48. | :37:53. | |
arbitrary, out of date and unfair. Fairer funding will underpin the | :37:54. | :37:56. | |
education system to Act as a motor for social mobility and social | :37:57. | :38:04. | |
justice. The first step has been met with an overwhelmingly positive | :38:05. | :38:07. | |
response from head teachers, governors and parents. I am clear | :38:08. | :38:14. | |
that this is a once in a generation opportunity for historic change, and | :38:15. | :38:16. | |
therefore we have got to make sure that we take the time to get that | :38:17. | :38:19. | |
final approach right. I would therefore publish the government was | :38:20. | :38:25. | |
Mac will response to the post stage of the consultation and set out my | :38:26. | :38:29. | |
proposals for the second stage, once Parliament returns in the autumn. We | :38:30. | :38:34. | |
will run a full consultation and make final decisions early in the | :38:35. | :38:38. | |
New Year. Given the importance of consulting widely and fully with the | :38:39. | :38:42. | |
sector and getting the fermentation right, the new system will apply | :38:43. | :38:47. | |
from 2018-19 and we will set out plans for a national funding formula | :38:48. | :38:53. | |
for early years shortly. I understand local authorities need | :38:54. | :38:55. | |
sufficient information to begin planning funding arrangements for | :38:56. | :39:01. | |
2017-18. Local authorities need time to consult with schools, both | :39:02. | :39:06. | |
academies and maintained, to ensure that the funding they provided | :39:07. | :39:10. | |
beanbag erected appropriately. As well as a fair system, schools and | :39:11. | :39:15. | |
local authorities need stability and early notice of any changes to | :39:16. | :39:19. | |
fulfil the support that future properly. I confirm today in my | :39:20. | :39:22. | |
written statement that no local authority will see a reduction from | :39:23. | :39:27. | |
their 2016-17 funding for schools and final allocations will follow in | :39:28. | :39:33. | |
December on the basis of the latest pupil numbers as usual. My written | :39:34. | :39:39. | |
statement confirms that the 2017 - 18 will retain a minimum funding | :39:40. | :39:43. | |
guarantee for schools so that no school can face a funding reduction | :39:44. | :39:48. | |
of more than 1.5% per pupil, and as my written statement today confirms, | :39:49. | :39:52. | |
and the term and to make sure that we moved to a fair funding system | :39:53. | :39:56. | |
and that we do that in a measured, properly consultative fashion. Mr | :39:57. | :40:01. | |
Speaker, this will be a crucial part of delivering an education system | :40:02. | :40:04. | |
that works for every child, no matter their background, and I hope | :40:05. | :40:08. | |
that update has been helpful for the House. The honourable gentleman for | :40:09. | :40:16. | |
Stroud can now operate, but only 40 minutes. I thank you, Mrs Peter, | :40:17. | :40:20. | |
that is extremely help or. The key point and the Secretary of State has | :40:21. | :40:26. | |
spotted it is that local authorities need time to prepare, and so, too, | :40:27. | :40:30. | |
do schools. So the essential question is, can the government meet | :40:31. | :40:34. | |
this timetable it has set out, because that is the desire of all | :40:35. | :40:41. | |
schools, particularly in England obviously, and it is of interest to | :40:42. | :40:44. | |
every single member of Parliament in England. What I would ask the | :40:45. | :40:49. | |
Secretary of State to confirm is when she does expect this programme | :40:50. | :40:55. | |
to be fulfilled, and how it is that she is going to be sure that the | :40:56. | :40:58. | |
next consultation period does not take quite as long as the previous | :40:59. | :41:03. | |
one, the cause that took some three months to complete and we still | :41:04. | :41:05. | |
actually don't know where we are. Those are the key questions. He's | :41:06. | :41:11. | |
absolutely right to say that what we want to do is strike a balance | :41:12. | :41:17. | |
between moving rapidly towards a fairer funding formula but at the | :41:18. | :41:20. | |
same time making sure that we do that in a way that clearly allows | :41:21. | :41:25. | |
time for the details of that formula to be debated, because they will | :41:26. | :41:28. | |
have a big impact on how it works effectively. Also then time for | :41:29. | :41:33. | |
local authorities to understand the changes and to prepare, and for | :41:34. | :41:36. | |
schools themselves as well. That is the balance I have tried to strike. | :41:37. | :41:41. | |
I want to be responsible in making sure that we don't rush into changes | :41:42. | :41:47. | |
without absolutely being fully sighted on the ramifications of | :41:48. | :41:51. | |
them. I know that this is a long-standing frustration and debate | :41:52. | :41:55. | |
that Parliament has had around the fairer funding formula and I am | :41:56. | :41:59. | |
committed to resolving that. I want to make sure that when I do, and be | :42:00. | :42:04. | |
resolved effectively, so that we don't have too revisit this funding | :42:05. | :42:08. | |
formula, because we haven't got it right first time. This government | :42:09. | :42:14. | |
was Mac attitude to school funding is woeful. Talk about last minute. | :42:15. | :42:21. | |
Schools are struggling to cope with a 5% funding shortage already that | :42:22. | :42:26. | |
was announced resulting from the Chancellor's decision to increase | :42:27. | :42:30. | |
national insurance and teachers pension contributions. Will the | :42:31. | :42:34. | |
Minister recognise the issues pupil numbers rising and we have a growing | :42:35. | :42:38. | |
teacher shortage, and will she put money in to help schools within this | :42:39. | :42:44. | |
new form? Early this government could have the audacity to deliver | :42:45. | :42:48. | |
real term cost of school budgets across the country and claim that | :42:49. | :42:51. | |
this represents fair funding. And all the Secretary of State publish, | :42:52. | :42:58. | |
in the library of the House, the amount that each local authority | :42:59. | :43:04. | |
will receive under the existing funding formula, and that is what | :43:05. | :43:07. | |
they will receive now, under today's announcement? She has asked a range | :43:08. | :43:15. | |
of questions but in summary, I have been clearer in my written statement | :43:16. | :43:19. | |
that no authority will lose funding for schools or for high needs. This | :43:20. | :43:24. | |
will enable us to give authorities a firm foundation on which to start | :43:25. | :43:29. | |
planning for next year. The reality is that we have seen funding across | :43:30. | :43:33. | |
education and for schools rise. It has been one of those areas that | :43:34. | :43:37. | |
under this government and the coalition government, we sought to | :43:38. | :43:40. | |
protect, and that is evidenced in the results. We now have more | :43:41. | :43:47. | |
children who are in good or outstanding schools, and we want to | :43:48. | :43:53. | |
see that progress continue. Schools in Staffordshire are some of the | :43:54. | :43:57. | |
lowest funded in the country. This has been of great concern to head | :43:58. | :44:03. | |
teachers that I met last week. We had understood we were moving to a | :44:04. | :44:08. | |
fairer funding formula from 2017-18. It now seems it is given to be one | :44:09. | :44:11. | |
year later. Will she make absolutely clear that there could forcibly be | :44:12. | :44:15. | |
transitional funding for those authorities which are in a desperate | :44:16. | :44:20. | |
position at the moment, as Staffordshire is? I recognise the | :44:21. | :44:28. | |
pressures that he has set out. This gives us time to look at how we can | :44:29. | :44:30. | |
deal with those effectively. We should recognise that, whilst there | :44:31. | :44:35. | |
are schools that are disadvantaged by the current formula, there will | :44:36. | :44:39. | |
be changes for schools under the new formula. It gives us a chance to | :44:40. | :44:43. | |
work effectively with those to ensure that there is a sensible and | :44:44. | :44:48. | |
measured transition from the historic approach that we are | :44:49. | :44:52. | |
currently under, to the new approach, the fairer one that we | :44:53. | :44:58. | |
will be introducing. The noises coming out of the Department for | :44:59. | :45:01. | |
Education suggested London schools in particular would be seriously yet | :45:02. | :45:04. | |
by any changes to the funding formula. Schools in Harrow have been | :45:05. | :45:11. | |
advertised they face a 3% - 8% cut in real terms to their budgets as a | :45:12. | :45:16. | |
result of the changes that her department are considering. Can she | :45:17. | :45:19. | |
offer any reassurance to the head teachers and parents in my | :45:20. | :45:22. | |
constituency that that is not going to be the case? I've set out the | :45:23. | :45:27. | |
details of how we will proceed in my statement. As his point clearly sets | :45:28. | :45:32. | |
out, for schools that will see a change in the funding they receive | :45:33. | :45:37. | |
as a result of this evening up and making the system fairer, these are | :45:38. | :45:40. | |
important changes, and it is right that we give ourselves time to | :45:41. | :45:44. | |
effectively make sure that we can help schools deal with them well, | :45:45. | :45:51. | |
and help them steady the transition. Will the Secretary of State | :45:52. | :45:56. | |
recognise that optimism that schools in Chippenham constituency felt | :45:57. | :46:03. | |
directed by what is a ludicrous situation to receive over ?2000 less | :46:04. | :46:07. | |
than other areas, can she echoed her commitment to the people of | :46:08. | :46:11. | |
Wiltshire including the 8000 people who signed my fairer funding | :46:12. | :46:15. | |
petition? We are going to get on with this funding formula. Just to | :46:16. | :46:22. | |
deal with the point made by the honourable gentleman opposite, we | :46:23. | :46:26. | |
have this school funding system and we have introduced the Pupil Premium | :46:27. | :46:30. | |
so we have entered mechanisms to make sure that where we see | :46:31. | :46:33. | |
disadvantage and additional needs we can make sure that funding follows | :46:34. | :46:37. | |
those pupils, so what we are now trying to do is get a system that is | :46:38. | :46:41. | |
sensible in terms of the core funding that schools receive and | :46:42. | :46:46. | |
that isn't based on data that is frankly very, very old at this | :46:47. | :46:49. | |
stage, but at the same time takes account of the fact that, under the | :46:50. | :46:54. | |
Pupil Premium and other funding mechanisms, we have an ability to | :46:55. | :46:58. | |
top up where we particularly want to tackle disadvantage. Can the | :46:59. | :47:04. | |
Secretary of State confirm that behind the warm words fairer | :47:05. | :47:07. | |
funding, school funding is still set to be cut by around 8% by 2020, has | :47:08. | :47:13. | |
confirmed the Institute for Fiscal Studies? That is the same time as we | :47:14. | :47:20. | |
see teacher numbers falling, over one third of the children in this | :47:21. | :47:22. | |
country currently leave school without five good GCSEss. Will she | :47:23. | :47:28. | |
confirm this and secondly confirm whether my local authority in | :47:29. | :47:32. | |
Hounslow will see a cup in its funding, and when all they know? | :47:33. | :47:39. | |
No local authority will see a reduction? Funding 2017-2018. The | :47:40. | :47:46. | |
statement will make sure we have the time to bring in this fair funding | :47:47. | :47:51. | |
formula effectively. As I have set out to her, she shouldn't forget | :47:52. | :47:57. | |
under the pupil premium introduction we have ?2.5 billion which is | :47:58. | :48:01. | |
specifically targeted to make sure children who are disadvantaged get | :48:02. | :48:06. | |
an additional toppup so their schools can provide additional | :48:07. | :48:08. | |
support. I am delighted by the Secretary of | :48:09. | :48:15. | |
State's commit commitment to fair funding. Can I urge her to look at | :48:16. | :48:22. | |
arrangements for counties like Sussex, who need it. He's made that | :48:23. | :48:29. | |
point clearly. I can assure we will have a sensible approach to this | :48:30. | :48:36. | |
period 2017/18. Address a former Select Committee colleague I am | :48:37. | :48:38. | |
pleased to see the Secretary of State in her place and | :48:39. | :48:42. | |
congratulations. Can I urge she does not follow the example of her predes | :48:43. | :48:47. | |
is source and builds a strong relationship with teachers. Can she | :48:48. | :48:55. | |
make clear that the pupil premium which is hugely important for | :48:56. | :48:59. | |
targeting funding at tz disadvantaged will be protected in | :49:00. | :49:02. | |
real terms going forward when the changes are made? | :49:03. | :49:08. | |
Thank you, Mr Speaker. I remember my time on the DWP Select Committee | :49:09. | :49:13. | |
with him with real fondness. I very much enjoyed it and learnt a lot | :49:14. | :49:19. | |
during those years. He talked about head teachers and teachers. One of | :49:20. | :49:24. | |
the first thing I did was pick up the phone to teaching unions to | :49:25. | :49:28. | |
introduce myself and to set up initial meetings with them. I | :49:29. | :49:31. | |
briefly saw them yesterday. I hope that I can have a constructive, | :49:32. | :49:36. | |
productive relationship. I know the most important people who help me | :49:37. | :49:41. | |
get educated were my teachers. To whom I will be eternally grateful. | :49:42. | :49:44. | |
So, it is important that we recognise that. He asked about the | :49:45. | :49:51. | |
pupil premium. The pupil premium rates are protected for the entire | :49:52. | :49:57. | |
Spending Review at the 2015/16 rates. Thank you. As someone who | :49:58. | :50:04. | |
like my Right Honourable friend was educated in a comprehensive school | :50:05. | :50:08. | |
in Rotherham, can I warmly welcome my Right Honourable friend to her | :50:09. | :50:13. | |
new role. Does my Right Honourable friend agree that whilst we can | :50:14. | :50:17. | |
adjust the school funding formula in the short-term t only way to | :50:18. | :50:20. | |
increase resources for schools in the long-term is to have a strong | :50:21. | :50:26. | |
and growing economy? I think he's hit the nail on the head. I annual | :50:27. | :50:30. | |
very proud that both of us went through the state school system in | :50:31. | :50:34. | |
Rotherham. I hope to go back up to Rotherham in the coming weeks and | :50:35. | :50:38. | |
months to revisit some of the schools that enabled me to have the | :50:39. | :50:44. | |
edge dhags gave me a platform to try to reach some of my goals that I set | :50:45. | :50:50. | |
myself. As he says, a strong economy is vital for making sure that we | :50:51. | :50:54. | |
have the funding to invest in our education system, but also it is | :50:55. | :50:58. | |
vital to make sure that the children coming through our state school | :50:59. | :51:02. | |
system have the opportunities to stretch themselves and the dignity | :51:03. | :51:07. | |
of work. Thank you, Mr Speaker. I have writ | :51:08. | :51:11. | |
on the the Secretary of State today, so she will receive a letter very | :51:12. | :51:17. | |
shortly and hopefully she will keep an eye out for that in the coming | :51:18. | :51:22. | |
days. Under the formula proposed by F 40, the campaign for fairer fund | :51:23. | :51:26. | |
gds in schools, schools in North-East Lincolnshire suffer a | :51:27. | :51:31. | |
?1.2 million cut. Equivalent to ?100 per pupil each year. Does the | :51:32. | :51:38. | |
Secretary of State agree any formula which takes funding away from my | :51:39. | :51:42. | |
constituency, in which no school is rated as outstanding, can be | :51:43. | :51:48. | |
described as fair? Well, I agree with her that the current formula | :51:49. | :51:51. | |
had steadily over THE COMMENTATOR: Out of dasmt was | :51:52. | :51:56. | |
based on statistics which needed to be updated but couldn't be. It was | :51:57. | :52:00. | |
time to look at how we could make it fair. The second point that she | :52:01. | :52:06. | |
raises around, absolutely focussing efforts on those remaining parts of | :52:07. | :52:10. | |
the UK, where our education system is just simply not delivering for | :52:11. | :52:15. | |
our children, is absolutely vatle. Something -- vital and something I | :52:16. | :52:19. | |
plan to focus on. The Secretary of State, in my constituency there are | :52:20. | :52:26. | |
significant areas of deprivation where there is underachievement | :52:27. | :52:32. | |
among white working-class boys. Can she confirm nothing will adversely | :52:33. | :52:36. | |
effect the areas in my constituency? Well, I have set out how local | :52:37. | :52:41. | |
authorities, inclooding her own, will not see a reduction? Funding | :52:42. | :52:47. | |
for 2017/18. This issue of now targeting in on those parts of our | :52:48. | :52:50. | |
country where children are not getting the start they need and | :52:51. | :52:54. | |
deserve to do well in life is will be central to my efforts, alongside | :52:55. | :53:00. | |
making sure we continue to lift outcomes for children overall across | :53:01. | :53:06. | |
the rest of the country. Mr Speaker, can I warmly welcome the | :53:07. | :53:10. | |
Secretary of State to her post and the other new ministers, the Skills | :53:11. | :53:14. | |
Minister and the old team. Can I say we would very much like, I chaired | :53:15. | :53:19. | |
the advisory council of the Sutton Trust. We look forward to working | :53:20. | :53:24. | |
positively and creatively with her. Can I remind her that England is a | :53:25. | :53:29. | |
vastly changing society, all the time. Other Governments, Labour | :53:30. | :53:34. | |
Governments have not actually cracked the ability to get funding | :53:35. | :53:37. | |
to the right places at the right time. Would she consider at some | :53:38. | :53:42. | |
time an independent group, even a commission which could look at this | :53:43. | :53:47. | |
year on year, month on month, to actually get it right? It is just an | :53:48. | :53:51. | |
idea. Could she consider it? We all get it wrong at some stage. I think | :53:52. | :53:55. | |
two points in response to his point, with I think is a really important | :53:56. | :54:00. | |
one. First of all, we have to make sure that although we set policy at | :54:01. | :54:04. | |
the Whitehall level, that we really understand how best to make sure | :54:05. | :54:09. | |
that at an individual child level it can have the impact that we are | :54:10. | :54:13. | |
seeking to make sure happens. That is not always easy. I think we can | :54:14. | :54:18. | |
learn from some of the examples on city deals, for example, where we | :54:19. | :54:23. | |
have seen local areas take ownership of often physical infrastructure to | :54:24. | :54:28. | |
make sure there's a common plan that Government is investing alongside a | :54:29. | :54:34. | |
local plan. I think his points is aing really strong one. I would like | :54:35. | :54:39. | |
to see my department be a central engine for social mobility. We need | :54:40. | :54:44. | |
to challenge ourselves across Government and it has a key role, in | :54:45. | :54:48. | |
saying we don't just want children to come out of our schools better | :54:49. | :54:52. | |
educated. We want to make sure that the jobs and the careers are there | :54:53. | :54:55. | |
for them to really be able to make the most of their potential. In the | :54:56. | :55:00. | |
end, a country's most important asset is its people, which is why I | :55:01. | :55:04. | |
am so delighted that I am in the job I am in. | :55:05. | :55:09. | |
May I highlight to my honourable friend that in Kettering there are | :55:10. | :55:21. | |
8879 places raises to 667 by 2021. 6700 secondary places raises to 7731 | :55:22. | :55:27. | |
by 2021. The County Council says all places will be full by the 2017/18 | :55:28. | :55:33. | |
academic year. Will she ensure when she looks at this issue of fairer | :55:34. | :55:37. | |
funding, counties like Northamptonshire and places like | :55:38. | :55:41. | |
Kettering, with the fastest rates of house building in the whole country | :55:42. | :55:46. | |
get the funding they need to make sure we have enough school places | :55:47. | :55:51. | |
for our children? Well, he raises this important issue that alongside | :55:52. | :55:56. | |
many of the reforms there is a demographic shift which means we | :55:57. | :56:00. | |
need to scale up our edgeation system to keep pace with the number | :56:01. | :56:06. | |
of children. We have created 6600 school places. We need to do more. | :56:07. | :56:11. | |
The formula I am setting out today means we are in a better position | :56:12. | :56:15. | |
going forward as we introduce it to make sure that fair funding follows | :56:16. | :56:22. | |
the child, including in Kettering. Mr Speaker, I warmly congratulate | :56:23. | :56:25. | |
the Secretary of State on her appointment. She is right not to | :56:26. | :56:31. | |
rush this. Getting the new formula wrong would be a disaster. It was | :56:32. | :56:35. | |
offered at the Select Committee to meet with me and my friend for | :56:36. | :56:41. | |
Gateshead, who is in his place, to discuss a rapid pupil turnover in | :56:42. | :56:45. | |
the new formula. Can she confirm that offer still stands? Can she let | :56:46. | :56:49. | |
us know which member of her team that meeting should now be with? | :56:50. | :56:53. | |
That offer does stand. I will get back to him when we have worked out | :56:54. | :56:57. | |
which minister will attend the meeting. | :56:58. | :57:02. | |
Thank you, Mr Speaker. Following on from the honourable member for | :57:03. | :57:05. | |
Kettering, more and more importants in many parts of my constituent find | :57:06. | :57:10. | |
it difficult to get chair child into the school of their choice. One | :57:11. | :57:14. | |
example, there is a desperate need for more secondary school places in | :57:15. | :57:19. | |
my constituency. Can I ask the Secretary of State, who I warmly | :57:20. | :57:22. | |
welcome to her role, that she looks at the need for school places in the | :57:23. | :57:26. | |
Shipley constituency and make sure that my parents can get their | :57:27. | :57:30. | |
children into the school of their choice, because at the moment for | :57:31. | :57:34. | |
many that is a distant dream. Well, again I think this is an | :57:35. | :57:39. | |
incredibly fundamental issue. I can assure him I am well aware of the | :57:40. | :57:43. | |
need to make sure that alongside all the other changes that are rippling | :57:44. | :57:48. | |
through the education system that fundamentally we have enough places | :57:49. | :57:52. | |
for the children of our country. But that also we have enough teachers to | :57:53. | :57:57. | |
be in those classrooms teaching them and the teachers should be | :57:58. | :58:00. | |
outstanding and excellent and be able to excite children in the | :58:01. | :58:03. | |
classroom, help them learn and give them that best start in life. | :58:04. | :58:09. | |
Can I also welcome the Secretary of State to her place. I am sure she's | :58:10. | :58:12. | |
looking ford ward to appearances before the education Select | :58:13. | :58:15. | |
Committee probably starting in the autumn. The Secretary of State, the | :58:16. | :58:21. | |
fairer funding inherently means a process of redistribution. Many | :58:22. | :58:26. | |
schools, heads and gove verps, whose budgets are at the margins who are | :58:27. | :58:33. | |
looking forward to potential 1.5% per pupil cut will look at that with | :58:34. | :58:37. | |
real trep preations particularly if they are in re-Croat -- trepidation, | :58:38. | :58:49. | |
particularly if they are in re-Croat of that. It is an appeal from the G | :58:50. | :58:54. | |
40 and an awful lot of schools in the inner cities are wondering if | :58:55. | :58:57. | |
they will be on the receiving end of a cut. | :58:58. | :59:01. | |
Well, I recognise the point he's making. I underline the rationale | :59:02. | :59:07. | |
behind why we introduced the pupil premium in the first place, which is | :59:08. | :59:11. | |
to address many of the points he has made, but also the comments why I am | :59:12. | :59:14. | |
setting out the statement I am making today. It is a substantial | :59:15. | :59:20. | |
change in funding for all schools ultimately and therefore we need to | :59:21. | :59:24. | |
make sure we get it right. Thank you, Mr Speaker. I welcome | :59:25. | :59:30. | |
Secretary of State into her role and welcome the incorporation of skills | :59:31. | :59:36. | |
into the title. It has been two far from -- too far from the centre of | :59:37. | :59:41. | |
education policy recently. I welcome that. Mr Speaker, following up the | :59:42. | :59:49. | |
question from my fellow Hounslow colleague for Feltham and Heston, | :59:50. | :59:54. | |
will imply MEPation of fairer funding in Hounslow mean greater | :59:55. | :59:58. | |
cuts from 2018? Will she reassure the heads that we met a couple of | :59:59. | :00:05. | |
weeks ago, who are already having to cut, make cuts, such as A level | :00:06. | :00:11. | |
options, support for children with special needs, mental health and | :00:12. | :00:16. | |
counselling support, et cetera? As I have set out in my statement today | :00:17. | :00:21. | |
we will launch a consultation on the detail of how we plan to introduce | :00:22. | :00:25. | |
the funding formula. That will give both her and her local schools and | :00:26. | :00:29. | |
teachers ample opportunity to be able to feed into that, in terms of | :00:30. | :00:35. | |
their local perspective. Representing as I do across borough | :00:36. | :00:40. | |
constituency, I know the unfairness of the current system. It cannot be | :00:41. | :00:45. | |
fair that a child from Stockport receives less funding thatten a | :00:46. | :00:50. | |
child from -- funding than a child from Denton. Areas which share the | :00:51. | :00:54. | |
same characteristics but are in different local authorities. Can the | :00:55. | :01:00. | |
Secretary of State say whether her new fairer funding formula will | :01:01. | :01:06. | |
ensure that those children in Redditch are not disadvantaged | :01:07. | :01:11. | |
because they are in a more prosperous borough overall, but | :01:12. | :01:14. | |
their funding will be match to those of the children in Denton? | :01:15. | :01:21. | |
I think I can confirm to him that the funding formula will start to | :01:22. | :01:26. | |
iron out those sort of inequities and once we launch the second phase | :01:27. | :01:30. | |
consultation, I know he'll be interested to see the criteria and | :01:31. | :01:35. | |
the characteristics that we will incorporate to help make sure we do | :01:36. | :01:38. | |
a fairer approach on funding for schools in the future than we have | :01:39. | :01:43. | |
been able to do in the past. I would also set out to him, if you like, | :01:44. | :01:46. | |
the architecture of what we are trying to achieve. If we want to | :01:47. | :01:52. | |
overlay significant additional resources in relation to deprivation | :01:53. | :01:56. | |
we want to do it in a smarter way and use the pupil premium to do that | :01:57. | :02:04. | |
effectively. We recognise we need an element of understanding, | :02:05. | :02:07. | |
obtainment, eligibility for free school meals and others in the corps | :02:08. | :02:09. | |
formula too. Order, business question, Paul | :02:10. | :02:24. | |
Flynn. Will the leader was the business for September? The business | :02:25. | :02:28. | |
for the week commencing the September will include Monday fifth | :02:29. | :02:36. | |
September, remaining stages of the Finance Bill first stage, Tuesday | :02:37. | :02:39. | |
the sixth of them, conclusion of remaining stages of the Finance | :02:40. | :02:43. | |
Bill, Wednesday the 7th of September, an opposition day, the | :02:44. | :02:47. | |
second allotted day with a debate on an opposition motion subject to be | :02:48. | :02:52. | |
announced, Thursday the 8th of September, a debate on a motion on | :02:53. | :02:57. | |
scanning and its effect on vulnerable individuals, followed by | :02:58. | :03:02. | |
a debate on a motion on the fourth Industrial Revolution, both subjects | :03:03. | :03:05. | |
having been determined by the back inch business committee. On Friday | :03:06. | :03:08. | |
nights at them but the House will not be sitting. The provisional | :03:09. | :03:14. | |
business of the week commencing 12th September will include Monday the | :03:15. | :03:20. | |
12th, remaining stages of the Wales bill. The business in Westminster | :03:21. | :03:25. | |
Hall for the fifth, eight and 12 September will be as follows, Monday | :03:26. | :03:31. | |
the fifth, debate on and a petition relating to EU referendum rules, | :03:32. | :03:35. | |
Thursday the 8th of September, a debate on the missing Chibok | :03:36. | :03:47. | |
schoolgirls in Nigeria, then on the 12th petition in relation to South | :03:48. | :03:53. | |
Korea and the dog meat trade. And as this is the last business questions | :03:54. | :03:58. | |
before the summary says, I'd like to wish colleagues on all sides of the | :03:59. | :04:03. | |
House a restful recess and time for constituency duties and thank in | :04:04. | :04:07. | |
particular the hard-working staff of this House, who serve members of all | :04:08. | :04:13. | |
political parties professionally and with dedication and thank especially | :04:14. | :04:20. | |
those who are retiring or otherwise leaving the service of the House at | :04:21. | :04:24. | |
this recess, and I hope I would speak for members on all sides if I | :04:25. | :04:27. | |
said that members in particular would want to say a big thank you to | :04:28. | :04:39. | |
Noleen Delaney, one of the stalwart of the tea room staff, who is | :04:40. | :04:43. | |
retiring after 30 years, a record of service for which we are all very | :04:44. | :04:48. | |
grateful. I would like to echo the words of the leader of the scum | :04:49. | :04:52. | |
particularly concerning Noleen Delaney whom we all know as a valued | :04:53. | :04:56. | |
friend, adviser, can but the and over many years. And the other | :04:57. | :05:01. | |
members of staff who serve so faithfully. In recent days we might | :05:02. | :05:07. | |
consider accelerating progress on making This Place a habitable | :05:08. | :05:13. | |
accommodation for staff, many of whom have suffered in the recent | :05:14. | :05:18. | |
heat, and perhaps I'm thinking of following your example of having | :05:19. | :05:23. | |
less formal dress that members of staff are forced to wear, which must | :05:24. | :05:27. | |
be very uncomfortable at this time of the year. It is also right to | :05:28. | :05:33. | |
note that we have lost the previously from the House, the | :05:34. | :05:45. | |
member for Epsom and Ewell. We must pay tribute to his services which | :05:46. | :05:49. | |
were considerable over his period as leader and although these doubts of | :05:50. | :05:54. | |
Question Time is between leader and deputy had their own personality. We | :05:55. | :05:59. | |
remember with fondness the number of questions the previous leader | :06:00. | :06:05. | |
answered, and some of his answers were occasionally related to the | :06:06. | :06:09. | |
questions asked. I believe what we will miss is the rapier like wit of | :06:10. | :06:16. | |
my friend the member for the Rhondda Valley striking against the Steven | :06:17. | :06:21. | |
solidity of the member for Epsom and Ewell. It is an undiluted pleasure | :06:22. | :06:25. | |
to welcome the present Leader of the House. I've fear that, as long | :06:26. | :06:32. | |
admirer of the honourable gentleman, his political career might not the | :06:33. | :06:37. | |
honour upward with lecturing with this appointment, because his career | :06:38. | :06:42. | |
has been blighted by his solid devotion to the three Rs, | :06:43. | :06:51. | |
rationality, restraint and reasonableness. These are not | :06:52. | :06:55. | |
attributes that go well in his party at the moment. He was a splendid | :06:56. | :07:02. | |
spokesman on European affairs and a voice of sanity on so many issues. I | :07:03. | :07:07. | |
am sure that we look forward to his continuing with his restrained and | :07:08. | :07:13. | |
mature performances at Question Time. He is also, I am told by my | :07:14. | :07:19. | |
friend the member for Cardiff West, the supreme champion on the | :07:20. | :07:24. | |
television programme, University challenge. Not only did he win | :07:25. | :07:30. | |
splendidly, but when it came back to have a challenge and challenges, he | :07:31. | :07:36. | |
was the supreme winner then. So it is great to know that he is doing | :07:37. | :07:45. | |
this job from the platform of his own scholarship and knowledge. It is | :07:46. | :07:49. | |
going to be a vintage year, a vintage period for leadership of the | :07:50. | :07:52. | |
House. We have the Welsh Bill returning. It is a great shame we | :07:53. | :08:00. | |
didn't get it right the first time, but Welsh bill is not just for St | :08:01. | :08:04. | |
David's Day but for eternity. Oh that we would have got it right the | :08:05. | :08:09. | |
first time. I'm afraid the attitude of this House towards devolution, | :08:10. | :08:14. | |
which was not a popular cause when the first bill was introduced in the | :08:15. | :08:18. | |
90s is now universally accepted, but evolution is seen to Wales as a | :08:19. | :08:25. | |
grudged gift, giving out in small parcels a little at a time and then | :08:26. | :08:30. | |
some is pulled back. I hope the generosity of the government in | :08:31. | :08:36. | |
becoming completely converted to the idea of evolution will be expressed | :08:37. | :08:39. | |
in this Bill, with the support of all parties, and will help to serve | :08:40. | :08:44. | |
the well-being of the people of Wales. Baroness Altman made some | :08:45. | :08:51. | |
contribution this morning about her resignation. I believe that all | :08:52. | :08:56. | |
parties in the House should listen carefully to what she's said. She | :08:57. | :09:01. | |
gave a reason for retiring, which was that her party, the Conservative | :09:02. | :09:08. | |
Party, but also it is true of our party, paid too much attention to | :09:09. | :09:12. | |
their internal divisions, to the detriment of policy-making. And this | :09:13. | :09:18. | |
is a very penetrating criticism of both the Conservative and Labour | :09:19. | :09:25. | |
Party that we would do all too well to heed. We should look forward to | :09:26. | :09:32. | |
the new system, the new session of Parliament, and we should bear in | :09:33. | :09:38. | |
mind the dreadful event that still casts a terrible shadow over This | :09:39. | :09:44. | |
Place. The family of Parliament was believed by the cowardly and brutal | :09:45. | :09:49. | |
murder of one of our family of members, Jo Cox, and the grief is | :09:50. | :09:54. | |
still raw. We can do no better than ensure that our work here is | :09:55. | :10:01. | |
illuminated and inspired by her thought, there are more things that | :10:02. | :10:07. | |
unite us, than divide us. The Leader of the House of Lords our most | :10:08. | :10:14. | |
illustrious egghead. -- the Leader of the House is perhaps Allah most | :10:15. | :10:19. | |
illustrious egghead. As I respond that complement, I have felt as a | :10:20. | :10:23. | |
student of Elizabethan history that in the last three, four weeks it has | :10:24. | :10:28. | |
been the closest thing to living through one of the crises of the | :10:29. | :10:33. | |
16th century chew the court that any of us is likely to experience and I | :10:34. | :10:38. | |
suspect that events in British politics this year will have given | :10:39. | :10:42. | |
Hilary Mantel ample material for her next trilogy. Can I thank the | :10:43. | :10:47. | |
honourable gentleman opposite for his warm welcome to myself and for | :10:48. | :10:51. | |
the deserved tribute he paid to my predecessor, the Secretary of State | :10:52. | :10:56. | |
for Transport, who, indeed did Act as a champion of the House, not just | :10:57. | :11:03. | |
in the Chamber but in the many exchanges behind-the-scenes that | :11:04. | :11:10. | |
fall to the leader of that. And I, on behalf of the House, wish him | :11:11. | :11:16. | |
well in his new responsibility. I felt that listening to the | :11:17. | :11:21. | |
honourable gentleman opposite of that, the three Rs that he laid out | :11:22. | :11:27. | |
before us, reasonableness, rationality and restraint summed up | :11:28. | :11:35. | |
Allah Prime Minister was Mac approach to government and to | :11:36. | :11:40. | |
politics. He has presented a motto for my Right Honourable Friend's | :11:41. | :11:42. | |
Administration and approach to government. And of course he himself | :11:43. | :11:51. | |
is a man of undimmed ambition, who has leapfrogged on to the front | :11:52. | :11:57. | |
bench of the opposition after so many years of Parliamentary | :11:58. | :12:03. | |
experience and indeed fallen two Shadow Cabinet roles are just a | :12:04. | :12:11. | |
bagatelle, something which he can easily cope with. I think his | :12:12. | :12:16. | |
ambition should not be restrained even now. I have been studying the | :12:17. | :12:23. | |
honourable gentleman's remarks and I note he said that as the Leader of | :12:24. | :12:30. | |
the Opposition it is difficult to see how he can unite the Labour | :12:31. | :12:33. | |
Party. The honourable gentleman went on to say that we are in the worst | :12:34. | :12:37. | |
position we have been in, in the position of the party. A smack the | :12:38. | :12:42. | |
history of the party. I think that the embryonic leadership campaign is | :12:43. | :12:46. | |
there. I would encourage the honourable gentleman to disregard | :12:47. | :12:50. | |
any taunts that he may have and throw his hat into the ring while | :12:51. | :12:55. | |
there is still time! Can I say in response to the serious point he | :12:56. | :12:59. | |
made about the legacy of Jo Cox, I think that on the first point, the | :13:00. | :13:06. | |
security risks that members face do need to be considered very carefully | :13:07. | :13:11. | |
and action taken. And without going into details on the floor of the | :13:12. | :13:15. | |
House, I think I can say that there has been agreement amongst the House | :13:16. | :13:20. | |
of Commons Commission that there should be new measures taken, and we | :13:21. | :13:28. | |
will be able to go into further detail soon after the House returns | :13:29. | :13:31. | |
in September. And I would say finally that I had members of every | :13:32. | :13:36. | |
political party would look to Jo Cox, see someone there, whether they | :13:37. | :13:43. | |
agree or disagree on a particular issue, who was motivated above all | :13:44. | :13:48. | |
by a drive to improve the lot of the people she served in her | :13:49. | :13:51. | |
constituency, nationally and globally, and in that sense, there | :13:52. | :13:55. | |
could be few finer examples for us to follow. Mr Andrew Symonds. Thank | :13:56. | :14:06. | |
you very much, Mr Speaker. May I congratulate My Honourable Friend on | :14:07. | :14:09. | |
his desert the motion as Leader of the House of Lords macro I wonder if | :14:10. | :14:13. | |
he could see to it that we could have an early debate about the | :14:14. | :14:17. | |
Troubles of Southern rail which are causing significant problems for | :14:18. | :14:21. | |
commuters south of London and for my constituents coming in from Leighton | :14:22. | :14:26. | |
buzzard. Would he agree that the way to relieve the problems of commuters | :14:27. | :14:30. | |
south of London is not to wreck the real service north of London but to | :14:31. | :14:35. | |
pay attention to what needs to be done south of the River? My humble | :14:36. | :14:41. | |
friend makes an important point. I can say that the Secretary of State | :14:42. | :14:45. | |
for Transport and the new rail Minister have already met the | :14:46. | :14:53. | |
operators responsible for Southern train services and with Network | :14:54. | :15:00. | |
Rail. They have emphasised the need for the operators to work with the | :15:01. | :15:06. | |
trade unions to try to find a rapid and also listen to the current | :15:07. | :15:12. | |
dispute that is causing misery to many thousands of passengers every | :15:13. | :15:16. | |
day. The Secretary of State is giving this his personal priority | :15:17. | :15:22. | |
and I hope very much that we will see a satisfactory resolution soon. | :15:23. | :15:30. | |
Can I thank the new leader of the four listing the business of the | :15:31. | :15:34. | |
week we were done after recess and can I welcome him to his new role? | :15:35. | :15:40. | |
He comes with a huge reputation for working consensually across the | :15:41. | :15:45. | |
House and is known as one of the nice guys of the House. We have got | :15:46. | :15:51. | |
great ambitions that he will be a real reforming Leader of the House | :15:52. | :15:54. | |
of Lords can I gently suggest a couple places he might want to start | :15:55. | :16:03. | |
first of all? Get rid of EVEL. It is loathed in this House beyond the | :16:04. | :16:07. | |
confines of the Conservative Party. It is totally associated with his | :16:08. | :16:13. | |
predecessor. Unite the House again with one class member of Parliament. | :16:14. | :16:18. | |
Do not divide us by nationality and do not divide us geography. That | :16:19. | :16:24. | |
should be as first task. Secondly, you know, Mr Speaker, we waste one | :16:25. | :16:29. | |
day per week just voting in this House. It is an absurd waste of | :16:30. | :16:34. | |
time. Bring this House into the 21st century. The circus down the | :16:35. | :16:44. | |
corridor. What gets me is all these Tory Brexit dudes who go on about | :16:45. | :16:49. | |
the imaginary, unelected European bureaucrats. Down the corridor there | :16:50. | :16:56. | |
are unelected Lords. Come on, as Leader of the House make sure that | :16:57. | :17:01. | |
they are going to be abolished. You will have noticed all those small | :17:02. | :17:04. | |
children the Scottish accents around the House recently and that is | :17:05. | :17:08. | |
because Scottish schools have been on holiday for almost three weeks. | :17:09. | :17:12. | |
The Leader of the House will of seen an example of this is when he had to | :17:13. | :17:15. | |
come to the Scottish affairs committee and spent an hour in the | :17:16. | :17:21. | |
charming company of some lovely children, Rebecca and Harris, she | :17:22. | :17:24. | |
had no place else to put them. We are on recess for almost three | :17:25. | :17:28. | |
months of the year. Surely it is not beyond the wit of a member of staff | :17:29. | :17:33. | |
in a leader 's office to design the summer recess to accommodate all the | :17:34. | :17:36. | |
school holidays in the United Kingdom, not just the Scottish | :17:37. | :17:41. | |
school holidays? My Honourable Friend had to leave their children | :17:42. | :17:45. | |
at ten o'clock on Monday evening so that they could go and vote against | :17:46. | :17:49. | |
these evil weapons of mass destruction, bringing to life our | :17:50. | :17:58. | |
slogan, McVitie. And can I wish you and all the staff up in plastic | :17:59. | :18:05. | |
recess 's and I will pay tribute to Noreen Delaney who served us so well | :18:06. | :18:11. | |
over the last 30 years, and can I say, have a happy Civil War to my | :18:12. | :18:16. | |
friends in the Labour Party? I don't know whether we're going to return | :18:17. | :18:21. | |
to one Labour Party or one social Democratic party or Blairite party | :18:22. | :18:25. | |
emerging from these benches but we will be back as a real and effective | :18:26. | :18:27. | |
opposition. I look forward to working with him | :18:28. | :18:38. | |
and members of his party in my new capacity. On English votes for | :18:39. | :18:43. | |
English laws, as I said when I gave evidence to the Scottish Select | :18:44. | :18:48. | |
Committee earlier this week, there is a Government review promised by | :18:49. | :18:54. | |
my predecessor, which will start 12 months after the introduction of the | :18:55. | :18:59. | |
procedures. The Select Committee on procedure of the House has said it | :19:00. | :19:05. | |
is undertaking a review of these arrangements. I think the sensible | :19:06. | :19:12. | |
thing is to see how the new arrangements go for the first year | :19:13. | :19:16. | |
and take stock of what the Government and procedure committee | :19:17. | :19:19. | |
conclude and come to a decision at that point. On his question to me | :19:20. | :19:28. | |
about voting procedures, while I can understand the point that he is | :19:29. | :19:36. | |
making, indeed for those of us who are going through the lobby on | :19:37. | :19:40. | |
Monday, it took longer to go through than if we had gone through his | :19:41. | :19:48. | |
lobby. There are actually advantages, as well as drawbacks to | :19:49. | :19:52. | |
arrangements that we currently have. I would not lightly want to lose the | :19:53. | :19:58. | |
opportunity for backbench members on all sides of the House to be able to | :19:59. | :20:05. | |
grab hold of ministers at a time when no civil servants are present | :20:06. | :20:11. | |
in order to make reputations on behalf of their constituents. | :20:12. | :20:19. | |
And I, having looked at voting procedures in the European | :20:20. | :20:22. | |
Parliament and elsewhere I don't think they are perfect either. I was | :20:23. | :20:29. | |
told earlier this morning that in the New Zealand Parliament the | :20:30. | :20:34. | |
Government chief whip is able to cast a vote, recording vote of his | :20:35. | :20:40. | |
entire parliamentary party. But I suspect that is not the sort | :20:41. | :20:46. | |
of simplification which would command widespread support, even | :20:47. | :20:49. | |
though it might on the bench to my right. Look, I will understate to | :20:50. | :20:58. | |
look at. This I understand the problems the current arrangements | :20:59. | :21:02. | |
cause for colleagues from Scotland and Northern Ireland. But even know, | :21:03. | :21:08. | |
it is not the case that our current recess arrangements suit parents | :21:09. | :21:13. | |
with children at schools in different local authorities in | :21:14. | :21:18. | |
various parts of England. I think it will be very difficult ever to craft | :21:19. | :21:25. | |
a system of recess dates which gives everybody everything they would like | :21:26. | :21:29. | |
to see. I will take up a fresh look at this in view of what the | :21:30. | :21:33. | |
honourable gentleman has urged. Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. In | :21:34. | :21:38. | |
congratulating my honourable friend will he resist the attempt by the | :21:39. | :21:45. | |
SNP benches to urge less, many of us on these benches would like to see | :21:46. | :21:55. | |
much more evil. In echoing about Southern Rail, will | :21:56. | :21:59. | |
the Leader of the House ensure that we can have a debate in Government | :22:00. | :22:02. | |
time about the appalling situation that my and many other constituents | :22:03. | :22:08. | |
face because of the disruption on Southern Rail and urge that the | :22:09. | :22:11. | |
Transport Secretary does everything he can to sosht this out will -- to | :22:12. | :22:16. | |
sort this out? Will he ensure the kons trart secretary is fully | :22:17. | :22:20. | |
aprized of the causes of the disruption at the moment? While they | :22:21. | :22:26. | |
include network failures are principally because of an effective | :22:27. | :22:29. | |
work to rule which has been driven by the rail unions who are resisting | :22:30. | :22:33. | |
perfectly sensible changes in the rail industry. | :22:34. | :22:37. | |
It is true that if the trade unions were to return fully to work that | :22:38. | :22:46. | |
that would ease the situation enormously to the benefit of | :22:47. | :22:53. | |
passengers using both Southern Rail services and as the member for | :22:54. | :22:57. | |
South-West Bedfordshire pointed out earlier, passengers elsewhere, whose | :22:58. | :23:01. | |
services are interrupted to give extra support to Southern. I will | :23:02. | :23:07. | |
undertake to contact my height honourable friend the Transport | :23:08. | :23:11. | |
Secretary and make him aware of the points that my friend for ar ren | :23:12. | :23:16. | |
tellhas raised. I would hope by the time we return in September this | :23:17. | :23:19. | |
dispute will be over and that services would have been restored to | :23:20. | :23:23. | |
an acceptable level and we will therefore not need to have such a | :23:24. | :23:27. | |
debate. I am sure my honourable friend will want to consider the | :23:28. | :23:34. | |
points he's made. Fear pressure and unrealistic | :23:35. | :23:37. | |
expectations is what workers at Sports Direct say about their | :23:38. | :23:43. | |
employment. May we please have a debate on zero-hours contracts and | :23:44. | :23:46. | |
exploitation of workers in the retail industry? Something is going | :23:47. | :23:57. | |
badly wrong there. Of course the management of Sports | :23:58. | :24:01. | |
Direct, evidence has been give on the a Select Committee and their | :24:02. | :24:04. | |
report will no doubt inform debate in the House later on. I have to say | :24:05. | :24:11. | |
to the honourable gentleman that it was this Government that legislated | :24:12. | :24:17. | |
to outlaw exclusivity clauses in zero-hours contracts. And for all | :24:18. | :24:24. | |
the prot stations opposition in Labour Government, no such action | :24:25. | :24:28. | |
was taken. Mr Speaker, last Thursday, a terrible school bus | :24:29. | :24:34. | |
accident happened in my constituency. Thankfully everybody | :24:35. | :24:36. | |
has now been discharged from hospital. Would the Leader of the | :24:37. | :24:42. | |
House send his best wishes to the parents, the pupils, the parents at | :24:43. | :24:49. | |
Prince William school and join me on calling on Northamptonshire county | :24:50. | :24:52. | |
county to -- council to review the situation at the crossroads and | :24:53. | :24:56. | |
thank our remarkable emergency services. Can we have a debate when | :24:57. | :25:01. | |
we return to congratulate them on their efforts? I am sure my | :25:02. | :25:09. | |
honourable friend's constituent will be thankful for the tribute. I would | :25:10. | :25:16. | |
send my best wishes to the two schools concern and to all who were | :25:17. | :25:19. | |
caught up in that accident. Obviously it is a matter for the | :25:20. | :25:27. | |
County Council to decide whether it wishes to review the highways issues | :25:28. | :25:31. | |
involved. I would have thought, in view of what has happened, that it | :25:32. | :25:35. | |
would be sensible for any local authority to take a fresh look at | :25:36. | :25:40. | |
these things. I am sure with regard to a debate that my honourable | :25:41. | :25:45. | |
friend is already skilled enough in how to seek adjournment debates in | :25:46. | :25:48. | |
order to raise constituency issues of this tape. | :25:49. | :25:54. | |
-- of this type. I think it was Harold Wilson who said it is a week | :25:55. | :25:58. | |
that is a long time in politics. We vents in this place it feels like | :25:59. | :26:02. | |
ten minutes is a long time in politics. It is of an essence for | :26:03. | :26:07. | |
the backleader committee. Can I welcome you to your place. Can I | :26:08. | :26:11. | |
thank you for confirming the business of the 8th September. If we | :26:12. | :26:15. | |
are to confirm backbench debates f we were to be allocated that time, | :26:16. | :26:19. | |
we would have to do it on Tuesday 6th. Can I ask the leader to | :26:20. | :26:23. | |
confirm, by usual channels, please, as soon as possible, so we can deal | :26:24. | :26:29. | |
with it on 6 6th September? I thank the honourable member for his words | :26:30. | :26:35. | |
of welcome and I will make sure that the Backbench Business Committee | :26:36. | :26:38. | |
gets proper notice so they are able to plan. | :26:39. | :26:44. | |
Thank you, Mr Speaker. I am somewhat worried about the Europe minister, | :26:45. | :26:49. | |
sorry, the Leader of the House, since he's been appointed, he's had | :26:50. | :26:54. | |
a rather nasty gash on his forehead. There is a rumour when he was | :26:55. | :26:58. | |
appointed the Prime Minister said, I have got some good news, David, you | :26:59. | :27:03. | |
are no longer going to be the minister for Europe. And his reply | :27:04. | :27:08. | |
was, that is great. I won't have to answer questions from the member for | :27:09. | :27:12. | |
cleave Thorp, Shipley and Wellingborough. And when she told | :27:13. | :27:16. | |
him he was going to become the Leader of the House, he started | :27:17. | :27:21. | |
banging his head against the wall. Could the leader confirm that is not | :27:22. | :27:26. | |
true and very much welcoming to Hezbollah post. That is not true, | :27:27. | :27:32. | |
nor was it a the have sult of a visit to the European Scrutiny | :27:33. | :27:39. | |
Committee. I am always overall with joy when in the company of my | :27:40. | :27:43. | |
honourable friends for welling burger, Kettering, Shipley and... | :27:44. | :27:56. | |
I do actually think that, you know, even where, as was the case over the | :27:57. | :28:07. | |
issue of Europe, there was, you know, genuine principled differences | :28:08. | :28:09. | |
between us. It is always important in this place that we acknowledge | :28:10. | :28:18. | |
that differences that exist are held to honestly, honourably and on a | :28:19. | :28:22. | |
principled basis and we should respect one and other, even when we | :28:23. | :28:26. | |
differ profoundly. Thank you. Can I join in the welcome | :28:27. | :28:32. | |
to the new leader of the House. I wonder when we might have a debate | :28:33. | :28:35. | |
about the Government's life chances strategy and how it might help | :28:36. | :28:39. | |
children of alcoholics. I am the child of an alcoholic. I grew up | :28:40. | :28:44. | |
knowing what that hell was like. I was lucky. Children of alcoholics | :28:45. | :28:49. | |
are three times more likely to contemplate suicide and three times | :28:50. | :28:52. | |
more likely to become alcoholics themselves. This is not a marginal | :28:53. | :28:57. | |
issue. It affectings 2.5 million children. That is one in five who | :28:58. | :29:02. | |
are the innocent victims of drink. We couldn't change things for our | :29:03. | :29:05. | |
parents, but we can for our children. This Government can help | :29:06. | :29:11. | |
and we should debate how. The honourable member raises a very | :29:12. | :29:15. | |
serious issue. I like, I suspect many other members of the House, | :29:16. | :29:19. | |
have come across some of the very serious problems he has described in | :29:20. | :29:24. | |
our own constituent case work. I will undertake to let my Right | :29:25. | :29:27. | |
Honourable friend, the Secretary of State, know about the priority that | :29:28. | :29:31. | |
he gives to this subject. I am sure that he will get a response from the | :29:32. | :29:33. | |
department. Can the Leader of the House conduct | :29:34. | :29:43. | |
a search party to find where the updated drug strategy has gone | :29:44. | :29:47. | |
missing in Government and have a statement to reveal how the | :29:48. | :29:55. | |
Government will tackle the growing residential rehab funding? With cuts | :29:56. | :30:01. | |
in budget. And some areas, such as Birmingham not making any referrals | :30:02. | :30:05. | |
to rehab, which means the end of life chances to many vulnerable | :30:06. | :30:09. | |
addicts? My honourable friend makes the point powerfully. I shall draw | :30:10. | :30:15. | |
those comments to the attention to the Secretary of State. Thank you, | :30:16. | :30:19. | |
Mr Speaker. The EU referendum act 2016, which we baited in the last | :30:20. | :30:24. | |
session does not obtain any requirements for the Government to | :30:25. | :30:27. | |
implement the referendum nor to set a time limit when we should trigger | :30:28. | :30:33. | |
Article 50. I have had a lot of constituents who have come to see me | :30:34. | :30:37. | |
who are concerned. I have had a meeting with local form farmers who | :30:38. | :30:41. | |
are concerned about the EU funding streams and asking for assurance on | :30:42. | :30:45. | |
that. Can the Leader of the House clarify if we will have an | :30:46. | :30:49. | |
opportunity to debate these very important matters as soon as | :30:50. | :30:53. | |
possible after our return from the summer recess? Because of the | :30:54. | :30:58. | |
principal of parliamentary sovereignty, it is ultimately for | :30:59. | :31:02. | |
Parliament to determine our membership of the European Union, | :31:03. | :31:05. | |
but the Government has consistently said and acted on the basis that the | :31:06. | :31:10. | |
referendum outcome would be decisive and the Government would honour the | :31:11. | :31:14. | |
result, whatever that result turned out to be and that is the approach | :31:15. | :31:20. | |
that the Government intends to take. I think the country would expect no | :31:21. | :31:25. | |
less. On the point, on the serious point she makes about agriculture, | :31:26. | :31:30. | |
this is a matter that is very much at the top of the priority list for | :31:31. | :31:35. | |
my Right Honourable friend the new DEFRA secretary. She is going to be | :31:36. | :31:41. | |
considering, along with my Right Honourable friend, the Secretary | :31:42. | :31:45. | |
Secretary of State for exit from the European Union, how we address this | :31:46. | :31:50. | |
question of the next few years of farm funding while we are still in | :31:51. | :31:54. | |
the EU. Particularly for those programmes that might carry on | :31:55. | :31:59. | |
beyond the actual date of exit. I am sure there'll be opportunities for | :32:00. | :32:04. | |
Parliament to debate this and other matters early on after recess. Of | :32:05. | :32:09. | |
course my Right Honourable friend the Secretary of State for exit will | :32:10. | :32:13. | |
have a dedicated Question Time where the honourable lady and other | :32:14. | :32:16. | |
members will be able to press him on these matters. | :32:17. | :32:23. | |
Will my Right Honourable Friend buying time for a debate on the | :32:24. | :32:31. | |
dissolution of funds by Local Enterprise Partnerships? Southend | :32:32. | :32:33. | |
was number four on the list and we have dramatically drop off the | :32:34. | :32:36. | |
radar. Something needs to be looked at again. My understanding is that | :32:37. | :32:44. | |
this was an internal decision by the Local Enterprise Partnership for | :32:45. | :32:52. | |
South Essex and I would encourage My Honourable Friend first of all to | :32:53. | :32:56. | |
make representations, I'm sure he will do, on behalf of his | :32:57. | :33:04. | |
constituents, to the local LEP and I am sure that the Minister in the | :33:05. | :33:08. | |
business Department will be keen to hear from him if there is no | :33:09. | :33:14. | |
response. Can I welcome the on-board gentleman to his new post? I well | :33:15. | :33:20. | |
recall the many happy though fruitless hours we spent together on | :33:21. | :33:23. | |
the original EU Referendum Bill. Whatever happened to that? Can I | :33:24. | :33:31. | |
support the members from opposite who raised the issue of Southern | :33:32. | :33:38. | |
trains and the appalling service that they are failing to provide. | :33:39. | :33:44. | |
The minute -- the Mayor of London has written to the Secretary of | :33:45. | :33:46. | |
State for Transport suggesting he is prepared to take on the Southern | :33:47. | :33:51. | |
franchise. In discussions with the Secretary of State in arranging a | :33:52. | :33:54. | |
debate on government time in this matter, could he prevail upon him to | :33:55. | :33:59. | |
accept the Mayor of London's offer or at least look into it in great | :34:00. | :34:04. | |
detail? I am sure that the Secretary of State will want to consider all | :34:05. | :34:10. | |
options. It's not really the franchise that is the answer. It is | :34:11. | :34:16. | |
for the management to get on top of the operational difficulties that do | :34:17. | :34:19. | |
exist, and for management and unions to sort out the industrial dispute | :34:20. | :34:24. | |
that at the moment is aggravating matters. Tonight echoed the words of | :34:25. | :34:32. | |
many members to welcome the new Leader of the House of Lords post, | :34:33. | :34:38. | |
but also do his deputy, and I am sure that between them they will | :34:39. | :34:42. | |
make an excellent team. I understand the new Secretary of State for | :34:43. | :34:45. | |
Transport is visiting derby this afternoon to discuss the Midlands | :34:46. | :34:51. | |
Engine, so can be have a debate on ensuring that the rail industry is | :34:52. | :34:55. | |
given the same level of investment and to note that Midlands means the | :34:56. | :35:03. | |
East as well as the West Midlands? I thank My Honourable Friend for her | :35:04. | :35:07. | |
words of welcome to myself and the member for Northampton North. Yes is | :35:08. | :35:13. | |
my answer. I think the fact that the Transport Secretary is visiting | :35:14. | :35:17. | |
Derby today so early on in his tenure is a visible demonstration | :35:18. | :35:23. | |
that the Midlands Engine is about the East Midlands as much as about | :35:24. | :35:29. | |
the West Midlands, and the strategy that the government plans to have in | :35:30. | :35:37. | |
place by March next year is multinodal, in the jargon and it | :35:38. | :35:44. | |
will cover rail as well as roads. The backdating of child tax credits | :35:45. | :35:49. | |
be on the manse was only made after a protracted process with two | :35:50. | :35:53. | |
appeals to the adjudicator 's office, adding to the stress that | :35:54. | :35:56. | |
the family. Will be set aside government time for a debate on | :35:57. | :36:02. | |
errant and child and other relevant benefits after a lone parent dies? | :36:03. | :36:10. | |
The details that the honourable gentleman has just given that | :36:11. | :36:13. | |
particular case concerned me. I am sure that the relevant Minister at | :36:14. | :36:20. | |
the Department for Work and Pensions will be happy to look into the | :36:21. | :36:23. | |
details to see whether anything went wrong in the system. I welcome my | :36:24. | :36:30. | |
Right Honourable Friend to his place. I wonder if he's had a chance | :36:31. | :36:35. | |
to look at early day motion 351 in my name regarding the persecution of | :36:36. | :36:39. | |
religious minorities in Bangladesh. This week I hosted a meeting | :36:40. | :36:45. | |
commemorating a massacre 45 years ago and still, we see Hindu priests | :36:46. | :36:51. | |
murdered and other minorities massacred. Can we have a debate in | :36:52. | :36:55. | |
government time on reordering the overseas developing a wee gifted | :36:56. | :36:59. | |
Bangladesh so that more money is given to the security of minorities | :37:00. | :37:08. | |
rather than just capacity building? I will draw the attention of the | :37:09. | :37:11. | |
Secretary of State Boynton National development to the last point the | :37:12. | :37:17. | |
member made. It is a fact that Bangladesh is experiencing a wave of | :37:18. | :37:28. | |
violent terrorism, driven by Islamist extremism, that is | :37:29. | :37:31. | |
targeting religious and ethnic minorities as well as LGBT people | :37:32. | :37:39. | |
and independent journalists and editors. This is something on which | :37:40. | :37:47. | |
my Right Honourable Friend and his team at the Foreign and Commonwealth | :37:48. | :37:52. | |
Office are in regular contact with ministers at all levels in the | :37:53. | :37:55. | |
Bangladesh government, and we will continue to do everything we can to | :37:56. | :38:00. | |
try to help the government of Bangladesh to bring about an end to | :38:01. | :38:06. | |
these appalling incidents. I detect a new acronym creeping into the | :38:07. | :38:17. | |
government language, PBO, post-Brexit opportunities. One of | :38:18. | :38:20. | |
the most important thing is for business is connectivity, whether at | :38:21. | :38:25. | |
the end the nations, regions, London or international markets. We need | :38:26. | :38:30. | |
the Davis commission. It is long overdue. Can the leader of the, and | :38:31. | :38:37. | |
I welcome him and his deputy to their positions, can he say whether | :38:38. | :38:43. | |
he's had any indication from Number Ten the Department for Transport | :38:44. | :38:46. | |
that we might have this statement September rather than later? I thank | :38:47. | :38:50. | |
the honourable gentleman for his welcome. With a new Prime Minister | :38:51. | :38:58. | |
and Transport Secretary, we will obviously, they will obviously want | :38:59. | :39:02. | |
to breathe themselves stubbornly on the Davis commission conclusions and | :39:03. | :39:07. | |
the other issues around this very important decision, but I know that | :39:08. | :39:12. | |
my Right Honourable Friend the Prime Minister believes it would be right | :39:13. | :39:15. | |
to take the decision as soon as is of. As soon as the government is in | :39:16. | :39:19. | |
a position to make a statement to the House, we will do so. I am | :39:20. | :39:24. | |
delighted that my Right Honourable Friend is in his post. And that the | :39:25. | :39:30. | |
deputy will is in his post, too. I what Mac them to the front bench. | :39:31. | :39:35. | |
Could we have a debate on the welfare of dogs? There's much | :39:36. | :39:38. | |
material that could used in such a debate such as the appalling | :39:39. | :39:43. | |
practice of dogfighting, the terrible distress caused by the | :39:44. | :39:47. | |
theft of dogs that has happened to a number of my constituents, but also, | :39:48. | :39:51. | |
with the hot weather we've seen recently, dogs being left in cars in | :39:52. | :39:54. | |
hot weather and getting into a great deal of distress. Last weekend the | :39:55. | :40:03. | |
RSPCA's 24-hour emergency helpline had 160 reports of dogs left in hot | :40:04. | :40:07. | |
environments. I suspect that will be much worse this week which has been | :40:08. | :40:11. | |
unseasonably hot. And we have debated what ancient to the welfare | :40:12. | :40:15. | |
of dogs and how things like that can cause unnecessary distress? My | :40:16. | :40:21. | |
Honourable Friend raises an important issue for those of us | :40:22. | :40:31. | |
concerned about animal welfare. His reference to how people sometimes | :40:32. | :40:33. | |
leave pet dogs in cars in hot weather, he alighted upon the fact | :40:34. | :40:42. | |
that often, it is not a matter of need for new legislation, it is a | :40:43. | :40:45. | |
matter of people recognising that they have a responsibility to care | :40:46. | :40:52. | |
for the animals that they own. And if a debate in able is My Honourable | :40:53. | :40:59. | |
Friend to highlight that, I can see the benefit of such a debate taking | :41:00. | :41:02. | |
place. I would I reckon either towards the edge of the debate | :41:03. | :41:08. | |
process of backbench business committee, where he find those | :41:09. | :41:14. | |
opportunities. Can I congratulate the leader on winning the year's | :41:15. | :41:18. | |
prize for the most reduced carbon footprint? Can I also join in the | :41:19. | :41:26. | |
tributes to Noleen Delaney who serve us with discretion, and was ready | :41:27. | :41:33. | |
with consideration and chat, and typical of her Donegal decency, | :41:34. | :41:38. | |
another gossip. Can I ask the leader feed commission a study into how | :41:39. | :41:43. | |
many amendments this Chamber discharges in groups of amendments | :41:44. | :41:46. | |
without any debate whatsoever, which then leads it to the unelected up | :41:47. | :41:54. | |
the building to get Dean Harrison but the patient of being the key | :41:55. | :41:59. | |
amending Chamber. In this age of taking control, can this Chamber | :42:00. | :42:03. | |
take more control of the legislation that passes through this Parliament? | :42:04. | :42:07. | |
Can I thank the honourable gentleman for his words of welcome? He does | :42:08. | :42:14. | |
raise an important point. I think there's responsibility on ministers | :42:15. | :42:19. | |
first of all to make sure that when bills are brought to the House, they | :42:20. | :42:26. | |
are technically sound and that the policy has been properly worked out, | :42:27. | :42:33. | |
so that there is no ambiguity about the invention of a particular | :42:34. | :42:39. | |
clause. And I think there is then a responsibility on the House, | :42:40. | :42:41. | |
collectively, through the programming process, to try to | :42:42. | :42:46. | |
ensure that bills are probably debated, that we don't waste time | :42:47. | :42:52. | |
simply scoring party political points, but Achilles at committee | :42:53. | :42:57. | |
and report stage, but allocate time fairly so that all aspects of the | :42:58. | :43:00. | |
bill can be properly considered. There are lessons for the government | :43:01. | :43:04. | |
but for the House collectively as to how we might do our job better. Many | :43:05. | :43:09. | |
of my constituents have raised the issue of the awareness and treat of | :43:10. | :43:15. | |
lines disease. I was recently diagnosed after a constituent came | :43:16. | :43:20. | |
to my surgery and raise awareness of the symptoms. There is a stark issue | :43:21. | :43:25. | |
over the clarity of the treatment that is available and should be | :43:26. | :43:30. | |
used. Well the leader of the consider a debate in government time | :43:31. | :43:41. | |
on this important issue I am aware from a constituency case of my own | :43:42. | :43:45. | |
about some of the treatments that are or are not available, and I will | :43:46. | :43:49. | |
make sure that the Minister for health is aware of My Honourable | :43:50. | :43:58. | |
Friend's concern and response to it. I'd like to congratulate the | :43:59. | :44:03. | |
Minister on his new position. There seems to be a growing consensus | :44:04. | :44:05. | |
across the House in opposition to the proposals for the member for | :44:06. | :44:10. | |
Tatton to drive up as Channel 4, the latest team the honourable member | :44:11. | :44:18. | |
for Wantage yesterday. When is he going to come to this House and make | :44:19. | :44:21. | |
a statement that there's valuable asset is kept in public ownership? | :44:22. | :44:27. | |
This will be one of the many items on the agenda of My Honourable | :44:28. | :44:35. | |
Friend, the new Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, and I | :44:36. | :44:38. | |
am sure she will want to spend the summer considering this and other | :44:39. | :44:41. | |
matters and will report to the House as soon as she is able. May I | :44:42. | :44:48. | |
welcome the leader and his deputy? Could we have a debate on the better | :44:49. | :44:54. | |
care fund and how it applies in Staffordshire? We've seen ?15 | :44:55. | :44:58. | |
million not given to Staffordshire County Council as a result of which | :44:59. | :45:03. | |
services such as the drugs services referred to by the member for Bury | :45:04. | :45:08. | |
and Portugal and four in sealed Southgate are to be caustically | :45:09. | :45:13. | |
reduced in addition to numbers of health visitors. -- the member for | :45:14. | :45:23. | |
Enfield Southgate. There is a responsibility on central government | :45:24. | :45:28. | |
to set the overall budget for local authorities and the National Health | :45:29. | :45:32. | |
Service, and the responsibilities of local authorities and local NHS | :45:33. | :45:36. | |
management to ensure that their services are structured in a way | :45:37. | :45:43. | |
that maximises the value for each pound that is spent. That sometimes | :45:44. | :45:50. | |
means a need for significant reforms in how services are delivered. I | :45:51. | :45:55. | |
take note of what My Honourable Friend says about Staffordshire. I | :45:56. | :46:02. | |
am sure that he will want to seize opportunities to question the | :46:03. | :46:05. | |
Secretary of State for Health and the Secretary of State for | :46:06. | :46:09. | |
Communities and Local Government after the recess to make those | :46:10. | :46:13. | |
points directly to the ministers. The new Leader of the House has the | :46:14. | :46:18. | |
respect of the House because of the courteous way he is operated in his | :46:19. | :46:21. | |
previous ministerial positions. And can I pay tribute to Noreen Delaney | :46:22. | :46:30. | |
for her 30 years of public service in this House was matter I'd like to | :46:31. | :46:34. | |
have a debate about Personal Independence Payments. I constituent | :46:35. | :46:40. | |
of mine was refused it when she was out of the country for 54 weeks when | :46:41. | :46:46. | |
the legislation says he cannot be out for more than 32. She was | :46:47. | :46:54. | |
involved in a serious car accident in Australia, and it took a long | :46:55. | :46:58. | |
time in intensive care and in the spinal injuries unit and a long time | :46:59. | :47:01. | |
to coordinate the specialist spinal unit in Glasgow and landing | :47:02. | :47:06. | |
certificates in Dubai to get home, which meant she was 54 weeks out of | :47:07. | :47:10. | |
the country. This surely is not fair, and a reasonable person would | :47:11. | :47:15. | |
see that this is not there. She's now in a wheelchair and requires | :47:16. | :47:19. | |
that additional support and I hope that the Minister would be able to | :47:20. | :47:20. | |
look at it. Clearly there have to be rules that | :47:21. | :47:33. | |
govern the payment of all kinds of welfare benefits. What the | :47:34. | :47:38. | |
honourable gentleman described was a case where he felt there were very | :47:39. | :47:43. | |
powerful circumstances. If he cares to write to me with the details of | :47:44. | :47:49. | |
that, I will refer it to the relevant minister at DWP and make | :47:50. | :47:53. | |
sure he gets the response. The Leader of the House is clearly | :47:54. | :47:58. | |
enjoying his new role. I warmly congratulate him on his appointment. | :47:59. | :48:04. | |
The future of health care in Shropshire has been on hold for | :48:05. | :48:09. | |
three years while there are maybe closures to A and B. They are unable | :48:10. | :48:15. | |
to make a decision. It is in a severe state of para sis. This has | :48:16. | :48:22. | |
cost over ?3 million and has caused poor moral at the hospital in | :48:23. | :48:27. | |
Telford. Can we please have a debate on the issue. From the description | :48:28. | :48:32. | |
that my honourable friend has given of the situation in Shropshire, it | :48:33. | :48:39. | |
would seem to me that what is needed is certainty, that the local NHS | :48:40. | :48:44. | |
management, including the senior clinicians, who will be part of | :48:45. | :48:48. | |
those teams, need to decide what they want and argue their | :48:49. | :48:51. | |
justification for any changes they wish to make. In terms of a debate, | :48:52. | :48:57. | |
again, this strikes me as something which may well fall within the scope | :48:58. | :49:03. | |
of an adjournment debate that either a ballot or Mr Speaker might be able | :49:04. | :49:07. | |
to make available to my honourable friend. | :49:08. | :49:14. | |
Mr Speaker, today's order paper shows a written statement on the UK | :49:15. | :49:17. | |
commission on employment and skills. I don't think it has yet been | :49:18. | :49:24. | |
published online. The education skills and sub committee has | :49:25. | :49:28. | |
expressed regret at the closure of the commission. I wonder if he will | :49:29. | :49:36. | |
join me on congratulating the achievement. And it also, in | :49:37. | :49:43. | |
commending the record of independent analysis and advice, successive | :49:44. | :49:47. | |
Governments. Isn't it a shame that the enthusiasm of the Government | :49:48. | :49:52. | |
which set up the this is not shared by the current Government? | :49:53. | :49:57. | |
I am happy to join The Right Honourable gentleman in expressing | :49:58. | :50:01. | |
thanks to the committee and its leadership for all the work that | :50:02. | :50:06. | |
they have done, but it is also the fact that from time to time | :50:07. | :50:11. | |
Governments of all political colours need to review the institutions | :50:12. | :50:15. | |
through which policy is delivered and this is one of those occasions. | :50:16. | :50:24. | |
Can I welcome and congratulate the new leader unr and his deputy on | :50:25. | :50:28. | |
their well deserved promotion to the front bench. I look forward to my | :50:29. | :50:33. | |
Right Honourable friend 's appearance before the procedure | :50:34. | :50:38. | |
committee. Can we please have a debate on the written ministerial | :50:39. | :50:41. | |
statement issued by the Prime Minister on Monday to the changes to | :50:42. | :50:47. | |
the ma sheepry of Government, and in particular the establishment of the | :50:48. | :50:50. | |
new Government department. This will give members across the House an | :50:51. | :50:54. | |
opportunity to consider what consequences flow from these | :50:55. | :50:59. | |
changes. The leader did mention, briefly, that there would be a | :51:00. | :51:06. | |
Question Time set aside. But, is that one question time for one or | :51:07. | :51:11. | |
each department? How long will it be and will the Government create new | :51:12. | :51:15. | |
Select Committees so that backbenchers can scrutinise these | :51:16. | :51:18. | |
new committees and therefore, I think it would be important if we | :51:19. | :51:23. | |
had a debate in Government time as soon as possible. | :51:24. | :51:28. | |
I am grateful to my honourable friend for his welcome. I will | :51:29. | :51:32. | |
certainly look forward to the opportunity of appearing before the | :51:33. | :51:39. | |
Scrutiny Committee. I have already had a meeting with the procedure | :51:40. | :51:44. | |
committee, I should have said. I had a meeting with the honourable | :51:45. | :51:49. | |
member... I am released of the Scrutiny Committee. I have had a | :51:50. | :51:55. | |
meeting the member, the chair of the Procedure Committee, to discuss some | :51:56. | :52:02. | |
issues. And I hope that there'll be a fruitful dialogue on procedure. On | :52:03. | :52:06. | |
the particular points he made, I can confirm that there will be dedicated | :52:07. | :52:13. | |
question times for the new Government departments and a | :52:14. | :52:20. | |
schedule of those question times should be made available very soon, | :52:21. | :52:23. | |
if it has not already been published. There will also be a need | :52:24. | :52:29. | |
for new Select Committees to be established. I hope that we can mo | :52:30. | :52:35. | |
forward with that in the autumn. That is not a matter for Government, | :52:36. | :52:41. | |
that is a matter for the House. I also welcome the leader to his | :52:42. | :52:47. | |
place and congratulate the member for birkshire, who must be the | :52:48. | :52:52. | |
longest serving spokesperson. Will he look at the private member | :52:53. | :52:59. | |
bills, the current system is discredited, despite the massive | :53:00. | :53:03. | |
success that SNP members had in the ballot. We need an urgent debate on | :53:04. | :53:07. | |
reform. This is one of the issues which the chair of the Procedure | :53:08. | :53:12. | |
Committee has raised with me. I have said as a new leader of the House I | :53:13. | :53:17. | |
will take a fresh look at. This but at this stage I think the honourable | :53:18. | :53:20. | |
gentleman will understand that I am not going to make any commitments | :53:21. | :53:22. | |
either way. I warmly congratulate my honourable | :53:23. | :53:32. | |
friend and his Northamptonshire deputy on their promotions. As one | :53:33. | :53:37. | |
of his first acts in office, will he arrange when we come back for a | :53:38. | :53:40. | |
statement from the Secretary of State for Health about the financial | :53:41. | :53:45. | |
situation of hospitals in high-growth areas? Kettering General | :53:46. | :53:51. | |
Hospital is a fantastic hospital. The directors, clinicians, staff, | :53:52. | :53:55. | |
nurses and ancillary staff do a tremendous job. Last year the | :53:56. | :54:00. | |
deficit was ?6.7 million. This year ?11.2 million and next year | :54:01. | :54:06. | |
projected to be ?15 million. Last year, almost 400,000 people came to | :54:07. | :54:10. | |
the hospital for treatment and the number of houses being built in the | :54:11. | :54:15. | |
local area and the rise in the local population is placing an incredible | :54:16. | :54:19. | |
strain on our local hospitals. Something needs to be done about | :54:20. | :54:24. | |
this. Will the leader of the House arrange for the Secretary of State | :54:25. | :54:26. | |
for Health to make a statement to the House? | :54:27. | :54:30. | |
I thank my honourable friend for his welcome. As a member who himself | :54:31. | :54:37. | |
represents another such high-growth area, I mean these are issues with | :54:38. | :54:41. | |
which I am very familiar indeed. I think what I would say to my | :54:42. | :54:48. | |
honourable friend is that these matters need to be looked at | :54:49. | :54:52. | |
holistically because it is not a question simply of looking at the | :54:53. | :54:56. | |
provision of hospital services, but at looking at the treatment of | :54:57. | :55:01. | |
health services as a whole, because sometimes these pressures can be | :55:02. | :55:08. | |
eased by some sensible reconfiguration of services overall | :55:09. | :55:12. | |
that take account of the way in which medical science has moved on, | :55:13. | :55:15. | |
with more people able to be treated as out patients or day patients | :55:16. | :55:19. | |
rather than have a long in-patient stay in hospital. I draw the points | :55:20. | :55:25. | |
about Kettering that my honourable friend has drawn to the attention of | :55:26. | :55:29. | |
the Health Secretary. Can I welcome the new leader of the House. In 2012 | :55:30. | :55:37. | |
my 14-year-old constituent Ellie blackman was diagnosed - and her | :55:38. | :55:43. | |
treatment included having her leg amputated above the knee. She wished | :55:44. | :55:50. | |
to have a drug she was prescribed but could not tolerate when she was | :55:51. | :55:56. | |
younger. Her oncologist advocated for her but could not fund, even | :55:57. | :56:03. | |
though if th is if first new drug to be acted with this tumour in 30 | :56:04. | :56:08. | |
years. Can we have a debate on introducing new drugs in rare | :56:09. | :56:12. | |
tumours for children which are so needed by remarkable young people | :56:13. | :56:17. | |
such as Ellie? Mr Speaker, well, I am not familiar with obvious reasons | :56:18. | :56:22. | |
with the case or the particular drug that the honourable lady mentions. I | :56:23. | :56:27. | |
will draw her remarks to the attention of the responsible health | :56:28. | :56:31. | |
minister and I would suggest this is precisely the sort of subject for | :56:32. | :56:35. | |
which an adjournment debate in the autumn might be suitable. Thank you, | :56:36. | :56:40. | |
Mr Speaker. I joined in the congratulations to the leader and | :56:41. | :56:43. | |
the deputy on their new roles. Earlier this week, a critical report | :56:44. | :56:50. | |
from CQC was published, branding a care home in my constituency | :56:51. | :56:54. | |
inadequate. This is a continuation of a serious of number of critical | :56:55. | :56:58. | |
reports, some of which have resulted in the closure of those homes. Could | :56:59. | :57:05. | |
we have a debate about the criteria that the CQC operate and whether it | :57:06. | :57:09. | |
is more rigorous or if there has been a decline in the standards of | :57:10. | :57:17. | |
these care homes? My honourable friend makes a good case there. I | :57:18. | :57:23. | |
hope that this is a subject he might want to take to the Backbench | :57:24. | :57:28. | |
Business Committee because the questions that he has raised this | :57:29. | :57:32. | |
afternoon are ones that I know will concern a very large number of | :57:33. | :57:35. | |
constituencies and a very large number of members and all parties. | :57:36. | :57:42. | |
Thank you, Mr Speaker. Given the frightening rise of bigoted and | :57:43. | :57:47. | |
racist incidents against EU nationals, will the minister call a | :57:48. | :57:53. | |
debate on EU nations living and working in the UK before 23rd June | :57:54. | :57:57. | |
the right to demain, so we can push this Government to make the right | :57:58. | :58:02. | |
decision and fight bigotry in this country? As my Right Honourable | :58:03. | :58:07. | |
friend, the Prime Minister, has been clear that our objective is we | :58:08. | :58:14. | |
should ensure there is indeed a legally-biepding agreement that | :58:15. | :58:17. | |
people who are here lawfully are able to stay and equally that | :58:18. | :58:22. | |
British citizens who are lawfully resident in other EU member-states | :58:23. | :58:27. | |
should be able to continue living or studying or working there after we | :58:28. | :58:30. | |
leave the European Union. These are things that I think will | :58:31. | :58:37. | |
have to be dealt with, I hope early on, in the forthcoming negotiations. | :58:38. | :58:43. | |
But on the point about the physical attacks and the abuse directed and | :58:44. | :58:48. | |
directed I have to say not just at EU nationals, but sometimes at | :58:49. | :58:54. | |
people from other ethnic or religious minorities in this | :58:55. | :58:59. | |
country, I feel that -- think they bring shame upon this country. I | :59:00. | :59:05. | |
think that all of us have a responsibility to denounce such | :59:06. | :59:09. | |
behaviour, make it clear that that has no place, whatsoever, in our | :59:10. | :59:13. | |
society. And I have always found that those honourable members who | :59:14. | :59:20. | |
have, for principled, honourable reasons taken a stance opposing the | :59:21. | :59:24. | |
UK's membership of the European Union, have always been vehement in | :59:25. | :59:28. | |
saying that this sort of behaviour has no place in the kind of society | :59:29. | :59:34. | |
that they want to live in. Thank you. May I also warmly | :59:35. | :59:39. | |
congratulate my honourable friend and his deputy on their new | :59:40. | :59:43. | |
appointments. Can I draw his attention to a manifesto commitment | :59:44. | :59:48. | |
which ought to now be honoured, that is the 15-year rule for overseas | :59:49. | :59:54. | |
voters. There are one million people disenfranchised by this exemption. | :59:55. | :59:57. | |
It is a particularly sore subject among those living in the European | :59:58. | :00:01. | |
Union at the moment who are denied a vote in the referendum. | :00:02. | :00:09. | |
The Government remains committed to new legislation that will lift the | :00:10. | :00:14. | |
15-year bar, something introduced by Mr Blar's Government during its -- | :00:15. | :00:28. | |
Mr Blair's time in office. We would have to establish a new system of | :00:29. | :00:35. | |
voter res voter registration, which is not straightforward given that | :00:36. | :00:40. | |
voter registers no longer exist for periods that go back earlier than 15 | :00:41. | :00:47. | |
years. We have to find some way of allocating the individuals, to | :00:48. | :00:51. | |
constituents and verifying a previous place of residence. My | :00:52. | :00:56. | |
honourable friends are at work on this matter already. What he said | :00:57. | :01:03. | |
earlier, can I remind him it was a Labour Government that introduced | :01:04. | :01:08. | |
the national minimum wage against strenuous Tory opposition. I | :01:09. | :01:11. | |
remember it well because I voted for the change. But can I ask the leader | :01:12. | :01:17. | |
of the House n view of the further situation in Turkey, the state of | :01:18. | :01:23. | |
emergency, the thousands more, teachers, academics, judges, | :01:24. | :01:26. | |
journalists, who are now being suspended from work, travel ban and | :01:27. | :01:30. | |
all the other measures, apart from those who have been arrested, can we | :01:31. | :01:35. | |
have a statement today on the situation, baring in mind the House | :01:36. | :01:39. | |
will -- bearing in mind the House will not meet until 15th September? | :01:40. | :01:43. | |
Will the British Government make it quite clear to the Turkish | :01:44. | :01:46. | |
authorities that what is happening is causing deep concern in this | :01:47. | :01:50. | |
country. It doesn't seem to be the most effective way of dealing with | :01:51. | :01:53. | |
those who plotted a coup last week. introduced a and the Conservative | :01:54. | :02:45. | |
that has As the leader of the House will | :02:46. | :04:48. | |
know, the defence committee of which I am a member has had | :04:49. | :04:53. | |
recommendations which include the establishment of a safety authority, | :04:54. | :04:58. | |
the introduction of a duty holder of the armed forced and the | :04:59. | :05:02. | |
recommendations that the MoD take it widely so, the families can have | :05:03. | :05:04. | |
confidence. And I think it would be wrong for me | :05:05. | :06:15. | |
to speculate about lessons to be learned until we know the outcome of | :06:16. | :06:25. | |
those reports. I receptdly convened a support and | :06:26. | :06:30. | |
campaign group for women of Livingstone and one of my | :06:31. | :06:35. | |
constituents raised the matter that her divorce settlement was | :06:36. | :06:38. | |
predicated on the age of which she would retire and get her pension. | :06:39. | :06:41. | |
That has been moved by a number of years. Will The Right Honourable | :06:42. | :06:46. | |
gentleman, who I welcomed to his place, perhaps have a discussion | :06:47. | :06:51. | |
with his colleague, the Work and Pensions Secretary, to look at this | :06:52. | :06:56. | |
issue, in the hope that fresh eyes will not bring the same style ideas | :06:57. | :07:07. | |
but bring justice for the women? This is something the House has | :07:08. | :07:11. | |
voted on recently. I don't want to, in I anyway, suggest there is likely | :07:12. | :07:19. | |
to be a change in policy on this matter.ly report to the honourable | :07:20. | :07:23. | |
lady's concerns to my honourable friend at the DWP. I gently say | :07:24. | :07:28. | |
everybody will get in. The honourable gentleman for | :07:29. | :07:31. | |
Huddersfield is a fine man s the human equivalent of a smouldering | :07:32. | :07:35. | |
volcano, as he sits on the benches, waiting to be called with ever | :07:36. | :07:39. | |
growing frustration at the fact he's not yet been called. I say, the | :07:40. | :07:42. | |
honourable gentleman will get in. He's been there long enough to know | :07:43. | :07:49. | |
it didn't always be that way. People didn't always get in. As much as I | :07:50. | :07:53. | |
admire the honourable gentleman, he has, if I may politely say so, a | :07:54. | :07:58. | |
slightly underdeveloped sense of others and I cannot help but think | :07:59. | :08:03. | |
if he spoke three times in the day, he would think, why on earth didn't | :08:04. | :08:09. | |
I get called to speak a fourth. We are saving him up. He's a specialist | :08:10. | :08:22. | |
delicacy in the House! Thank you. I would like to welcome the honourable | :08:23. | :08:28. | |
gentleman to his place. 34-year-old Kate Grainger is in a hospice die | :08:29. | :08:38. | |
from terminal cancer. She help with a campaign. This week she achieved | :08:39. | :08:45. | |
her aim of raising 250,000 for a Yorkshire cancer charity. Her dying | :08:46. | :08:48. | |
wish is to have the new Prime Minister endorse her campaign. Could | :08:49. | :08:53. | |
the leader of the House possibly use his considerable powers of | :08:54. | :08:57. | |
persuasion to facilitate this amazing lady's dying wish? The case | :08:58. | :09:08. | |
that the honourable lady describes strikes me as inspiring. | :09:09. | :09:18. | |
And I would want to pass on immediately sympathy, but also | :09:19. | :09:22. | |
admiration to the family and friends of the young lady. | :09:23. | :09:28. | |
And I will, of course, if the honourable lady would like to write | :09:29. | :09:32. | |
to me with details, I will be in touch with the Prime Minister. | :09:33. | :09:37. | |
I find it very positive to hear the Leader of the House condemn the | :09:38. | :09:44. | |
racist incidents which took place post EU referendum. It was | :09:45. | :09:47. | |
unfortunate that the Prime Minister didn't take the opportunity on | :09:48. | :09:50. | |
Wednesday when she had the opportunity to condemn the | :09:51. | :09:54. | |
unforgivably racist language used by the new Foreign Secretary, I wonder | :09:55. | :09:59. | |
if we can have a debate in Government time on the importance of | :10:00. | :10:04. | |
our roles on all of us here, on the language used and the impact it has | :10:05. | :10:10. | |
on other people? I think, as you, Mr Speaker, remind us regularly. We all | :10:11. | :10:15. | |
need to bear in mind the impact which the language we choose has | :10:16. | :10:18. | |
outside this building. I would reiterate that I have been | :10:19. | :10:36. | |
genuinely shocked by the way in which, in recent weeks, decent, | :10:37. | :10:43. | |
law-abiding people who, in many cases have been living here 20, 30 | :10:44. | :10:49. | |
years have been subjected to abuse or even worse. And I think it is | :10:50. | :10:55. | |
very important that all of us, which other political party we are from, | :10:56. | :10:59. | |
and whichever side we've supported during the referendum campaign, need | :11:00. | :11:04. | |
to come together and say that type of behaviour has no place in our | :11:05. | :11:17. | |
society. I have just been advised by a distinguished bewigged counsellor | :11:18. | :11:20. | |
to the cheer that alternatives to smouldering volcano are pregnant | :11:21. | :11:27. | |
volcano and imminently explosive volcano. Mr Barry Shearman. As a | :11:28. | :11:38. | |
genuine backbencher, night ask, can I welcome the leader of the studies | :11:39. | :11:44. | |
position? I hope that he will be a good force for making sure that this | :11:45. | :11:46. | |
is about business questions rather than some of the things that go on | :11:47. | :11:52. | |
under the name or business questions, and I can say to the | :11:53. | :11:56. | |
Speaker who called him an egg head, I hope I didn't cause offence, but | :11:57. | :11:59. | |
those who did work on the European Private Members' Bill watched him in | :12:00. | :12:04. | |
action would believe also that he must have had some training in | :12:05. | :12:13. | |
acting and drama, just as everything he does at the dispatch box ingests | :12:14. | :12:18. | |
that's the case. I was a smouldering volcano Mr Speaker because I would | :12:19. | :12:22. | |
not say it was about time we had a debate in this House on the barriers | :12:23. | :12:26. | |
to people with autism to living a full life. We've had the Chair of | :12:27. | :12:30. | |
the autism commission make a fantastic report to the barriers in | :12:31. | :12:35. | |
the health service to autistic people living a full life. Surely an | :12:36. | :12:41. | |
early debate when we get back on that subject would be welcomed, even | :12:42. | :12:46. | |
by the Speaker. Can I first of all thank the right honourable gentleman | :12:47. | :12:54. | |
for his welcome? I agree with him that, as a House, as a country, this | :12:55. | :12:58. | |
question of giving greater opportunity to people with autistic | :12:59. | :13:04. | |
spectrum disorders is something to which we should turn our attention. | :13:05. | :13:07. | |
I would hope that this might be a matter which the backbench business | :13:08. | :13:16. | |
committee should see as a priority. I am more of a slow burner than a | :13:17. | :13:20. | |
smouldering volcano but I am still very passionate! Can I welcome the | :13:21. | :13:25. | |
new of the House of Lords Place? Can I ask him for a debate or statement | :13:26. | :13:29. | |
in government time on the effect witness of the assessment process on | :13:30. | :13:35. | |
the stability of mandatory reconsideration and the cost to the | :13:36. | :13:41. | |
taxpayer of the tribunal process for Personal Independence Payments, | :13:42. | :13:43. | |
because many of these are causing great distress to claimants in Wales | :13:44. | :13:52. | |
and across the UK? I thank the honourable lady for her welcome. | :13:53. | :13:58. | |
These are clearly matters that My Honourable Friend is in the | :13:59. | :14:00. | |
Department for Work and Pensions will wish to consider. I will draw | :14:01. | :14:04. | |
her remarks to their attention. I think that the quickest way in which | :14:05. | :14:07. | |
to bring these matters before the House would be to raise these in the | :14:08. | :14:14. | |
first DWP questions after we come back. It was last September the | :14:15. | :14:20. | |
government announced they were likely to publish Teachout heard of | :14:21. | :14:22. | |
obesity strategy in the autumn. Orton came and went. Winter came and | :14:23. | :14:30. | |
went, spring came and went and it was an urgent question that he | :14:31. | :14:34. | |
granted me kindly in May, and the public-health minister stood at the | :14:35. | :14:38. | |
dispatch box and told the House the strategy would be published before | :14:39. | :14:44. | |
the summer recess giving members the opportunity to debate thoroughly the | :14:45. | :14:50. | |
contents therein. Where is it? I think while this is undoubtedly an | :14:51. | :14:57. | |
important issue, there have been one or two other political events in the | :14:58. | :15:00. | |
last few weeks that have meant that a number of other announcements have | :15:01. | :15:06. | |
been postponed. We have a new public-health minister in place now. | :15:07. | :15:11. | |
I am sure that My Honourable Friend will want to give urgent attention | :15:12. | :15:18. | |
to this point. I would also like to welcomed the new leader. I pay | :15:19. | :15:28. | |
tribute to his wisdom in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, which will | :15:29. | :15:35. | |
be much missed, I fear, in future. I would like to ask him to page of U2 | :15:36. | :15:41. | |
Noreen Delaney, a very long serving person in this House for her | :15:42. | :15:50. | |
service. I would also ask about the cat at Number Ten, seems to be in a | :15:51. | :15:59. | |
sorry situation, is it because he misses the old Prime Minister and | :16:00. | :16:06. | |
does the new Prime Minister care for the welfare of cats as much as the | :16:07. | :16:10. | |
old Prime Minister did? And I want specifically to ask for a statement | :16:11. | :16:15. | |
or debate as soon as we get back in September on the situation in | :16:16. | :16:20. | |
Turkey, which is very serious. Some of my own friends have been arrested | :16:21. | :16:27. | |
in this first round of arrests and also, the ongoing humanitarian | :16:28. | :16:32. | |
disaster in Syria. Behrami only 100,000 people in detention, some of | :16:33. | :16:37. | |
them in very bad conditions and I ask if the Home Office could keep -- | :16:38. | :16:42. | |
the Foreign Office could keep their eye on the ball on these issues? Can | :16:43. | :16:49. | |
I thank the right honourable member for her kind remarks? I think that | :16:50. | :16:53. | |
on the two foreign policy questions that she raised, whilst the House is | :16:54. | :17:00. | |
in recess, the work of government will go on and the Foreign Office | :17:01. | :17:07. | |
will be maintaining a very close watch on evidence both in Turkey and | :17:08. | :17:14. | |
in Syria. And my Right Honourable Friend the Development Secretary | :17:15. | :17:19. | |
will of course also maintain not just a keen interest in these | :17:20. | :17:23. | |
humanitarian disasters, to which she alluded, but also in making sure | :17:24. | :17:26. | |
that the pledges made by this country and other countries, to put | :17:27. | :17:32. | |
money down to help those in such enormous need in Syria and | :17:33. | :17:37. | |
neighbouring countries, are delivered in practice and that the | :17:38. | :17:45. | |
aid gets through to them. I am sure that my Right Honourable Friend the | :17:46. | :17:48. | |
Foreign Secretary will wish to keep the House up they did when we return | :17:49. | :17:51. | |
from recess at about what is happening in that region. On the | :17:52. | :17:57. | |
other matter she mentioned, I can completely reassure her about the | :17:58. | :18:04. | |
Prime Minister's good intentions towards a Larry the cat. I saw some | :18:05. | :18:10. | |
reports in the media that he had been involved in a fracas with the | :18:11. | :18:13. | |
Foreign Office cat, but I hope that they have now established a modus | :18:14. | :18:19. | |
vivendi. Eagle-eyed members would have | :18:20. | :18:30. | |
noticed some 30 whether itten statements to be made by the | :18:31. | :18:41. | |
Government on today's order paper. Will the leader wish to dispel any | :18:42. | :18:46. | |
cynicism by giving members a debate to consider and discuss the contents | :18:47. | :18:53. | |
of this statement on our return? I thank the honourable lady for her | :18:54. | :19:00. | |
welcome. She's miss construing the Government's intention, which is to | :19:01. | :19:02. | |
put the information before Parliament. I think the honourable | :19:03. | :19:10. | |
lady would have had much more cause for grieve vans had ministers | :19:11. | :19:14. | |
withheld this information which instead is being made available. The | :19:15. | :19:17. | |
opportunity is there now for all members of the House to look at the | :19:18. | :19:22. | |
announcements being made in the written ministerial statements, to | :19:23. | :19:26. | |
come to a considered view about them and then to return to the fray in | :19:27. | :19:32. | |
September, ready to question and challenge ministers on the basis of | :19:33. | :19:35. | |
some time for analysis and reflection. | :19:36. | :19:42. | |
On a fine ending, Mr Speaker, when he was Europe minister, I confess I | :19:43. | :19:47. | |
used to feel sorry for him given he was sent out here like a lamp to the | :19:48. | :19:53. | |
wolves every so often. I still do. He's left behind the finest salons | :19:54. | :19:56. | |
of Europe to come here every Thursday to fend off requests for | :19:57. | :20:04. | |
debates on Southern Rail, which I am fed up haeshing about. Nonetheless I | :20:05. | :20:09. | |
-- fed up of hearing about. Nonetheless I welcome him. We heard | :20:10. | :20:14. | |
about vauk haul, over the fact that recalling almost 300,000 vehicles, | :20:15. | :20:18. | |
over 300 of them have spontaneously burst into flames, putting families | :20:19. | :20:23. | |
and consumers in danger. On top of that, we have also had the vaux | :20:24. | :20:28. | |
wagon scandal over the past 12 months. Can we have a debate on the | :20:29. | :20:33. | |
car industry, so we can push them to get their act together and stop | :20:34. | :20:41. | |
putting people's lives at risk and endangering public health, so we can | :20:42. | :20:44. | |
get the Government to get its finger out and bring this industry to book. | :20:45. | :20:50. | |
I think that what would be the right sequence of events would be for us | :20:51. | :20:55. | |
to see the report from the Transport Select Committee that no doubt will | :20:56. | :21:00. | |
make recommendations to the Government and to other parties and | :21:01. | :21:05. | |
then to have the benefit of the committee's findings, and of the | :21:06. | :21:08. | |
evidence that was taken by the committee, when the House comes to | :21:09. | :21:12. | |
debate this subject. As the honourable gentleman knows there are | :21:13. | :21:15. | |
opportunities during the parliamentary year for Select | :21:16. | :21:17. | |
Committee reports to be debated, either on the floor of the House or | :21:18. | :21:21. | |
in Westminster Hall and if there is a strong body of support for this | :21:22. | :21:26. | |
report to be so debated, then that seems to be a good opportunity. I | :21:27. | :21:33. | |
say finally to him that while I thoroughly enjoyed the time I spent | :21:34. | :21:37. | |
serving in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, it is to this | :21:38. | :21:41. | |
House that I sought election in the first place and I reward having been | :21:42. | :21:45. | |
asked by the Prime Minister to serve as leader of the House of Commons as | :21:46. | :21:52. | |
an enormous privilege and an enormous opportunity that I have no | :21:53. | :22:00. | |
regrets whatsoever. I think this is something I still find... It is | :22:01. | :22:04. | |
amazing after being elected to this place on behalf of your constituents | :22:05. | :22:08. | |
to be asked to serve as leader of the House is a privilege indeed. | :22:09. | :22:13. | |
THE SPEAKER: Thank you to the leader and all colleagues who took part in | :22:14. | :22:22. | |
those exchanges. I wish colleagues a very enjoyable, stimulating, but | :22:23. | :22:26. | |
restful, we hope, recess. A point of order, Mr Graham Jones. Thank you. | :22:27. | :22:31. | |
Today the Government rushed out some 21 ministerial statements, right on | :22:32. | :22:34. | |
recess day, which is appalling in itself. But not one was on | :22:35. | :22:42. | |
fixed-odds betting terminals T sustainable communities act | :22:43. | :22:45. | |
application, which sits in the department, lodged by Newham Council | :22:46. | :22:49. | |
and 95 other councils, is the biggest application under the act, | :22:50. | :22:55. | |
with the LGA, to lower fixed-odds betting terminals from ?100 to ?2 | :22:56. | :23:01. | |
was lodged in December, 2015. More than six months have now passed and | :23:02. | :23:04. | |
we're at the summer recess. I understand that the deadline for | :23:05. | :23:09. | |
this was 14th July and only one meeting has taken place, thanked was | :23:10. | :23:14. | |
a preliminary meeting between the department and the LGA. The minister | :23:15. | :23:19. | |
has failed to update the House on the meetings with the LGA, failed to | :23:20. | :23:23. | |
indicate what those meetings, that first meeting was about. Which is | :23:24. | :23:27. | |
implicit under the conditions of the act. The act requires that the | :23:28. | :23:32. | |
Government must try to reach agreement by constructive | :23:33. | :23:34. | |
negotiation between the LGA and the Government. Which must act in good | :23:35. | :23:43. | |
faith w the provision that all DCS support evidence is included. What | :23:44. | :23:47. | |
advice would you give me, you know, on this matter, which I think is an | :23:48. | :23:52. | |
appalling dereliction of responsibility? | :23:53. | :23:58. | |
THE SPEAKER: My first advice of a point of order is it should be | :23:59. | :24:01. | |
brief. It is not a matter for the chair. He has, through the device of | :24:02. | :24:07. | |
the point of order, registered his dissatisfaction very forcefully. | :24:08. | :24:11. | |
Unforted natly he has done so in the presence of the leader of the House | :24:12. | :24:17. | |
and of the deputy, together with a number of representatives of the | :24:18. | :24:22. | |
patronage secretary as well. My further observation to the | :24:23. | :24:24. | |
honourable gentleman is if he is able to contribute to the second | :24:25. | :24:30. | |
adjournment debate this afternoon, and it is up to him whether he seeks | :24:31. | :24:37. | |
to do so, he might illicit a response from the Government to the | :24:38. | :24:41. | |
points that he's raised. Admittedly he will not have a responsible | :24:42. | :24:46. | |
departmental minister to answer today. He might, as I say, because | :24:47. | :24:50. | |
there is collective responsibility in Government, be able to attract | :24:51. | :24:56. | |
some sort of response. I can tell he's extremely dissatisfied. But we | :24:57. | :25:01. | |
cannot let the best be the enemy of the good in a pragmatic sense, I | :25:02. | :25:04. | |
think that is the best he can hope for today. | :25:05. | :25:10. | |
If there are no further points of order we come now to the press | :25:11. | :25:15. | |
sensation of -- presentation of bill. Tim Morton. | :25:16. | :25:24. | |
Civil partnership act, 04 amendment bill. Second reading which day 13th | :25:25. | :25:34. | |
January, 2017. Thank you. We now come to the backbench motion | :25:35. | :25:43. | |
on a ban on the manifesto, sale, possess -- manufacture, sale and | :25:44. | :25:47. | |
possess of snares. To move the motion, I can call Mr Jim Dowd. | :25:48. | :25:56. | |
Thank you, very much. First of all, my thanks to the Backbench Business | :25:57. | :25:59. | |
Committee for giving me the opportunity to bring this motion to | :26:00. | :26:05. | |
the House. I am keenly aware because of the | :26:06. | :26:11. | |
urgent, the urgent questions on school funding that we are running | :26:12. | :26:18. | |
late. I am aware that the summer adjournment debate is generally | :26:19. | :26:20. | |
oversubscribed, so I will attempt to be brief and hope to conclude this | :26:21. | :26:25. | |
matter within a reasonable time. I don't propose to call a division | :26:26. | :26:29. | |
myself. I can assure the House that if one | :26:30. | :26:35. | |
is called, then I will defend this motion. Although motions araising | :26:36. | :26:44. | |
from backbench business debates have a somewhat uncertain pedigree, if | :26:45. | :26:48. | |
you like, the status of them is disputed, they are not binding, they | :26:49. | :26:52. | |
are not mandatory, there have been a number of motions passed in similar | :26:53. | :26:57. | |
debates over recent months, which the Government have, whilst urging | :26:58. | :27:01. | |
the Government to take action, the Government have declined so to do, | :27:02. | :27:05. | |
so I have no illusion were this motion to be successful, then a | :27:06. | :27:09. | |
Government action would swiftly follow. I suspect it probably won't. | :27:10. | :27:14. | |
But I do believe and I will attempt to outline as briefly as I can what | :27:15. | :27:20. | |
I believe to be a compelling case for the prospect outlined in the | :27:21. | :27:26. | |
motion. There is widespread support across the House for such a ban. I | :27:27. | :27:34. | |
know the later ribbing Forth, when he used to be here on -- late Eric | :27:35. | :27:41. | |
Forth, when he used to be here on Fridays, when people said this bill | :27:42. | :27:48. | |
has wide-spread support he used to wave his arms and say, where are | :27:49. | :27:53. | |
they then? And I accept. I accept... Well, they knew you were | :27:54. | :28:01. | |
coming, Geoffry. No, that's not true. I am deeply grateful to the | :28:02. | :28:07. | |
League Against Cruel Sports to the Royal Society for the prevention of | :28:08. | :28:12. | |
animals, to the cat protection league and other organisations who | :28:13. | :28:16. | |
have assisted me in this matter. I know there are members in this House | :28:17. | :28:21. | |
who are ideologically opposed to bans of any kind. | :28:22. | :28:26. | |
I don't obviously share that view myself. I think we have to exercise | :28:27. | :28:34. | |
caution and judgment. The legal framework is generally about | :28:35. | :28:37. | |
regulating what should, what behaviour is and is not permissible | :28:38. | :28:43. | |
and what should be punished. I am grateful to my honourable | :28:44. | :28:45. | |
friend for giving way. On that point, isn't one of the issues of | :28:46. | :28:50. | |
the use of snares now, that they simply aren't being used for the | :28:51. | :28:55. | |
stated purpose. That often the specieses that is targeted isn't the | :28:56. | :29:01. | |
species that is often target -- captured I agree with my honourable | :29:02. | :29:05. | |
friend. I hope to go on and elaborate that in more detail later | :29:06. | :29:09. | |
on. It is my contention, the thrust of this motion is not just the | :29:10. | :29:18. | |
inherent cruelty, and barbarism of snares, single snares that are | :29:19. | :29:22. | |
currently legal. It is actually the gross inefficiency of it that... It | :29:23. | :29:28. | |
is not even useful for what it does without causing unacceptable | :29:29. | :29:32. | |
consequences. Particularly we have to exercise responsibility as | :29:33. | :29:35. | |
legislators when we are doing it on behalf of those who cannot speak for | :29:36. | :29:39. | |
themselves, whether it be children or animals. I believe there is an | :29:40. | :29:44. | |
imper rayive here for us to take action. Snares are thin wire nooses, | :29:45. | :29:53. | |
set to trap animals seen as a threat, usually foxes and rabbits. | :29:54. | :29:57. | |
They catch them around the neck, rather like a lasso. There are two | :29:58. | :30:01. | |
types. The self--locking snare, which is not legal. It is not | :30:02. | :30:06. | |
permitted. This is a devise which tightens the more the animal | :30:07. | :30:12. | |
struggles. Even when the animal stops struggling it is tightened and | :30:13. | :30:15. | |
serious causes injury and death. That is illegal under the current | :30:16. | :30:21. | |
regulations. One type of snare, known as the free-running snare, | :30:22. | :30:24. | |
which is still currently legal and this should, if it is operated | :30:25. | :30:29. | |
properly tighten as the captured animal struggles. But relax when the | :30:30. | :30:33. | |
animal stops pulling. This type of snare intended to hold the animal | :30:34. | :30:37. | |
alive until the snare operator returns to it to kill it, usually by | :30:38. | :30:43. | |
shooting, if it is caught the right target creature, as my honourable | :30:44. | :30:47. | |
friend pointed out, or release it if it is not one of the target creates. | :30:48. | :30:54. | |
And legal free-running snares though, the disadvantage of them | :30:55. | :30:56. | |
operationally and I will mention this later as well, is they can, in | :30:57. | :31:02. | |
many circumstances, act like a self-locking snare and, which are of | :31:03. | :31:07. | |
course, as I mention, illegal when they become kinked or rusty. | :31:08. | :31:13. | |
Although their purpose is to immobilise target animals most cause | :31:14. | :31:17. | |
extreme suffering to animals and often lead to a painful, lingering | :31:18. | :31:22. | |
death. Animals caught suffer huge stress and can sustain horrific | :31:23. | :31:26. | |
injuries. Snares can cause abdominal, chest, neck, leg and head | :31:27. | :31:31. | |
injuries to animals. Some animals get their legs caught in the snares | :31:32. | :31:34. | |
and end up with the wire cutting through to the bone. Such animals | :31:35. | :31:42. | |
may attempt to escape by biting off their own limbens. Others are caught | :31:43. | :31:47. | |
around the body. The number of animals which fall victim is | :31:48. | :31:50. | |
immense. It is not possible to control which animals will be caught | :31:51. | :31:55. | |
in a snare. A snare is set to catch a fox is just as capable of catching | :31:56. | :32:03. | |
other species, cats, dogs, badgers, otters, dear, hares and livestock | :32:04. | :32:08. | |
have all suffered terrible injuries or been killed. In 2012 DEFRA | :32:09. | :32:13. | |
produced an extensive report on snaring in England and Wales, which | :32:14. | :32:18. | |
suggests that up to 1.7 million animals are trapped in these | :32:19. | :32:23. | |
primitive devices every year, which equates to 200 animals caught each | :32:24. | :32:25. | |
and every hour. Because snares capture any animal, a | :32:26. | :32:37. | |
little more than a quarter in the field studies were foxes, the | :32:38. | :32:41. | |
intended victims. The other three quarters included badgers, 26% and | :32:42. | :32:50. | |
here's 33%, both of which are protected species, and a further 14 | :32:51. | :32:55. | |
described as other. That is almost a quarter of a million animals, | :32:56. | :33:02. | |
including dear, cats and dogs caught every year. This goes to the heart | :33:03. | :33:06. | |
of the inefficiency of the snare as a device for animal control. Defra's | :33:07. | :33:12. | |
independent working group concluded in 2005 that it would be difficult | :33:13. | :33:18. | |
to reduce nontarget captures to less than 40%. According to Defra's 2012 | :33:19. | :33:25. | |
report, 260,000 snares are in use in England and Wales. Defra's report | :33:26. | :33:41. | |
reveals that they are more likely on land holdings with game bird | :33:42. | :33:47. | |
shooting. I will not go into my attitude towards shooting as a | :33:48. | :33:51. | |
sport, that is an argument for another day, but in common with over | :33:52. | :33:56. | |
62% of the population of this country I cannot see shooting as a | :33:57. | :34:02. | |
sport and cannot see what possible pleasure can be derived from | :34:03. | :34:06. | |
blasting a living creature to smithereens. I will. I am very | :34:07. | :34:15. | |
grateful to the honourable gentleman and I want to know if he is aware of | :34:16. | :34:22. | |
the piece of scientific research called wagers on the edge which says | :34:23. | :34:29. | |
if you want to go to sleep lapwing, the place to see them where their | :34:30. | :34:35. | |
numbers are rising rather than falling within managed shoots on the | :34:36. | :34:39. | |
uplands? I am not aware of the honourable gentleman's entry in the | :34:40. | :34:45. | |
register of interest, I am not sure what relevance that has, perhaps I | :34:46. | :34:51. | |
will see later. There are all kinds of conflicting arguments on this, I | :34:52. | :34:56. | |
do not dispute that, but the snare is cruel and barbaric and if the | :34:57. | :35:00. | |
price of seeing apparently are lapwing is considering suffering of | :35:01. | :35:05. | |
tens of thousands of creatures, I do not think that is a price worth | :35:06. | :35:13. | |
paying. I wonder if he would agree with me that a key concern for | :35:14. | :35:16. | |
myself and many constituents is the welfare of wildlife. We should put | :35:17. | :35:23. | |
that at the top of our priorities. I completely agree with the honourable | :35:24. | :35:29. | |
lady. Animal welfare more generally is a widespread concern. It is one | :35:30. | :35:35. | |
of the most regular subjects upon which constituents contact us. I | :35:36. | :35:39. | |
will wait for a moment, if I may. I am sure you will be able to catch | :35:40. | :35:43. | |
the speaker's I at some stage and you will be able to tell us what | :35:44. | :35:49. | |
your entry in the register is. Can I congratulate my honourable friend on | :35:50. | :35:54. | |
securing this debate in the backbench business committee and for | :35:55. | :35:58. | |
the compelling case he is making. Will he accept from me on Bihar of | :35:59. | :36:02. | |
the constituents who have contacted me over this that the barbarity of | :36:03. | :36:07. | |
the practice and the cruelty that is inherent in it, most people find | :36:08. | :36:15. | |
appalling and they thank you for raising this important issue? I am | :36:16. | :36:21. | |
extremely grateful to my right honourable friend for his support in | :36:22. | :36:26. | |
this matter and his constituents BIG BROTHER: Support. Snares are only | :36:27. | :36:31. | |
legal in six European countries, Belgium, France, Ireland, Spain, | :36:32. | :36:37. | |
Latvia and the UK. In all other countries they are either band, | :36:38. | :36:40. | |
strictly controlled or not used at all. The idea that they are an | :36:41. | :36:47. | |
inescapable means of animal control clearly is not true because large | :36:48. | :36:53. | |
numbers of countries do not use them at all. The predominate legislation | :36:54. | :36:57. | |
in this matter covering all parts of the 19 -- United Kingdom is the 1981 | :36:58. | :37:09. | |
Wildlife And Countryside Act. It prohibits the use of snares to catch | :37:10. | :37:16. | |
animals such as autos and badgers. The code of practice acknowledges | :37:17. | :37:21. | |
the welfare problems associated with snares and Defra introduced a | :37:22. | :37:25. | |
voluntary code in the use of snares in 2005 which was designed to reduce | :37:26. | :37:29. | |
the suffering caused by snares through the adoption of best | :37:30. | :37:34. | |
practice. Gamekeepers have shown themselves to be incapable of | :37:35. | :37:37. | |
complying with the code of practice on the use of snares. In its 2012 | :37:38. | :37:43. | |
report, Defra found that although 95% of gamekeepers they survey were | :37:44. | :37:49. | |
aware of the code of practice, and some had been trained in the use of | :37:50. | :37:56. | |
Fox snares, some 38%, not a single fox snare or visited during the | :37:57. | :38:00. | |
study was fully comply with the code of conduct a full seven years after | :38:01. | :38:06. | |
it had been introduced. Among farmers there is a lack of knowledge | :38:07. | :38:10. | |
of the code of practice with a shocking 36% of farmers being | :38:11. | :38:14. | |
unaware of its existence. What was clear from the report was that aware | :38:15. | :38:20. | |
or not, the code of practice was not being adhered to. Most operators | :38:21. | :38:27. | |
used snares which were not compliant and 66% had got nontarget animals in | :38:28. | :38:34. | |
Fox snares at some point. The majority of operators set snares | :38:35. | :38:37. | |
insights were entanglement was likely and most rabbits near | :38:38. | :38:41. | |
operators took no measures to avoid capture of nontarget animals. Nearly | :38:42. | :38:48. | |
30% had caught a domestic cat. Snares must not be used as killing | :38:49. | :38:52. | |
devices, however 19% in the study snare users set snares to kill the | :38:53. | :39:01. | |
target animal. Over 30% were found to be using snares which were rusty | :39:02. | :39:07. | |
or where the cable was distorted. The League Against Cruel Sports has | :39:08. | :39:09. | |
always questioned the likelihood that snares would be free running in | :39:10. | :39:15. | |
an outdoors environment and have warned against the potential welfare | :39:16. | :39:20. | |
of pets in rusty wires which can prevent the snare from slackening | :39:21. | :39:24. | |
off. At the honourable when and as he will be aware of much of this | :39:25. | :39:29. | |
issue is devolved to the Scottish parliament and it remains a concern | :39:30. | :39:34. | |
to many of our constituents. Since 2013 it has been an offence to set a | :39:35. | :39:39. | |
snare in Scotland unless you have successfully completed a training | :39:40. | :39:44. | |
course. I wonder if he has any view on whether or not that is an | :39:45. | :39:48. | |
appropriate measure to counter some of the issues he has identified? I | :39:49. | :39:52. | |
am grateful to the honourable gentleman. The devolved assembly has | :39:53. | :39:58. | |
made far more progress on this in recent years, including in both | :39:59. | :40:04. | |
Wales and Northern Ireland as well as Scotland. Tightening the code of | :40:05. | :40:10. | |
practice is one route, but my strong feeling is that it is ineffective | :40:11. | :40:14. | |
and it is impossible to implement. The only humane thing to do is | :40:15. | :40:21. | |
abandon it, but I am aware of the progress that has been made in | :40:22. | :40:27. | |
Scotland. I want to congratulate him on getting this debate. I have had | :40:28. | :40:30. | |
many letters from constituents who are all saying the same things. They | :40:31. | :40:35. | |
think this method of killing is absolutely obscene. When you think | :40:36. | :40:43. | |
that every 20 seconds and animal is caught in a snare somewhere in the | :40:44. | :40:51. | |
UK. That is around 1.7 wild and domestic animals each year. It is | :40:52. | :40:57. | |
cruel, legal and a sop for the commercial shooting industry. I am | :40:58. | :41:04. | |
very grateful to my right honourable friend. The point about snares is | :41:05. | :41:13. | |
they are not supposed to kill. They are supposed to be a disabling | :41:14. | :41:18. | |
device to allow the target animal, if it is worked correctly, to be | :41:19. | :41:25. | |
humanely disposed of, or if it is not the target animal, which is the | :41:26. | :41:28. | |
majority of occasions, for it to be released. It is not supposed to | :41:29. | :41:34. | |
kill, but it does. During field trials in which Fox snares were set | :41:35. | :41:38. | |
in accordance with the code of practice, nontarget species were | :41:39. | :41:42. | |
still captive, illustrating it is impossible to eliminate the risk to | :41:43. | :41:49. | |
nontarget animals. A recent investigation by the League Against | :41:50. | :41:55. | |
Cruel Sports, and I want to say in passing that I am delighted to be an | :41:56. | :42:00. | |
honorary life member of the League Against Cruel Sports, but a recent | :42:01. | :42:03. | |
investigation by them provided further evidence that a code of | :42:04. | :42:08. | |
practice cannot prevent animals from suffering in snares. In February | :42:09. | :42:14. | |
2015, investigators captured graphic scenes of foxes and rabbits caught | :42:15. | :42:18. | |
in snares. Despite government guidelines, all of the animals film | :42:19. | :42:30. | |
would were dead. The footage explodes a large death pic, | :42:31. | :42:33. | |
purposely dug pit filled with carcasses dead wild life and stop. | :42:34. | :42:42. | |
The dead fox was found hanging from one of the snares, clearly strangled | :42:43. | :42:47. | |
to death. Placing snares alongside Pitt violates the government's code | :42:48. | :42:53. | |
of practice, yet a snare operator admitted that he catches 50-100 | :42:54. | :42:57. | |
foxes this way every year, demonstrating that attempts to | :42:58. | :43:01. | |
regulate, and this is the point I was making earlier, attempts to | :43:02. | :43:05. | |
regulate a clandestine activity which takes place primarily on | :43:06. | :43:09. | |
private land in remote locations is futile. Hence my conclusion that we | :43:10. | :43:17. | |
need to introduce the ban. At the second location the soaking wet | :43:18. | :43:21. | |
bodies of several rabbits were discovered in snares and two of | :43:22. | :43:24. | |
these were trapped in snares set along a fence in which the rabbit | :43:25. | :43:28. | |
had become heavily entangled during their struggle to escape. The | :43:29. | :43:33. | |
placement of the snares clearly violated the code of practice. There | :43:34. | :43:39. | |
is plenty of other evidence to show where the code is not being | :43:40. | :43:43. | |
flagrantly ignored, it is utterly ineffective. 77% of British people | :43:44. | :43:55. | |
think snares should be banned. 68% of MPs would support a ban according | :43:56. | :44:01. | |
to a poll taken last year. Itinerary opinion is firmly in support of a | :44:02. | :44:05. | |
ban on these cruel and indiscriminate traps. The 2015 poll | :44:06. | :44:12. | |
of veterinary surgeons and nurses felt that 87% of respondents | :44:13. | :44:16. | |
believed sneering is neither humane, is not a humane method of pest | :44:17. | :44:22. | |
control. The figure was even higher at 92% amongst those who had | :44:23. | :44:25. | |
experience of treating animals who had been smeared. In testimony to | :44:26. | :44:30. | |
the Scottish Parliament, and this relates to the point the honourable | :44:31. | :44:33. | |
gentleman made earlier, Professor Ronald Munro, a leading veterinary | :44:34. | :44:41. | |
pathologist stated, from the veterinary perspective snares are | :44:42. | :44:45. | |
primitive, indiscriminate traps that are recognised as causing widespread | :44:46. | :44:50. | |
suffering to a range of animals. At the least injurious, snares can | :44:51. | :44:54. | |
result in abrasion and splitting of the skin. However, being caught in a | :44:55. | :44:59. | |
snare is extremely distressing for any creature and vigorous attempts | :45:00. | :45:01. | |
to escape are perfectly natural. These efforts caused the snare wire | :45:02. | :45:11. | |
to King, thereby changing a free running snare to a self locking one. | :45:12. | :45:17. | |
Strangulation as choking followed. It is common for them to lodge | :45:18. | :45:24. | |
around the chest, abdomen and legs and the wire cuts through skin and | :45:25. | :45:28. | |
muscle and eventually burn. Badgers may be eviscerated Wendy abdominal | :45:29. | :45:36. | |
wall is cut through. Amputation of a limb and foot by a snare is well | :45:37. | :45:42. | |
documented in dear. These unfortunate animals suffer | :45:43. | :45:49. | |
immensely. I am sure the honourable gentleman will be coming close to | :45:50. | :45:53. | |
his end, but he is past the 20 minutes. If he could wind up very | :45:54. | :46:02. | |
shortly, I would be very grateful. He will be aware that agencies like | :46:03. | :46:06. | |
the government and his sponsors in this debate have occasionally used | :46:07. | :46:11. | |
snares for research and tagging purposes. All the descriptions he | :46:12. | :46:16. | |
has just attached to this practice apply when it is used for those | :46:17. | :46:20. | |
purposes which could be construed as being important. All I would say is | :46:21. | :46:25. | |
I thought I had been generous with my time. Maybe you have been overly | :46:26. | :46:32. | |
generous, but the fact is that it is normally 15 minutes and I have been | :46:33. | :46:37. | |
generous and tolerant. Quite right, it is an important subject, but I | :46:38. | :46:43. | |
want to get other members in. I accept your direction implicitly and | :46:44. | :46:48. | |
shall draw my remarks to a conclusion. It is the overwhelming | :46:49. | :46:51. | |
view of all the animal welfare organisations who are in support of | :46:52. | :46:59. | |
this motion, the RSPCA, and many others. If a medical product was as | :47:00. | :47:05. | |
ineffective as snares are in their purpose, if it has that hideous | :47:06. | :47:09. | |
side-effects and detrimental side effects as they do, it would be | :47:10. | :47:15. | |
banned. I believe snares should be as well. I will leave the final word | :47:16. | :47:20. | |
to Mr Chris Patten, a well-known TV broadcaster when he says, | :47:21. | :47:24. | |
indiscriminate and inhumane, they should be illegal. There is not much | :47:25. | :47:26. | |
more to say about snares. There is now a six-minute limit. | :47:27. | :47:39. | |
I am grateful to catch your eye in debate. I draw your attention to the | :47:40. | :47:47. | |
members benefit. I am a farmer and I draw attention that I am chairman of | :47:48. | :47:52. | |
the all party shooting and conservation group which has an | :47:53. | :47:55. | |
interest. I respect a lot of what the gentleman has said. I want to | :47:56. | :47:59. | |
put my remarks into context and disagree with much of what he said. | :48:00. | :48:04. | |
The use of snares is an important tool in wildlife management, which | :48:05. | :48:08. | |
benefits conservation and I was a little bit disturbed to hear the | :48:09. | :48:13. | |
honourable gentleman for Lewisham West and penning paying so little | :48:14. | :48:20. | |
attention to endangered species such as curlew and lapwings which are | :48:21. | :48:29. | |
severely endangered by foxes. It is necessary to control foxes if that | :48:30. | :48:33. | |
situation if we want these very important species to survive and | :48:34. | :48:40. | |
thrive. There is often no practical replacement for snaring at crucial | :48:41. | :48:44. | |
times of the year, particularly during summer and spring. This is | :48:45. | :48:51. | |
booze there are heavily leafed areas on trees and often this is at the | :48:52. | :48:58. | |
time of year when lambs, piglets and other farmed animals at their most | :48:59. | :49:02. | |
vulnerable. At the same time foxes are having cubs and therefore become | :49:03. | :49:08. | |
the biggest predators on those farmed young animals. It is an | :49:09. | :49:15. | |
important part of the fox control. Well designed snares, as the | :49:16. | :49:21. | |
honourable gentleman said, used properly are effective for fox | :49:22. | :49:26. | |
control. It has been illegal to use self-locking snares throughout the | :49:27. | :49:31. | |
UK for over 20 years. DEFRA commission research, which he | :49:32. | :49:35. | |
referred to in 2012 has identified how snare canning be improved | :49:36. | :49:39. | |
through the snare design and operating practises. I just want to | :49:40. | :49:46. | |
quote from the game and wildlife conservation trust, so called GWCT, | :49:47. | :49:52. | |
there is a widely respected body for its independent research and they | :49:53. | :50:00. | |
say, Foxes kill young lambs, piglets, reared outdoor, free-range | :50:01. | :50:10. | |
poultry. They pray on vulnerable wildlife, ground-resting birds. | :50:11. | :50:14. | |
Several of these are species of conservational concern. There are | :50:15. | :50:17. | |
several methods to control foxes, but none are effective in all | :50:18. | :50:21. | |
circumstances. One method widely used for foxes is snaring. Snares | :50:22. | :50:25. | |
are particularly effective for foxes in places and at times of the year | :50:26. | :50:29. | |
when rifle shooting is not possible because of the dense cover. When fox | :50:30. | :50:34. | |
control may be critical for wildlife prey. | :50:35. | :50:46. | |
His own colleague, the honourable member for, I think, of the | :50:47. | :50:49. | |
Government said, when he was Under-Secretary of State for DEFRA, | :50:50. | :50:57. | |
on 28th November, 20 2006, column 495, in Hansard. I quote, "The | :50:58. | :51:03. | |
Government consider where there is a need for wildlife management, the | :51:04. | :51:07. | |
proper use of snares is one of the range of control methods. Used to | :51:08. | :51:14. | |
best practise they can be an effective means of wildlife | :51:15. | :51:17. | |
management and are needed where other forms of pest control are | :51:18. | :51:22. | |
impractical. In these circumstances snares restrain rather than kill and | :51:23. | :51:26. | |
may prove to be more humane than other methods. If snares were to be | :51:27. | :51:30. | |
banned entirely, it may encourage the use of more dangerous and | :51:31. | :51:34. | |
illegal alternatives, such as poisons." I would like to come on to | :51:35. | :51:39. | |
one or two in the time available. I accept your restrictions Mr Deputy | :51:40. | :51:43. | |
Speaker, of the things that the honourable gentleman has put | :51:44. | :51:50. | |
forward, to try and rebut them. In 2012, as I have referred to the | :51:51. | :51:57. | |
DEFRA study, it set out to estimate the scale of the perceived problems. | :51:58. | :52:04. | |
Inevitably the figures are an aproxation, with uncertainty | :52:05. | :52:08. | |
attached. This is where the honourable member for the valley got | :52:09. | :52:11. | |
her figures from. This is a particularly important thing. And | :52:12. | :52:18. | |
she, I think, some organisations have constructed figures by | :52:19. | :52:20. | |
extrapolating from small samples, which are unlikely to be | :52:21. | :52:23. | |
representative of all the situations in which snares are used or of | :52:24. | :52:29. | |
current working practises. For instance, the humanist assessment in | :52:30. | :52:33. | |
the DEFRA study, involving a single operator, working in one set of | :52:34. | :52:36. | |
circumstances, while the assessment of the extent of use made across a | :52:37. | :52:44. | |
random sample of house landing, multiplied together and get the | :52:45. | :52:48. | |
figure she referred to. I think the figure she referred to is most | :52:49. | :52:52. | |
unlikely to be true. Let's look at some of the evidence N an extensive | :52:53. | :53:00. | |
field study involving 429 fox captures, we show that given good | :53:01. | :53:03. | |
practise, less than 1% of snare-caught foxes were injured or | :53:04. | :53:08. | |
dead as a result of capture. Some believe that animals held in snares | :53:09. | :53:12. | |
may seem already at the time of release but go on to develop | :53:13. | :53:16. | |
life-threatening conditions, the honourable gentleman referred to | :53:17. | :53:19. | |
this. There is no evidence that this commonly occurs. On the contrary. | :53:20. | :53:24. | |
Foxes and badgers caught in snares by scientists for radio tagging have | :53:25. | :53:31. | |
typically not shown sni abnormal behaviour or higher mortality. In | :53:32. | :53:35. | |
GWC studies some individual foxes have been recaptured in snares with | :53:36. | :53:41. | |
no apparent ill effect. Going on, how much time have I got? Not | :53:42. | :53:49. | |
enough. In some... THE SPEAKER: Order! | :53:50. | :53:56. | |
Mr Deputy Speaker. Can I congratulate my honourable friend | :53:57. | :53:59. | |
from Lewisham, he made a strong case in support of the motion. I am not | :54:00. | :54:04. | |
only very pleased to follow the honourable gentleman from the | :54:05. | :54:06. | |
Cotswold who was making an argument and got out of time and we didn't | :54:07. | :54:11. | |
hear whether his case was as strong as my honourable friends. It didn't | :54:12. | :54:14. | |
appear to where from where I am sitting. I would like to thank the | :54:15. | :54:20. | |
league against cruel league, the RSPCA, the NFU for their briefings | :54:21. | :54:26. | |
for this debate and also to Nicky Sutherland and Olly ben net from the | :54:27. | :54:31. | |
House of Commons Library for their very useful briefing to members. | :54:32. | :54:39. | |
Befering to those papers the RSPCA write DEFRA introduced a code of | :54:40. | :54:44. | |
practise on the use of snares. Including guidance on where and how | :54:45. | :54:49. | |
to set snares for different species and possible steps to avoid trapping | :54:50. | :54:53. | |
nontarget spe sisss. It should be noted that compliance with the code | :54:54. | :54:58. | |
is voluntary and a 2012 report produced for DEFRA, found an | :54:59. | :55:03. | |
awareness of the code was high, 95% of gamekeepers and 65% of farmers, | :55:04. | :55:09. | |
the levels of compliance with the best practise were low, which was | :55:10. | :55:13. | |
very much one of the strong arguments my honourable friend was | :55:14. | :55:17. | |
making T League Against Cruel Sports say they believe it is cruel and | :55:18. | :55:23. | |
indiscriminate and leads to untold suffering and horrific deaths for | :55:24. | :55:26. | |
wild, domestic and farm animals throughout the country. Most snares | :55:27. | :55:30. | |
are used by gamekeepers to protect quarry, which are bred and protected | :55:31. | :55:35. | |
to act as targets for blood sports, not the farmer's argument we have | :55:36. | :55:40. | |
heard previously. I apoll Iz to the minister for not welcoming her to | :55:41. | :55:43. | |
her new position when I opened my remarks. I didn't get a chance | :55:44. | :55:47. | |
yesterday in the committee because I was not there for her full evidence | :55:48. | :55:51. | |
session. I wish her success in her new job. I would like, if she could, | :55:52. | :55:57. | |
answer the point raised by the league about the use of snares are | :55:58. | :56:02. | |
set by gamekeepers as opposed by farmers. 2012, the DEFRA report on | :56:03. | :56:08. | |
snaring confirms that it is not possible for snares to be | :56:09. | :56:14. | |
species-specific. And nontarget an maps are captured when -- animals | :56:15. | :56:18. | |
are captured. It is not possible to regulate the use of snares through a | :56:19. | :56:23. | |
statutory code as adhere rans is low and there's no incentive for | :56:24. | :56:28. | |
operators to obey it. It says it is clear and cruel and the use of | :56:29. | :56:34. | |
snares, primitive primitive legislation. | :56:35. | :56:37. | |
I would like the minister to comment on that if she has an opportunity. | :56:38. | :56:42. | |
The National Farmers' Union, an organisation which I have high | :56:43. | :56:47. | |
regard, not surprisingly says the NFU believes the use ofnaries is an | :56:48. | :56:53. | |
essential part of wild -- the use of snares is essential and in certain | :56:54. | :57:00. | |
it is situations they can be the most humane method. More often than | :57:01. | :57:05. | |
not it is not about humane destruction it is about the animals | :57:06. | :57:10. | |
dieing in the snares and not having the humane dispatch that everybody | :57:11. | :57:15. | |
would want to see. The library briefing says that | :57:16. | :57:18. | |
snares are commonly used to catch certain animals prior to their | :57:19. | :57:24. | |
killing. They can be legally used to capture animals including foxes, | :57:25. | :57:29. | |
rabbits, cats and grey squirrels. They have the potential to cause | :57:30. | :57:32. | |
injury and death, the point made by my honourable friend. They can catch | :57:33. | :57:36. | |
nontarget animals such as badgers and cats. Again, made by my | :57:37. | :57:40. | |
honourable friend and their use is therefore controversial. The library | :57:41. | :57:45. | |
briefing goes on to outline and save time I will not make reference to | :57:46. | :57:49. | |
the Wales and Northern Ireland additional regulator -- regulations. | :57:50. | :57:53. | |
My honourable friend has covered those. The remarks about Scotland, | :57:54. | :57:58. | |
recently Scotland has tightened regulations on snares beyond the | :57:59. | :58:03. | |
situation in England and Wales, snares must have safety stops | :58:04. | :58:07. | |
fitters and users are required to attend training courses and register | :58:08. | :58:11. | |
for a personal identification number. This ID number is required | :58:12. | :58:16. | |
to be displayed on all snares which are set. | :58:17. | :58:21. | |
I thank the honourable member. Snare users in Scotland are required to | :58:22. | :58:27. | |
have an approed accreditation and must have a personal identification | :58:28. | :58:29. | |
number from the police. Snaring without an ID number is an illegal | :58:30. | :58:36. | |
activity. Would he agree with me this measure should be implemented | :58:37. | :58:40. | |
south of the border? I think the honourable lady makes a case and the | :58:41. | :58:44. | |
honourable friend has made the case. Obviously preferring a complete ban | :58:45. | :58:47. | |
on these things. It has been demonstrated by the Scottish | :58:48. | :58:50. | |
Government that improvements to the press September situation that | :58:51. | :58:52. | |
exists in England and Wales can be made. It is certainly impresses me | :58:53. | :58:57. | |
that the fact that each snare has to have an ID number, where it can be | :58:58. | :59:01. | |
proven that they are not being used the way they ought to be used, for | :59:02. | :59:06. | |
which people are trained, then the ID number can be traced back to the | :59:07. | :59:09. | |
person not doing it properly. That is a safeguard. In conclusion, I | :59:10. | :59:13. | |
think my honourable friend has made out a very strong argument for a | :59:14. | :59:18. | |
complete ban on snares. Even if the Government don't accept this | :59:19. | :59:21. | |
argument, there seems also to be a very strong case, as the honourable | :59:22. | :59:25. | |
lady and I have just agreed, to amend the regulations in England, as | :59:26. | :59:28. | |
they stand at the moment. Internationally, we appear to in a | :59:29. | :59:34. | |
small minority of countries and the UK, Northern Ireland, Wales and | :59:35. | :59:37. | |
Scotland have all seen fit to move on this issue. I would hope we hear | :59:38. | :59:41. | |
from the Government that they are in a motion to agree with the devolved | :59:42. | :59:46. | |
assemblies and we should move to improve the situation, hopefully to | :59:47. | :59:50. | |
a full ban. I look forward to hearing the minister's response in | :59:51. | :59:52. | |
due course. Thank you. Can I draw the House's | :59:53. | :59:58. | |
attention to the intry in the member's register. I want to focus | :59:59. | :00:02. | |
on the farming angle. It is worrying to hear the member for the valley, | :00:03. | :00:05. | |
who is not in her place, referring to all of this as a stop to | :00:06. | :00:18. | |
commercial shootses and the member referring to farmers and | :00:19. | :00:21. | |
gamekeepers. It takes place on farmland. There is no | :00:22. | :00:25. | |
distinguishment whether it is a shoot or a farm. Most of hill | :00:26. | :00:35. | |
farmers in Wales who rely on this as a few method to... This is a vital | :00:36. | :00:40. | |
method they use for commercial and economic purposes in the management | :00:41. | :00:44. | |
of their farms. I also wanted to stress because I | :00:45. | :00:47. | |
think it has been lost in the debate, that actually nobody goes | :00:48. | :00:51. | |
out and sets a snare with any sense of glee or pleasure. This is a | :00:52. | :00:55. | |
practical requirement for people whose job it is to manage wildlife | :00:56. | :00:59. | |
populations for the protection either of game birds or agriculture | :01:00. | :01:04. | |
rat animals. Everybody who does it does to the best of their ability. | :01:05. | :01:10. | |
Nobody derivers a pleasure. If it was as inefficient as the honourable | :01:11. | :01:14. | |
gentleman claimed it was in his opening remarks then the fact is | :01:15. | :01:18. | |
these people would not use it as a means of control. | :01:19. | :01:22. | |
Secondly, Mr Deputy Speaker, I think, but I could not ascertain | :01:23. | :01:27. | |
from the honourable members opposite, whether they accept that | :01:28. | :01:31. | |
some wildlife management or control is necessary. If the question is, if | :01:32. | :01:35. | |
the answer to that question is, yes, we accept that some degree of | :01:36. | :01:40. | |
wildlife, then sat case of how it is not a case of if. Other speakers | :01:41. | :01:45. | |
have referred in brief to what the alternatives are. Sometimes it is | :01:46. | :01:50. | |
easy to say, well, if there is a problem, why not use cage traps? We | :01:51. | :01:55. | |
know they work well for foxes, particularly in urban areas. They | :01:56. | :01:58. | |
too have a nontarget species problem. All sorts of stuff ends up, | :01:59. | :02:04. | |
including raptors in cage traps for foxes. Because they may be inspected | :02:05. | :02:09. | |
once a day or twice a day does not there is up to a point the same | :02:10. | :02:14. | |
degree of potential suffering for animals retained in a cage trap as | :02:15. | :02:17. | |
there is for those captured by a snare. | :02:18. | :02:24. | |
The idea that that is an alternative solution, when it comes down to | :02:25. | :02:31. | |
practical land management experience, it does not add up. | :02:32. | :02:37. | |
There are limitations as to the use of rifles and shotguns and the | :02:38. | :02:42. | |
control of foxes. It intrigues me that members of who were vociferous | :02:43. | :02:51. | |
in their opposition to the badger cull appeared to recommend the same | :02:52. | :02:55. | |
method in the same areas operated by the same people for the control of | :02:56. | :03:00. | |
foxes. I do not think they can have it both ways. All of these methods | :03:01. | :03:06. | |
of control have their place. No single one works perfectly. But as a | :03:07. | :03:12. | |
part of the mix available to land managers, then the reluctant use of | :03:13. | :03:18. | |
snares is one of those. Members will not be surprised to hear it from me, | :03:19. | :03:22. | |
it was ironic that the one other method of controlling foxes, using | :03:23. | :03:29. | |
dogs underground to flush them to waiting guns, is only permitted for | :03:30. | :03:33. | |
the protection of game birds, not permitted for the protection of | :03:34. | :03:39. | |
agricultural animals, the matter included in previous legislation | :03:40. | :03:41. | |
which was supported by the honourable gentleman opposite when | :03:42. | :03:48. | |
he voted on it in 2005. Mr Deputy Speaker, I think we can cut out a | :03:49. | :03:54. | |
lot of this debate by simply referring to what the code of | :03:55. | :03:58. | |
practice as published by the Welsh government in Cardiff was. They have | :03:59. | :04:02. | |
listened to all of these arguments, they have heard from both sides in | :04:03. | :04:07. | |
this heated debate. They have come up with a proposal which is largely | :04:08. | :04:11. | |
practical and which has the confidence of land managers, | :04:12. | :04:18. | |
sensible wildlife conservationists and politicians. If the Welsh | :04:19. | :04:22. | |
assembly can come to a conclusion which satisfies all of those | :04:23. | :04:26. | |
conflicting interests, I do not see why we cannot achieve the same here. | :04:27. | :04:34. | |
Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker, I congratulate my honourable friend, | :04:35. | :04:39. | |
the member for Lewisham West and pension for this debate. I apologise | :04:40. | :04:44. | |
that I was not unable to hear all of his speech. As a former vice | :04:45. | :04:49. | |
president for the League Against Cruel Sports, I pay tribute to the | :04:50. | :04:55. | |
many constituents who have contacted me calling for a ban. 77% of the | :04:56. | :05:02. | |
public support a ban. The supposedly humane option of free running snares | :05:03. | :05:09. | |
as we have heard in graphic and horrific detail can tap an animal, | :05:10. | :05:13. | |
strangle them, cut through the fire, muscle and bone. They are meant to | :05:14. | :05:19. | |
be kept daily and animals died from starvation. The League Against Cruel | :05:20. | :05:26. | |
Sports says 69% of animals caught are not the target species and even | :05:27. | :05:34. | |
cats and dogs can be caught. I saw pictures of Scottish Wildcats been | :05:35. | :05:37. | |
killed in snares, Britain's wildest mammal. It is illegal to set any | :05:38. | :05:45. | |
track or snare intended to injure a protected animals such as badgers, | :05:46. | :05:50. | |
otters and red squirrels. But it cannot be right that people can | :05:51. | :05:53. | |
escape prosecution by arguing a lack of intention to catch those animals | :05:54. | :05:58. | |
went the likelihood of a protected animal being caught is so high. | :05:59. | :06:04. | |
Other countries have managed to ban snares. The UK is one of only five | :06:05. | :06:09. | |
countries in Europe where snares are illegal and in countries where they | :06:10. | :06:13. | |
are not banned outright, such as Spain, the Netherlands and Sweden, | :06:14. | :06:17. | |
they are more tightly regulated. We are always hearing from this | :06:18. | :06:21. | |
government that the UK leads the way in animal welfare, I wish that that | :06:22. | :06:29. | |
was true. Iran has just banned wild animals in circuses and we cannot | :06:30. | :06:34. | |
even do that. Although we have much to be proud of, we need to recognise | :06:35. | :06:39. | |
where we are, not leading the way, where we could take lessons from | :06:40. | :06:44. | |
other countries. She mentioned the ban on wild animals in circuses, we | :06:45. | :06:48. | |
won that argument and the government accepted it and it was a | :06:49. | :06:53. | |
Conservative manifesto promise in the 2015 election, so we hope the | :06:54. | :06:57. | |
government will deliver on it by 2020. The sooner the better. The | :06:58. | :07:05. | |
government has notionally accepted the evidence and they say they are | :07:06. | :07:08. | |
going to act, but they do not act upon it. The British Association for | :07:09. | :07:19. | |
conservation says snares are important for conservation and | :07:20. | :07:21. | |
security and they accept that farmers have a right to control | :07:22. | :07:26. | |
predators, but that does not mean we cannot look for more effective and | :07:27. | :07:31. | |
humane ways to do so. The RSPB accepts there is a need to control | :07:32. | :07:35. | |
foxes, but they have not found the need to resort to the use of snares | :07:36. | :07:41. | |
on their reserves. Indeed fox snares kill capercaillie, the large | :07:42. | :07:46. | |
woodland grouse at risk of distinction. The Woodland Trust do | :07:47. | :07:52. | |
not use snares. Network Rail, the Highways Agency, the Forestry | :07:53. | :07:54. | |
Commission, all manage their land without using snares. Mr Deputy | :07:55. | :08:03. | |
Speaker, we know they are mostly used on shooting estates, despite | :08:04. | :08:07. | |
the best efforts for the honourable member for Carmarthen West. Birds | :08:08. | :08:17. | |
are spared death by fox only to be shot by humans in unimaginable | :08:18. | :08:22. | |
numbers. Not for food or conservation, but for sport. As | :08:23. | :08:26. | |
Chris Packham would say, not sport, but slaughter. We are here today to | :08:27. | :08:32. | |
discuss animal snares, not wider issues, but today 62,000 people have | :08:33. | :08:41. | |
signed a petition to ban grouse shooting, supported by conservation | :08:42. | :08:46. | |
experts. They are concerned about the persecution of hen Harriers, the | :08:47. | :08:51. | |
increase flood risk by gross mu management as well as the use of | :08:52. | :08:55. | |
snares. These are legitimate snares that concerns, but the government | :08:56. | :09:02. | |
has so far given a complacent response to the petition. There is | :09:03. | :09:10. | |
also the issue of lead ammunition, there are viable alternatives, but | :09:11. | :09:13. | |
the government have shelved a report which was submitted more than a year | :09:14. | :09:18. | |
ago. There are concerns about the welfare of the millions of pheasants | :09:19. | :09:23. | |
and partridges raised in cramped cages purely for the purpose of | :09:24. | :09:27. | |
shooting. The Labour government introduced a code of practice, the | :09:28. | :09:32. | |
Coalition Government withdrew that code and they failed to publish the | :09:33. | :09:38. | |
review findings. A similar picture emerges when we look at the efforts | :09:39. | :09:45. | |
to reduce the use of snares. Research from Defra concluded in | :09:46. | :09:51. | |
2010 and it took the coalition two used to publish that and nothing has | :09:52. | :09:56. | |
been done. Four years after the report has come out that then Defra | :09:57. | :10:01. | |
minister could only tell Parliament that officials worked with | :10:02. | :10:04. | |
stakeholders to explore options and were considering options and would | :10:05. | :10:09. | |
make an announcement in due course. The League Against Cruel Sports | :10:10. | :10:12. | |
documented evidence of animals found in pits in violation of the code of | :10:13. | :10:20. | |
practice. Clearly there is a need to act, but the government does not | :10:21. | :10:26. | |
seem willing to do so. This has happened on other animal welfare | :10:27. | :10:30. | |
issues under this government. There are many other issues where the | :10:31. | :10:34. | |
government has been too slow to publish research, failed to | :10:35. | :10:37. | |
commission reviews which would help them get the evidence they need, | :10:38. | :10:41. | |
dismissed expert advice as we have seen on the badger cull. We can only | :10:42. | :10:49. | |
feel that neither animal welfare nor evidence -based policy is a priority | :10:50. | :10:54. | |
for this government. Ministers are enthralled to vested interests and | :10:55. | :10:59. | |
are against any form of intervention or regulation to hold sway. To | :11:00. | :11:04. | |
prevent unnecessary suffering is something they do not care about. | :11:05. | :11:10. | |
Given the new Secretary of State's enthusiasm for repealing the fox | :11:11. | :11:15. | |
hunting ban, I fear today's debate may not meet with her approval. | :11:16. | :11:22. | |
However I hope on this issue she will be more receptive. I hope she | :11:23. | :11:27. | |
does not stand before us today and tell us the code of practice is | :11:28. | :11:32. | |
working. From what I have heard today and read and watched in recent | :11:33. | :11:37. | |
days, video evidence and footage of graphic slaughter of these animals, | :11:38. | :11:41. | |
it seems to me all too obvious that the voluntary approach and the code | :11:42. | :11:46. | |
of practice is not working and very little practice has been made. | :11:47. | :11:50. | |
Unless the minister is very persuasive, I feel the conclusion a | :11:51. | :11:56. | |
ban is necessary. I would like to congratulate the honourable member | :11:57. | :11:59. | |
for Lewisham West and pension for bringing this debate. My | :12:00. | :12:04. | |
constituency is in Cumbria. A large part of it is rural and its | :12:05. | :12:09. | |
landscapes and habitats need to be managed. I was born and bred in the | :12:10. | :12:14. | |
country so I understand and accept this management also includes | :12:15. | :12:19. | |
managing wildlife. The honourable member for The Cotswolds went into | :12:20. | :12:23. | |
some detail about this. However, I do not accept that this management | :12:24. | :12:28. | |
has to cause suffering either as a direct result of or as a consequence | :12:29. | :12:32. | |
of the methods being used. I would urge the government to look at | :12:33. | :12:36. | |
proper detailed research into alternative methods that can be used | :12:37. | :12:41. | |
for this management. I was pleased to hear the honourable member for | :12:42. | :12:44. | |
Carmarthen West and temperature praising the Welsh government and I | :12:45. | :12:47. | |
hope this is the start of a trend for him. But I believe we have a | :12:48. | :12:56. | |
moral duty to treat animals in a humane and compassionate way. To | :12:57. | :13:00. | |
that end I have been a member of Labour's animal welfare Society for | :13:01. | :13:04. | |
many years. I am proud of the work we have done within laws and that | :13:05. | :13:08. | |
the previous Labour government has done much to achieve the end of | :13:09. | :13:13. | |
cruel and unnecessary suffering for animals. The Labour government | :13:14. | :13:17. | |
introduced the animal welfare act which embedded in statute clear | :13:18. | :13:22. | |
standards relating to the welfare of animals and made it a criminal | :13:23. | :13:26. | |
offence to subject any animal, including those caught in snares, to | :13:27. | :13:33. | |
unnecessary suffering. In 2005, the Labour government issued guidance | :13:34. | :13:34. | |
which has been discussed by honourable members which included | :13:35. | :13:40. | |
information about how snares should be maintained and set to reduce the | :13:41. | :13:45. | |
pain inflicted. In addition, this guidance also detailed the steps | :13:46. | :13:50. | |
that must be taken to reduce the chance that a nontarget animal is | :13:51. | :13:55. | |
caught. My honourable friend, the member for Poplar and Limehouse went | :13:56. | :13:59. | |
into some detail about this and demonstrated just how indiscriminate | :14:00. | :14:05. | |
the snares can be. As has been mentioned before, they are mainly | :14:06. | :14:09. | |
designed to catch foxes and rabbits, but Defra's own figures which were | :14:10. | :14:12. | |
mentioned earlier are worth repeating. 33% caught our hares, 26% | :14:13. | :14:22. | |
badgers, 14% others, including pet cats and dogs. In 2008, the Labour | :14:23. | :14:30. | |
government commissioned research to determine how often snares are used | :14:31. | :14:34. | |
in England and Wales and the level of suffering they inflict on the | :14:35. | :14:38. | |
animals they catch. This was published by Defra in 2012. The | :14:39. | :14:44. | |
report recommended increased education for people who use snares | :14:45. | :14:50. | |
and also improving the uptake of the code of practice on snaring and | :14:51. | :14:53. | |
encouraging the use of cold compliant snares and this is | :14:54. | :14:56. | |
something the government could be doing right now. The Coalition | :14:57. | :15:02. | |
Government said it was considering options for improving welfare | :15:03. | :15:06. | |
standards, but as we have heard we have had no proposals as yet. I was | :15:07. | :15:11. | |
pleased earlier this year when my fellow Cumbria, the honourable | :15:12. | :15:17. | |
member when he was Defra minister, did say they were considering | :15:18. | :15:23. | |
options. But as we know there has been no announcement, so I would ask | :15:24. | :15:28. | |
the Minister to urgency look at this so that concerns in the report are | :15:29. | :15:31. | |
addressed and we have an announcement as soon as possible | :15:32. | :15:37. | |
following the summary says. We have also heard about the League Against | :15:38. | :15:42. | |
Cruel Sports' petition, so we know there is huge public support for a | :15:43. | :15:48. | |
ban. The petition has 66,000 signatures, that surely has to be | :15:49. | :15:52. | |
listened to and taken into account when the government does any review | :15:53. | :15:58. | |
of the situation. The League Against Cruel Sports describes sneering as a | :15:59. | :16:02. | |
cruel, indiscriminate, wholly unnecessary practice that has no | :16:03. | :16:08. | |
place in modern society. So I would ask the Minister and the government | :16:09. | :16:14. | |
to work with farmers, gamekeepers, animal welfare groups, in order to | :16:15. | :16:17. | |
develop a coherent and effective package of measures to prevent | :16:18. | :16:22. | |
illegal sneering and the unnecessary suffering of animals and I would ask | :16:23. | :16:27. | |
them also to consider working towards a ban. I would like to thank | :16:28. | :16:36. | |
my right honourable friend for Lewisham West and pension for | :16:37. | :16:40. | |
calling this important debate. Despite many Parliamentary | :16:41. | :16:42. | |
questions, fierce campaigning from groups such against the League | :16:43. | :16:48. | |
Against Cruel Sports, the problem of snares remains persistent. The | :16:49. | :16:53. | |
situation seems to becoming a war of attrition. In March 2015, we were | :16:54. | :16:58. | |
told ministers were considering options for improving guidance on | :16:59. | :17:01. | |
snares. A date for publication was unknown. In February this year, the | :17:02. | :17:07. | |
government was asked if they would make it their policy to introduce | :17:08. | :17:12. | |
stricter regulations and a ban on the use of snares. Once again the | :17:13. | :17:15. | |
answer was they were considering all options. | :17:16. | :17:20. | |
How many options are there to consider and how long is due course? | :17:21. | :17:26. | |
Much is made of the code of practice which is commendable in its | :17:27. | :17:31. | |
promotion of good practice. But it is not statutory and its enforcement | :17:32. | :17:39. | |
remains by voluntary compliance. The national anti-snaring campaign has | :17:40. | :17:42. | |
argued the code serves no useful purpose and in March 2014 the then | :17:43. | :17:48. | |
government stated it had no plans to put the code on a statutory basis. | :17:49. | :17:52. | |
Legislation provides the use of self locking snares and outlaws the | :17:53. | :17:56. | |
setting of snares where there is setting of snares where there is | :17:57. | :18:00. | |
increased likelihood of catching untargeted animals and requires them | :18:01. | :18:05. | |
to be checked daily, and these requirements are all worked out. I'm | :18:06. | :18:09. | |
pleased to hear of a clear framework, but it is evident that | :18:10. | :18:14. | |
the law needs to go further. In Scotland it does and in recent years | :18:15. | :18:18. | |
we have seen a tightening of regulations so snares must be fitted | :18:19. | :18:24. | |
with safety stops and people are going to go on the training. There | :18:25. | :18:32. | |
is a number which needs to be displayed on all snares. Research | :18:33. | :18:41. | |
was published in 2012 regarding the humane use of snares, and the | :18:42. | :18:45. | |
government said this year that following publication of the report | :18:46. | :18:49. | |
officials worked with stakeholders to looking to options. They said | :18:50. | :18:56. | |
they would make an announcement in June course. As a result of this | :18:57. | :19:01. | |
research, the Welsh government has not legislated but it has published | :19:02. | :19:07. | |
the code of best practice on the use of snares in fox control, in | :19:08. | :19:14. | |
September 2015, is aimed to deliver higher animal welfare standards, | :19:15. | :19:19. | |
increased efficiency in terms of fox control and make sure that fewer | :19:20. | :19:24. | |
nontarget species are being caught. The productive relationships, the | :19:25. | :19:29. | |
Welsh Labour government has forged with the agricultural sector has | :19:30. | :19:39. | |
allowed stakeholders to communicate why a code of practice is so | :19:40. | :19:42. | |
important and this makes enforcement much easier as users of snares see | :19:43. | :19:47. | |
the benefit of self policing and best practice which improve the | :19:48. | :19:55. | |
effectiveness of a snare. I appreciate the of the subject and | :19:56. | :19:59. | |
acknowledge the calls from organisations like the British | :20:00. | :20:03. | |
Association for conservation and shooting, for a reasoned and | :20:04. | :20:10. | |
reasonable analysis of the subject which is detailed and measured. But | :20:11. | :20:18. | |
I condemn the sometimes barbaric suffering suffered by animals, both | :20:19. | :20:24. | |
targeted by the snare and those that are not, which is quite clearly not | :20:25. | :20:30. | |
the purpose of the snare. I appreciate the measured responses | :20:31. | :20:34. | |
from organisations like the wildlife trust, National farmers union, and | :20:35. | :20:38. | |
the National gamekeepers organisation, calling for the | :20:39. | :20:45. | |
members in Wales certainly to adhere to best practice and use snares | :20:46. | :20:51. | |
properly. I call on the government to make statutory decoder practice | :20:52. | :20:58. | |
-- the code of practice. Surely we all agree that we must do all we can | :20:59. | :21:05. | |
do Jews unnecessary suffering -- we must do all we can to rid juice | :21:06. | :21:08. | |
unnecessary suffering. Thanks calling me this debate. I | :21:09. | :21:23. | |
have a different opinion from some of my colleagues on this side, and | :21:24. | :21:29. | |
at the same time I have a different opinion, but I know we be friends at | :21:30. | :21:32. | |
the end of and that is important. -- we will. I will still be your | :21:33. | :21:40. | |
friend, no matter what. LAUGHTER If water snares surpass | :21:41. | :21:46. | |
international standards for traps, snares must be checked once a day. | :21:47. | :21:56. | |
The first checked at sunrise, when most catches are made, and I want to | :21:57. | :22:06. | |
make a point. If it is done right and correctly, it is humane and | :22:07. | :22:13. | |
possible to control some of those predators, foxes, who have no | :22:14. | :22:19. | |
compulsion about what they kill and what they do, and whoever is in this | :22:20. | :22:25. | |
house will be aware of the predations of a fox and whenever | :22:26. | :22:34. | |
they enter a farm, they do not just eat one chicken, they take great | :22:35. | :22:40. | |
pleasure in eating them all. This is a humane and effective form of fox | :22:41. | :22:43. | |
control and if it is done the right way, the legislation in place | :22:44. | :22:48. | |
relates to the free running snares. They are not a source of evil and | :22:49. | :22:54. | |
death, as some would have us believe. I respect a different point | :22:55. | :23:00. | |
of view, but I would also ask them to consider the point of view that | :23:01. | :23:06. | |
we are putting forward. Some of the examples. There is a snare has been | :23:07. | :23:18. | |
used for Leopard research, and so if it is done correctly, that is the | :23:19. | :23:25. | |
way it should be done. A modern snare is much different to the old | :23:26. | :23:29. | |
style, it is now similar to the simple dog lead but made with a thin | :23:30. | :23:37. | |
ribbon. It is about improving the welfare of the foxes caught. I'm | :23:38. | :23:46. | |
sure that those seeking a ban or a change are very well intended. We | :23:47. | :23:52. | |
have to look at the unintended consequences of their desire. Foxes | :23:53. | :23:58. | |
are prolific predators. Game birds, small mammals, young livestock, such | :23:59. | :24:09. | |
as lambs. I could give you examples. Snares is a key method of control. | :24:10. | :24:16. | |
Otherwise there is a loss of biodiversity. The brown hair is a | :24:17. | :24:23. | |
biodiversity species, and I take great pleasure of seeing them in | :24:24. | :24:30. | |
abundance in the fields and that is down to the fox control carried out | :24:31. | :24:36. | |
by ourselves on the farm and also by those who are neighbouring farmers. | :24:37. | :24:42. | |
We need to have predator control. Predator control makes sure that 46% | :24:43. | :24:52. | |
of the hare population changed. If you have in place it will be | :24:53. | :25:02. | |
advantageous. Curlew numbers decreased massively in the last few | :25:03. | :25:03. | |
years. Where this happens, Curlew numbers | :25:04. | :25:16. | |
have increased the lapwing numbers have increased, and I think the | :25:17. | :25:22. | |
other numbers have referred -- other members have referred to this | :25:23. | :25:29. | |
already. A couple of Scottish farms than 16 lambs which were identified | :25:30. | :25:33. | |
as killed by foxes and another 33 went missing. Fox predation is a big | :25:34. | :25:42. | |
concern for farmers. These things show, if we are going to do | :25:43. | :25:45. | |
something, we need to have a system in place when it comes to the free | :25:46. | :25:52. | |
running snares, that they are the most effective and the most humane | :25:53. | :25:57. | |
and they do conserve animals and mammals on the ground. Without | :25:58. | :26:04. | |
snares, foxes would be a threat to hire diversity and also they would | :26:05. | :26:11. | |
cause greater damage -- biodiversity. Eco-tourism relies on | :26:12. | :26:18. | |
managed countryside. There are cases where shooting is not possible and | :26:19. | :26:26. | |
the only way you can do it is by snaring online. Some members have | :26:27. | :26:31. | |
referred to the legislative change in Northern Ireland. In my former | :26:32. | :26:36. | |
life as a member of the Northern Ireland assembly, this was an issue | :26:37. | :26:42. | |
which concerned the assembly. These changes are more than acceptable, | :26:43. | :26:48. | |
but to put this on record, the Northern Ireland assembly decided to | :26:49. | :26:50. | |
put it on hold on the order while further consultation continued. | :26:51. | :26:58. | |
Northern Ireland has made changes, which I believe are welcome, but at | :26:59. | :27:02. | |
the same time they recognise there is a surge of opinion of those in | :27:03. | :27:06. | |
favour and those against, but they have a balance and I would have some | :27:07. | :27:11. | |
concerns about what they will put forward. Thank you. It is good to | :27:12. | :27:18. | |
see you in your chair, Mr Deputy Speaker. And I welcome the lady for | :27:19. | :27:25. | |
Suffolk Coastal to her place. I look forward to debating with her on | :27:26. | :27:28. | |
imported issues like this and I trust we will see a new aggressive | :27:29. | :27:33. | |
approach, moving forward on issues like animal welfare and other issues | :27:34. | :27:37. | |
within her brief stop today I hope she will be supporting the 77% of | :27:38. | :27:44. | |
people to take action on a ban on the manufacturing, sale, possession | :27:45. | :27:49. | |
and use of snares. I want to start by thanking the member for Lewisham, | :27:50. | :27:57. | |
bringing the motion today, to enable the house to debate the cruel nature | :27:58. | :28:05. | |
of snares. Not only he's an expert in animal welfare but a real | :28:06. | :28:08. | |
champion of animal welfare beyond here. The honourable manner did not | :28:09. | :28:14. | |
make the argument alone. It was echoed across these benches this | :28:15. | :28:21. | |
afternoon. Today I want to set out four key areas, the law, the issues, | :28:22. | :28:28. | |
research, the alternatives. Starting with the law. In 1981 the wildlife | :28:29. | :28:37. | |
and countryside act brought prohibition around certain kind of | :28:38. | :28:42. | |
snares, especially self locking snares, saying they must be free | :28:43. | :28:45. | |
running, but there was no definition about what self locking actually | :28:46. | :28:51. | |
means. We have heard today about some of the challenges from free | :28:52. | :29:01. | |
running snares turning into locking snares because they become twisted | :29:02. | :29:07. | |
in the wires or becoming rusted. Only 25% of targeted animals are | :29:08. | :29:14. | |
actually caught in snares, 75% not. Clearly that piece of legislation is | :29:15. | :29:18. | |
not being able to be upheld in practice. It says that snares should | :29:19. | :29:24. | |
be daily inspected and we know that only 77% of snares Adelie inspected, | :29:25. | :29:32. | |
which means 23% aren't -- snares our daily inspected. The law is not | :29:33. | :29:36. | |
working and countries have recognised this, we have heard about | :29:37. | :29:43. | |
the use of snares introduced by the Welsh government and we know | :29:44. | :29:47. | |
Northern Ireland have brought forward the snare order in 2015 to | :29:48. | :29:55. | |
talk about stocks, swivels on snares and also that they should be staked | :29:56. | :29:59. | |
in the ground. We have heard from the member from Hamilton West about | :30:00. | :30:02. | |
the improvements Scotland have made on this issue, again looking at the | :30:03. | :30:06. | |
issues around training and registration and the provision of | :30:07. | :30:10. | |
personal ID numbers in order to make sure there is better regulation | :30:11. | :30:19. | |
around snares. Labour in 20 bullseye 2005 brought forward a code of | :30:20. | :30:24. | |
practice -- Labour in 2005. They say they should not be a risk to other | :30:25. | :30:27. | |
members, and it was Labour which went forward to put forward a report | :30:28. | :30:31. | |
determining the extent of use and humane as of snares in England and | :30:32. | :30:43. | |
Wales. Five Nations where snares remained legal, the UK, Ireland, | :30:44. | :30:49. | |
Latvia, France and Belgium, but we can join the progressive nature in | :30:50. | :30:55. | |
outlawing snares and recognising the cruelty they bring to animal | :30:56. | :30:58. | |
welfare, but also recognising the fragmented nature of our | :30:59. | :31:03. | |
legislation. Voluntary codes are not working and the legislation is not | :31:04. | :31:07. | |
being properly enforced. Coming onto the issues, we have heard clearly | :31:08. | :31:14. | |
this afternoon from the member for popular and Limehouse -- Poplar. We | :31:15. | :31:29. | |
have heard 95% of large landowners should not use snares and we have | :31:30. | :31:34. | |
heard also that snares capture and kill 1.7 million animals each year. | :31:35. | :31:42. | |
In the course of this debate over 200 animals will have been snared | :31:43. | :31:49. | |
today. We know there are snares which deteriorate over time and | :31:50. | :31:53. | |
those points have been made very powerfully by honourable members, | :31:54. | :31:55. | |
especially looking at how 30% of them become rusty or get stuck and | :31:56. | :32:00. | |
become not free running but dysfunctional and causing additional | :32:01. | :32:06. | |
animal cruelty. We have also heard about how catches are made | :32:07. | :32:08. | |
indiscriminate and they don't identify the animal about to put | :32:09. | :32:12. | |
their head or body or part of their body through the noose and only 25% | :32:13. | :32:23. | |
of foxes are snared. 23% are badgers, 14% days and otters, and | :32:24. | :32:26. | |
domestic animals like cats and dogs, and that is a criminal offence, to | :32:27. | :32:31. | |
harm domestic cats, but they have also fallen foul of snares, and also | :32:32. | :32:37. | |
humans do get caught up in snares and experience injury. We heard from | :32:38. | :32:42. | |
the member from Bristol East about the lack of intention, but that is | :32:43. | :32:48. | |
no defence, the reality and the evidence is before us today. | :32:49. | :32:54. | |
We have heard from so many honourable members on these benches | :32:55. | :33:03. | |
about the extensive cruelty. It was described as barbaric, the way that | :33:04. | :33:08. | |
these snares cause such harm and cruelty, animals suffering for hours | :33:09. | :33:13. | |
as they are trapped in those snares. If we believe we are in a | :33:14. | :33:17. | |
progressive country, we must have progressive legislation and bring in | :33:18. | :33:21. | |
a ban and today could not be soon enough. That would be a view | :33:22. | :33:29. | |
supported by 87% of vets. 95% of landowners do not use it, 250 | :33:30. | :33:37. | |
municipal authorities do not use snares, the RSPB, Network Rail and | :33:38. | :33:39. | |
many authorities no longer use snares. The reason why, they are | :33:40. | :33:46. | |
indiscriminate, inhumane and the law is not being applied properly where | :33:47. | :33:52. | |
it sits. It just does not work and it does not address the issue | :33:53. | :33:57. | |
either. That is what has been drawn out, as the honourable member for | :33:58. | :34:00. | |
Workington has highlighted in the research. For instance, looking at | :34:01. | :34:07. | |
the behaviour of foxes. As an animal they are very competitive and very | :34:08. | :34:12. | |
territorial. If space is vacated because an animal has been killed, | :34:13. | :34:17. | |
foxes will move into that area and their breeding will increase to fill | :34:18. | :34:24. | |
that space. That has been proven and our fox community remains at a | :34:25. | :34:29. | |
quarter of a million adults as a result of that consistency. The | :34:30. | :34:33. | |
honourable member for The Cotswolds drew out the response might | :34:34. | :34:38. | |
honourable friend the member for Brent North gave about wildlife | :34:39. | :34:43. | |
management. Whilst we recognise the importance of wildlife management, | :34:44. | :34:47. | |
he gave the response before the Defra report came out in 2012 before | :34:48. | :34:52. | |
they moved forward the evidence and we must look at the most up-to-date | :34:53. | :34:59. | |
evidence. Therefore, the report does go on to talk about the need for | :35:00. | :35:04. | |
increased powers to the code, to say it is not working, to say we need to | :35:05. | :35:11. | |
move the whole framework forward, to recognise inspections are not | :35:12. | :35:14. | |
working themselves, and yet it says inspections should not happen just | :35:15. | :35:19. | |
one today, but twice a day. If it was under a voluntary code, how | :35:20. | :35:23. | |
would that be implemented? That was the point gone out by the honourable | :35:24. | :35:31. | |
member for Strangford he said once a day is not enough, we need to go | :35:32. | :35:36. | |
further. 36% of farmers are unaware of the content of the code or even | :35:37. | :35:40. | |
of its existence and only 3% have had any training whatsoever on | :35:41. | :35:47. | |
snares. Clearly the code is failing, it is failing animals and wildlife | :35:48. | :35:51. | |
and we need to get real about this. We also know that even stops on | :35:52. | :35:57. | |
snares do not prevent animal cruelty as so much evidence has now come | :35:58. | :36:02. | |
forward. We need to move forward on the principles of how we uphold our | :36:03. | :36:08. | |
wildlife, how we uphold animals and their welfare, ensuring they have | :36:09. | :36:12. | |
freedom from hunger and thirst, freedom from pain, injury and | :36:13. | :36:18. | |
disease, freedom from discomfort, freedom to express normal behaviours | :36:19. | :36:22. | |
and freedom from fear and distress. The psychological impact is | :36:23. | :36:25. | |
important also. What are the options? More training, getting a | :36:26. | :36:32. | |
licence as in the Scotland model? But the take-up of training is low | :36:33. | :36:36. | |
and the reality is that that in itself is not enough. Training | :36:37. | :36:42. | |
manufacturers is also recommended, but there are problems with that | :36:43. | :36:47. | |
because as soon as snares leave the factory, they get old and rusty and | :36:48. | :36:52. | |
out of date and they do not work. Stops and swivels work to an extent, | :36:53. | :36:58. | |
but there is still injury caused to wild animals. The report recommends | :36:59. | :37:03. | |
research on the design of snares. Research is always good and | :37:04. | :37:07. | |
progressive and we welcome that, but the reality is snares are inhumane | :37:08. | :37:13. | |
and they cause harm to animals. I am going to press on because of the | :37:14. | :37:20. | |
time this afternoon. We know that only 1-3% of pheasants are killed by | :37:21. | :37:26. | |
foxes. We are not looking at huge communities of animals which are | :37:27. | :37:29. | |
prey to foxes, but there are alternatives that can be used. If we | :37:30. | :37:36. | |
bring in a band, we can move things forward onto using the alternatives. | :37:37. | :37:42. | |
The evidence says they can be incredibly effective. I am moving on | :37:43. | :37:47. | |
because members have already spoken. First of all, on the issue of | :37:48. | :37:52. | |
alternatives around foxes. We looked at issues like fencing, electronic | :37:53. | :37:58. | |
fencing can be used. You can put fencing deep into the ground. | :37:59. | :38:05. | |
Animals cannot burrow. Those methods are used by other landowners who do | :38:06. | :38:11. | |
not use snares and trap animals. There are scared devices that can be | :38:12. | :38:15. | |
used and if they are moved around it can stop habituation and animals | :38:16. | :38:20. | |
will be scared of. There are chemical repellent and cage trapping | :38:21. | :38:24. | |
where animals can be released unharmed as opposed to injure, which | :38:25. | :38:30. | |
often is the case. Fencing is recommended around protection for | :38:31. | :38:34. | |
rabbits. There are alternatives. What I would say to the Minister is, | :38:35. | :38:41. | |
the work has been done, the research is complete, the evidence is waiting | :38:42. | :38:46. | |
for a complete ban, like most of our progressive friends across Europe. | :38:47. | :38:50. | |
It is time the government brought forward this legislation, no longer | :38:51. | :38:55. | |
making excuses or delays, as we know 68% of MPs would supported, 77% of | :38:56. | :39:01. | |
our constituents would support it, and it would be the right thing to | :39:02. | :39:07. | |
do for animals as well as the wider nation. I would say do not delay | :39:08. | :39:12. | |
today, Labour would bring in a ban, will the government this afternoon | :39:13. | :39:16. | |
by the manufacturing, sell, possession and use of snares? Thank | :39:17. | :39:23. | |
you, Madam Deputy Speaker, and it is a huge privilege to stand at this | :39:24. | :39:27. | |
dispatch box for the first time as the Defra minister and I thank | :39:28. | :39:31. | |
honourable members for their kind words so far. I would like to | :39:32. | :39:34. | |
congratulate the honourable member for Lewisham West and Penge voice | :39:35. | :39:40. | |
during this debate. I welcome contributions from all four parts of | :39:41. | :39:44. | |
the United Kingdom, just showing the level of interest in this topic. I | :39:45. | :39:50. | |
thank the honourable members from Poplar and Limehouse, Bristol East, | :39:51. | :39:55. | |
Cotswolds, Workington, and from Strangford as well as the honourable | :39:56. | :40:01. | |
lady from York Central. I fully understand the passion that | :40:02. | :40:05. | |
honourable members have and our constituents also have in wanting | :40:06. | :40:10. | |
high regard for animal welfare. As the honourable lady pointed out, it | :40:11. | :40:13. | |
is accepted there needs to be a control of wildlife and as might | :40:14. | :40:18. | |
honourable friend from Newbury and right honourable friend from | :40:19. | :40:22. | |
Strangford pointed out, curtailing prolific species helps endangered | :40:23. | :40:30. | |
species. The government shares the public's high regard for animal | :40:31. | :40:34. | |
welfare and we are proud to have the highest animal welfare standards in | :40:35. | :40:39. | |
the world. We recognise the welfare of our wild animals can be protected | :40:40. | :40:44. | |
further and more can be done to improve snaring practices. I will | :40:45. | :40:48. | |
make progress and take some points from her later. Snaring is one part | :40:49. | :40:52. | |
of a range of measures that have to be used to manage species, the | :40:53. | :40:59. | |
control of which underpins the sustainable harvesting of wild game | :41:00. | :41:02. | |
birds, animal husbandry and wildlife. At spring in summer | :41:03. | :41:08. | |
budgeted of cover makes other measures very impractical, often | :41:09. | :41:11. | |
leading snaring as the only effective form of management. When | :41:12. | :41:16. | |
practised to a high standard and with adherence to the law, snaring | :41:17. | :41:22. | |
can provide land and wildlife managers with an effective means to | :41:23. | :41:28. | |
restrain wild animals. But if they are used incorrectly, snares are | :41:29. | :41:31. | |
capable of causing injuries and suffering both to the animals for | :41:32. | :41:37. | |
which they were set and through accidental capture to nontarget | :41:38. | :41:40. | |
species for which snaring is entirely inappropriate. I give way. | :41:41. | :41:48. | |
I just wanted to ask the honourable lady, she said again as I have heard | :41:49. | :41:52. | |
many times from ministers that the UK has the best animal welfare | :41:53. | :41:56. | |
standards in the world. I pointed out in my speech some instances | :41:57. | :42:01. | |
where I do not believe we do. What is the evidence for her saying that? | :42:02. | :42:06. | |
Could you publish something that shows we have the best animal | :42:07. | :42:10. | |
welfare standards in the world? Off the tip of my tongue I cannot | :42:11. | :42:14. | |
remember the phrase, but it is something like the International | :42:15. | :42:19. | |
index and you would find the UK, including Austria and Switzerland, | :42:20. | :42:23. | |
are reckoned to be in the top five and it is an independent assessment | :42:24. | :42:27. | |
and I will alert the honourable lady to exactly what I am referring to. | :42:28. | :42:34. | |
They are congratulate my honourable friend which I failed to do in my | :42:35. | :42:41. | |
speech on her new elevation? Would she agree that nobody wants to see | :42:42. | :42:46. | |
unnecessary suffering from snaring or anything else? Would she agreed | :42:47. | :42:51. | |
to look into providing a new updated code so that best practice can be | :42:52. | :42:57. | |
for? I thank my honourable friend for his kind words. I would save the | :42:58. | :43:05. | |
patient until a few minutes time is the best way I can answer that. | :43:06. | :43:10. | |
Coming back to recognising that snares are capable of causing | :43:11. | :43:13. | |
injuries, it is why the Wildlife and Countryside Act prohibited the use | :43:14. | :43:18. | |
of inhumane self locking snares. They are accepted to be mechanisms | :43:19. | :43:30. | |
that Titan and cause asphyxiation. The act requires travellers to check | :43:31. | :43:37. | |
their snares every 24 hours. The same act prohibited the use of | :43:38. | :43:41. | |
snares to take certain species including badgers, otters, red | :43:42. | :43:50. | |
squirrels and hedgehogs and the 1991 Act does the same. There is a legal | :43:51. | :43:55. | |
responsibility to prevent unnecessary suffering to any | :43:56. | :44:05. | |
animals. The honourable member refers to the inefficiency of | :44:06. | :44:10. | |
snaring, but he does not suggest any other methods that would be more | :44:11. | :44:16. | |
efficient. Several alternatives including chemicals were mentioned, | :44:17. | :44:19. | |
but as yet I am not aware that they have been shown to be more efficient | :44:20. | :44:25. | |
or effective. My honourable friend referred to the efficiency and I | :44:26. | :44:29. | |
think that is borne out, although I recognise some of the issues | :44:30. | :44:33. | |
addressed. The honourable gentleman from Lewisham and Penge referred to | :44:34. | :44:39. | |
the 2005 code of practice issued by Defra and 2012 study. He mentioned a | :44:40. | :44:44. | |
number of issues which he would like to see addressed. That is a view | :44:45. | :44:50. | |
shared by many people and has led to land management organisations and | :44:51. | :44:54. | |
gamekeeping associations around the country developing a new code of | :44:55. | :44:58. | |
best practice on the use of snares for fox control in England which | :44:59. | :45:03. | |
would be suitable for the control of rabbits. Designed and written by a | :45:04. | :45:08. | |
number of stakeholders, the game and wildlife conservation trust and the | :45:09. | :45:13. | |
countryside Alliance, which I know the honourable gentleman is a member | :45:14. | :45:17. | |
of, this new guidance builds on previous Defra code practice, but | :45:18. | :45:23. | |
draws an reliable research by setting out principles for the legal | :45:24. | :45:29. | |
and humane use of snares. In terms of nontarget species captured, that | :45:30. | :45:33. | |
can be reduced by the appropriate setting taking into account the | :45:34. | :45:37. | |
behaviour of the target animal. This new code of practice emphasises this | :45:38. | :45:43. | |
very clearly that if nontarget animals are likely to be caught then | :45:44. | :45:48. | |
snaring should not be used. Improvements in design would mean | :45:49. | :45:51. | |
that even if caught, nontarget species are more likely to be | :45:52. | :45:56. | |
released unharmed. My honourable friend from The Cotswolds to about | :45:57. | :46:00. | |
well-designed snares and started to explain how breast practices can | :46:01. | :46:05. | |
tackle a lot of these issues, reinforced by the honourable member | :46:06. | :46:10. | |
for Strangford. The honourable member for Poplar and Limehouse used | :46:11. | :46:16. | |
the issue about gamekeepers using them. Snares are used by different | :46:17. | :46:22. | |
groups, including gamekeepers and farmers, and they operate in | :46:23. | :46:26. | |
different environments and have different pressures. Snares are the | :46:27. | :46:31. | |
most appropriate mechanism for gamekeepers, but in upland areas in | :46:32. | :46:36. | |
a different habitat and environment with unrestricted areas, that is a | :46:37. | :46:40. | |
different scenario then what would be the case in other parts of | :46:41. | :46:45. | |
farmland. There have been references to the practices in Scotland and the | :46:46. | :46:49. | |
Welsh code and calls by the honourable member for Neath for | :46:50. | :46:54. | |
making this statutory. I think we should give this a chance to come | :46:55. | :46:59. | |
into effect before even considering any further regulation. If people do | :47:00. | :47:04. | |
not believe the law is being followed, they should report such | :47:05. | :47:08. | |
incidents to the pleas and many forces have rural and wildlife crime | :47:09. | :47:14. | |
units. As the honourable gentleman for Poplar and Limehouse referred | :47:15. | :47:23. | |
to, there was a Labour government in power for 13 years and they did not | :47:24. | :47:29. | |
persuade government ministers of the day to legislate for the banning of | :47:30. | :47:30. | |
this. I'm grateful to the honourable lady | :47:31. | :47:41. | |
for giving way. I wouldn't want to mislead the House. After the 2008 | :47:42. | :47:48. | |
animal welfare act was passed, Sirrous animals was left assigned it | :47:49. | :47:53. | |
was during 2008 that the Labour Government was persuaded and the | :47:54. | :47:58. | |
Labour manifesto said, had we been re-elected, we would legislate | :47:59. | :48:03. | |
against wild animals in circuses, the lobby was successful but the | :48:04. | :48:06. | |
honourable lady is correct that we didn't have time at that point to | :48:07. | :48:11. | |
legislate. Well, the honourable gentleman was | :48:12. | :48:16. | |
right, I'm not questioning what was in the manifesto. They weren't | :48:17. | :48:21. | |
elected. I was referring to the snares. I'm confident this new code | :48:22. | :48:25. | |
will improve the situation. What is different from the 2005 code is that | :48:26. | :48:29. | |
this code has been designed and owned by the sector, rather than | :48:30. | :48:33. | |
Government. Of course Government has had conversations and brought people | :48:34. | :48:36. | |
to this place but by showing leadership in this area, they will | :48:37. | :48:40. | |
undoubtedly have more success in promoting good practice with their | :48:41. | :48:44. | |
members and changing behaviour, than Government could achieve on its own. | :48:45. | :48:48. | |
I cannot announce today, Madame Deputy Speaker, exactly when the | :48:49. | :48:51. | |
code will be published but I'm confident that it will be very soon. | :48:52. | :48:57. | |
I'm Day 4 in this role as a Minster and I'm really looking forward to | :48:58. | :49:01. | |
this code being published and being put into practice I think we have | :49:02. | :49:05. | |
had an excellent debate today. I think it is crucial that we do all | :49:06. | :49:09. | |
take responsibility and continue to work together to ensure that best | :49:10. | :49:12. | |
practice is recognised, is shared and followed by everyone who uses by | :49:13. | :49:18. | |
snares, we do support measures that improve animal welfare, including | :49:19. | :49:22. | |
this new Coved practice and as I say, Madame Deputy Speaker, we are | :49:23. | :49:27. | |
all looking forward to it being published very soon. Jim Dowd to | :49:28. | :49:34. | |
wind up. I have listened to what the minister says, unfortunately I'm in | :49:35. | :49:39. | |
the assuaged by t to coin a phrase "I have heard it before." Now it has | :49:40. | :49:47. | |
become "very soon.". It took the Government two years to publish the | :49:48. | :49:53. | |
research adevelopment unit at DEFRA to published this report. Can I also | :49:54. | :49:58. | |
apologise for my appalling bad manners in not welcoming her to her | :49:59. | :50:03. | |
new position, I hope she makes a success of it and more than anything | :50:04. | :50:06. | |
enjoys her new responsibilities. The one unifying factor across the House | :50:07. | :50:11. | |
on this, is everybody accepts the need for animal pest control and | :50:12. | :50:14. | |
decent standards of animal welfare. Nobody disputes that that is the | :50:15. | :50:19. | |
case. The question is always one of means, not ends. If the means | :50:20. | :50:27. | |
deployed involves exceptional cruelty, barbarity then I don't | :50:28. | :50:30. | |
think that's a price worth paying. Quite right. The Minster mentions | :50:31. | :50:35. | |
there were no other alternatives. I think there are plenty of other | :50:36. | :50:39. | |
alternatives, unfortunate lit Deputy Speaker did stop me getting on to my | :50:40. | :50:46. | |
speech. They include adequate poultry housing, and shooting is | :50:47. | :50:50. | |
another one. Direct killing. I hope - I was delighted it what he what | :50:51. | :50:54. | |
she said about wild animals and circuses. Members may recall that | :50:55. | :50:58. | |
that actually started as a resolution from this chamber on a | :50:59. | :51:04. | |
backbench business debate. So I'm hoping that that is an omen, a | :51:05. | :51:08. | |
precedent for the future and I hope the House will adopt the motion this | :51:09. | :51:12. | |
afternoon. The question is as on the order | :51:13. | :51:17. | |
paper, as many of that opinion say aye. Aye. On the contrary, no. I | :51:18. | :51:22. | |
think the ayes have t the ayes sl it. . Point of order. Madame Deputy | :51:23. | :51:31. | |
Speaker, this morning Government, alongside 29 other written | :51:32. | :51:36. | |
statements sneaked out a confirmation of major increases in | :51:37. | :51:42. | |
tuition fees by 2.8% for the year 2017-2018. Two days ago in this | :51:43. | :51:49. | |
House, we had the debate on the higher Education Bill, at which | :51:50. | :51:52. | |
ministers made no preference to this. Is it not disgraceful, Madame | :51:53. | :51:58. | |
Deputy Speaker, that they should use this cynical last day of term | :51:59. | :52:03. | |
mechanism to introduce this here. Terrible Can you tell me if you had | :52:04. | :52:09. | |
had any indication that a Government Minster is available to answer | :52:10. | :52:13. | |
scrutiny from colleagues in this House before we disapoor for | :52:14. | :52:16. | |
five-and-a-half weeks. I thank the honourable gentleman for the point | :52:17. | :52:20. | |
of order. I would like to point out we are coming to the prerecess | :52:21. | :52:25. | |
adjournment debate straight away. If he would like to do that, he is more | :52:26. | :52:32. | |
than welcome to do so. I'm sure the Treasury ministers will take that to | :52:33. | :52:36. | |
the Minster. If he wants to catch my eye, I'll see what I can do. We come | :52:37. | :52:41. | |
to the backbench dea bit on matters to be raised before the forthcoming | :52:42. | :52:46. | |
adjournment. Bob Blackman to monchts on behalf of the backbench business | :52:47. | :52:49. | |
committee, I beg to move we have considered matters to be raised | :52:50. | :52:54. | |
before the forthcoming adjournment. Apologies for the honourable member | :52:55. | :52:58. | |
for Gateshead who has had to leave to attend to constituency business | :52:59. | :53:01. | |
as a result of having the urgent question, earlier today. . Can I son | :53:02. | :53:07. | |
is entrait on some issues lobe lane in this House that I think will | :53:08. | :53:16. | |
benefited from this debate. -- can I concentrate on some issues locally | :53:17. | :53:27. | |
and in this House. On the London mayoral debate, we had a good vote | :53:28. | :53:32. | |
but the rest of London didn't follow that line. I'm also saying that in | :53:33. | :53:37. | |
my condition constituencicy, we had a majority vote to leave the | :53:38. | :53:41. | |
European Union, which was echoed across the country. In terms of | :53:42. | :53:45. | |
business transport it was mentioned this morning about Southern rail and | :53:46. | :53:48. | |
their dreadful performance. This affects my constituents, as the | :53:49. | :53:52. | |
service from Harrow Wealdstone station to Gatwick Airport and to | :53:53. | :53:55. | |
Brighton has already been cut and now they are proposing to cut the | :53:56. | :54:02. | |
service to Croydon as well. It is quite clear, I wrote to the outgoing | :54:03. | :54:06. | |
rail minister on this particular issue and I trust there will be | :54:07. | :54:10. | |
strong action from the new Secretary of State, and the new rail minister, | :54:11. | :54:15. | |
to combat this disgraceful service. Flooding is a particular issue in my | :54:16. | :54:22. | |
constituency. Many businesses from rural constituencies may not realise | :54:23. | :54:27. | |
this but in a constituency like mine we have constantly having deep pools | :54:28. | :54:31. | |
of water and sewage emerging as a result of the flash floods and heavy | :54:32. | :54:35. | |
rainfall we have recently been experiencing. I have had a could | :54:36. | :54:39. | |
have sequential series of correspondence and meetings with the | :54:40. | :54:42. | |
council, Thames Water and the Environment Agency and it is a great | :54:43. | :54:46. | |
source of frustration that no action seems to be taken by any of these | :54:47. | :54:50. | |
agencies to remedy this problem which means that many homes have | :54:51. | :54:56. | |
been flooded, unnecessary, causing immense problems from an insurance | :54:57. | :55:01. | |
perspective as well. I would also, Madame Deputy Speaker, would have | :55:02. | :55:04. | |
liked to have been in a position where I could report a satisfactory | :55:05. | :55:09. | |
outcome to the ongoing saga of the redevelopment of the Royal National | :55:10. | :55:13. | |
Orthopaedic Hospital. This has been going on, not only since I was | :55:14. | :55:20. | |
elected but my predecessor and his predecessor has been attempting to | :55:21. | :55:23. | |
get this hospital rebuilt. However, we are now in a position whereby the | :55:24. | :55:27. | |
only thing that seems to have changed is that the trust | :55:28. | :55:30. | |
development authority has changed its name. It's changed its name to | :55:31. | :55:35. | |
the NHS improvement service Well, still the bureaucracy continues and | :55:36. | :55:42. | |
the money, the ?20 mill grounding that is required, is still being | :55:43. | :55:45. | |
considered carefully by the bureaucrats. I trust that the Health | :55:46. | :55:50. | |
Secretary will, together with his team, actually reduce this level of | :55:51. | :55:54. | |
bureaucracy, so we can get reasonable quick decisions made on a | :55:55. | :55:57. | |
proper business-like service, for this service on which we all rely. | :55:58. | :56:05. | |
I'm also getting a series of complaints, Madame Deputy Speaker, | :56:06. | :56:07. | |
about the planning service in Harrow. The local authority is | :56:08. | :56:14. | |
actually struggling at the moment to deal with enforcement notices and | :56:15. | :56:19. | |
also the grey areas that have been left, about permitted development | :56:20. | :56:22. | |
and retrospective planning approval. I warned about this when the | :56:23. | :56:26. | |
Government changed the rules and regulations on planning, however | :56:27. | :56:29. | |
this is causing immense problems, not only in my constituency but | :56:30. | :56:36. | |
throughout London as a bhoel. I have also received numerous series of | :56:37. | :56:42. | |
complaints on the process by which legitimate visa applications are | :56:43. | :56:47. | |
being submitted for weddings, religious ceremonies, education or | :56:48. | :56:51. | |
other visits to this country. In my office we are putting every case to | :56:52. | :56:57. | |
the UK Visas and Immigration or the minister, but it seems to be that | :56:58. | :57:04. | |
there are mass rejections for familiar travelling to my | :57:05. | :57:07. | |
constituency for legitimate cause, I believe it needs to be rectified. | :57:08. | :57:11. | |
Precisely on that point, the honourable member makes a good point | :57:12. | :57:17. | |
that many MPs see in their advice surgery, people who's will he ve | :57:18. | :57:21. | |
legitimate entry clearance applications are refused but at the | :57:22. | :57:25. | |
same time, is he aware that from the High Commission in Islamabad, | :57:26. | :57:33. | |
recently two hate preachers, one Hamed Quesehi, has been granted | :57:34. | :57:40. | |
clearance. Has he any insight into what permission is granted to those | :57:41. | :57:47. | |
who are seriously dangerous to our country, but those who are not? I | :57:48. | :57:53. | |
hank the honourable lady. It is clear that the visa systems needs to | :57:54. | :57:58. | |
be resolved and people who are trying to cause harm should be | :57:59. | :58:01. | |
barred from entering here. It is clear that the new Immigration | :58:02. | :58:04. | |
Minister has a task to review this process. I have also submitted a | :58:05. | :58:11. | |
proposal that visitors from India should have the potential two-year | :58:12. | :58:15. | |
visitor visa implemented in the same way as we have implemented for | :58:16. | :58:18. | |
China. Now, it maybe possible to look at other countries as well, but | :58:19. | :58:24. | |
it is quite clear where we have friendly relations with countries, | :58:25. | :58:28. | |
we should enable people to come and visit here on a reasonable basis but | :58:29. | :58:33. | |
also, bar those that we do in the want to see here and equally taking | :58:34. | :58:38. | |
the issue of preachers that preach over the internet and also veeia | :58:39. | :58:43. | |
satellite TV, having those messages barred from coming into our mosques | :58:44. | :58:49. | |
which causes religious and other concerns. -- via. | :58:50. | :58:55. | |
Can I also take up the veks issue of the garden tax in Harrow. Harrow | :58:56. | :58:59. | |
decided in 2015, to charge for the election of garden waste. It is a | :59:00. | :59:06. | |
fact we contacted every single London borough and Harrow is | :59:07. | :59:09. | |
channelling the highest amount of any borough in London, probably the | :59:10. | :59:14. | |
country for the collection of garden waste. Residents were rightly | :59:15. | :59:17. | |
outraged by this imposition, and the policy has been approved and we have | :59:18. | :59:24. | |
now established the position that 10,000 of my constituents' addresses | :59:25. | :59:29. | |
have been registered for this tax. But, there have been a numerous | :59:30. | :59:32. | |
number of complaints, 168 complaints about the poor level of service, and | :59:33. | :59:41. | |
3,080 missed collections out of 128,000 since the service was | :59:42. | :59:44. | |
introduced. The reality is that the service is poor, it is the highest | :59:45. | :59:48. | |
in the country, and is absolutely outrageous. | :59:49. | :59:52. | |
Now, also, Madame Deputy Speaker, I will also just mention that I was | :59:53. | :00:03. | |
very pleased to attend the Priory Museum recently where there was a | :00:04. | :00:07. | |
Spitfire as part of the celebrations of winning the Battle of Britain. I | :00:08. | :00:11. | |
also received an interesting request because I was successful in securing | :00:12. | :00:17. | |
from the Chancellor a ?1 million grant towards the education centre | :00:18. | :00:22. | |
for Bentley Priory. When I received an e-mail asking for be a invoice | :00:23. | :00:27. | |
for ?1 million and who the cheque should be made payable, I did rather | :00:28. | :00:31. | |
check it wasn't coming from my jeeria or some other country rather | :00:32. | :00:35. | |
than a civil servant. I'm pleased to say I was able it pass on to the | :00:36. | :00:39. | |
relevant people, to make sure they got the money they deserved. I'm | :00:40. | :00:43. | |
also pleased to say that the first state-sponsored Hindu secondary | :00:44. | :00:46. | |
school in this country, has now received planning permission and | :00:47. | :00:49. | |
will be built in my constituency and will open as soon as possible and I | :00:50. | :00:54. | |
look forward to the new Secretary of State for Education coming to open | :00:55. | :00:59. | |
that school in due course. In the next session, I would just | :01:00. | :01:04. | |
advertise the fact, Madame Deputy Speaker, that I will be putting | :01:05. | :01:09. | |
forward my private members' bill on homelessness reduction. This is | :01:10. | :01:17. | |
supported by charities such as Crisis, Shelter, SANE Mungos and is | :01:18. | :01:22. | |
also supported by the landlords association and also local | :01:23. | :01:27. | |
charities. -- St Money yos. -- St Mungos. | :01:28. | :01:34. | |
And also supported by churches. Whilst we cannot eliminate | :01:35. | :01:36. | |
homelessness, we can reduce it as much as possible. We will also be | :01:37. | :01:42. | |
producing from the Communities and Local Government Select Committee, a | :01:43. | :01:46. | |
report into Myers to combat homelessness across the country and | :01:47. | :01:50. | |
my bill will be going through prelegislative scrutiny, which I | :01:51. | :01:53. | |
understand will be a first for any private member's bill in this House, | :01:54. | :01:58. | |
through the CLG Select Committee. This may be an ordeal for me and | :01:59. | :02:02. | |
others. For those members that are wishing to support this bill, the | :02:03. | :02:07. | |
second reading is on 28th October. I look forward to cross-party support | :02:08. | :02:13. | |
for the bill. I have already secured co-sponsors from the Conservative | :02:14. | :02:19. | |
benches, Labour benches, the SNP, the UUP and unfortunately I couldn't | :02:20. | :02:23. | |
find a Liberal to help but no doubt they'll also be supporting as well. | :02:24. | :02:32. | |
I raised this morning the issue of cast legislation. We are actively | :02:33. | :02:44. | |
looking to repeal clause nine of this legislation because it is | :02:45. | :02:47. | |
approaching the end of its sunset clause. The consultation time with | :02:48. | :02:53. | |
communities has been fully exhausted over the last two years and it is | :02:54. | :02:57. | |
time to take a decision. It is Hindus deeply resent this | :02:58. | :03:03. | |
unnecessary, ill thought, ill considered registration which was | :03:04. | :03:07. | |
foisted upon us by the other place. I look forward to it being repealed | :03:08. | :03:15. | |
as soon as possible. I also had the privilege of celebrating the second | :03:16. | :03:20. | |
International Day of yoga this year. We had a very well attended meeting | :03:21. | :03:28. | |
in this house with researchers, practitioners, parliamentarians and | :03:29. | :03:31. | |
representatives from the NHS. The NHS is now considering putting yoga | :03:32. | :03:39. | |
into well-being aspects of the health service. I would recommend | :03:40. | :03:44. | |
this for all members. I start my day with a short period of yoga | :03:45. | :03:49. | |
exercises, stretches and meditation. It has served me extremely well. I | :03:50. | :03:55. | |
would strongly recommend this to all colleagues. I will not demonstrate | :03:56. | :04:04. | |
at this point. On a serious point I have been able to hold two meetings | :04:05. | :04:14. | |
to get Indian ministers to inform the government here and everyone who | :04:15. | :04:18. | |
wants to listen that this is something that can be utilised to | :04:19. | :04:22. | |
assist in people's well-being as well as ensuring that people can | :04:23. | :04:27. | |
relax and have a proper, decent long life. I raised as well this morning | :04:28. | :04:36. | |
the plight of religious minorities in Bangladesh and I would highlight | :04:37. | :04:41. | |
early day motion 351 for members to sign if they so wish. It will ensure | :04:42. | :04:49. | |
we get some action. At the moment we spend 157 million on overseas | :04:50. | :04:55. | |
development aid to Bangladesh. I am proud of the fact this country | :04:56. | :05:01. | |
spends 0.7% of our GDP on overseas development, but it seems to me that | :05:02. | :05:06. | |
at a time when religious minorities are being victimised in Bangladesh | :05:07. | :05:10. | |
that we should spend more of that money on improving security over | :05:11. | :05:14. | |
there for all people of all religions, rather than some of the | :05:15. | :05:20. | |
areas on which we spent the money. I also raised the plight of Hindus in | :05:21. | :05:27. | |
particular in Kashmir. This is an integral part of India and part of | :05:28. | :05:32. | |
India it shall remain. The illegally occupied section by Pakistan must be | :05:33. | :05:37. | |
repatriated. I have spoken against the continued attacks on Hindu | :05:38. | :05:40. | |
minorities in Kashmir on a regular basis. As a result of the | :05:41. | :05:49. | |
assassination of the terrorist, the situation in the valley has erupted. | :05:50. | :05:54. | |
Bandits and government establishments have been attacked by | :05:55. | :05:58. | |
Kashmiri Muslims and other terrorists. Having visited the area | :05:59. | :06:04. | |
to get a first-hand understanding of the situation, I met many members of | :06:05. | :06:10. | |
civil society, politicians, lawyers, traders and residents to understand | :06:11. | :06:16. | |
the situation. I met with senior Cabinet ministers in Delhi and it is | :06:17. | :06:19. | |
quite clear there is huge opportunities for tourism, | :06:20. | :06:24. | |
infrastructure improvements and for the whole of society to come | :06:25. | :06:28. | |
together, provided that terrorism ceases. Madam Deputy Speaker, I also | :06:29. | :06:35. | |
raised the issue of smoking and the cost to the NHS. The cost to... I | :06:36. | :06:47. | |
will gladly give way. Thank you very much for telling us of your | :06:48. | :06:52. | |
experiences in Kashmir. I have also been there and I would like to say | :06:53. | :06:56. | |
that the terrorism goes both ways and it is important to acknowledge | :06:57. | :07:02. | |
it in the House. There is a long way to go and opportunities to be had to | :07:03. | :07:06. | |
create greater community cohesion, but I would like to register that | :07:07. | :07:10. | |
the acts of terrorism go both ways and I have seen that first had | :07:11. | :07:15. | |
myself. I'd add the honourable lady for the intervention. And at United | :07:16. | :07:20. | |
Nations resolutions Pakistan is illegally occupying part of Kashmir | :07:21. | :07:26. | |
and they should leave. I am also concerned about the linkup between | :07:27. | :07:29. | |
China and Pakistan on the illegal silk route that is being followed | :07:30. | :07:34. | |
and the threats to security as a result. Can I just mention the cost | :07:35. | :07:42. | |
to the NHS of smoking. They amount to the moment to the treatment of | :07:43. | :07:47. | |
people who choose to smoke to ?2 billion a year and a cause thousands | :07:48. | :07:53. | |
of unnecessary deaths every year. Smoking rates remain stubbornly | :07:54. | :07:57. | |
high, but I am delighted that the numbers of young people taking up | :07:58. | :08:01. | |
smoking are dropping considerably and that is good news for the longer | :08:02. | :08:05. | |
term. I will be hosting a round table event in September to discuss | :08:06. | :08:11. | |
progress on the Tobacco control plan and I would urge the new health | :08:12. | :08:16. | |
minister to ensure that this Tobacco control plan is introduced as fast | :08:17. | :08:21. | |
as possible. Our meeting will ring together the key stakeholders | :08:22. | :08:26. | |
interested in the development of the plan and ensure we give appropriate | :08:27. | :08:30. | |
recommendations to the Department of Health on this issue. This has been | :08:31. | :08:34. | |
delayed from the summer and with the change of ministers that will be a | :08:35. | :08:38. | |
further consideration, but I would urge we get on with this as fast as | :08:39. | :08:43. | |
possible. In concluding, can I wish you, all the members of staff who | :08:44. | :08:47. | |
served us so well, a very happy recess. Personally I shall be | :08:48. | :08:54. | |
working in my constituency as well as having a very short and brief | :08:55. | :09:00. | |
holiday to enable me to recover over the course of this year. Thank you | :09:01. | :09:06. | |
very much. There will be a limit of seven minutes on backbench | :09:07. | :09:10. | |
contributions. I am grateful to have this chance at the end of this | :09:11. | :09:14. | |
session to raise the number of important issues for my | :09:15. | :09:19. | |
constituents. Next Wednesday I will be joining residents from the Horn | :09:20. | :09:23. | |
Park estate in my constituency to lobby the clinical commissioning | :09:24. | :09:26. | |
group to urge them not to take the decision to cease funding of a nurse | :09:27. | :09:32. | |
practitioner led health centre on their estate and for them to lose | :09:33. | :09:40. | |
any form of health service provided locally. They have no pharmacy on | :09:41. | :09:44. | |
that estate, there is no GP practice. The nearest GP practices | :09:45. | :09:51. | |
are almost two miles away. One of the reasons that has been given for | :09:52. | :09:56. | |
taking this service away is that many of the patients who are | :09:57. | :10:01. | |
treated, and it is funded by Greenwich CCG, I patients of | :10:02. | :10:08. | |
Lewisham doctors. I campaigned against the closure of the GP | :10:09. | :10:11. | |
practice on this estate 25 years ago when they first lost their GP | :10:12. | :10:22. | |
practice. As part of the single regeneration budget funding, in 2007 | :10:23. | :10:30. | |
they funded these facilities for a nurse- practitioner led service to | :10:31. | :10:34. | |
be introduced. But now, because we have separated off public health | :10:35. | :10:42. | |
from what was the PCT, this service now falls between two stalls. Local | :10:43. | :10:47. | |
GP practices referred people to this service, they appreciate the quality | :10:48. | :10:54. | |
of the service, no one disputes that it is good value for money. But | :10:55. | :10:59. | |
because of this split in the funding between public health and primary | :11:00. | :11:05. | |
services funded by the CCG, no one is prepared to continue the funding | :11:06. | :11:12. | |
for this service. In the last year, it treated 5332 patients. In the | :11:13. | :11:20. | |
previous year it was 4489. It is an annual cost of ?142,000, which in | :11:21. | :11:26. | |
the scheme of things is absolutely minuscule. The average cost per | :11:27. | :11:33. | |
visit is about ?26.63. It is really good value for money. Everyone | :11:34. | :11:39. | |
recognises it is really good value for money. Everyone recognises this | :11:40. | :11:43. | |
is a deprived community and needs direct access to health services, | :11:44. | :11:49. | |
but because of the bureaucracy people are being penalised. Despite | :11:50. | :11:54. | |
the fact they are all Greenwich residents, because some of them were | :11:55. | :11:59. | |
forced to join Lewisham practices because the estate is right on the | :12:00. | :12:03. | |
border between Greenwich and Lewisham, they are now being | :12:04. | :12:09. | |
penalised having lost their GP practice years ago, now being told | :12:10. | :12:14. | |
because they were forced to find new GP practices and because many of | :12:15. | :12:18. | |
them were across the border, they are being told the service will not | :12:19. | :12:26. | |
be funded. That is despite the fact they are Greenwich residents. It is | :12:27. | :12:30. | |
not acceptable and I will be there with my constituents lobbying very | :12:31. | :12:36. | |
hard for all of the health managers, GP practices, the CCG, the local | :12:37. | :12:41. | |
authority, all the health managers, to come together to maintain this | :12:42. | :12:45. | |
service on the estate for my local residents. It provides vaccinations, | :12:46. | :12:54. | |
it treats people who need dressings renewed, and it prevents them having | :12:55. | :13:00. | |
to undertake very arduous journeys to other places. It has been said | :13:01. | :13:04. | |
they will replace many of these things with home visits, and a cost | :13:05. | :13:11. | |
of 20 and 63p to the centre, it cannot be cost-effective to make | :13:12. | :13:14. | |
people travel all the way to the far end of the borough to treat people | :13:15. | :13:19. | |
in their own homes when people are asking for the service to be | :13:20. | :13:25. | |
maintained because they use it for many services indeed. I hope the | :13:26. | :13:30. | |
Health Minister will hear this appeal and intervene and bang heads | :13:31. | :13:34. | |
together and make sure we do not lose that vital service on that | :13:35. | :13:38. | |
estate. The other issue I would like to raise is the quality of service | :13:39. | :13:42. | |
being provided by South-eastern Trains. It has been utterly | :13:43. | :13:50. | |
appalling. This week we have had for the first time this summer some | :13:51. | :13:54. | |
truly hot weather. What has it resulted in? A minor change of | :13:55. | :13:59. | |
weather and major disruption to the service. The matter what sort of | :14:00. | :14:05. | |
weather we have, whether it is heavy rain, severe cold, a bit of snow, | :14:06. | :14:10. | |
hot weather, they cannot run the trains. For us in South East London | :14:11. | :14:18. | |
we do not have direct access to the London underground and we rely | :14:19. | :14:22. | |
heavily on these rail services to get to and from central London. | :14:23. | :14:29. | |
Passenger focus have recently done a survey and passenger satisfaction is | :14:30. | :14:34. | |
going down severely. 83% were satisfied in autumn 2012, there was | :14:35. | :14:43. | |
a 91.4% punctuality. Spring this year that satisfaction rate is down | :14:44. | :14:49. | |
to 70% and it is 87% punctuality. It is just not good enough. When you | :14:50. | :14:54. | |
look at the passenger focus survey of south-eastern passengers, it is | :14:55. | :15:01. | |
only 53%, one of the worst performances. One of the issues that | :15:02. | :15:06. | |
confront my constituents is overcrowding. We have had our | :15:07. | :15:12. | |
platforms lengthened to accommodate 12 car trains, but we have yet to | :15:13. | :15:17. | |
see those 12 car trains arrive. We know railway stock will become | :15:18. | :15:21. | |
available when the Thameslink service, the Thameslink upgrade is | :15:22. | :15:27. | |
complete and that existing rail stock will become available for | :15:28. | :15:31. | |
south-eastern if the government gives approval. I am here to appeal | :15:32. | :15:36. | |
to the government again. We have lengthened the platforms, we have | :15:37. | :15:39. | |
told people they will get longer trains, we have built underground, | :15:40. | :15:44. | |
we rely heavily on those train services and we must have that | :15:45. | :15:48. | |
additional Railway stock to improve the quality of the service. In the | :15:49. | :15:55. | |
last few moments I would like to say I have written to the Minister about | :15:56. | :16:04. | |
the planning application which will be approved. It is a sports ground | :16:05. | :16:13. | |
with a viable plan for it and we should not be building on it. What a | :16:14. | :16:21. | |
pleasure to join today's adjournment debate which also gives me the | :16:22. | :16:26. | |
opportunity to welcome for the first time in their places my colleagues | :16:27. | :16:30. | |
on the front bench today as Deputy Speaker and the whip on duty on | :16:31. | :16:34. | |
their new responsibilities. I'd Deputy Speaker, in the summer when a | :16:35. | :16:40. | |
decade seems to have passed in the last month, indeed so much has | :16:41. | :16:45. | |
happened that ghastly murder of Joe Kops MP, that it seems a long while | :16:46. | :16:49. | |
ago, although in reality it was a very recent tragedy, and at a time | :16:50. | :16:57. | |
when Brexit and in what way we leave the European Union seems to be the | :16:58. | :17:01. | |
dominant theme of so much media focus, I want to focus today on | :17:02. | :17:05. | |
issues over which we have always had complete control in this country and | :17:06. | :17:11. | |
where the emphasis is very much on us, government, MPs, local | :17:12. | :17:15. | |
government and other agencies, to come up with answers and deliver | :17:16. | :17:20. | |
them so that life in our country and in our constituencies, in my case | :17:21. | :17:25. | |
the ancient city of Gloucester, does get better from | :17:26. | :17:30. | |
That's how we get to and from the city, how visitors arrive and how | :17:31. | :17:36. | |
our investors get their first impressions. At the Gloucester | :17:37. | :17:40. | |
railway station, there are two aspects to potential improvements. | :17:41. | :17:43. | |
The first is that the trains, and how many of them stop there, and the | :17:44. | :17:50. | |
second is in the infrastructure. On the trains, it is still, to me, | :17:51. | :17:57. | |
quite extraordinary that Arriva cross-country intercity service | :17:58. | :18:02. | |
between Birmingham and Bristol only stops three times, out of 63 trains | :18:03. | :18:09. | |
a day, at the city of Gloucester. My honourable friend, the member for | :18:10. | :18:14. | |
Malborough worked on this diligently when trains minister. I hope very | :18:15. | :18:21. | |
much that the new trains minister will pursue, with the same | :18:22. | :18:26. | |
enthusiasm, the business of getting more cross-country trains to stop at | :18:27. | :18:31. | |
Gloucester as they complete their programme for a new franchise in the | :18:32. | :18:36. | |
west of England. In terms of the station infrastructure, we're making | :18:37. | :18:40. | |
good progress on a new station car park, being done by Great Western | :18:41. | :18:43. | |
railways, which will open up the southern side of the station for the | :18:44. | :18:48. | |
first time in its 150-odd years of existence. But there is more work to | :18:49. | :18:53. | |
be done and I hope very much that the new Secretary of State for | :18:54. | :18:57. | |
communities and local government will look favourably on the | :18:58. | :19:02. | |
Gloucestershire bid which includes a significant amount of money for a | :19:03. | :19:06. | |
general station infrastructure project, which will undoubtedly be | :19:07. | :19:11. | |
one of the drivers of growth in our city in the future. Of course, it's | :19:12. | :19:15. | |
also important that our bus, road and cycling infrastructure is in as | :19:16. | :19:19. | |
good a state as possible. Our new bus station is well under way and I | :19:20. | :19:25. | |
know that City and county councils will ensure delivery on time and on | :19:26. | :19:28. | |
budget. The road situation is more complicated. The so-called missing | :19:29. | :19:33. | |
link on the A 417 between the M 4 and M 5 is a major blockage to | :19:34. | :19:38. | |
growth, not just in Gloucestershire and in the city of Gloucester but | :19:39. | :19:41. | |
more widely between the south and north of the country. I hope very | :19:42. | :19:45. | |
much that my right honourable friend, the new Secretary of State | :19:46. | :19:48. | |
for transport, will take the same interest as his predecessor in | :19:49. | :19:52. | |
ensuring that the first spade in the ground for this important new | :19:53. | :19:59. | |
project happens before April 2020. As a keen cyclist, only marginally | :20:00. | :20:05. | |
put off, Madam Deputy Speaker, by a promising black eye, which the | :20:06. | :20:09. | |
keener eyed of you will spot from an incident this morning, I hope very | :20:10. | :20:13. | |
much that the County Council's 3. 5 million project for a new cycle lane | :20:14. | :20:18. | |
between Gloucester and Cheltenham will receive highways England | :20:19. | :20:23. | |
approval in due course and I'm also separately pursuing longer term | :20:24. | :20:28. | |
improvements on the tow path between the city centre and Credgely. A | :20:29. | :20:34. | |
wonderful cycle journey. You would be excused for not realising at any | :20:35. | :20:39. | |
stage, even before visiting the Pilot pub at the end of your | :20:40. | :20:44. | |
journey, that you were not in a particularly glorious part of | :20:45. | :20:46. | |
countryside, because that is what you are doing. Lastly, Madam Deputy | :20:47. | :20:57. | |
Speaker, today, I'm like to allude to two projects which will make a | :20:58. | :21:03. | |
huge difference. We are preparing for a Gloucestershire health | :21:04. | :21:06. | |
university technical college, which will serve the people of our county | :21:07. | :21:10. | |
and possibly from wider afield as well, by train from Swindon or even | :21:11. | :21:15. | |
from Worcester and this will provide 14 to 18-year-olds with great | :21:16. | :21:20. | |
opportunities, both to get BTEC qualifications in either health or | :21:21. | :21:24. | |
care, but also to get significant work experience with the three NHS | :21:25. | :21:29. | |
trusts in the county, but also in the private sector as well. It is, | :21:30. | :21:35. | |
to me, quite wrong that we should need 400 new nurses a year and that | :21:36. | :21:40. | |
we're only training about 120 and having to import them from as far | :21:41. | :21:45. | |
afield as the Philippines. Excellent though our nurses from Portugal, | :21:46. | :21:48. | |
Spain, the Philippines are, we should be training them at home. We | :21:49. | :21:52. | |
should be giving them those opportunities to take up the 12,000 | :21:53. | :21:57. | |
jobs in the health sector in Gloucestershire from training them | :21:58. | :22:00. | |
within our own county and I hope very much that goes ahead and is | :22:01. | :22:04. | |
successful. The other education bid that we're doing is for a new quote | :22:05. | :22:11. | |
raise unquota cad my for excluded pupils from our secondary schools. | :22:12. | :22:15. | |
This is also important. Everyone deserves a second chance. Everybody | :22:16. | :22:18. | |
deserves the opportunity to get back into learning and get the Cornwall I | :22:19. | :22:21. | |
indications and skills they need to get good jobs later on. I hope very | :22:22. | :22:25. | |
much the Department of Education will look favourably at that. Will | :22:26. | :22:30. | |
the honourable member give way? I will. I note what the honourable | :22:31. | :22:35. | |
member is saying about the great training going on. Would he agree | :22:36. | :22:39. | |
with me that with over 300 careers, different careers in the NHS, that | :22:40. | :22:44. | |
new training establishment for excluded pupils might look well to | :22:45. | :22:48. | |
see if there is a place for each one of them in our great NHS? Well, yes. | :22:49. | :22:55. | |
She's absolutely right. With her experience of the NHS herself as a | :22:56. | :22:58. | |
doctor, it's quite right to point out that there are huge | :22:59. | :23:01. | |
opportunities both on the technical level, on the care side and on the | :23:02. | :23:07. | |
course that she took through university. She is absolutely right | :23:08. | :23:13. | |
to stress that. Madam Deputy Speaker, I should finish my | :23:14. | :23:16. | |
contribution today by drawing attention to two exciting things | :23:17. | :23:19. | |
happening in Gloucester during this summer period. The first is the | :23:20. | :23:24. | |
summer of music, art and culture, well under way, the world's | :23:25. | :23:29. | |
longest-running, I think, longest festival at all, the three choirs | :23:30. | :23:33. | |
festival of Gloucester, Hereford and Worcester starts on Saturday. There | :23:34. | :23:40. | |
will be spectacular concerts for the next couple of weeks around that. | :23:41. | :23:43. | |
Then we come into the Gloucester history festival, which I created | :23:44. | :23:47. | |
with many other friends and partners some six years ago and this year is | :23:48. | :23:51. | |
looking to be even bigger and better than usual. That will be in the | :23:52. | :23:55. | |
first two weeks of September, immediately after Gloucester day, | :23:56. | :23:59. | |
when we celebrate, Madam Deputy Speaker, the moment where the City | :24:00. | :24:02. | |
of Gloucester refused to open its gates and surrender to King Charles | :24:03. | :24:10. | |
I, there by preventing the king from succeeding in his mission in the | :24:11. | :24:14. | |
Civil War and ensuring the supremecy of Parliament, which I'm sure we all | :24:15. | :24:18. | |
celebrate as I wish all colleagues a very happy summer recess. | :24:19. | :24:25. | |
Thank you Madam Deputy Speaker. The vote to leave the EU a few weeks ago | :24:26. | :24:28. | |
is a great indication that there are millions of people in our country | :24:29. | :24:32. | |
who feel that they're being left behind not sharing in the growing | :24:33. | :24:36. | |
prosperity of others and they're right. Unemployment may be down | :24:37. | :24:41. | |
according to certain definitions but poverty certainly is not. For one of | :24:42. | :24:46. | |
the first times in UK history, low wages mean most of Britain's poor | :24:47. | :24:50. | |
families are in working households. The Institute of Fiscal Studies has | :24:51. | :24:54. | |
found that two thirds of children, living in absolute poverty have at | :24:55. | :24:59. | |
leaf one parent in work. Even the introduction of the new national | :25:00. | :25:03. | |
living wage, intended in the words of a former Chancellor, the on | :25:04. | :25:08. | |
rabble member for Tatton, to give Britain a pay rise has fallen short. | :25:09. | :25:11. | |
It's become a vehicle for reducing the take-home pay of thousands of | :25:12. | :25:17. | |
long-standing, loyal employees in the retail, hospitality and care | :25:18. | :25:22. | |
sectors. In February this year, I was approached by an employee of | :25:23. | :25:27. | |
B, given proposed new terms and conditions and thought that he might | :25:28. | :25:32. | |
be worse off as a result of them. In these new contract terms, the | :25:33. | :25:37. | |
employee's basic pay was going to be increased, but his overall pay would | :25:38. | :25:45. | |
be reduced by ?2,600 a year. This is because B plan to cut Sunday and | :25:46. | :25:50. | |
bank holiday pay as well as other discretionary bonuses, in short, | :25:51. | :25:54. | |
everything that made B an attractive employer and allowed it | :25:55. | :25:57. | |
to retain its staff. I was delighted that my honourable friend, the | :25:58. | :26:00. | |
member for Enfield north, was able to speak in my place during the | :26:01. | :26:03. | |
debate on the national living wage in this House back in April, where | :26:04. | :26:09. | |
dozens of members voiced their concerns regarding B and Q's plans. | :26:10. | :26:12. | |
I'm pleased that after the press attention in the debate, a great | :26:13. | :26:18. | |
deal of lobbying and a meeting with myself and the B CEO the company | :26:19. | :26:23. | |
extended its period of compensation for employees for two years, | :26:24. | :26:27. | |
promising no-one would lose out for 24 months. But they are just one of | :26:28. | :26:33. | |
many. Over the course of my campaign, I've been approached by | :26:34. | :26:36. | |
employees around the country and from all sorts of different | :26:37. | :26:40. | |
companies doing exactly the same thing. There were the factory | :26:41. | :26:45. | |
employees working for subsidiaries of Samworth brothers in | :26:46. | :26:48. | |
Lincolnshire, facing cuts in overnight pay. My honourable friend, | :26:49. | :26:52. | |
the member for Leicester west, met with workers to hear concerns. There | :26:53. | :26:58. | |
were employees at cafe Nero whose free lunches were scrapped. And | :26:59. | :27:02. | |
recently, 7,000 staff at Marks Spencer who will be losing out by | :27:03. | :27:05. | |
thousands of pounds each year because the company is cutting | :27:06. | :27:10. | |
overall pay to fund the increase in basic pay. I've had well over 100 | :27:11. | :27:18. | |
M employees come forward to me with M's new proposals with staff | :27:19. | :27:23. | |
terrified about their future. M are cutting Sunday and bank holiday | :27:24. | :27:28. | |
pay, redefining unsocial hours and scrapping their pension scheme, | :27:29. | :27:34. | |
leaving staff with over 20 years of experience significantly worse off. | :27:35. | :27:37. | |
Let's consider Elizabeth, whose name was reported yesterday in the | :27:38. | :27:40. | |
Evening Standard. It has been changed to protect her identity. | :27:41. | :27:47. | |
Elizabeth used to have great wages and perks at M, whom she was proud | :27:48. | :27:52. | |
to work for. Now she said, "Everything is being taken away from | :27:53. | :27:56. | |
us. I wanted to see my kids through university. Now I'm not sure I'll be | :27:57. | :28:03. | |
able to. It really frightens me." M confirmed that 2,700 employees | :28:04. | :28:09. | |
will lose out over ?1,000 a year and 700 will lose over ?2,000 a year. | :28:10. | :28:14. | |
Some of the employees have got in touch with me and will lose, it's | :28:15. | :28:18. | |
hard to believe, up to ?6,000 a year. To be clear, that's after | :28:19. | :28:24. | |
their basic pay sin creased. M maintain this is just a proposal. | :28:25. | :28:29. | |
They cite their compensation package, which compensates staff | :28:30. | :28:33. | |
members for 30% of their projected losses, not including how much | :28:34. | :28:36. | |
they'll lose in terms of pension cuts. From the paperwork I've seen | :28:37. | :28:43. | |
and the experience of B, I think M plans are foregone conclusions. | :28:44. | :28:46. | |
To be clear, it's not as if head office staff are getting the sort of | :28:47. | :28:51. | |
pay cut they're dishing out to long standing, shop floor staff. There | :28:52. | :28:55. | |
were a number of options M could have pursued, other companies have | :28:56. | :29:02. | |
invested in skills to improve productivity of employees. M have | :29:03. | :29:09. | |
decided to offset a basic pay increase by some staff by cutting | :29:10. | :29:12. | |
the pay of others. And other policies are letting down employees. | :29:13. | :29:18. | |
Just consider the recent discovery of Hermes, the delivery company, | :29:19. | :29:21. | |
using self-employed workers and paying less than the minimum wage | :29:22. | :29:27. | |
and HMRC's investigation into sports direct's working practices. Both | :29:28. | :29:31. | |
companies are undermining the integrity of Government poll | :29:32. | :29:33. | |
similarity -- policy. These are huge institutions we're talking about. | :29:34. | :29:37. | |
Their profits are in their millions and they employ thousands of people. | :29:38. | :29:41. | |
I was delighted that the Chancellor committed to looking very carefully | :29:42. | :29:45. | |
into the case of M earlier this week, but I want to tell the | :29:46. | :29:48. | |
minister today, it's not good enough to introduce a policy like the | :29:49. | :29:51. | |
national living wage without policing it. If Britain has been | :29:52. | :29:56. | |
promised a pay rise by this Government, then Britain deserves to | :29:57. | :30:00. | |
get a pay rise. Will the minister write to the M chief executive to | :30:01. | :30:04. | |
express the Government's concerns, calling on M to reverse its plans? | :30:05. | :30:08. | |
I absolutely endorse the Prime Minister's commitment to building a | :30:09. | :30:12. | |
UK economy that works for all and her Government must start bay | :30:13. | :30:16. | |
dressing the causes of low wages. People who work hard and play by the | :30:17. | :30:20. | |
rules need a defender in national politics. Both the Government and | :30:21. | :30:25. | |
these Opposition benches have a responsibility to be that champion. | :30:26. | :30:32. | |
Thank you Madam Deputy Speaker. Like many other members who've already | :30:33. | :30:37. | |
spoken, my contribution to the debate centres on rail services and | :30:38. | :30:41. | |
in particular, the recent decision by the office of rail and road not | :30:42. | :30:50. | |
to approve an application for direct services from Cleethorpes through to | :30:51. | :30:55. | |
London King's Cross. Just to provide an historical context. I do happen | :30:56. | :31:02. | |
to have an eastern region time table for 1964. Members should be aware | :31:03. | :31:08. | |
there were actually, at that time, two services direct services from | :31:09. | :31:11. | |
Cleethorpes to London King's Cross. Before members opposite get excited | :31:12. | :31:16. | |
and say that was in the nationalised British Rail days, I would also | :31:17. | :31:20. | |
point out, that it was actually in 1992 that British Rail announced | :31:21. | :31:24. | |
they were scrapping the direct services from Cleethorpes. Since | :31:25. | :31:27. | |
then, though we have an improved service in the sense that it is more | :31:28. | :31:36. | |
regular, it does involve a change. Government has repeatedly pointed | :31:37. | :31:41. | |
out, if we're to improve the local economies, extend growth, we need | :31:42. | :31:46. | |
greater transport connectivity. The Humber region has the largest port | :31:47. | :31:51. | |
complex in the country. It's developing the off-shore renewables | :31:52. | :31:57. | |
sector. And regular and direct services are supported by business | :31:58. | :32:04. | |
and industry, the Chamber of Commerce, two local enterprise | :32:05. | :32:14. | |
partnerships that the local authorities belong to. Two years | :32:15. | :32:16. | |
ago, GNER lodged an application with the regulator to operate four daily | :32:17. | :32:20. | |
trains between Cleethorpes, grimesy, and King's Cross via Scunthorpe and | :32:21. | :32:25. | |
Doncaster. I recognise the need to regulate capacity on a network that | :32:26. | :32:28. | |
is also overcrowded, but question whether the rules and regulations | :32:29. | :32:32. | |
that govern the regulator are actually in the best interests of | :32:33. | :32:39. | |
passengers and perhaps are more towards protecting the market share | :32:40. | :32:41. | |
of the train operating companies. year to year the direct line that | :32:42. | :32:59. | |
was scrapped in 1992 round three M of race and in my constituency. | :33:00. | :33:05. | |
Since 1992, a catchment area of nearly 66 square miles have had no | :33:06. | :33:12. | |
direct contact with London at all. Is it not incumbent on the rail | :33:13. | :33:17. | |
regulator and can we have a delegation to the new Secretary of | :33:18. | :33:21. | |
State to impress on him the need to serve rural lines. I thank my | :33:22. | :33:27. | |
honourable friend and neighbour for his intervention and he has stolen | :33:28. | :33:32. | |
one of my lines because I was going to conclude by asking that a | :33:33. | :33:35. | |
delegation go to the new Secretary of State. Regulator operates under | :33:36. | :33:47. | |
criteria set down in the privatisation act which says it will | :33:48. | :33:50. | |
protect the interests of the users of railway services, promote the use | :33:51. | :33:55. | |
of the network for passenger and goods and to promote competition for | :33:56. | :34:01. | |
the benefit of rail users. It stays we would not expect to approve | :34:02. | :34:06. | |
competing services that would be primarily abstracting the | :34:07. | :34:10. | |
incumbent's revenue. In other words, they are there to protect the market | :34:11. | :34:14. | |
share of the big franchise shareholders such as virgin East | :34:15. | :34:19. | |
Coast. I can understand that the franchise holders pay an enormous | :34:20. | :34:22. | |
speed to government for the privilege of operating the East | :34:23. | :34:26. | |
Coast mainline or whatever line it is, but I do question whether the | :34:27. | :34:32. | |
present criteria are in the best interests of the passengers. The | :34:33. | :34:39. | |
regulator in their decision letter says, we have a long-standing policy | :34:40. | :34:45. | |
of not approving new, open access services that we consider abstract | :34:46. | :34:51. | |
funding from the main operator. I repeat this sounds far more like | :34:52. | :34:55. | |
protecting the operators and providing better services for the | :34:56. | :35:02. | |
passengers. In the decision left to the regulator referring specifically | :35:03. | :35:06. | |
to the application to rent services to Cleethorpes SS, these financial | :35:07. | :35:10. | |
impact would have been reduced at the application focused on serving | :35:11. | :35:15. | |
just the Cleethorpes line, but because the application also | :35:16. | :35:19. | |
included additional services into Yorkshire, serving the Bradford | :35:20. | :35:23. | |
Halifax area, that would have impacted to greatly on other | :35:24. | :35:27. | |
operators. It says, on balancing our statutory duties, particularly those | :35:28. | :35:33. | |
to promote improving railway service performance and promote competition, | :35:34. | :35:41. | |
we have to balance that against our duty to have regard to the Secretary | :35:42. | :35:46. | |
of State's funds. Madam Deputy Speaker, new rolling stock is coming | :35:47. | :35:52. | |
into the network thanks to the improvements and investments the | :35:53. | :35:54. | |
government and the train operators are making in coming years. That | :35:55. | :36:02. | |
will release new rolling stock presently used elsewhere on services | :36:03. | :36:07. | |
on what our secondary mainlines. Services through market raisin, | :36:08. | :36:12. | |
Lincoln, through to Grimsby and Cleethorpes suffer because they are | :36:13. | :36:17. | |
not part of the electrified network and there are only a limited number | :36:18. | :36:21. | |
of diesel units available to serve them. The new units are becoming | :36:22. | :36:28. | |
available and some bimodal ones that can run the last few miles under | :36:29. | :36:34. | |
diesel power. We are at an ideal opportunity to extend services to | :36:35. | :36:43. | |
places such as Cleethorpes. Hints from the rail regulator would | :36:44. | :36:45. | |
indicate they see the difficulties of the present system and they would | :36:46. | :36:51. | |
like to accept more open access operators, but the criteria at the | :36:52. | :36:58. | |
moment are restricting them. The new rail Minister successfully | :36:59. | :37:02. | |
campaigned for direct services to his Blackpool constituency off the | :37:03. | :37:06. | |
West Coast mainline. So he ought to be very sympathetic to the claims of | :37:07. | :37:13. | |
my honourable friend and others in Northern Lincolnshire who want to | :37:14. | :37:20. | |
improve services. When the Secretary of State for Transport introduced | :37:21. | :37:25. | |
the privatisation built in 1992, he said, our objective is to improve | :37:26. | :37:30. | |
the quality of railway services by creating many new opportunities for | :37:31. | :37:34. | |
private sector involvement. This will mean more competition, greater | :37:35. | :37:38. | |
efficiency and a wider choice of services more closely tailored to | :37:39. | :37:44. | |
what customers want. I think in part that has been achieved, the services | :37:45. | :37:48. | |
into my area are vastly improved on what they were in British rail days, | :37:49. | :37:54. | |
but we have a long way to go. The customers are rightly demanding more | :37:55. | :37:58. | |
and better services. The Department for Transport, I would urge them to | :37:59. | :38:05. | |
drop their opposition to new long-distance access services on | :38:06. | :38:08. | |
routes that are not presently served by direct services. We need better | :38:09. | :38:14. | |
access, not just to the London network, but improved East - West | :38:15. | :38:18. | |
connections. I would urge the Minister to pass onto his right | :38:19. | :38:23. | |
honourable my concerns and say it is time to put the passenger at the | :38:24. | :38:25. | |
head of the train operating companies. I would like to start by | :38:26. | :38:34. | |
thanking the backbench committee for the return of this general debate. | :38:35. | :38:40. | |
Members can see how popular it is. I want to emulate the member for South | :38:41. | :38:44. | |
and West who is always giving us a tour of his constituency. I want to | :38:45. | :38:49. | |
welcome the honourable member, the deputy leader to his post. Behind | :38:50. | :38:55. | |
every great Prime Minister there is the honourable member. I am sure he | :38:56. | :39:01. | |
will do a fantastic job. I want to raise the concerns of my | :39:02. | :39:03. | |
constituents and that is the theme of this debate that I am having | :39:04. | :39:13. | |
here. In relation to the University of Wolverhampton campus and | :39:14. | :39:18. | |
Broadway, they mean a lot to my constituents. Woolston Road is a | :39:19. | :39:24. | |
long, leafy road and in 2012 the council decided to have a | :39:25. | :39:28. | |
consultation over the summer about this time to see whether they wanted | :39:29. | :39:33. | |
to put humps on the road. Many people were concerned, they raised | :39:34. | :39:36. | |
this with me, they had not had an opportunity to respond and our | :39:37. | :39:42. | |
council takes an nonresponse as a response in favour, so a warning to | :39:43. | :39:47. | |
everyone, always respond to surveys. As a result the road is littered | :39:48. | :39:55. | |
with humps. The council is not listening to residents. One | :39:56. | :39:58. | |
resident, Tracy Clifford, undertook a survey and out of 97 responses, 73 | :39:59. | :40:06. | |
people had had difficulty, or household, in dealing with humps. | :40:07. | :40:11. | |
When they exited their drives they were abused, there were personal | :40:12. | :40:16. | |
injuries, the cars were damaged. I have had three meetings with the | :40:17. | :40:21. | |
council and I am coming up against a brick wall. When I asked for the | :40:22. | :40:27. | |
evidence of reduced speed I was given a lock from 2014 about two and | :40:28. | :40:33. | |
a half inches high traffic to go through. The residents have spoken | :40:34. | :40:40. | |
to a police officer in 2015 who said people were going over the speed | :40:41. | :40:44. | |
limit of 30 miles an hour. It is quite interesting, but in the | :40:45. | :40:50. | |
traffic signs regulations and general directions as amended in | :40:51. | :40:55. | |
2011, apparently you cannot have a repeater signs placed because if you | :40:56. | :41:02. | |
have lamp posts within 200 yards of each other, you cannot put a sign | :41:03. | :41:06. | |
up. That is slightly strange. Members should be aware of that. I | :41:07. | :41:13. | |
was not. The residents have asked for a watchman sign like on Saturn | :41:14. | :41:17. | |
Road so they can see the speed they are travelling flashing up. What my | :41:18. | :41:23. | |
residents want is what the faculty of Public health have said, that | :41:24. | :41:28. | |
cutting the speed limit to 20 miles an hour cut road deaths and injuries | :41:29. | :41:32. | |
and is safer and this is the perfect solution. I am hoping my honourable | :41:33. | :41:36. | |
friend will agree with me that residents should be listened to and | :41:37. | :41:40. | |
the speed limit should be cut to 20 miles an hour. The other saga is | :41:41. | :41:46. | |
that of great Barr Park and Hall. It is a planning application on green | :41:47. | :41:51. | |
belt land. This is local policy and against national policy. The former | :41:52. | :41:57. | |
member for Great Yarmouth wrote to members on the 7th of July to say | :41:58. | :42:01. | |
the government has put in place the strongest protections for the green | :42:02. | :42:07. | |
belt. It should only be adjusted in exceptional circumstances through | :42:08. | :42:10. | |
the local plan process and with the support of local people. At great | :42:11. | :42:17. | |
buy there is no demand for housing and yet residents are left with this | :42:18. | :42:19. | |
planning application, planning officers have two sift through | :42:20. | :42:25. | |
mounds of paper to decide whether this planning application should go | :42:26. | :42:29. | |
through and yet the whole thing is against local and national policy. | :42:30. | :42:34. | |
It should either be refused or the application should be withdrawn. | :42:35. | :42:39. | |
With the Minister agree that my constituents require certainty, | :42:40. | :42:45. | |
certainly in this particular planning application, otherwise they | :42:46. | :42:48. | |
have to wait until the council decide they are going to have a | :42:49. | :42:51. | |
meeting and push this through without the residents knowing about | :42:52. | :42:55. | |
it. The third big issue is that of Broadway. The honourable member for | :42:56. | :43:01. | |
Gloucester raised the issue of nurses and how it is important to | :43:02. | :43:06. | |
train our nurses. The University of Wolverhampton have been told by the | :43:07. | :43:10. | |
council that they have to build a road which will cost them ?1 million | :43:11. | :43:15. | |
to have an exit from their campus onto Broadway so we are left with | :43:16. | :43:22. | |
two sets of traffic lights within 50 yards of each other and an exit onto | :43:23. | :43:26. | |
one of the busiest roads in Walsall South, Broadway. What was the | :43:27. | :43:32. | |
evidence of this should take place? Every meeting I have had with the | :43:33. | :43:36. | |
University they say that the council have insisted on it. And yet the | :43:37. | :43:43. | |
evidence to the committee was that there were 22 letters of objection, | :43:44. | :43:49. | |
a 67 signature petition against the proposal following the first | :43:50. | :43:53. | |
consultation, 60 letters of objection and a 450 signature of a | :43:54. | :44:01. | |
petition with six letters in support and yet the council decided they | :44:02. | :44:05. | |
should have this condition. In my view that ?1 million should be spent | :44:06. | :44:10. | |
on training and nurses that the University of Wolverhampton do so | :44:11. | :44:14. | |
well, providing bursaries for them so we can invest in local skills and | :44:15. | :44:19. | |
not in concrete. Finally, I want to end on rubbish. Maybe honourable | :44:20. | :44:26. | |
members will think that is what I have been talking! But this really | :44:27. | :44:33. | |
is an issue. On Saturday I saw the decadence of takeaways, bottles, | :44:34. | :44:38. | |
papers with one being. Honourable members may not remember but there | :44:39. | :44:44. | |
was a campaign done, instituted by the women's Institute, keep Britain | :44:45. | :44:49. | |
tidy, with that lovely logo of a person putting litter into a bin. I | :44:50. | :44:54. | |
would ask the deputy leader if he would kindly ask the government if | :44:55. | :44:59. | |
we could start up that campaign again because there are many people | :45:00. | :45:03. | |
who come into the country as visitors and new communities and | :45:04. | :45:07. | |
people who live here who are not aware on the law about litter. | :45:08. | :45:15. | |
Finally, thank you to everybody for looking after us, thank you to all | :45:16. | :45:21. | |
the members of the House, the House of Commons library and everyone | :45:22. | :45:26. | |
else. It has been a momentous, historic time. I hope we all have a | :45:27. | :45:32. | |
good rest. Can I thank the member for Walsall South for a well-made | :45:33. | :45:39. | |
points. I believe in keeping Britain tidy and I would be happy to join | :45:40. | :45:43. | |
any of those movements. I am very lucky in my constituency of | :45:44. | :45:47. | |
Twickenham and I applaud the friends of bushy Park. As everybody knows | :45:48. | :45:54. | |
when they are in the parks over the summer, you must always take your | :45:55. | :45:57. | |
litter home with you, it is especially damaging for the wildlife | :45:58. | :46:01. | |
in the parks and I am grateful for the communities I have got that do | :46:02. | :46:07. | |
regular litter picking, as well as the good council jobs. I would also | :46:08. | :46:11. | |
like to welcome the new deputy leader to his post. Like the members | :46:12. | :46:16. | |
for Eltham, Gloucester and Cleethorpes I also have concerns | :46:17. | :46:21. | |
about rail services and I absolutely agree with the member for | :46:22. | :46:25. | |
Cleethorpes who said passengers must, head of rail companies. I have | :46:26. | :46:35. | |
been having many meetings and I have recently been in communication this | :46:36. | :46:40. | |
week with South West trains. I note the franchise is coming up and I | :46:41. | :46:44. | |
have met with South West trains and other bidders for the franchise. I | :46:45. | :46:51. | |
have made it clear of what standards are expected, particularly for the | :46:52. | :46:54. | |
eight stations and the network for Twickenham. | :46:55. | :47:18. | |
The chronic problems that we have, we do not have regular and frequent | :47:19. | :47:24. | |
trains in all our stations, which is appalling, considering many of the | :47:25. | :47:29. | |
passengers are coming into London to work. That has an economic | :47:30. | :47:32. | |
consequence. We don't have frequent enough services for all of the | :47:33. | :47:35. | |
stations on a Sunday. This is the 21st century and we should be | :47:36. | :47:37. | |
applauding passengers and their different life styles where they do | :47:38. | :47:46. | |
need regular services now every single day of the week, | :47:47. | :47:48. | |
unfortunately, every single station in my constituency suffers from | :47:49. | :47:50. | |
cancellations and delays. Every single station suffers from | :47:51. | :47:52. | |
overcrowding, but this is the chronic problem between the | :47:53. | :47:54. | |
temperatures of five degrees Celsius and 25. Again I note we are in the | :47:55. | :47:57. | |
21st century. We do have predictable weather. This week, we were all | :47:58. | :48:01. | |
told, even if you weren't a climatologist, we were told it was | :48:02. | :48:04. | |
going to be a high temperature. Here we have South West Trains acute | :48:05. | :48:09. | |
problem. They were not functioning properly and it was Medically | :48:10. | :48:20. | |
unhealthy. When the temperature is over 25 degrees C there must be | :48:21. | :48:25. | |
adequate water given out free at platforms, in such temperatures, | :48:26. | :48:28. | |
when there is delay and when there is overcrowding. There must be a | :48:29. | :48:34. | |
plan since we can predict the next few years and next generation, these | :48:35. | :48:38. | |
temperatures will persist. There must be a plan for air conditioned | :48:39. | :48:43. | |
trains for people that are regularly coming into London. The other | :48:44. | :48:52. | |
problem we have is that while the previous Mayor of London, member for | :48:53. | :48:56. | |
Uxbridge, introduced Oyster card system for my area, which is great | :48:57. | :49:00. | |
when you don't have much time and you're a commuter. But there must be | :49:01. | :49:05. | |
an Oyster card way of refunding when there's been delays. It is not good | :49:06. | :49:09. | |
enough, with the service that I've had getting home, today like many of | :49:10. | :49:15. | |
my constituents, two hours instead of a 40-minute journey, it is | :49:16. | :49:18. | |
impossible to navigate the website to try to get your refund and even | :49:19. | :49:22. | |
harder if you use the Oyster card. Like most people, if you can't do it | :49:23. | :49:26. | |
within two clicks like me, you give up. There has to be a way of putting | :49:27. | :49:33. | |
the passenger first and making that refund easy. There has to be - I | :49:34. | :49:38. | |
will give way in a moment - there has to be a better way of | :49:39. | :49:43. | |
communicating, again, at the platforms on the station | :49:44. | :49:46. | |
information, there was not information during this week about | :49:47. | :49:50. | |
the time for delay, which is critical for people if they do have | :49:51. | :49:54. | |
any medical problems, if they are tired or need water. I will give | :49:55. | :49:58. | |
way. Thank you Madam Deputy Speaker. And I thank my honourable friend for | :49:59. | :50:03. | |
giving way. There's also a big problem, of course, like I do, I use | :50:04. | :50:07. | |
my bank card instead of an Oyster card to get on the train and trying | :50:08. | :50:11. | |
to refund on a bank card would be even more difficult, I would think. | :50:12. | :50:18. | |
I thank the honourable member for that very, very important point. I | :50:19. | :50:21. | |
think more and more people will be getting rid of the oyster. That also | :50:22. | :50:27. | |
needs to be a tap and refund system, putting the passenger first. | :50:28. | :50:35. | |
Absolutely. On transport I hope ministers will take note, if they | :50:36. | :50:43. | |
have any members of their family or if themselves are travelling by air | :50:44. | :50:47. | |
over the summer, I won't be, but I know many people will be, please | :50:48. | :50:52. | |
give a thought to three quarters of a million people suffering from | :50:53. | :50:56. | |
decibel levels of over 55, or the quarter of a million suffering from | :50:57. | :51:01. | |
57 decibels. Please give a thought that if there is expansion of | :51:02. | :51:08. | |
Heathrow, this will particularly affect my constituency. If there is | :51:09. | :51:14. | |
expansion at Heathrow, then more people under that flightpath will be | :51:15. | :51:21. | |
affected than the people around Paris airport, Amsterdam airport, | :51:22. | :51:27. | |
Munich airport, Frankfurt airport, Madrid airport combined. On a | :51:28. | :51:32. | |
medical level, I do not think this Government wishes to inflict that on | :51:33. | :51:39. | |
its residents. I would also hope the minister, ministers and minister of | :51:40. | :51:45. | |
transport will be aware every single day during the recess when the | :51:46. | :51:50. | |
nitrogen dioxide levels are above, I don't mind if you use EU or WHO | :51:51. | :51:59. | |
levels, they are both unhealthy. We need better, not bigger, airport of | :52:00. | :52:05. | |
such a populated area. Nevertheless, I wish everybody a very peaceful and | :52:06. | :52:10. | |
well deserved recess. I shall be spending it in my constituency, | :52:11. | :52:15. | |
because we do have the best parks and the best stretch of the River | :52:16. | :52:19. | |
Thames. You don't need to go away to have a wonderful time. | :52:20. | :52:26. | |
Madam Deputy Speaker, you and I played a part in the creation of the | :52:27. | :52:31. | |
backbench business committee in its very early days. I'm very proud of | :52:32. | :52:36. | |
that and I hope you are too. Equally proud that they have restored the | :52:37. | :52:41. | |
ability of backbench members of all parties to raise issues of concern | :52:42. | :52:45. | |
to their constituents, which often other people may think go | :52:46. | :52:49. | |
unremarked. Even more important, when members of Parliament are | :52:50. | :52:54. | |
berated and abused on a regular basis for failing to do their duty | :52:55. | :52:59. | |
or not doing what they should do, that members of the public who may | :53:00. | :53:04. | |
be watching or reading these debates see that there is a variety of work | :53:05. | :53:09. | |
that members of Parliament do which is unsung, but is absolutely vital | :53:10. | :53:15. | |
in their constituency. So this debate is very important, | :53:16. | :53:18. | |
particularly important if I may say so, when you represent one of the | :53:19. | :53:24. | |
five most deprived constituencies in the United Kingdom, with very low | :53:25. | :53:32. | |
income, because - and there's no competition here - but the numbers | :53:33. | :53:37. | |
of case that's people have in those constituencies are very high and | :53:38. | :53:42. | |
they deserve being put into the cold light of day so that people then | :53:43. | :53:47. | |
understand how many others live. I say that without any side, but it is | :53:48. | :53:52. | |
maybe more difficult to understand the impact of economic crises and | :53:53. | :53:57. | |
some of the vast swathe of policies and politics that we discuss in here | :53:58. | :54:03. | |
how they impact upon individuals and families. It is much harder to | :54:04. | :54:10. | |
ignore that when you represent a constituency which has very great | :54:11. | :54:13. | |
difficulties indeed, if we get it wrong in this House. One of the | :54:14. | :54:19. | |
things I want to talk about a number of constituency cases, but I think | :54:20. | :54:22. | |
one of the things that I ought to get on the record first of all, | :54:23. | :54:27. | |
again without delving back into an issue which has been decided in the | :54:28. | :54:32. | |
recent referendum, but why people vote the way they do and I would | :54:33. | :54:37. | |
hazard a guess about some of my own constituents. Of course, they were | :54:38. | :54:40. | |
very concerned about the European Union. Of course, many were | :54:41. | :54:46. | |
concerned about immigration. But many also used the vote in the | :54:47. | :54:52. | |
referendum as they used votes quite rightly in general elections and | :54:53. | :54:55. | |
local elections almost as a cry for help, almost to say - we have | :54:56. | :55:00. | |
problems. You need to look at us. You can no longer ignore us. People | :55:01. | :55:05. | |
do that in different ways. I'm not saying that influenced the outcome | :55:06. | :55:09. | |
of the recent referendum. But what I'm saying is we, here, and people | :55:10. | :55:15. | |
in and around constituencies like mine, in my case in the city of | :55:16. | :55:19. | |
Nottingham, will ignore that cry for help at their peril, if they | :55:20. | :55:24. | |
continue to feel that people can be marginalised or continue to be | :55:25. | :55:28. | |
alienated from our politics and from our politicians. I know that will | :55:29. | :55:36. | |
not apply to very many people in here, by definition they're | :55:37. | :55:39. | |
assiduous members by the fact that they're here at this debate. I hope | :55:40. | :55:43. | |
we take that lesson to heart that there is a divide in society. There | :55:44. | :55:48. | |
is a divide in our country and it is incumbent upon us to do something | :55:49. | :55:52. | |
about that. I'd like to raise three very quick cases just to | :55:53. | :55:57. | |
demonstrate, if you like, the breadth of the things that members | :55:58. | :56:02. | |
of Parliament deal with. But also, as an excuse to thank people who | :56:03. | :56:06. | |
have been involved, as all of us know in helping us on our case work | :56:07. | :56:10. | |
and helping us to be good members of Parliament. In my own case and I'm | :56:11. | :56:15. | |
sure, I hope, I speak for everyone here, in thanking my staff, both in | :56:16. | :56:22. | |
Westminster and in the constituency, who across the House make us the | :56:23. | :56:26. | |
members of Parliament that we are. I would like to place that very much | :56:27. | :56:33. | |
on record. One particular case to highlight that. My constituency | :56:34. | :56:37. | |
staff worked incredibly hard to help a young man called Max Buxton. He's | :56:38. | :56:44. | |
got a severe hearing impairment. He was on an apprenticeship. In order | :56:45. | :56:50. | |
to progress in his work and his employer was glowing about Max and | :56:51. | :56:54. | |
the energy and dedication he displayed at work, he had to climb | :56:55. | :57:00. | |
the apprenticeship ladder. In order to do that, he had to pass his | :57:01. | :57:05. | |
English qualification. Unfortunately for Max and for many, many other | :57:06. | :57:10. | |
young people, young men and women, their first language is British sign | :57:11. | :57:16. | |
language. It's actually very, very difficult to understand English, | :57:17. | :57:20. | |
even in - particularly written English. So my staff at my request | :57:21. | :57:29. | |
raised this over and over again with the relevant ministry and after | :57:30. | :57:32. | |
many, many months, I won't go into the detail of the case, but after | :57:33. | :57:40. | |
many months, it fell to me to do something which has changed the | :57:41. | :57:47. | |
rules around qualification for climbing that apprenticeship ladder. | :57:48. | :57:50. | |
On a visit to the minister recently, he said that he was going to look at | :57:51. | :57:56. | |
and indeed change the rules around British sign language so that it can | :57:57. | :58:01. | |
be equivalent to the English qualification. That is wonderful | :58:02. | :58:04. | |
news for Max. It's wonderful news for colleagues in other | :58:05. | :58:07. | |
constituencies who have similar problems and I think that is the way | :58:08. | :58:12. | |
we work in that the work that you, if I may use that expression, Madam | :58:13. | :58:17. | |
Deputy Speaker, that you in the chair, but colleagues throughout the | :58:18. | :58:21. | |
House, when you win a case for your own constituent, you are also | :58:22. | :58:27. | |
winning it, very often, for many other constituents, particularly we | :58:28. | :58:30. | |
can help Government to see the light of all colours and change the rules. | :58:31. | :58:37. | |
Also, I was able to, by working closely with people from another | :58:38. | :58:43. | |
constituency, happened to be Hull, help children in my constituency | :58:44. | :58:48. | |
take up the free dental check that is there for all children. It was | :58:49. | :58:51. | |
something we tried to do locally. We couldn't do it as well as we wanted | :58:52. | :59:00. | |
to. So we used an example of a practice called teeth team and Chris | :59:01. | :59:04. | |
Groombridge and his team came over and are continuing to help us. The | :59:05. | :59:09. | |
moral of this story and this brief intervention, Madam Deputy Speaker, | :59:10. | :59:14. | |
is if we continue to work together in this House cross-party on the big | :59:15. | :59:18. | |
issues and the small, we can actually change our society and the | :59:19. | :59:21. | |
lives of our constituents for the better. Thank you very much, Madam | :59:22. | :59:28. | |
Deputy Speaker. It is always a pleasure to follow the honourable | :59:29. | :59:31. | |
gentleman for Nottingham north and hear, in this case, how he has been | :59:32. | :59:36. | |
getting his teeth into his local constituency issues for the good of | :59:37. | :59:39. | |
us all. Forgive the pun. Today, Madam Deputy Speaker, I would like | :59:40. | :59:43. | |
to speak for the constituents of Norwich north on the subject of | :59:44. | :59:47. | |
exiting the European Union. Brits have just taken part in a giant | :59:48. | :59:51. | |
democratic exercise about that relationship. I thank people, | :59:52. | :59:55. | |
whatever way they voted and whatever lies ahead. The result was clear, | :59:56. | :00:00. | |
and hard work now has to follow to put the country's wishes into | :00:01. | :00:04. | |
practice. We all want what's best for Britain and should do this in a | :00:05. | :00:09. | |
calm and thoughtful way. My view is that our membership of the European | :00:10. | :00:14. | |
Union is a fundamental constitutional question, one which | :00:15. | :00:18. | |
could not have been ducked forever. I am a democratic and it was right | :00:19. | :00:22. | |
to use a referendum to settle that kind of question. It raises | :00:23. | :00:25. | |
arguments about what this means for the future of our Parliamentary | :00:26. | :00:28. | |
democracy, if we can hold a referendum on this, then why not on | :00:29. | :00:32. | |
everything else? Do we need a Parliament? But there is a very | :00:33. | :00:36. | |
clear distinction to be made. There are fundamental constitutional | :00:37. | :00:38. | |
questions such as this one. It's right to put those decisions | :00:39. | :00:45. | |
directly to the people. The detail and practical implementation is the | :00:46. | :00:48. | |
job of the executive, scrutinised by members of Parliament. The majority | :00:49. | :00:53. | |
wish in this referendum is a clear instruction to Parliament. Like many | :00:54. | :00:58. | |
MPs, I am sure I've had hundreds of people be in touch since the result | :00:59. | :01:02. | |
reflecting upon it. In my constituency mail most of these | :01:03. | :01:05. | |
voted Remain and are understandably worried about the future therefore. | :01:06. | :01:09. | |
Norwich did vote by a majority to remain. Now that refers to the | :01:10. | :01:13. | |
Norwich City Council area. My own constituency is not the same as this | :01:14. | :01:17. | |
area. It is never a simple maths job to speak in this place for all | :01:18. | :01:23. | |
constituents on this issue or on any other issue. Before the poll most | :01:24. | :01:26. | |
constituents that got in touch wanted to persuade me to vote out | :01:27. | :01:31. | |
and after the poll, I'm hearing most from people who want to persuade me | :01:32. | :01:36. | |
to vote against going out. This does remind us, there is a silent | :01:37. | :01:39. | |
majority that never gets in touch with their member of Parliament. | :01:40. | :01:42. | |
Counting all those people together who've been in touch on either side | :01:43. | :01:47. | |
of the debate still numbers only a few hundred out of the 67,000 that I | :01:48. | :01:52. | |
represent. So I welcome any tool, like a referendum, that encourages | :01:53. | :01:57. | |
so many more to be heard. However, it's clear to me, that the point of | :01:58. | :02:02. | |
a referendum is then that the whole electorate counts together, the | :02:03. | :02:03. | |
whole of the UK. It continues to be my job to | :02:04. | :02:20. | |
represent everyone in Norwich North, no matter what way they voted on | :02:21. | :02:24. | |
this issue. Some are reflecting on how the poll was run, concerned a | :02:25. | :02:29. | |
simple majority was used to define the result on complex question. | :02:30. | :02:36. | |
Referenda are decided on simple majorities and consistency is | :02:37. | :02:43. | |
important and it allows us to have a democratic process. A healthy | :02:44. | :02:48. | |
democratic society accepts the result, recognises the concerns the | :02:49. | :02:51. | |
other side has, and then coming together in unity. Whilst some are | :02:52. | :02:57. | |
celebrating in my constituency, others are unhappy, but we cannot | :02:58. | :03:00. | |
deny the result or denigrate fellow citizens. Norwich is a proud and old | :03:01. | :03:08. | |
city, but with a youthful population. Some constituents share | :03:09. | :03:12. | |
my deep concern about the generational rift exposed by the | :03:13. | :03:17. | |
referendum. What happened in age terms was quite clear. A large | :03:18. | :03:21. | |
majority of younger voters opted in and a large majority of older voters | :03:22. | :03:27. | |
opted out. The younger generation was now outvoted and many are | :03:28. | :03:32. | |
contemplating the result and are concerned about their future. I am | :03:33. | :03:38. | |
always concerned by turnout rates in which younger people generally vote | :03:39. | :03:41. | |
less than their elders in Britain. Never mind that it is an old or a | :03:42. | :03:47. | |
new battle or a new and an old issue, but we have not got younger | :03:48. | :03:51. | |
voters coming out in enough numbers to fight any battles at all. | :03:52. | :03:56. | |
Democracy works for those who take part and if you care about | :03:57. | :04:01. | |
something, you have to be there. There are not many excuses in a | :04:02. | :04:05. | |
major democratic event. Considering many people around the world still | :04:06. | :04:09. | |
die for one person, one vote, we must support robust politics that | :04:10. | :04:17. | |
mean something. I call on the next Prime Minister to heal this | :04:18. | :04:21. | |
division. The health of democracy depends on all to be represented and | :04:22. | :04:24. | |
it must balance the needs of different generations and it is the | :04:25. | :04:28. | |
duty and opportunity of the new government to reach out to new and | :04:29. | :04:32. | |
young voters now to offer them a future. On precisely that point and | :04:33. | :04:40. | |
given her participation in the APPG on voter participation, which he | :04:41. | :04:44. | |
seriously look at automatic registration in order that we | :04:45. | :04:47. | |
actually get young people to the point where they can actually use | :04:48. | :04:53. | |
their vote? She knows I look seriously at all these issues and I | :04:54. | :04:59. | |
have helped bring forward a report that goes into that option and a | :05:00. | :05:04. | |
number of others to ensure as many people as possible are registered to | :05:05. | :05:10. | |
vote. I know she has worked in some detail on this issue. Let me talk | :05:11. | :05:16. | |
about EU nationals in my constituency, several thousands, | :05:17. | :05:20. | |
friends, colleagues, family members. I welcome the government's early | :05:21. | :05:23. | |
reassured that there has been no change to the rights and status of | :05:24. | :05:28. | |
those people and confirm that the government fully expect their status | :05:29. | :05:37. | |
to be protective, alongside those of our citizens living in other | :05:38. | :05:44. | |
European countries. Norwich is a friendly and welcoming city and I | :05:45. | :05:48. | |
was concerned like many in our city at an arson attack on a shop. It is | :05:49. | :05:56. | |
too early to rush to any conclusions about the motives, but whether it | :05:57. | :06:00. | |
was racist or plain criminal, it is hateful behaviour and it has no | :06:01. | :06:05. | |
place. The response of the community has been impressive. Norwich does | :06:06. | :06:09. | |
not welcome racism or any form of aggression. Those who have made | :06:10. | :06:13. | |
Great Britain their home are respected and valued. The referendum | :06:14. | :06:17. | |
result provides a clear instruction to the government, a majority of | :06:18. | :06:23. | |
which is for a change in the way Britain handles immigration from | :06:24. | :06:27. | |
Europe. However, to leave the EU must not mean leaving behind a | :06:28. | :06:30. | |
strong economy or a strong cultural exchange. One in almost every ten | :06:31. | :06:37. | |
jobs is linked to trade with the EU and we want to build on that. The | :06:38. | :06:41. | |
case for remaining was to maintain the rules for half of our global | :06:42. | :06:48. | |
trade. The case by making a success out of leaving is to look now to the | :06:49. | :06:52. | |
other half. I welcome the appointment of the relevant set of | :06:53. | :06:57. | |
new ministers who are focused on that. Norwich in particular needs a | :06:58. | :07:04. | |
good deal of financial services. That sector makes the largest single | :07:05. | :07:08. | |
contribution to the economy of Norfolk and Suffolk. Norwich is the | :07:09. | :07:13. | |
largest general insurance Centre in the UK with a heritage going back | :07:14. | :07:17. | |
more than 200 years and going strong today employing thousands of people. | :07:18. | :07:23. | |
Firms now be looking for a technical environment of regulation that | :07:24. | :07:25. | |
allows them to thrive in the UK and outside London. In Norwich we expect | :07:26. | :07:32. | |
to be able to do the same with our exciting digital and technology | :07:33. | :07:34. | |
sectors to attract investment and talent. We enjoy an ambitious | :07:35. | :07:39. | |
science sector, a thriving cultural scene and a strong tourism industry. | :07:40. | :07:44. | |
All of this requires an outward looking attitude if Britain is to | :07:45. | :07:51. | |
remain a successful economy, jobs and livelihoods in my constituency | :07:52. | :07:55. | |
depend upon it. Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I want to raise an | :07:56. | :08:02. | |
issue that is of extreme importance to my Stirling constituency and it | :08:03. | :08:09. | |
is to do with Liz Hill. It is a beautiful area of woodland to the of | :08:10. | :08:11. | |
sterling. The spelling is Gillies. It is the | :08:12. | :08:27. | |
Gillies hill. It has an historic association with the Battle of | :08:28. | :08:31. | |
Bannockburn. It is reputed to be where the Gillies, the small folk | :08:32. | :08:37. | |
who followed the Scottish army to the Battle of Bannockburn, that is | :08:38. | :08:40. | |
where they were camped in that the turning point in the Battle they | :08:41. | :08:46. | |
rattled the pots and pans and acted as if it was reinforcements and the | :08:47. | :08:49. | |
English army turned and broke. Whether or not they agree on the | :08:50. | :08:54. | |
truth of that, I will leave that to these stories to argue about. It has | :08:55. | :09:00. | |
been called Gillies Hill for several hundred years and it is extremely | :09:01. | :09:04. | |
important. Why is it controversial now? There is an application for | :09:05. | :09:10. | |
quarrying. There was previously quarrying of a large chunk of that | :09:11. | :09:16. | |
historic and spectacular area regrettably in the 1980s. It was | :09:17. | :09:19. | |
controversial than when I was growing up in a village on the side | :09:20. | :09:24. | |
of the Gillies Hill. I remember well on a daily basis there were massive | :09:25. | :09:29. | |
trucks carrying the debt which is a way, driving through the village and | :09:30. | :09:35. | |
there were instances of bits of rock landing on people's and causing | :09:36. | :09:41. | |
damage. The quarrying stopped in the early 90s and it was to finish in | :09:42. | :09:49. | |
2007, when the extent of the permission would be up. It was | :09:50. | :09:54. | |
therefore disappointing that I remember being out in January in | :09:55. | :10:01. | |
2007 and knocking on doors in Causeway head and we felt the ground | :10:02. | :10:06. | |
shake literally from about five miles away and it was test blasting | :10:07. | :10:12. | |
for renewed quarrying. Stirling Council had extended the permission | :10:13. | :10:17. | |
because you European directive and they extended the permission to the | :10:18. | :10:25. | |
2040s. Nobody knew. In essence there was a virtual permission granted | :10:26. | :10:29. | |
right through and the potential for this historic Hill being destroyed, | :10:30. | :10:33. | |
as a large chunk of it already has been. It is a question really. Is | :10:34. | :10:40. | |
planning the responsibility of the Westminster Parliament or is it a | :10:41. | :10:44. | |
Scottish national responsibility with regard to this quarry? It is | :10:45. | :10:51. | |
now devolved to Scotland. The original quarrying legislation, and | :10:52. | :10:57. | |
indeed some of the things still in force, is an act of this parliament | :10:58. | :11:01. | |
because it was back a number of decades. So, yes, strictly speaking | :11:02. | :11:06. | |
planning is with the Scottish parliament, but the ad on which this | :11:07. | :11:10. | |
was based was formed down here. This is not a criticism of this place. | :11:11. | :11:15. | |
Quarrying has its place, however this is the wrong place for it. | :11:16. | :11:21. | |
There is a local campaign against it. Hundreds of people joined the | :11:22. | :11:27. | |
march a few weeks ago when we walked to the Bannockburn battlefield, | :11:28. | :11:30. | |
several hundred people protesting against quarrying in this area. A | :11:31. | :11:35. | |
look at the Gillies Hill website, which members will now be interested | :11:36. | :11:44. | |
in, gives a lot of information about why this campaign is important as | :11:45. | :11:51. | |
well as the history of the Hill. There are a lot of endangered | :11:52. | :11:57. | |
species, protected wildlife, red squirrels, badgers and peregrines. | :11:58. | :12:00. | |
It is used for pleasure and recreation, running, bicycles, | :12:01. | :12:05. | |
motorbikes, horses. It a fantastic resource. From the top of the hill | :12:06. | :12:12. | |
you can look down upon Stirling Castle several miles to the north | :12:13. | :12:16. | |
and over Stirling Castle to the Wallace Monument. So, we have this | :12:17. | :12:24. | |
campaign ongoing in terms of trying to fight this. It has got to the | :12:25. | :12:27. | |
stage where there are two things I want to highlight. A planning | :12:28. | :12:32. | |
application has been made for permission to begin the new | :12:33. | :12:37. | |
quarrying of this site and taking a further chunk out of that area. That | :12:38. | :12:41. | |
will have to be dealt with in the normal way. It has been approved by | :12:42. | :12:47. | |
the Scottish Government on the ground that the Stirling Council did | :12:48. | :12:50. | |
not determine it. That is regrettable. However, what else has | :12:51. | :12:56. | |
happened is that in my time as a local councillor I was concerned | :12:57. | :13:01. | |
about this and we investigated every avenue we could think of in order to | :13:02. | :13:06. | |
find a way to stop the quarrying of this historic and significant area | :13:07. | :13:11. | |
and one of the areas we looked at was under the National Parks and | :13:12. | :13:15. | |
access to the countryside act of 1949, a Westminster act, a way of | :13:16. | :13:19. | |
designating the area as a local nature reserve. That might be a way | :13:20. | :13:24. | |
of making quarrying something that could not happen in that area. We | :13:25. | :13:30. | |
looked into that and I asked the local council when I was a | :13:31. | :13:35. | |
councillor and there was unanimous agreement to come back with options | :13:36. | :13:40. | |
and give us a cost involved. It may lead to a compulsory purchase of all | :13:41. | :13:44. | |
or part of the hill in order to promote it to be a local nature | :13:45. | :13:48. | |
reserve and give it the protection it needs to be afforded. | :13:49. | :13:54. | |
Unfortunately two years later, no action appears to have been taken by | :13:55. | :13:57. | |
the council, which is to be regretted. I have now asked the | :13:58. | :14:04. | |
council to go away and get this information to the councillors so | :14:05. | :14:07. | |
they have that information to hand, and also so the wider public are | :14:08. | :14:12. | |
aware of what would be involved in granting Gillies Hill the protection | :14:13. | :14:17. | |
it is entitled to. I am hoping the council take my remarks on board and | :14:18. | :14:20. | |
they recognise they have been asked by all members of the Council, by | :14:21. | :14:25. | |
all parties, to get this information on what would be involved in giving | :14:26. | :14:29. | |
Gillies Hill protection and prevent quarrying from going forward. I hope | :14:30. | :14:35. | |
this information comes sooner and particularly now we have a live | :14:36. | :14:39. | |
planning application that will be determined later on this year. Given | :14:40. | :14:44. | |
they have had two years to get this information to the Council and the | :14:45. | :14:50. | |
public, I very much hope, in fact I demand this council gets the | :14:51. | :14:53. | |
information they have been asked for in the public domain so we can have | :14:54. | :14:57. | |
a proper debate in the time that is left. The good thing about the | :14:58. | :15:03. | |
planning application is that designating this area as a local | :15:04. | :15:06. | |
nature reserve would not impinge on planning, it stands separate from it | :15:07. | :15:11. | |
and it is something practical that we could do to offer Gillies Hill | :15:12. | :15:16. | |
protection. I am grateful for the opportunity to raise this important | :15:17. | :15:22. | |
issue for my constituency. It is a privilege to follow the honourable | :15:23. | :15:26. | |
member from Stirling and Staffordshire is often used as the | :15:27. | :15:29. | |
quarry for the whole of the Midlands, I very much sympathise | :15:30. | :15:34. | |
with what he is saying. It is also a great honour to follow my honourable | :15:35. | :15:40. | |
friend for Norwich North with a very thoughtful speech. On Monday I was | :15:41. | :15:46. | |
able to see two reasons why there is great hope in Stafford for the | :15:47. | :15:51. | |
economic future. One was the almost complete General Electric factory on | :15:52. | :15:56. | |
the Redhill business park which the County Council set up a few years | :15:57. | :16:01. | |
ago and is going to be an extremely important source of employment and | :16:02. | :16:07. | |
innovation. They will base their automation division there. The | :16:08. | :16:12. | |
second was to visit biomass, a manufacturing and design company | :16:13. | :16:20. | |
that makes equipment, in this case it was a gas plant for Northern | :16:21. | :16:26. | |
Ireland for the bombard EA works in Belfast which will be powered by | :16:27. | :16:34. | |
waste and is one of the reasons why it will be successful in Belfast | :16:35. | :16:37. | |
because it will help reduce its energy costs. As a result of many | :16:38. | :16:44. | |
other initiatives, the jobseeker's allowance applicants have gone down | :16:45. | :16:47. | |
to 1% in Stafford over the last six years. In that time we have also | :16:48. | :16:54. | |
welcomed two new signals regiments, number one and number 16, and they | :16:55. | :16:58. | |
are already playing a major role in the life of our community. Stafford | :16:59. | :17:02. | |
has welcomed them and they have been a welcome addition to our community. | :17:03. | :17:07. | |
We also have a new retail development which is about to open | :17:08. | :17:13. | |
in the coming two months. We need to ensure this does not suck the life | :17:14. | :17:16. | |
out of the middle of our town centre. I know the borough council | :17:17. | :17:21. | |
is working with many, including me, to see what we can do to ensure we | :17:22. | :17:26. | |
bring more life into our beautiful town centre. | :17:27. | :17:36. | |
Staffordshire has an excellent volunteering organisation, | :17:37. | :17:44. | |
Staffordshire women's aid. They have just opened a new refuge and I hope | :17:45. | :17:52. | |
my colleagues will come and open it at some point. Stafford is also | :17:53. | :18:03. | |
building a large number of houses. By and large, the houses are being | :18:04. | :18:09. | |
in the right place. I would like to point out the problems that | :18:10. | :18:13. | |
speculative development brings. When you have a good local plan, there is | :18:14. | :18:17. | |
no need for speculation because we have the number of houses planned | :18:18. | :18:22. | |
that we need. Speculative development just wastes time. I | :18:23. | :18:30. | |
would like to thank my friend for his support following the closure of | :18:31. | :18:34. | |
the power station in my constituency and I was wondering if he would join | :18:35. | :18:39. | |
me in trying to get all parties to do everything they can to get that | :18:40. | :18:44. | |
site redeveloped as quickly as possible. Of course, and might | :18:45. | :18:50. | |
honourable friend has done an incredible work on that. I will | :18:51. | :18:56. | |
support in any way I can because it is on the boundary of my | :18:57. | :19:01. | |
constituency as well. Two is a quick points about housing and planning. | :19:02. | :19:05. | |
One is the lack of enforcement. I have raised this before. It is | :19:06. | :19:09. | |
important that when permission is given, it is carried out in the way | :19:10. | :19:14. | |
it is given and builders and developers do not try to add bits or | :19:15. | :19:19. | |
take away bits that have not been approved. Secondly, could we find a | :19:20. | :19:23. | |
way to ensure that the new roads into new housing estates are quickly | :19:24. | :19:27. | |
available on maps and especially electronic maps. For many months or | :19:28. | :19:34. | |
years, those roads do not appear so people do not how to get to the new | :19:35. | :19:38. | |
houses being built. I want to talk briefly about health. Our hospital | :19:39. | :19:47. | |
is now doing well. The accident and emergency Department is seeing more | :19:48. | :19:52. | |
people in 14 hours a day than it did in 24 hours at its peak. I will | :19:53. | :19:57. | |
continue to urge for the restoration of 24-hour services which I believe | :19:58. | :20:01. | |
is vital. We are seeing refurbishment of many of the wards | :20:02. | :20:06. | |
in the hospital. The stroke unit at Stafford is under review. This is a | :20:07. | :20:11. | |
rehabilitation work and many of my constituents have pointed out how | :20:12. | :20:16. | |
important it is. It is all very well talking about helping people to be | :20:17. | :20:20. | |
rehabilitated at home. If that is best for the patient, fine, but | :20:21. | :20:23. | |
there are cases where patients are better served by going as day cases | :20:24. | :20:28. | |
or four if you hours to the rehabilitation ward in Stafford. I | :20:29. | :20:36. | |
also raised this morning the question of drug and alcohol | :20:37. | :20:40. | |
treatment. We are facing a potential cut of up to half in funding for | :20:41. | :20:47. | |
that, potentially closing the service. This House to be stopped | :20:48. | :20:54. | |
somehow. I also raised the question of health visitors. The money | :20:55. | :20:58. | |
dedicated to health visitors is under review if not being cut. | :20:59. | :21:03. | |
Health visitors play a vital role in Staffordshire and across the | :21:04. | :21:08. | |
country. Reducing the numbers would be counter-productive and will only | :21:09. | :21:11. | |
lead to more pressure on acute hospitals. The funding of the NHS is | :21:12. | :21:17. | |
a long-term issue and that is why I have joined with The Member For | :21:18. | :21:26. | |
North Norfolk and the right honourable member for, his | :21:27. | :21:30. | |
constituency has gone out of my mind, the former Secretary of State | :21:31. | :21:36. | |
for DWP, for Birkenhead, of course. We are looking at ways we can do | :21:37. | :21:42. | |
more, look at a longer term funding picture for the NHS and social care, | :21:43. | :21:48. | |
because it is quite clear that after 2020, even if the current plans go | :21:49. | :21:53. | |
ahead, and I support them, we will see major holes in health service | :21:54. | :21:59. | |
funding. On transport, I raised in the leader's questions last week, | :22:00. | :22:04. | |
the transport Select Committee wrote an excellent report and I would ask | :22:05. | :22:09. | |
the government to look at this most carefully. I believe that some of | :22:10. | :22:13. | |
this for Lee and running is dangerous. It is now proposed for | :22:14. | :22:19. | |
junctions 13, 14 and 15 in my constituency and before this goes | :22:20. | :22:25. | |
ahead I want them to look at having the system that operates on the M 42 | :22:26. | :22:30. | |
Smart motorway bridge a better system than the permanent for the | :22:31. | :22:34. | |
running we have seen elsewhere. As far as real is concerned, we have | :22:35. | :22:40. | |
had the Norton Bridge viaduct put in on the West Coast Main Line. That is | :22:41. | :22:45. | |
bringing great improvements and I am in favour of this, just as I am | :22:46. | :22:51. | |
against HS2, continue to be against HS2, because there are much better | :22:52. | :22:58. | |
alternatives. There are alternatives which are, in my view, cheaper and | :22:59. | :23:03. | |
provide greater conductivity for more cities across the country. Just | :23:04. | :23:10. | |
finally on real, there is a proposal for a massive real freight | :23:11. | :23:13. | |
interchange in my constituency, which would take up many, many acres | :23:14. | :23:18. | |
of green belt. We have a look at this most carefully. The proposals | :23:19. | :23:24. | |
put forward by the developers are simply not acceptable. They have two | :23:25. | :23:28. | |
be looked at very carefully. It is a national issue but I would urge the | :23:29. | :23:32. | |
Minister to look at this most carefully to see if they're not | :23:33. | :23:34. | |
alternative sites for this interchange. | :23:35. | :23:56. | |
To the attention of the government again. When giving evidence to the | :23:57. | :24:05. | |
Defence Select Committee for the 26 frigates, first Sea Lord and chief | :24:06. | :24:09. | |
of the Naval staff, Tony Douglas, in response to a question on when the | :24:10. | :24:14. | |
type 26 design would be approved replied, and I quote, I cannot give | :24:15. | :24:18. | |
you a time and date, it could be next year. This suggestion could | :24:19. | :24:23. | |
place the type 26 programme in the Clyde into an indefinite delay. That | :24:24. | :24:27. | |
would be wholly unacceptable and nothing short of a betrayal of the | :24:28. | :24:31. | |
workers on the Clyde. The Ministry of Defence needed to be clear, open | :24:32. | :24:37. | |
and honest about the level of uncertainty that the type 26 | :24:38. | :24:43. | |
programme faces. The new defence procurement Minister could give no | :24:44. | :24:47. | |
assurances on the future of the contract, which were promised to the | :24:48. | :24:51. | |
Clyde shipyards. The future of the programme has been cast into very | :24:52. | :24:56. | |
serious doubt and this news came less than 24 hours after the | :24:57. | :25:05. | |
Tories... They voted on Mass for the renewal of Trident. A blank cheque | :25:06. | :25:10. | |
has effectively been written for weapons of mass destruction. My | :25:11. | :25:15. | |
honourable friend asked the Defence Secretary on Monday if the massive | :25:16. | :25:21. | |
expense of Trident in the analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies, | :25:22. | :25:27. | |
that GDP might be reduced by up to 3.5% as a result of the Brexit vote | :25:28. | :25:31. | |
and would result in a backward in public finances of up to ?40 billion | :25:32. | :25:36. | |
in 2020 and what that meant for defence procurement. The Defence | :25:37. | :25:41. | |
Secretary could not give an answer. I will give way. I think economists | :25:42. | :25:50. | |
seem to get it consistently wrong. They got it wrong on Brexit. They | :25:51. | :25:56. | |
can't talk about 2040, they cannot get it right for next week as far as | :25:57. | :26:00. | |
I can see. Their forecasts are always wrong. I thank the honourable | :26:01. | :26:08. | |
member for his intervention, however it doesn't matter what you think it | :26:09. | :26:13. | |
is, we will be spending up to ?205 billion on a weapon of mass | :26:14. | :26:15. | |
destruction that could kill hundreds of thousands of people worldwide and | :26:16. | :26:21. | |
is based in Scotland, so, I am sorry if I do not agree with the | :26:22. | :26:26. | |
honourable member. The nuclear weapons programme has a knock-on | :26:27. | :26:29. | |
effect to the rest of the defence procurement budget. With other | :26:30. | :26:33. | |
massive projects in the pipelines, such as the type 26 frigates, the | :26:34. | :26:37. | |
ring fencing and generous contingencies given to Trident is | :26:38. | :26:42. | |
affecting this project and it would appear that the workers in the Clyde | :26:43. | :26:45. | |
are paying the price for the obsession in the benches of -- | :26:46. | :26:50. | |
opposite with Trident. I cannot stress how much of a betrayal this | :26:51. | :26:55. | |
is to those shipyard workers, to their families and the communities | :26:56. | :26:59. | |
that depend on this work. We have had assurance after assurance from | :27:00. | :27:04. | |
the UK Government in this place and in Scotland and now we are suffering | :27:05. | :27:09. | |
from the continuing uncertainty and mismanagement of the type 26 | :27:10. | :27:13. | |
programme. Every penny spent on Trident is a penny less spent on | :27:14. | :27:17. | |
conventional defence, including the type 26 frigates programme. GMB | :27:18. | :27:24. | |
Scotland organiser Gary Cook admitted in April that the type 26 | :27:25. | :27:30. | |
programme, it had 750 million removed from its budget. During the | :27:31. | :27:34. | |
debate on Monday, the issue of jobs were brought up. When we voiced | :27:35. | :27:38. | |
concern about weapons of mass destruction, we are told to shut up | :27:39. | :27:42. | |
and be grateful for the jobs. They are doubtlessly at the expense of | :27:43. | :27:47. | |
other livelihoods and it seems the government only care about defence | :27:48. | :27:51. | |
jobs when it suits their agenda. The e-mails have shown that delays in | :27:52. | :27:55. | |
the type 26 combat vessels are to cost the taxpayer more money than | :27:56. | :28:02. | |
falsehood. The type 26 frigates were due to be built by the AE systems | :28:03. | :28:06. | |
with work beginning in December. The MOD then asked for savings of ?500 | :28:07. | :28:13. | |
million to be made over five years, refusing the offer from BAE Systems | :28:14. | :28:18. | |
to save ?275 million and begin the work on time. The delays have now | :28:19. | :28:24. | |
put jobs at work are at risk. The delays in building work will end up | :28:25. | :28:27. | |
costing the taxpayer more money in the long term, which has been echoed | :28:28. | :28:35. | |
by admirable Lord West. The delays showed the ideological obsession of | :28:36. | :28:40. | |
the government with making cuts, it was. I got back on the deal and | :28:41. | :28:44. | |
rejected the offer from BAE Systems to make savings were beginning the | :28:45. | :28:49. | |
work on time, the Tories have confirmed that they are prepared to | :28:50. | :28:53. | |
put jobs at risk and waste taxpayer money pursuing cuts across all | :28:54. | :29:01. | |
sectors of government. The point is coming through here that assurances | :29:02. | :29:05. | |
were given to workers on the Clyde in 2014. Promises were made and they | :29:06. | :29:10. | |
have been betrayed. In a week where we have committed to a 40 year | :29:11. | :29:15. | |
programme on Trident, that sticks in the crop that these workers are | :29:16. | :29:19. | |
waiting to have the promises made in 2014 delivered. He takes the words | :29:20. | :29:27. | |
right out of my mouth. I was about to say that Scotland has come to | :29:28. | :29:32. | |
expect cuts and broken promises from this government and we remembered | :29:33. | :29:35. | |
the pledges that were made a couple of years ago. The Tory government | :29:36. | :29:41. | |
told us during the independence referendum that jobs in shipbuilding | :29:42. | :29:45. | |
would be safe if Scotland voted no. Their promises were made to the | :29:46. | :29:51. | |
workers in the Clyde before the referendum. It is an unforgivable | :29:52. | :29:56. | |
betrayal of the workforce and people in Glasgow and across Scotland would | :29:57. | :30:01. | |
not be quick to forget. Now, Madam Deputy Speaker, on a lighter note, | :30:02. | :30:07. | |
not that that is out of the way, I would like to take this opportunity | :30:08. | :30:12. | |
to wish the Speaker, his deputies and all House of Commons members a | :30:13. | :30:17. | |
very enjoyable, relaxing and safe summer recess. I wish to thank all | :30:18. | :30:22. | |
the estate staff, including the table office, the House of Commons | :30:23. | :30:25. | |
library, committee doorkeepers and all the people in the tea rooms. A | :30:26. | :30:34. | |
special thanks have to go to the clerks and staff ago after myself | :30:35. | :30:38. | |
and other honourable members in the Scottish affairs committee. I wanted | :30:39. | :30:43. | |
to get that on record. I spent my time, as all others will, back in my | :30:44. | :30:49. | |
constituency, working hard. We have to put in a break to recharge our | :30:50. | :30:53. | |
batteries before returning to Parliament in September, so I wish | :30:54. | :31:02. | |
every member a happy summer. A little over a year ago, I had the | :31:03. | :31:07. | |
privilege of delivering my maiden speech, during which I set out my | :31:08. | :31:11. | |
pledges to my constituents. I emphasised the point that it is not | :31:12. | :31:15. | |
where you come from but when you are going and it is our duty in the | :31:16. | :31:19. | |
cells to create opportunities. I would like to use this debate to | :31:20. | :31:23. | |
discuss the engineering skills gap and the work I have done to open up | :31:24. | :31:28. | |
opportunities in my constituency. One of my key pledges was to back | :31:29. | :31:33. | |
business and help them create and retain local jobs and encourage more | :31:34. | :31:38. | |
apprenticeship schemes. Ensuring that got people young and old are | :31:39. | :31:41. | |
aware of the fantastic opportunities available in Wiltshire. Inspired | :31:42. | :31:46. | |
them to know that we have some leading companies, the list is | :31:47. | :31:55. | |
endless, in the past year I have visited over 100 local businesses to | :31:56. | :31:58. | |
learn more about what the government can do to support them and what they | :31:59. | :32:06. | |
need. I must stress, it is business as, job creators, good job -- jobs | :32:07. | :32:14. | |
and put food on the table in my constituency, not politicians. We | :32:15. | :32:19. | |
have record levels of employment. This was boosted yesterday by the | :32:20. | :32:23. | |
features that came out. Record numbers of apprenticeship schemes. | :32:24. | :32:27. | |
There is still a lot more to do the nature of disadvantaged get | :32:28. | :32:29. | |
opportunities and to tackle the problem we have with long-term | :32:30. | :32:35. | |
unemployment. The real issue in my constituency is one you find when | :32:36. | :32:39. | |
you look deeper. The real problem is the skills gap. The skills gap in | :32:40. | :32:44. | |
technical, design and engineering rules. In September this year, I am | :32:45. | :32:48. | |
holding the inaugural Wiltshire Festival of engineering where over | :32:49. | :32:53. | |
40 local manufacturing and engineering companies will be. They | :32:54. | :32:59. | |
will meet over 1200 local school pupils and the | :33:00. | :33:20. | |
I pledged also to address the infrastructure problems we have | :33:21. | :33:31. | |
locally. Unfortunately, due to time commitments, I cannot explain all | :33:32. | :33:37. | |
the things I have been doing to address the long-term traffic | :33:38. | :33:42. | |
problems. I would like to explore the topic of the letter that was | :33:43. | :33:45. | |
sent to the Prime Minister and the new Secretary of State today. It was | :33:46. | :33:50. | |
signed by myself and 86 colleagues from across the House, regarding a | :33:51. | :33:55. | |
slight tweak in the English baccalaureate which we believe will | :33:56. | :33:58. | |
dramatically improve the qualification. I have developed a | :33:59. | :34:04. | |
reputation in this house were banging the drum, but it is a | :34:05. | :34:10. | |
crucial topic. The campaign is to include the new vastly improved | :34:11. | :34:13. | |
design technology GCSE within the English baccalaureate qualification | :34:14. | :34:18. | |
and is supported by the likes of James Dyson foundation, the design | :34:19. | :34:23. | |
technology Association, there are Academy of engineering and a whole | :34:24. | :34:27. | |
host of other businesses and organisations across the country. | :34:28. | :34:32. | |
Early this year I held a Westminster debate on the topic which was very | :34:33. | :34:37. | |
well attended. Many of our constituents suffer from a skills | :34:38. | :34:41. | |
gap that fuels the national and local productivity crisis. The UK | :34:42. | :34:46. | |
faces a number of challenges with an annual shortage of 69,000 annually | :34:47. | :34:51. | |
trained engineers and with only 6% of the engineering workforce being | :34:52. | :34:57. | |
female. Businesses have been telling me they cannot recruit adequately. | :34:58. | :35:02. | |
This might not mean they just leave Wiltshire, but potentially the | :35:03. | :35:06. | |
country. It would turn our market towns into nearly dormitory towns, | :35:07. | :35:12. | |
threatening the very backbone of our communities. It is the government's | :35:13. | :35:17. | |
responsibility to ensure our education system serves our | :35:18. | :35:21. | |
businesses and our economic needs, as well as ensuring students are | :35:22. | :35:24. | |
encouraged into areas that will get them jobs. Despite the fact it has | :35:25. | :35:33. | |
been reformed, it still threatens to underline any progress being made | :35:34. | :35:36. | |
and the stigma associated with careers in engineering. There has | :35:37. | :35:43. | |
been a massive drop in the uptake of designer technology courses and | :35:44. | :35:48. | |
schools offering them. Students do not have the opportunity to taste | :35:49. | :35:53. | |
these types of careers, so how are they supposed to dispel stereotypes | :35:54. | :35:56. | |
and understand what these careers are about. There has been a great | :35:57. | :36:02. | |
deal of investment in designer technology as a chorus and it has | :36:03. | :36:08. | |
been designed over years and is robust, science -based and academic | :36:09. | :36:13. | |
and a valuable option is a GCSE. But this will come too late and it will | :36:14. | :36:20. | |
not stop the growing trend of the uptake of other subjects, meaning | :36:21. | :36:25. | |
that this chorus has been squeezed into a double option box. I hope the | :36:26. | :36:31. | |
new Prime Minister and Secretary of State will bear this in mind. There | :36:32. | :36:36. | |
is an opportunity to include it within the new baccalaureate is one | :36:37. | :36:43. | |
of the science qualifications. This opportunity must be seized upon and | :36:44. | :36:48. | |
I believe the skills shortage is a ticking time bomb and we must get to | :36:49. | :36:52. | |
the grips of it if we are to remain at the forefront of global product | :36:53. | :36:58. | |
design. Madame Deputy Speaker, we have a duty and an economic need to | :36:59. | :37:03. | |
plug the skills gap, both on a local level and a national level and to | :37:04. | :37:08. | |
address our productivity crisis. It is also threatening the very fabric | :37:09. | :37:11. | |
of the market towns in Wiltshire and up and down the country. I have | :37:12. | :37:16. | |
touched upon a few very brief areas of what we can do to improve the | :37:17. | :37:22. | |
situation, in particular reforming the baccalaureate. We must address | :37:23. | :37:28. | |
it to enable and encourage opportunities. If we do not, the | :37:29. | :37:32. | |
ticking time bomb will one day explode. Today at the High Court a | :37:33. | :37:42. | |
group of junior doctors asked the government to clarify its position | :37:43. | :37:46. | |
on the implementation of the new contract for junior doctors. The | :37:47. | :37:49. | |
High Court decided the Secretary of State may have a case to answer and | :37:50. | :37:53. | |
has given them more time to prepare their case. As if this situation | :37:54. | :38:00. | |
could not get any worse, yesterday the Secretary of State for Health | :38:01. | :38:04. | |
demanded ?150,000 in legal fees from those junior doctors. You may ask | :38:05. | :38:09. | |
yourself why this new member for tooting has been jumping up and down | :38:10. | :38:13. | |
in the three weeks since she has been sworn in. This is not about | :38:14. | :38:19. | |
party politics, it is about doing the right thing. Not once has the | :38:20. | :38:23. | |
Secretary of State had the best interests of the patients or doctors | :38:24. | :38:28. | |
at heart. His seven-day week proposal has been fundamentally | :38:29. | :38:32. | |
flawed from the start. But the Secretary of State will not be let | :38:33. | :38:39. | |
off. I will. I find it difficult, surely the Secretary of State for | :38:40. | :38:42. | |
Health is thinking of the patients when he says we ought to have a | :38:43. | :38:47. | |
seven day a week NHS and the ability to see a doctor seven days a week? | :38:48. | :38:53. | |
He is surely thinking of the patients? You may disagree with him, | :38:54. | :39:00. | |
but that is the case. Not once has the Secretary of State for Health | :39:01. | :39:03. | |
had the best interests of the pages or doctors at heart. His seven-day | :39:04. | :39:08. | |
week proposal has been fundamentally flawed from the start. The Secretary | :39:09. | :39:14. | |
of State will not be let off. The junior doctors dispute will not be | :39:15. | :39:18. | |
brushed under the carpet. The facts remain the same and he cannot try me | :39:19. | :39:24. | |
?150,000 if I speak out, so I will make the facts are known. Our | :39:25. | :39:30. | |
hospital departments are terribly underfunded. Staff morale is low, | :39:31. | :39:35. | |
there is a government hell-bent on breaking them. I have met hospital | :39:36. | :39:40. | |
doctors who have finished night shifts after working 12 hours and | :39:41. | :39:43. | |
gone straight onto the next day shift because there are not enough | :39:44. | :39:50. | |
staff to cover. If you are a doctor in 2016, you are constantly faced | :39:51. | :39:55. | |
with a decision. Finish your night shifts and go home, leaving your | :39:56. | :39:59. | |
overstretched team risking patient safety, or stay and work the extra | :40:00. | :40:04. | |
shift, knowing you will be working dangerously long hours without a | :40:05. | :40:08. | |
break again risking patient safety. This is not putting patients first. | :40:09. | :40:13. | |
The procedures set out by the Department of Health are not being | :40:14. | :40:18. | |
followed. The rule book set out to safeguard the women and men on the | :40:19. | :40:22. | |
NHS front line are not being followed. What will it take for this | :40:23. | :40:27. | |
government to realise the NHS is in crisis and the imposition of this | :40:28. | :40:30. | |
new contract will turn the crisis into a disaster? From the very | :40:31. | :40:36. | |
outset the junior doctors dispute has been based on false promise with | :40:37. | :40:43. | |
lack of robust evidence. If the Secretary of State for Health goes | :40:44. | :40:46. | |
into any hospital this weekend, he will notice it is already open and | :40:47. | :40:50. | |
providing the best possible service re-sources will allow. When I was | :40:51. | :40:56. | |
working as a doctor in St George 's Hospital in tooting I worked night | :40:57. | :41:01. | |
and weekend and by department operated 24 hours a day, seven days | :41:02. | :41:09. | |
a week. I want to put on record my appreciation and admiration for all | :41:10. | :41:12. | |
of the doctors, nurses, allied health professionals, receptionists, | :41:13. | :41:18. | |
admin staff and hospital porters who make hard to work this happen, who | :41:19. | :41:22. | |
are already keep our hospitals open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. | :41:23. | :41:28. | |
This government is attempting to open more NHS departments at the | :41:29. | :41:32. | |
weekend. But what we do not support is the attempt to create a fully | :41:33. | :41:38. | |
seven-day NHS with a stretched five-day team. It cannot be | :41:39. | :41:45. | |
delivered cost neutral, that is a fact. This will overstretched staff | :41:46. | :41:50. | |
leaving dangerous rotor gaps in the week and it undervalues the evening | :41:51. | :41:53. | |
and weekend time of our junior doctors. If the Secretary of State | :41:54. | :42:00. | |
goes ahead with this imposition without adequate resource, it is | :42:01. | :42:03. | |
patients who will pay the dangerous price. He expects the current pool | :42:04. | :42:10. | |
of staff to fill a bigger rotor and they will worsen during the weekdays | :42:11. | :42:16. | |
instead of the weekends. Before looking at changing contracts, he | :42:17. | :42:18. | |
must look at the recruitment and retention crisis. NHS struggles to | :42:19. | :42:25. | |
recruit doctors into acute specialities, such as my own, | :42:26. | :42:30. | |
emergency medicine. Young doctors start with high hopes and Ben Lee. | :42:31. | :42:36. | |
Junior doctors want protection from their employer, they want to know | :42:37. | :42:40. | |
that they can honestly report illegal working hours before they | :42:41. | :42:45. | |
become fatal. They do not have this because fundamentally the new | :42:46. | :42:51. | |
guardianship role mean they would be expected to report to the very | :42:52. | :42:53. | |
people who can influence the progression of their training and | :42:54. | :42:58. | |
the very people you may be applying the pressure to work longer, more | :42:59. | :43:02. | |
dangerous hours, therefore putting patient lives at risk. MSc in this | :43:03. | :43:08. | |
process is health education England, a group not covered by employment | :43:09. | :43:14. | |
law in the UK. Until this changes, junior doctors will fear speaking | :43:15. | :43:20. | |
up. The Secretary of State states that gender equality can be | :43:21. | :43:22. | |
sacrificed to meet a manifesto commitment. Not only is he not | :43:23. | :43:28. | |
acknowledging the deep sacrifices made to family life by young parents | :43:29. | :43:35. | |
to go on sale on the front line, he wants to further punish those who | :43:36. | :43:40. | |
do. How much more must they endure? I was a junior doctor for ten years | :43:41. | :43:46. | |
and I worked in an acute speciality, leaving behind my own babies to help | :43:47. | :43:51. | |
other families in times of need. I do not stand on a political soapbox. | :43:52. | :43:55. | |
I stand from experience, representing all of us who choose to | :43:56. | :44:02. | |
work in the NHS. I am calling on the Secretary of State for Health to | :44:03. | :44:04. | |
face me with guts and answer my questions. Onto a different topic, I | :44:05. | :44:11. | |
am very proud to come from tooting and represent the constituency. I | :44:12. | :44:15. | |
wish to talk about Crossrail if I may. There are regeneration and | :44:16. | :44:21. | |
economic benefits that Crossrail would bring to tooting Broadway. | :44:22. | :44:27. | |
Tooting high Street, Mitcham Road and tooting market would reap the | :44:28. | :44:32. | |
benefits. The opportunity to build hundreds of genuinely affordable | :44:33. | :44:34. | |
homes would help many local residents. Like me, those who are | :44:35. | :44:40. | |
having to read because they cannot afford to buy their own home. Balham | :44:41. | :44:45. | |
has seen many regeneration benefits and has a strong local economy and | :44:46. | :44:50. | |
the upheaval building a new station is something residents have voiced | :44:51. | :44:58. | |
worries about. I am very clear that Crossrail needs to come to tooting | :44:59. | :45:02. | |
Broadway and I will do everything I can as the MP for tooting to ensure | :45:03. | :45:08. | |
this happens. The transport benefit is greater and building a station | :45:09. | :45:13. | |
here would enable direct access to Wimbledon and Clapham Junction and | :45:14. | :45:16. | |
offer many new routes into central London. I am calling on the Mayor of | :45:17. | :45:22. | |
London and the Department for Transport to bring Crossrail to | :45:23. | :45:25. | |
tooting Broadway. I hope all of you will enjoy the summer recess. Can I | :45:26. | :45:32. | |
start by congratulating my honourable friend on his new role. | :45:33. | :45:37. | |
Trains have been a common theme this afternoon, so I thought I might | :45:38. | :45:40. | |
stick to this theme to start off with. I recently joined council | :45:41. | :45:45. | |
readers and the honourable member for Walsall South at an event to | :45:46. | :45:52. | |
look at the progress of electrification. Engineering works | :45:53. | :45:58. | |
that have been taking place in Walsall town centre have been truly | :45:59. | :46:03. | |
impressive. I have been amazed how the works have been undertaken | :46:04. | :46:06. | |
underneath all of the shots, but in such a way that they did not have to | :46:07. | :46:11. | |
close. Whilst the engineering works are due to be completed as planned | :46:12. | :46:17. | |
by the end of 2017, it has come to light that the electric trains | :46:18. | :46:22. | |
required may not be available for up to a year. This news came about | :46:23. | :46:28. | |
following various questions and letters I had been writing. I was | :46:29. | :46:33. | |
concerned about this, Madam Deputy Speaker. I was concerned about the | :46:34. | :46:39. | |
gap in time between electrification being completed and the trains being | :46:40. | :46:44. | |
on the line. The electrification, once it is all up and running, it | :46:45. | :46:50. | |
will mean faster trains and a more regular service which will alleviate | :46:51. | :46:55. | |
many of the issues faced by current passengers, most particularly | :46:56. | :47:00. | |
overcrowding. However, without the actual 323 trains, passengers will | :47:01. | :47:05. | |
not be able to enjoy the benefits of faster and more regular service. | :47:06. | :47:17. | |
I recently wrote to my honourable friend about this issue. As a former | :47:18. | :47:26. | |
resident and councillor, he is familiar with this train man and has | :47:27. | :47:31. | |
been supportive in terms of the electrification project. I do hope | :47:32. | :47:34. | |
the new Secretary of State for Transport will be equally | :47:35. | :47:38. | |
supportive, although I don't think he could possibly know the name of | :47:39. | :47:43. | |
each of the bridges along the line as his predecessor did. I will be | :47:44. | :47:48. | |
raising the specific issues with the new Secretary of State as I want to | :47:49. | :47:54. | |
insure the passengers can enjoy the benefits of the electrified line | :47:55. | :47:56. | |
soon after the engineering works complete. Madam Deputy Speaker, I | :47:57. | :48:04. | |
have spoken several times about this. Last month saw the end of | :48:05. | :48:12. | |
electricity generation at the power station. Now, my immediate | :48:13. | :48:15. | |
priorities have been about helping to support the workforce finding new | :48:16. | :48:22. | |
jobs and I was particularly pleased to see so many people at my job fair | :48:23. | :48:27. | |
last month and I do hope that everyone who is working at the plant | :48:28. | :48:34. | |
is successful in finding a new role. One of the other consequences of the | :48:35. | :48:38. | |
power station closure is the loss of business rates to the District | :48:39. | :48:43. | |
Council, equating to around ?1 million a year, not an insignificant | :48:44. | :48:51. | |
sum for a Council of this size. Whilst some of this gap will be met | :48:52. | :48:59. | |
by a new development. It will be coming to Cannock soon. In the short | :49:00. | :49:05. | |
term, before that is built, there is a financial problem that the Council | :49:06. | :49:11. | |
faces. So, there is a bit of a gap to be filled. I recently attended a | :49:12. | :49:15. | |
meeting with the minister, Mike honourable friend, The Member For | :49:16. | :49:19. | |
Nuneaton, and met with leaders from the council. We called on the | :49:20. | :49:24. | |
government to provide transitional funding. I just wanted to use this | :49:25. | :49:30. | |
as an opportunity to put this on the record as well. With the phasing out | :49:31. | :49:37. | |
of coal-fired power stations by 2025 and with several announcing the | :49:38. | :49:42. | |
closure or part closure in the coming years, Cannock District | :49:43. | :49:47. | |
Council is unlikely to be the only council facing financial | :49:48. | :49:50. | |
difficulties as a result of the loss of business rates. I would urge the | :49:51. | :49:54. | |
government to consider ways to financially support those councils | :49:55. | :49:57. | |
who are affected by the closure of coal-fired power stations. Thank | :49:58. | :50:07. | |
you. Can I just make one other point? Slightly flippantly, but for | :50:08. | :50:14. | |
generations of soldiers, that power station has been vital to learning | :50:15. | :50:20. | |
the art of resection, of working out where you are, because from miles | :50:21. | :50:24. | |
away you could see it and you take a bearing on it and you go on the back | :50:25. | :50:28. | |
bearing and you work out where you are. It would be sad not to have | :50:29. | :50:32. | |
that aid to teaching our soldiers how to map read. I totally agree | :50:33. | :50:46. | |
with my college. Those towers, which you can see from his constituency, | :50:47. | :50:52. | |
we don't necessarily agree on the beauty of the iconic cooling towers, | :50:53. | :50:57. | |
I have to say. Madam Deputy Speaker, I will move away from power stations | :50:58. | :51:01. | |
and would like to talk about the fantastic work at the new life | :51:02. | :51:06. | |
foundation for disabled children, a charity in my constituency which | :51:07. | :51:10. | |
provides specialist equipment for disabled and terminally ill children | :51:11. | :51:14. | |
across the UK. Last week I was really proud to sponsor their | :51:15. | :51:20. | |
operation which, I have to say, was incredibly impactful. New DWP | :51:21. | :51:26. | |
figures show the number of disabled children has risen dramatically to | :51:27. | :51:33. | |
roughly 1 million, an increase of 20% over the last ten years. For | :51:34. | :51:39. | |
some time, the government have been calculating public funding for the | :51:40. | :51:42. | |
provision of paediatric equipment based on not .8 million, an outdated | :51:43. | :51:49. | |
statistic. I would like to support new life in their calls for the | :51:50. | :51:52. | |
government to review the statistics they use to calculate public funding | :51:53. | :51:59. | |
and I would like to raise this with the minister when we return in the | :52:00. | :52:05. | |
autumn. Just one last thing, Madam Deputy Speaker. My office manager | :52:06. | :52:10. | |
will not forgive me if I do not mention Watchman five. Watch man | :52:11. | :52:18. | |
five is the Staffordshire Regiment mascot and he is the entry to the | :52:19. | :52:27. | |
Parliamentary dog of the year competition. I would like to take | :52:28. | :52:31. | |
this opportunity to urge people to vote for Watchman five. It is a | :52:32. | :52:42. | |
great pleasure to follow the honourable fading for Cannock Chase | :52:43. | :52:48. | |
is the proud owner of a college staff the cross, now sadly deceased, | :52:49. | :52:52. | |
I wish Watchman five well as well. Madam Deputy Speaker, I am grateful | :52:53. | :53:00. | |
to speech today about a matter that has happened today and to which I | :53:01. | :53:03. | |
alerted the House with a point of order earlier today and that is the | :53:04. | :53:05. | |
announcement that the government written statement, alongside 29 | :53:06. | :53:12. | |
other written statements, of major increases in tuition fees for the | :53:13. | :53:19. | |
year 2017-18. I want to talk about the very specific impact that is | :53:20. | :53:26. | |
going to have on students who study in my constituency and those who | :53:27. | :53:32. | |
come from my constituency to study elsewhere. I want to say, by way of | :53:33. | :53:38. | |
context, but I think the way in which the government has dealt with | :53:39. | :53:42. | |
this matter is really very reprehensible. Only two days ago in | :53:43. | :53:50. | |
this chamber we spent five or six hours debating the higher education | :53:51. | :53:57. | |
and research Bill. In that they'll there was a teaching excellence | :53:58. | :54:01. | |
framework with which we had some vigorous discussion about whether it | :54:02. | :54:05. | |
was ready to link these to them or not, but at no time in that process | :54:06. | :54:09. | |
was there anything said from the front bench as they had an | :54:10. | :54:13. | |
opportunity to do on this particular issue. Now, today, we have an | :54:14. | :54:22. | |
announcement that from 2017-18, for those who pass a test, and I will | :54:23. | :54:27. | |
come onto the test in a moment, those universities and colleges | :54:28. | :54:31. | |
which pass a test, fees for students will now be ?9,250 per year. Am | :54:32. | :54:39. | |
afraid, as I said in the debate on Tuesday, this just underlines that | :54:40. | :54:43. | |
the teaching excellence framework is being used as a cash coupon because | :54:44. | :54:49. | |
it demands evidence of excellence in the year. It actually demands, and | :54:50. | :54:55. | |
that, reading from the statement that was issued today, that they | :54:56. | :55:01. | |
meet a rating of meets expectations. I think that have to be a great | :55:02. | :55:08. | |
mangling of the English language and he said that meets expectations is | :55:09. | :55:11. | |
the same as reaching excellence and that is what the teaching excellence | :55:12. | :55:16. | |
framework is supposed to do. The minister himself, when he spoke | :55:17. | :55:22. | |
about the potential for rises, not the actual statement, in the Queen's | :55:23. | :55:27. | |
Speech, he said I can confirm that the rate of inflation applying the | :55:28. | :55:30. | |
maximum fees for institutions demonstrating high quality teaching | :55:31. | :55:36. | |
is 2.8% to stop I am not suggesting the Minister has been economical | :55:37. | :55:40. | |
with the facts with the statement is economical with the facts, but to | :55:41. | :55:44. | |
link it in the way that has been done could be regarded as economical | :55:45. | :55:51. | |
with the truth. I said I wanted to do with the particular impact on | :55:52. | :55:56. | |
people and, of course, it is not just a question of of increasing | :55:57. | :56:00. | |
fees, it is a question of increasing loans to match that increase and | :56:01. | :56:07. | |
that will hit now in due course all those potential students from | :56:08. | :56:12. | |
disadvantaged backgrounds. There are something like half a million of | :56:13. | :56:16. | |
them in this country. For them, nearly 40 thousand are studying at | :56:17. | :56:23. | |
further education colleges that the higher education. That includes my | :56:24. | :56:30. | |
excellent local college which has been in my constituency, was built | :56:31. | :56:34. | |
with funding from the previous Labour government in 2008 and now | :56:35. | :56:38. | |
has more than 2800 students studying there. Those students are now going | :56:39. | :56:45. | |
to be hit by a double knock from having their grants taken away and | :56:46. | :56:50. | |
future students as well, from 2017-18, and having to pay a fee of | :56:51. | :56:57. | |
?9,000, they are now going to have to pay 2.8% on top of that. If we | :56:58. | :57:04. | |
are interested in getting young people from disadvantaged | :57:05. | :57:07. | |
backgrounds into higher education and if we are interested in getting | :57:08. | :57:12. | |
their contribution in local economies like the North West, this | :57:13. | :57:17. | |
is not the way to go about it. If I can quite some other features, there | :57:18. | :57:22. | |
are 1800 students in this position of being... There are 1000 at the | :57:23. | :57:33. | |
Manchester group of colleges. If you look at universities that cater to a | :57:34. | :57:39. | |
large number of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, 8000 at | :57:40. | :57:46. | |
Manchester University. I have chosen those examples because they are all | :57:47. | :57:49. | |
within the catchment area that young people in Blackpool who might not be | :57:50. | :57:54. | |
able to go to a university fritter away are likely to choose. If really | :57:55. | :58:00. | |
is not satisfactory to proceed in the way in which the government has | :58:01. | :58:04. | |
done on this. Apart from anything else, it will tarnish the reputation | :58:05. | :58:09. | |
of the teaching excellence framework and it is not good for the processes | :58:10. | :58:15. | |
of This House. This should have been discussed and will be, eventually, | :58:16. | :58:19. | |
voted on in the year. Instead of which, the Minister could have | :58:20. | :58:25. | |
addressed on Tuesday, the field to do so, clearly they weren't feeling | :58:26. | :58:28. | |
strongly in their case. What I wanted to ask members of the House | :58:29. | :58:33. | |
to reflect on, as well as the damage this will do to the people I am | :58:34. | :58:37. | |
talking about, is the dangerous slope that we go down and which we | :58:38. | :58:40. | |
went down this year when major issues that going to affect people | :58:41. | :58:44. | |
will be dealt with by statutory instruments which is what is being | :58:45. | :58:49. | |
indicated in the small print of the statement today. I thank him for | :58:50. | :58:58. | |
giving way. Is he aware that another announcement was smitten by the | :58:59. | :59:03. | |
government today, the decision to abolish the student nurse bursaries | :59:04. | :59:06. | |
which will have some really serious implications for social mobility and | :59:07. | :59:10. | |
higher education in the health service? I am grateful to him for | :59:11. | :59:16. | |
making that point. It is a very germane point because the abolition | :59:17. | :59:22. | |
of NHS bursaries and their replacement by loans is going to | :59:23. | :59:27. | |
have a similar dampening effect on social mobility and, particularly if | :59:28. | :59:31. | |
I can say so, in the north-west where there are large numbers of | :59:32. | :59:37. | |
students and large numbers of institutions where students have | :59:38. | :59:43. | |
been turned out very successfully for the benefit of our national | :59:44. | :59:46. | |
health services, including in Blackpool and I can think of one | :59:47. | :59:51. | |
member of my own constituency who has gone down that route. This is | :59:52. | :59:56. | |
going to hit the process. I want to end by making... By juxtaposing | :59:57. | :00:03. | |
those lives and careers I have talked about with the necessity to | :00:04. | :00:08. | |
do proper processes in This House. If we are going to make decisions | :00:09. | :00:12. | |
like this, they should not be sneaked out in a written statement | :00:13. | :00:17. | |
when ministers do not have the opportunity to deal with any | :00:18. | :00:20. | |
discussion would debate for at least six weeks and I would like to say to | :00:21. | :00:26. | |
the junior minister on the bench and put it on the record that I for one, | :00:27. | :00:30. | |
and I am sure many of my colleagues, when this matter comes to the House | :00:31. | :00:34. | |
were expected to be dealt with on the floor of the House and not | :00:35. | :00:37. | |
squirrelled away in some statutory instrument. Congratulations to my | :00:38. | :00:48. | |
friend for becoming deputy the House. There are a number of issues | :00:49. | :00:52. | |
I would like to raise. London City Airport has been a great success and | :00:53. | :00:56. | |
I urge the government to approve the development programme that would | :00:57. | :01:00. | |
result in 32 extra flights, 2 million more passengers and it would | :01:01. | :01:05. | |
double the contribution to the national economy from the airport. I | :01:06. | :01:09. | |
recently met with a company about their sport move programme. So far | :01:10. | :01:20. | |
they have been responsible for 200,000 hours of activity and | :01:21. | :01:24. | |
education in Beaufort Hundred and 50 schools over the last year. I | :01:25. | :01:29. | |
support the activities and their chocolates are delicious. A | :01:30. | :01:32. | |
12-year-old boy called Oliver Key suffered a fatal cardiac arrest | :01:33. | :01:37. | |
during a swimming race in March 2000 11. A trust was set up in his name | :01:38. | :01:41. | |
and more than 800 defibrillators have been placed in schools and | :01:42. | :01:46. | |
organisations and we have one in Southend. Hope colleagues will | :01:47. | :01:51. | |
support the foundation. 54% of the United Kingdom population | :01:52. | :01:56. | |
experiences a skin condition over 12 months. It might be eczema or skin | :01:57. | :02:01. | |
cancer. I urge my colleagues at the Department of Health to ensure that | :02:02. | :02:05. | |
a dedicated leader for dermatology is appointed to address the trimming | :02:06. | :02:10. | |
of General The fit for work UK coalition have | :02:11. | :02:24. | |
met me to discuss what they want to do in ensuring and encouraging | :02:25. | :02:27. | |
people with long-term conditions such as arthritis are able to return | :02:28. | :02:31. | |
back to work and I do support them in their work. Now, the cervical | :02:32. | :02:40. | |
cancer trust have revealed that over every year 3,000 people are | :02:41. | :02:44. | |
diagnosed with cervical cancer, it should be of great concern to this | :02:45. | :02:50. | |
place that the screening rates are falling. I visited Edinburgh Zoo, | :02:51. | :02:55. | |
because I had complaints from constituents about the way the | :02:56. | :03:00. | |
animals were kept, I'm delighted to report I thought Edinburgh zoo was | :03:01. | :03:05. | |
marvellous and animals are very well kept now in the zoo. | :03:06. | :03:23. | |
Southend uthend hospital has had tragic consequences through people | :03:24. | :03:30. | |
not being diagnosed, but the department at Southend University | :03:31. | :03:38. | |
Hospital has devised a fast track programme for this condition. I | :03:39. | :03:46. | |
re-opened a business if that is possible in Leigh on Sea and I'm | :03:47. | :03:49. | |
going to make the claim that they are the best fitters of kitchens in | :03:50. | :04:00. | |
Leigh-on-Sea. Ore Over and over again this House talks about what | :04:01. | :04:03. | |
they will do for people suffering mental health difficulties. There | :04:04. | :04:10. | |
are so many people who are placed in the invidious situation of having to | :04:11. | :04:16. | |
get a loved one sectioned. It is very upsetting programme. Rather | :04:17. | :04:20. | |
than keep on staying we will do something about it, we need to | :04:21. | :04:27. | |
improve the care of people with mental health conditions, certainly | :04:28. | :04:30. | |
because as a member of Parliament, I see many more people with mental | :04:31. | :04:34. | |
health conditions than I ever used to. As I hope the House knows, | :04:35. | :04:43. | |
Southend is the alternative city of culture next year. We had a launch | :04:44. | :04:47. | |
last week and it will be the best gig in the country next year. I have | :04:48. | :04:53. | |
raised with the House before how disappointed I'm with the time | :04:54. | :04:59. | |
tabling of trains run by the C2C line. More needs to be done and we | :05:00. | :05:04. | |
need new rolling stock. Last week, we had the second responsible pet | :05:05. | :05:10. | |
ownership competition on the green by Victoria town and the competition | :05:11. | :05:19. | |
was won by my honourable friend. There have been too many instances | :05:20. | :05:26. | |
of food poisoning of dogs in Southend, apparently it is because | :05:27. | :05:31. | |
owners are picking up the mess m I'm delighted the country voted to leave | :05:32. | :05:35. | |
the EU. My goodness aren't there sour grapes on this, I hope the | :05:36. | :05:39. | |
country will come together and make the most of the opportunity we have | :05:40. | :05:43. | |
been given. I'm disappointed that the Chilcot report has been | :05:44. | :05:48. | |
overshadowed. I look forward to the SNP supply day, there must be | :05:49. | :05:52. | |
consequences as a result of the outcome of the Chilcot report. Last | :05:53. | :06:00. | |
week I was in Paris for a rally, supporting the NCRI I hope they can | :06:01. | :06:06. | |
come and speak in this country. The Conservatives took back control of | :06:07. | :06:12. | |
Southend council a month ago and we have inherited a shambles, | :06:13. | :06:14. | |
particularly with waste management, which the member for Walsall South | :06:15. | :06:19. | |
said something about. All members have a nightmare with school | :06:20. | :06:24. | |
catchment areas and I do hope the new Secretary of State can give | :06:25. | :06:33. | |
guidance. I'm not happy with ait ATOS assessments, I'm disgusted with | :06:34. | :06:37. | |
National Grid who have decided to have roadworks in Southend which | :06:38. | :06:43. | |
will gum up the town. I hope the National Lottery will support the | :06:44. | :06:48. | |
Southend festival chorus. I'm not happy with South Essex homes and | :06:49. | :06:51. | |
they should allow the king's money advice centre to stay there and | :06:52. | :06:58. | |
finally I visited the worshipful company of Goldsmiths and they're | :06:59. | :07:04. | |
doing great work with... Grateful for giving way. I'm surprised he | :07:05. | :07:09. | |
said finally without having mentioned that our football club | :07:10. | :07:13. | |
West Ham United will have moved into the new Olympic stadium and played | :07:14. | :07:17. | |
their game and I'm sure he will want to wish them well for the seasons | :07:18. | :07:24. | |
and years ahead. I absolutely do. My first topic on city airport I was | :07:25. | :07:27. | |
going to say what wonderful supporters they are of West Ham | :07:28. | :07:32. | |
United and our old manager is now running the England football team, | :07:33. | :07:35. | |
good luck with that. I hope that West Ham will be the Premier League | :07:36. | :07:42. | |
next year after the wonderful achievements of Leicester. I want to | :07:43. | :07:49. | |
congratulate Goldsmiths who are a fantastic company. They're one of 12 | :07:50. | :07:54. | |
in London and their charter dates back to date 1327 and they give a | :07:55. | :07:59. | |
huge amount of money to charity and they are excellent as far as | :08:00. | :08:05. | |
apprenticeships are concerned. I wish you, Mr Speaker the other two | :08:06. | :08:09. | |
deputies, all the people who work in the House and colleagues a very | :08:10. | :08:18. | |
happy summer. Thank you. There has been a number of contributions | :08:19. | :08:24. | |
today, many have touched on the issues I wish to raise. My hope my | :08:25. | :08:28. | |
contribution will match their quality. I want to talk about what I | :08:29. | :08:36. | |
consider to be the Holy Trinity, not Law, Best and Charlton, but three of | :08:37. | :08:42. | |
most important pillars of politics - jobs, homes and health. I believe | :08:43. | :08:45. | |
people can have confidence they have security and fairness at work, have | :08:46. | :08:49. | |
a roof over their head a they will be cared for if they fall ill, then | :08:50. | :08:55. | |
those are the foundations, the building blocks for creating a fair | :08:56. | :09:00. | |
and equal society. I should make it clear these principles are only the | :09:01. | :09:03. | |
start and there is so much more beyond them, but I want to address | :09:04. | :09:08. | |
these points, because unless we get the basics right we can't hope to | :09:09. | :09:12. | |
address anything else. Turning to each of the issues. I have said | :09:13. | :09:16. | |
before that a policy on jobs doesn't just mean we should aim for full | :09:17. | :09:22. | |
employment, but value the quality of jobs created. That means they must | :09:23. | :09:26. | |
be permanent, secure and properly paid. We saw in the EU referendum | :09:27. | :09:35. | |
that telling someone on his zero hours contract there is a risk to | :09:36. | :09:41. | |
their job from Brexit did not cut it. A culture views employment as a | :09:42. | :09:47. | |
disposable concept and people don't know from one week to the next how | :09:48. | :09:51. | |
many hours they will work or if they will work. But still people wonder | :09:52. | :09:58. | |
why millions chose to reject the status quo. For those who have | :09:59. | :10:04. | |
secured perm Nantes employment -- permanent employment, work place | :10:05. | :10:09. | |
protection is pathetic. How can someone give two years of their life | :10:10. | :10:13. | |
to an employer and find themselves cast aside without reason or | :10:14. | :10:17. | |
recompense. How can we build a country where people feel confident | :10:18. | :10:21. | |
to plan their future if we have such a casual attitude to the means by | :10:22. | :10:29. | |
which they can built their future. People shod know if they do a good | :10:30. | :10:34. | |
job they're going to be rewarded properly and are likely to stay in | :10:35. | :10:39. | |
work. What we have instead is a hire and fire culture where workers are | :10:40. | :10:47. | |
seen as disposable commodities. The replacement of people with machines | :10:48. | :10:51. | |
has always been with us, but the future looks bleak for millions | :10:52. | :10:58. | |
whose jobs are set to become automated, artificial intelligence | :10:59. | :11:07. | |
will decimate jobs. Many politicians see this as progress, others are | :11:08. | :11:12. | |
unaware of future and nobody has yet come up with a compelling strategy | :11:13. | :11:18. | |
for how we respond to this challenge for every count in the western world | :11:19. | :11:23. | |
F we don't start thinking and how we tackle this, the wave of resentment | :11:24. | :11:28. | |
that led to Brexit vote will feel like a ripple in the pond. Turning | :11:29. | :11:33. | |
to homes, I know that in every surgery I hold there will be people | :11:34. | :11:37. | |
who can't get on the council waiting list, can't afford rents and because | :11:38. | :11:41. | |
of their circumstances can't countenance owning a home of their | :11:42. | :11:45. | |
own. Even for those in secure employment, they find themselves | :11:46. | :11:48. | |
unable to match that with a sxur home of their own and successive | :11:49. | :11:55. | |
governments have failed to address this, but the current administration | :11:56. | :11:59. | |
seem determined to decimate social housing. We have sites where | :12:00. | :12:03. | |
planning permission has been granted, but almost everyone has had | :12:04. | :12:09. | |
one stage or another been amended to remove the obligation to build | :12:10. | :12:16. | |
affordable housing and with the insecurity at work matched by | :12:17. | :12:19. | |
insecurity at home leads to resentment being magnified. The | :12:20. | :12:28. | |
final pillar of the three is health. We are incredibly fortunate to live | :12:29. | :12:33. | |
in a country that you can be assured if you fall ill you will receive the | :12:34. | :12:39. | |
best medical treatment in the world free of charge. But the Labour | :12:40. | :12:44. | |
Party's proudest achievement of NHS is in danger. What has been the most | :12:45. | :12:50. | |
unpredictable time in cent history with so many job changes, some would | :12:51. | :12:56. | |
say one of biggest surprises from this period is that the member for | :12:57. | :12:59. | |
Surrey is still in his job as Secretary of State for health. Be | :13:00. | :13:06. | |
NHS is in a mess. There have been five years of decline and all the | :13:07. | :13:09. | |
things that people would worry about. Those are not my words, they | :13:10. | :13:16. | |
the words of Chief Executive of NHS improvement. The NHS is failing to | :13:17. | :13:28. | |
meet targets and NHS trusts had a combined deficit of 2.54 billion and | :13:29. | :13:31. | |
the situation continues to deteriorate. But the Secretary of | :13:32. | :13:35. | |
State is still in his job. I know I have talk about employment security, | :13:36. | :13:38. | |
but that is surely taking things a step too far. Only this week, the | :13:39. | :13:43. | |
health committee confirmed that the Government's claim that they're | :13:44. | :13:47. | |
putting additional ten million into the NHS does not stand up to | :13:48. | :13:50. | |
scrutiny and they have put the actual figure at less than half | :13:51. | :13:55. | |
that. They say accounting devices are being used to balance the books | :13:56. | :13:58. | |
to give the impression that the situation it better than it is. | :13:59. | :14:01. | |
These devices include moving hundreds of millions from a | :14:02. | :14:07. | |
stretched cap pal budget -- capital budget. This deprives investment and | :14:08. | :14:14. | |
stores up problems and it moves funds from the public health budget | :14:15. | :14:20. | |
which is a false economy. There is the workforce crisis, 15% of | :14:21. | :14:28. | |
clinical posts vacant in London and 3.5 billion spent on agency staff. | :14:29. | :14:34. | |
That will only worse within the abolition of nurse bursaries. It is | :14:35. | :14:40. | |
a toxic cocktail. How long before a minister says the situation is | :14:41. | :14:47. | |
unsustainable and the idea of free treatment has to be sacrificed. So | :14:48. | :14:54. | |
in conclusion, I consider the three pillars needed for society are | :14:55. | :15:01. | |
crumbling. My party will spend the sum Serce discussing our leadership | :15:02. | :15:08. | |
candidates, but I hope there will be an opportunity to consider how we | :15:09. | :15:13. | |
tackle the challenges and provide a united front and if we can and look | :15:14. | :15:18. | |
and sound like a government wait to rebuild our society, we will have | :15:19. | :15:23. | |
half a chance of being able to do that. Thank you and congratulations | :15:24. | :15:31. | |
to the deputy leader for his well deserved appointment to the front | :15:32. | :15:37. | |
bench. After a rollercoaster few weeks in UK political history it is | :15:38. | :15:41. | |
a wonderful opportunity to come here to talk about the needs and concerns | :15:42. | :15:46. | |
of our constituents and it has been a great pleasure to have a canter | :15:47. | :15:57. | |
around the UK today. I represent a new town in east Shropshire, the | :15:58. | :16:03. | |
burst birthplace of industrial revolution and it has embraced | :16:04. | :16:07. | |
change and made the most oef every opportunity. And it is a fantastic | :16:08. | :16:16. | |
place to live and work and it is playing its part in the fourth | :16:17. | :16:22. | |
industrial revolution. With a unique urban/rural mix it has an identity | :16:23. | :16:25. | |
of its own and a spirit of determination. And it always makes | :16:26. | :16:31. | |
the best of the cards it is dealt. Telford faces a number of challenges | :16:32. | :16:36. | |
that are often seen in any rapidly growing new town from, a lack of | :16:37. | :16:40. | |
infrastructure to pressure on doctors' waiting list and school | :16:41. | :16:48. | |
places, and back in early 2013 when I set out my stall to be the MP, I | :16:49. | :16:54. | |
pledged to fight to bring down youth unemployment and so I was delighted | :16:55. | :17:00. | |
by yesterday's job figures. That do show that Telford's youth | :17:01. | :17:03. | |
unemployment rate continues to fall to record lows. | :17:04. | :17:21. | |
Another pledge was to fight for a new critical care centre to be | :17:22. | :17:26. | |
located at the Princess Royal Hospital. A further one was to | :17:27. | :17:33. | |
protect green spaces and one that was particularly dear to my heart | :17:34. | :17:37. | |
was the challenge of keeping Telford moving. We have a the flora of | :17:38. | :17:42. | |
traffic lights that have sprung up over night when no one could see any | :17:43. | :17:47. | |
need for them at all, causing frustration and delays. In the last | :17:48. | :17:51. | |
few years, there has been progress in almost all of these areas and I | :17:52. | :17:56. | |
am proud to keep on chipping away at these local issues that really | :17:57. | :18:00. | |
impact on the lives of my constituents and does make | :18:01. | :18:03. | |
honourable friend so eloquently said, this is what we are here to | :18:04. | :18:08. | |
do. One area which I can safely say is the most important of all to my | :18:09. | :18:12. | |
constituents is the future of health care in Shropshire and what is to | :18:13. | :18:20. | |
become of the A at Princess Royal. I have championed a new critical | :18:21. | :18:24. | |
care unit to join the existing women and children's unit and it is, | :18:25. | :18:29. | |
regrettably this one issue in these last three years weather has been no | :18:30. | :18:35. | |
at all. As time has ticked by, there has been one missed deadline after | :18:36. | :18:39. | |
another and the explanation for it. A final decision was due in November | :18:40. | :18:45. | |
2015 and it was deferred again to June 20 16th and now I have learned | :18:46. | :18:50. | |
in July 2016, that it is to be deferred to begin to some | :18:51. | :18:56. | |
unspecified date in the future. In November, NHS England was brought in | :18:57. | :19:00. | |
to keep the project on target but to no avail. The whole process has | :19:01. | :19:03. | |
become paralysed, the clinical commissioning groups and clinicians | :19:04. | :19:06. | |
involved seem completely unable to make a decision. By failing to Act, | :19:07. | :19:12. | |
they are choosing to do nothing whatsoever about the future of | :19:13. | :19:16. | |
health care in Shropshire and that is no answer was whether to my | :19:17. | :19:20. | |
constituents who have told me time and again, this is the most | :19:21. | :19:24. | |
important issue to them. While residents worried that they might | :19:25. | :19:29. | |
lose their A provision, services deteriorate and there is a negative | :19:30. | :19:33. | |
impact on the morale of health care workers in the hospitals affected, | :19:34. | :19:36. | |
not to mention the ?3 million worth of cost that the future fit | :19:37. | :19:41. | |
programme has been absorbed in simply not coming to a decision. In | :19:42. | :19:48. | |
Telford we have a very rapidly growing population and we also have | :19:49. | :19:53. | |
extreme health inequalities. People come to Telford all the time and it | :19:54. | :19:58. | |
is absolutely right that when they save up and buy their new dream home | :19:59. | :20:02. | |
that they should expect fundamental services to be available to them. | :20:03. | :20:07. | |
There has been great progress on trains and broadband and the | :20:08. | :20:12. | |
fantastic news on jobs but we also need a health care provision that is | :20:13. | :20:17. | |
fit for our thriving town. I want to use this debate to highlight my | :20:18. | :20:22. | |
constituents's concerns that they write to me about on a daily basis. | :20:23. | :20:26. | |
We need a timetable for the completion of the future fit | :20:27. | :20:30. | |
programme and we need absolute determination to stick to it. If NHS | :20:31. | :20:37. | |
England cannot make that happen then surely the next stop must be the | :20:38. | :20:42. | |
Secretary of State. I am looking forward to my summer in Telford and | :20:43. | :20:46. | |
the great opportunity to spend time with my constituents who I am so | :20:47. | :20:50. | |
proud and fortunate to represent. It is with huge thanks to the backbench | :20:51. | :20:53. | |
business community that all of us have come here today to gather on | :20:54. | :21:01. | |
both sides of the House to debate something and put attention on our | :21:02. | :21:05. | |
constituents because this is what we all do every day of the week. Maybe | :21:06. | :21:10. | |
we don't talk about it as much as we want to put it is a welcome | :21:11. | :21:14. | |
opportunity to highlight that. I wish you a wonderful holiday and | :21:15. | :21:18. | |
everybody else, I hope you have some rest from what has been a | :21:19. | :21:23. | |
frantically busy period in our lives. Thank you. Can I thank you | :21:24. | :21:32. | |
for calling me and can I welcome the deputy leader to his new position | :21:33. | :21:37. | |
and working well for the times ahead. We look forward to speaking | :21:38. | :21:42. | |
to him on many issues. I will bring something different to the House. I | :21:43. | :21:50. | |
felt it was my responsibility to do this. I want to talk about the | :21:51. | :21:54. | |
history of Northern Ireland and the loyal orders. Most people will think | :21:55. | :22:02. | |
of the Orange Order. Being the largest fraternal Protestant | :22:03. | :22:06. | |
organisation in the world, that is understandable. We have other | :22:07. | :22:08. | |
associations linked to and not linked to the Orange Order. I would | :22:09. | :22:16. | |
like to enlighten members about the illustrious apprentice boys of | :22:17. | :22:20. | |
Derry, of which I am a member and have been for 39 years. I am also a | :22:21. | :22:25. | |
member of the Orange Order. The apprentice boys of Derry is not | :22:26. | :22:29. | |
linked to the rank order but membership overlaps. The apprentice | :22:30. | :22:35. | |
boys has a membership of some 10,000 in Northern Ireland, Scotland, the | :22:36. | :22:38. | |
Republic of Ireland and Canada with supporters and affiliates in many | :22:39. | :22:41. | |
other Commonwealth countries. The institution commemorates the siege | :22:42. | :22:45. | |
of Derry and recognises the longest siege in British military history. | :22:46. | :22:50. | |
It goes back to the glorious Revolution which was a bloodless | :22:51. | :22:54. | |
revolution. In that, James II was ousted from power by this place in | :22:55. | :23:03. | |
1688. He gave the English directed Neary and William of Orange. We then | :23:04. | :23:09. | |
assumed responsible for the government in January 1688. King | :23:10. | :23:13. | |
William and theory assumed the throne in March. This led to the | :23:14. | :23:21. | |
siege of Derry and the creation of the apprentice boys and the Battle | :23:22. | :23:28. | |
of the point as well. In November 1688 there were two garrisons that | :23:29. | :23:32. | |
were not loyal to James. They were in Enniskillen and Londonderry. At | :23:33. | :23:37. | |
listened with interest to the honourable member for sterling. When | :23:38. | :23:44. | |
the Earl of action tried to recruit soldiers he went to Scotland because | :23:45. | :23:49. | |
he wanted the six foot tall men and got a force from Scotland. They were | :23:50. | :23:53. | |
from the Scottish Highlands and they set off to Derry and on their way | :23:54. | :23:58. | |
they made sure to strike fear into the hearts and minds of the | :23:59. | :24:01. | |
resistance by the merciless opposition. On the 7th of December, | :24:02. | :24:06. | |
as the forces of the King approached Derry, they were not met with the | :24:07. | :24:10. | |
welcome they expected but with shots and cries of no surrender. 13 | :24:11. | :24:17. | |
predispose one of the central pillars of significance and | :24:18. | :24:22. | |
symbolism within the institution. In April 1689, who arrived in the form | :24:23. | :24:25. | |
of reinforcements led by Colonel Cunningham. The governor of the | :24:26. | :24:33. | |
city, Robert Lundy called a meeting with his loyal supporters to discuss | :24:34. | :24:37. | |
the surrender of the city. News of the meeting spread and the citizens | :24:38. | :24:41. | |
were furious. He had to free the city. The impact of that was that | :24:42. | :24:49. | |
unionists and loyalist across Ulster and in Scotland referred to a | :24:50. | :24:53. | |
perceived traitor as a Lundy. His name went down in history for the | :24:54. | :24:57. | |
wrong reasons. The Jacobite army reached the city expecting the | :24:58. | :25:03. | |
inhabitants to be overwhelmed by the presence of the King and to admit | :25:04. | :25:09. | |
them to the city. James repeated that and was refused with cries of | :25:10. | :25:14. | |
no surrender and with shots. Hamilton's forces rounded up | :25:15. | :25:21. | |
hundreds of Protestants and... King James was horrified and he did not | :25:22. | :25:31. | |
approve of the violence. On the 20th of July, two merchant ships sailed. | :25:32. | :25:39. | |
They breached the city and the ships moved in to relieve the city. Up to | :25:40. | :25:44. | |
105 days, the siege was over with 8000 of the 30,000 inhabitants did. | :25:45. | :25:49. | |
Mountjoy and those who oversaw the siege have become iconic and the | :25:50. | :25:55. | |
apprentice boys and in loyalist circles. The siege is commemorated | :25:56. | :25:59. | |
by the apprentice boys of Derry, named after the brave 13. We have a | :26:00. | :26:07. | |
week-long festival which culminates in a parade by members of the | :26:08. | :26:10. | |
apprentice boys of Derry. Oracle colours of the crimson red to | :26:11. | :26:16. | |
commemorate the people who died in those battles. The Institute is now | :26:17. | :26:23. | |
widely commended on how it conducts parades and parades have been | :26:24. | :26:26. | |
peaceful and successful. The parade this year on the second Saturday of | :26:27. | :26:30. | |
August and what is good about it, because of the history, it is the | :26:31. | :26:38. | |
one place in Northern Ireland where there was once contention and now | :26:39. | :26:41. | |
there is not. The agreement to create the city is a catalyst for | :26:42. | :26:49. | |
other parts of the province to have parades peacefully in a mainly | :26:50. | :26:52. | |
nationalist city and to have the tolerance for that to happen. That | :26:53. | :26:56. | |
is the example I would give of how things can happen. It has become a | :26:57. | :27:03. | |
tourist attraction. People from Northern Ireland, the Republic and | :27:04. | :27:07. | |
across the world, to watch the historical enactment that takes | :27:08. | :27:11. | |
place on that day. I would like to commend the apprentice boys for all | :27:12. | :27:14. | |
they have done to make that happen. In conclusion, I want to thank | :27:15. | :27:33. | |
yourself. I am very pleased to participate in debates here. I thank | :27:34. | :27:46. | |
the staff for all their kindness which they give to us and to the | :27:47. | :27:51. | |
Hansard staff who have put me they can understand my accent and my | :27:52. | :27:56. | |
writing and they don't need any more examples of what it should be. I | :27:57. | :28:00. | |
want to thank the people of Stratford for giving me the | :28:01. | :28:05. | |
privilege here to this wonderful political and democratic institution | :28:06. | :28:09. | |
we have. It is a pleasure to be here, to represent Strangford and it | :28:10. | :28:13. | |
is a pleasure to have so many places the frontier. I am grateful for the | :28:14. | :28:20. | |
opportunity to contribute to this debate and to follow my honourable | :28:21. | :28:27. | |
friend. Despite being on different sides of an argument and despite | :28:28. | :28:31. | |
being brought up in Glasgow as a Catholic were the Orange Order were | :28:32. | :28:36. | |
not affectionately regarded by my community, my maternal grandfather | :28:37. | :28:44. | |
was a member of the lodge and the order. His comments about tolerance | :28:45. | :28:49. | |
and understanding and respect for the peace agreement in Northern | :28:50. | :28:53. | |
Ireland are important and that is what we need to ensure it is solid | :28:54. | :28:56. | |
and anything we can do to help, we ought to. I want to raise if few | :28:57. | :29:03. | |
items. The first is the new terminal in London. I have welcomed the | :29:04. | :29:09. | |
Shadow leader to his place, I welcome the honourable gentleman for | :29:10. | :29:13. | |
his new place as well. I wish them success in the new cruise terminal | :29:14. | :29:17. | |
in London is welcome as part of tourism infrastructure. It is | :29:18. | :29:25. | |
costing controversy. One of the big issues in London as we know is | :29:26. | :29:30. | |
inequality which the new mayor has made a priority of his | :29:31. | :29:37. | |
administration. The one deficit for the planning application was that | :29:38. | :29:40. | |
there was no short to ship power supply which means cruise ships will | :29:41. | :29:44. | |
be parking in Greenwich in the middle of London and having to run | :29:45. | :29:51. | |
their big diesel engines 24-7 to power the electricity production. | :29:52. | :29:55. | |
There is no planning no planning requirement, and regulation by the | :29:56. | :30:03. | |
authority, the union or by the UK Government in respect of making this | :30:04. | :30:07. | |
a requirement for the other European ports do a requirement and | :30:08. | :30:13. | |
Southampton are one. I had a long-standing meeting planned with | :30:14. | :30:22. | |
the Minister of State. I got an e-mail from the government on Sunday | :30:23. | :30:26. | |
saying he had been reshuffled and that the meeting was postponed. I | :30:27. | :30:29. | |
would be grateful if the Shadow leader of the House would feedback | :30:30. | :30:34. | |
that we need that meeting to be reorganised as quickly as possible. | :30:35. | :30:41. | |
If I could raise the question of policing reform. A number of major | :30:42. | :30:44. | |
issues on leasehold reform are required. England is one of the few | :30:45. | :30:52. | |
countries in the world which still has leasehold. On fairground rides, | :30:53. | :30:57. | |
excessive service charges, retirement home rip-offs, restricted | :30:58. | :31:02. | |
lengths of leases, expense of dispute resolution procedures. It | :31:03. | :31:06. | |
took us two and half years to get the Department for Communities and | :31:07. | :31:09. | |
Local Government to recognise that there were not too and half million | :31:10. | :31:13. | |
leaseholders in Britain. They have recalculated it to be 4.1 million. | :31:14. | :31:21. | |
Leasehold reform MPs are active. We think there are 7 billion | :31:22. | :31:23. | |
leaseholders and they are being ripped off. This is an area of | :31:24. | :31:27. | |
legislation which needs reform and I am grateful to the leasehold | :31:28. | :31:31. | |
partnership, the charity campaigning in this area, which helps those of | :31:32. | :31:36. | |
us who are forming an all-party group in September and we invite all | :31:37. | :31:39. | |
colleagues to join is to make sure we pressure government to get | :31:40. | :31:53. | |
leasehold reform. Great concern from many friends of Bangladesh in This | :31:54. | :31:56. | |
House over the recent terrorist activity, the recent murders of | :31:57. | :32:00. | |
secularists and intellectuals and academics and bloggers. | :32:01. | :32:05. | |
Lease He organised the very good meeting on attacks on members of | :32:06. | :32:13. | |
minority communities and I would be grateful for all the government can | :32:14. | :32:24. | |
can do to help Bangladesh. I want to raise the question of Chennai 6 and | :32:25. | :32:37. | |
the member of Renfrewshire east. I'm a web of company of ship writing and | :32:38. | :32:43. | |
I know a things about shipping, but there are six Brits in jail in India | :32:44. | :32:49. | |
because they were armed security guards to protect that ship against | :32:50. | :32:55. | |
piracy when it left India. But they breached security regulations. The | :32:56. | :32:59. | |
courts in India can't make their mind up, because they have been | :33:00. | :33:03. | |
convicted and freed and are now in jail and have been there for a | :33:04. | :33:08. | |
thousand days. I would urge the deputy leader to impress on the | :33:09. | :33:16. | |
Foreign Office the efforts to get these men released. And people have | :33:17. | :33:18. | |
been working hard to look actual their families. I have mentioned | :33:19. | :33:24. | |
West Ham United I wish them well in their new stadium and they will go | :33:25. | :33:29. | |
from strength to strength as did the member for Southend. I wish to | :33:30. | :33:40. | |
congratulate Mile End air cadets, of whom I'm the president, lieutenant | :33:41. | :33:45. | |
Nichols and his volunteers achieved another fantastic year for the young | :33:46. | :33:52. | |
people in the cadets and every secondary school in Tower Hamlets | :33:53. | :33:58. | |
are all punching above their national average in the educational | :33:59. | :34:04. | |
performance league tables and people in London are having a great start | :34:05. | :34:09. | |
in life and east London is sharing the wealth of the city for the first | :34:10. | :34:13. | |
time in history. This is an important generation. I want to | :34:14. | :34:19. | |
congratulate all my constudents who received -- constituents who | :34:20. | :34:24. | |
received honours in the new year's or queen's birthday list and | :34:25. | :34:27. | |
congratulate them on their achievement. Especially Dr Sheila | :34:28. | :34:39. | |
Fitzpatrick, who I declare is my wife and for her award on the work | :34:40. | :34:46. | |
with the sea cadets and the orphanage in bash what -- Bangladesh | :34:47. | :34:53. | |
and other activities. I'm very proud of what she has achieved and innen | :34:54. | :34:58. | |
collusion if I -- in conclusion if I can wish you and your team and all | :34:59. | :35:03. | |
the staff of the house and colleagues a restful recess. Thank | :35:04. | :35:13. | |
you. It is hearten to end on a climatic point to congratulate Mrs | :35:14. | :35:17. | |
Fitzpatrick. It has been a splendid debate and I believe this is part | :35:18. | :35:20. | |
of, one of the joys of Parliament that they havest -- that we have | :35:21. | :35:32. | |
this day. It is politics in miniature, but the issues are of | :35:33. | :35:35. | |
vast importance in our constituencies. I welcome the member | :35:36. | :35:39. | |
to his post as deputy Leader of the House and he is someone we have | :35:40. | :35:47. | |
jousted together on the home affairs committee, where his ferocious | :35:48. | :35:50. | |
skills have terrified witnesses who are subject to a cross-examination | :35:51. | :35:55. | |
that would be worthy of a mass murderer in a High Court and many | :35:56. | :36:00. | |
when they left the select committee room went out seeking the number of | :36:01. | :36:08. | |
Samaritans or the counsellor on trauma. He has reached the peak of | :36:09. | :36:14. | |
his Parliamentary career, that was on the debate to congratulate her | :36:15. | :36:20. | |
Majesty this year. And he told an anecdote that will live long in the | :36:21. | :36:27. | |
legend of this House and concerned the matter of the positioning of a | :36:28. | :36:32. | |
chain around the unicorn's neck, on the... In the Westminster hall. And | :36:33. | :36:40. | |
this anecdote was described by a writer in the Daily Telegraph, who | :36:41. | :36:46. | |
uses the traditional admirable English gift of understatement as | :36:47. | :36:52. | |
the single most boring anecdote of all time! I mean where can you go | :36:53. | :37:00. | |
with his career from that major achievement? We have had a | :37:01. | :37:06. | |
fascinating list of possible holiday destinations presented before us. | :37:07. | :37:11. | |
From harrow, which is a place to go, if you are, interested in yoga, the | :37:12. | :37:18. | |
yoga paradise of world, but watch out, because it is a hell hole for | :37:19. | :37:23. | |
those who accumulate garden waste and they have the highest charges in | :37:24. | :37:28. | |
the whole of the country. We have heard of joys of ghillies in | :37:29. | :37:36. | |
Stirling, that is the Gallic word for a servant, for this magnificent | :37:37. | :37:41. | |
occasion when the ghillies came out and banged their drums and convinced | :37:42. | :37:46. | |
the English army there were reinforcements on their the way and | :37:47. | :37:50. | |
we have heard of joys of other parts of Bushy Park in Twickenham, where | :37:51. | :37:57. | |
the airport should be bigger, should not be bigger, but should be better. | :37:58. | :38:06. | |
For those with exotic taips taste is there a festival of engineering in | :38:07. | :38:11. | |
Chippenham, that will set the pulses races of all of us. A continuing | :38:12. | :38:18. | |
theme today was transport and there were at least seven members bemoaned | :38:19. | :38:23. | |
the deficiencies of privatised health service and could I commend | :38:24. | :38:30. | |
to all of them a report made in this House in 1993, under the great | :38:31. | :38:39. | |
Parliamentarian Robert Adeney who sadly ly died on the Sunday | :38:40. | :38:46. | |
breakfast -- before the report was published. And it was about | :38:47. | :38:52. | |
privatisation and the subjects we are talking about. He was a great | :38:53. | :38:59. | |
expert on railaways ways and I believe it is the supreme report of | :39:00. | :39:03. | |
any committee in my time in this House and we are seeing the legacy | :39:04. | :39:10. | |
now and the problems are ones of privatisation and the difficulties | :39:11. | :39:15. | |
from them, rather than the difficulties of encountered by civil | :39:16. | :39:19. | |
servant, by any disputes that have taken place. We have heard and I | :39:20. | :39:25. | |
think it was to the great credit of the member for Blackpool to cleverly | :39:26. | :39:32. | |
use this debate to point out the government's publication of 29 | :39:33. | :39:36. | |
reports today that can't be scrutinised in the House and brought | :39:37. | :39:42. | |
attention to the very important increase in the level of fees and | :39:43. | :39:50. | |
loans that would be suffered and the withdrawal of bursaries for student | :39:51. | :39:53. | |
nurses. These are vital matters and are just two of the 29 reports that | :39:54. | :40:00. | |
have been published today in order presumably to bury bad news. The | :40:01. | :40:11. | |
other points made by the member made a very impassioned plea on behalf of | :40:12. | :40:19. | |
those who are suffering from government policy on poverty in the | :40:20. | :40:24. | |
country. We often talk about the general economic state, but this was | :40:25. | :40:30. | |
the, what happens at the level of the family and the difficulties that | :40:31. | :40:36. | |
have arisen and this was a speech I think that we all read with great | :40:37. | :40:45. | |
interest. From the member for Nottingham and Norwich North raised | :40:46. | :40:52. | |
the crucial problem that worries us, the alienation of young people post | :40:53. | :40:59. | |
Brexit. We realise that we do have a legacy of, from Brexit and the | :41:00. | :41:03. | |
deficiencies in our electoral system for which we will pay a high price | :41:04. | :41:09. | |
unless we tackle them with major reforms. The member for Rutherglen | :41:10. | :41:19. | |
raised the problems of the defence budget, where spending on | :41:20. | :41:24. | |
conventional weapons is being denied, or delayed, while spending | :41:25. | :41:33. | |
on the useless virility national symbol has been approved. And great | :41:34. | :41:38. | |
congratulations too for the member for Tooting, who who is noticed is | :41:39. | :41:47. | |
lucky enough to be married to a Welshman. It is like being upgraded | :41:48. | :41:53. | |
on a plane. She made the powerful point that what the government is | :41:54. | :41:58. | |
doing with its plans for the health service is trying to stretch a | :41:59. | :42:06. | |
seven-day health service into a five-day funding and pointed out the | :42:07. | :42:11. | |
key weakness and spoke with great knowledge and experience of this | :42:12. | :42:17. | |
matter and again she is a great asset to this House and we will I am | :42:18. | :42:23. | |
sure will have a great career and why the forecast of the past Prime | :42:24. | :42:28. | |
Minister that she be in the Shadow Cabinet in a day, it has been | :42:29. | :42:32. | |
disappointing that has not been fulfilled, but there a few weeks to | :42:33. | :42:38. | |
come where perhaps that will come true. I would just want to thank | :42:39. | :42:42. | |
everyone for what they have said today and I believe I can't go into | :42:43. | :42:47. | |
all the details of what was raised. I am sure that this is Parliament at | :42:48. | :42:52. | |
its very best, doing the work, not on the great issues that we | :42:53. | :42:58. | |
pontificate about but the bread and butter issues that concern or | :42:59. | :43:03. | |
constituents. I believe all these issues will have the ear of the new | :43:04. | :43:08. | |
Leader of the House and his deputy and we look forward for instant | :43:09. | :43:16. | |
results and before we return in September. Thank you Mr Speaker. It | :43:17. | :43:25. | |
is a pleasure to make my first appearance apt this dispatch -- at | :43:26. | :43:33. | |
this dispatch box and opposite the shadow deputy leader and other | :43:34. | :43:37. | |
positions that I'm informed that the member for Newport west holds no | :43:38. | :43:42. | |
fewer than four shadow office positions. I'm reminded of the | :43:43. | :43:50. | |
classic film kind hearts and cornets where Alex Guinness plays all the | :43:51. | :43:57. | |
roles, I would invite him to consider more responsibility, | :43:58. | :44:00. | |
because that character ended up a Duke. I know his reference to her | :44:01. | :44:09. | |
Majesty's birthday, if he wants to hear more about the story of the | :44:10. | :44:15. | |
unicorn, when he next has a couple of days I will give him more | :44:16. | :44:20. | |
details. We heard from a number of MEPPest members and it -- members | :44:21. | :44:27. | |
and it is an opportunity to expand on the activities of constituents | :44:28. | :44:33. | |
and issues and difficulties that are being faced else wrchlts I will give | :44:34. | :44:37. | |
way. I am grateful, before he proceeds could I add the | :44:38. | :44:41. | |
congratulations of myself and other members of Home Affairs Select | :44:42. | :44:45. | |
Committee to see him in ministerial appointment and to in fact to have | :44:46. | :44:50. | |
two former members of select committee opposite each other today | :44:51. | :44:58. | |
occupying six jobs between them. But I can also congratulate the leader | :44:59. | :45:02. | |
of House who I first met when he was chairman of an organise over 40 | :45:03. | :45:06. | |
years ago. And he has got to the cabinet at last. Well, fit weren't | :45:07. | :45:14. | |
for the chairman of Home Affairs Select Committee, no doubt we still | :45:15. | :45:18. | |
be all in our original positions still. Where we will be in due | :45:19. | :45:24. | |
course is another matter altogether. But thank you for, I thank him for | :45:25. | :45:31. | |
his support. The member from Harrow spoke about the issues of flooding | :45:32. | :45:36. | |
and that is something that is of considerable concern and the | :45:37. | :45:43. | |
difficulties with flash flooding and that is something that his | :45:44. | :45:47. | |
constituents will be grateful to him for having raised. He is well known | :45:48. | :45:56. | |
for his representation of all communities in his constituency. But | :45:57. | :46:00. | |
he also spoke of the advantages of yoga. I know that you have often | :46:01. | :46:08. | |
recommended to members to take up yoga in certain circumstances, I | :46:09. | :46:11. | |
don't know whether you and my friend from Harrow would like to get | :46:12. | :46:14. | |
together on that subject. We will await further interest on that. The | :46:15. | :46:25. | |
gentleman spoke of problems with southern eastern trains and he | :46:26. | :46:29. | |
wasn't the only member who spoke about train issues today. Clearly | :46:30. | :46:34. | |
there are some issues there and that is one issue that he will have | :46:35. | :46:40. | |
raised to his constituents and to others. The member for Gloucester | :46:41. | :46:47. | |
spoke about the railway station there and how there are insufficient | :46:48. | :46:53. | |
services there, but I heard him mention his own cycling expertise. I | :46:54. | :46:59. | |
notice he has a rather painful black yieshgs I was sorry to hear about | :47:00. | :47:06. | |
that. But I am rea sured the whips had nothing to do with it. I hope he | :47:07. | :47:08. | |
is well. No doubt people will want to visit | :47:09. | :47:24. | |
Gloucester. The honourable lady from Mitch spoke of her suspect -- her | :47:25. | :47:28. | |
success in dealing with B and I would like to congratulate her. | :47:29. | :47:36. | |
Where there are examples of those blaming the living wage for lower | :47:37. | :47:40. | |
remuneration packages, that would be short-sighted. It is not in the | :47:41. | :47:44. | |
spirit of the National Living Wage and I am sure B are acting | :47:45. | :47:49. | |
accordingly. The honourable gentleman, my friend, ultimately, | :47:50. | :47:57. | |
what I would say about the position of the office of Freeland Road is | :47:58. | :48:04. | |
that it is ultimately open access decisions are for them to determine | :48:05. | :48:09. | |
at the respect their independence. However, I would recognise the | :48:10. | :48:13. | |
potential benefits that open access competition can deliver for railway | :48:14. | :48:18. | |
passengers and others. The honourable lady from Walsall South, | :48:19. | :48:24. | |
I understand that the Queen's handbags are made in her | :48:25. | :48:26. | |
constituency. Another quality product. She indicated that the | :48:27. | :48:34. | |
local authority was not listening to her or her residence in respect of | :48:35. | :48:41. | |
road bumps and no doubt they will want to be rejuvenated in their | :48:42. | :48:48. | |
attention to her representations. She also spoke about later. That is | :48:49. | :48:52. | |
something that resonated and other members spoke of that. It is a major | :48:53. | :48:58. | |
problem and she wanted to restart the keep Britain tidy campaign. I | :48:59. | :49:01. | |
will ask the relevant Department to write to her about that. The | :49:02. | :49:10. | |
honourable lady from Twickenham spoke about and what could see the | :49:11. | :49:15. | |
medical expert is coming out in her remarks to the chamber because she | :49:16. | :49:21. | |
spoke about the importance of when it is too hot in crowded trains that | :49:22. | :49:25. | |
water be provided on platforms and also spoke about noise issues when | :49:26. | :49:33. | |
it comes to an aircraft and other pollution issues. Her expertise | :49:34. | :49:36. | |
brings a great deal of richness to the House. The honourable gentleman | :49:37. | :49:46. | |
from Nottingham North who helped create the backbench business | :49:47. | :49:51. | |
committee, I am right in saying, apposite to credit him with that and | :49:52. | :49:54. | |
to say how much we appreciate that this afternoon as so many members | :49:55. | :49:59. | |
have taken part in this debate, he spoke of disadvantaged areas in his | :50:00. | :50:04. | |
constituency and the casework that he deals with. I was struck by the | :50:05. | :50:08. | |
fact that he thanked his staff in the way that he did and the | :50:09. | :50:12. | |
wonderful success that he and his staff have achieved for Max and for | :50:13. | :50:17. | |
many others. I congratulate him on that. My honourable friend from | :50:18. | :50:25. | |
Norwich North spoke about Brexit and I know that she is particularly | :50:26. | :50:29. | |
alive to the issue of young voters and I think she is on the committee | :50:30. | :50:38. | |
for voter registration. It is recognised in This House, the value | :50:39. | :50:43. | |
of her work in respect of young voters and that is not something | :50:44. | :50:48. | |
that will be forgotten about. It is very important indeed. The | :50:49. | :50:53. | |
honourable gentleman from Stirling spoke about quarrying and I wish | :50:54. | :51:00. | |
them well with his lobbyists. It is a devolved matter but is lobbying | :51:01. | :51:09. | |
will be something that gets the requisite amount of attention at the | :51:10. | :51:13. | |
local authority in his area. Certainly, the area he described | :51:14. | :51:16. | |
sounds very pleasant indeed as a wooded area. My honourable friend | :51:17. | :51:25. | |
from Stafford, I would thank him for welcoming the military regiments | :51:26. | :51:29. | |
that he spoke of coming to his area. He spoke also of the County hospital | :51:30. | :51:35. | |
doing well and I know and the House knows him to be a powerful advocate | :51:36. | :51:40. | |
for his area. We heard also from the honourable lady for Hamilton West | :51:41. | :51:46. | |
who I had the pleasure of debating with in Westminster Hall yesterday. | :51:47. | :51:58. | |
I can say to her as far as the T206 warships are concerned, they are not | :51:59. | :52:01. | |
indefinitely delayed. My information is that is not correct. It struck me | :52:02. | :52:10. | |
that she took the particular care to thank the staff on the Scottish | :52:11. | :52:12. | |
affairs committee and the clerks there and wished them well over the | :52:13. | :52:18. | |
summer recess. My honourable friend from Chippenham spoke of engineering | :52:19. | :52:27. | |
skills gaps and it struck me on this occasion that, as far as the | :52:28. | :52:31. | |
Wiltshire Festival of engineering is concerned, that sounds impressive. | :52:32. | :52:35. | |
She is arranging that in her own constituency and I know there are | :52:36. | :52:41. | |
wonderful opportunities there. She said she visited 100 local | :52:42. | :52:45. | |
businesses in the pasture. What a superb ambassador for job creators | :52:46. | :52:50. | |
in her constituency. The honourable lady from tooting, I would like to | :52:51. | :52:56. | |
welcome to her place. Congratulations for her by-election | :52:57. | :53:02. | |
success. She was a vocal advocate for junior doctors in her remarks | :53:03. | :53:06. | |
but I can assure her that my road honourable friend, the Health | :53:07. | :53:09. | |
Secretary, goes very deeply about the national Health Service, its | :53:10. | :53:13. | |
patients and is its staff. She will agree with me that legal action is | :53:14. | :53:17. | |
expensive and unnecessary and unwarranted and we hope the matter | :53:18. | :53:22. | |
can be resolved. The honourable lady from Cannock Chase spoke of the | :53:23. | :53:29. | |
power station in her constituency and some discussion was hard about | :53:30. | :53:34. | |
its beauty or otherwise. That is a matter for extensive debate but she | :53:35. | :53:38. | |
did indicate that she held a job spare in her constituency and no | :53:39. | :53:45. | |
doubt that this extremely welcome from those who came from and work at | :53:46. | :53:51. | |
the power station and many others. I was very interested to hear about | :53:52. | :53:59. | |
Mill Green. I look forward to my invitation. She did mention watch 15 | :54:00. | :54:06. | |
who I believe is the dog of the year. We wish Watchman five well. | :54:07. | :54:18. | |
The honourable than the Blackpool spoke about tuition fees and I am | :54:19. | :54:26. | |
pleased to be given to reassure the honourable gentleman that the | :54:27. | :54:30. | |
statistics show that there are more disadvantaged young people now gone | :54:31. | :54:34. | |
into university education than ever there were under the Labour | :54:35. | :54:38. | |
government and that would have thought it would be proud to welcome | :54:39. | :54:41. | |
the written statements that have been released today because it gives | :54:42. | :54:46. | |
the House and its members a wide opportunity over the next six weeks | :54:47. | :54:51. | |
to study would those written statements say and return to it | :54:52. | :54:57. | |
fully refreshed in the autumn. My honourable friend from Southend West | :54:58. | :55:04. | |
gave his usual extremely impressive performance. If I may, as he has | :55:05. | :55:08. | |
mentioned dozens of separate items, I will write to him. I wasn't able | :55:09. | :55:16. | |
to write them down fast enough by hand. There are many matters that he | :55:17. | :55:20. | |
raised. What I did want to do is to send my best wishes to his mother | :55:21. | :55:26. | |
who I know is 104 years of age. He did mention Joe's cervical Cancer | :55:27. | :55:34. | |
trust and know that we would support their work, raising awareness of | :55:35. | :55:37. | |
cervical cancer and the importance of cervical screening is. It is just | :55:38. | :55:42. | |
one of the things he mentioned amongst many very important issues. | :55:43. | :55:50. | |
The honourable gentleman from Ellesmere Port was concerned about | :55:51. | :55:55. | |
housing and employment security and the NHS. He will be reassured, one | :55:56. | :56:00. | |
hopes, to hear that this government has built more housing than Labour | :56:01. | :56:07. | |
did and its 13 years and, of course, that this government introduced the | :56:08. | :56:11. | |
National Living Wage and is supporting the national health | :56:12. | :56:18. | |
service to the June of ?10 billion. My honourable friend from Telford | :56:19. | :56:24. | |
spoke about Telford passionately and said it is an expanding town. It is | :56:25. | :56:31. | |
very proud of the fact that youth unemployment is at record lows. So | :56:32. | :56:38. | |
much is being done to continue business investment in that town. | :56:39. | :56:42. | |
She did say there were too many traffic lights and no doubt many | :56:43. | :56:47. | |
members of This House will have some sympathy with that. The honourable | :56:48. | :56:54. | |
gentleman from strong forward will be reassured that not only Hansard | :56:55. | :56:58. | |
could understand him but everybody in the chamber can understand him. | :56:59. | :57:03. | |
He spoke passionately about the history of Northern Ireland and the | :57:04. | :57:06. | |
Orange Order and it was a fascinating, if brief history | :57:07. | :57:10. | |
lesson. No doubt we will hear more in due course. The honourable | :57:11. | :57:19. | |
gentleman for popular and Limehouse spoke of the air quality in London | :57:20. | :57:25. | |
which members from all across the country would no doubt have an | :57:26. | :57:32. | |
interest in as here in the House of Commons we are subject to it. It is | :57:33. | :57:42. | |
not quite as bad as the great stink was in the Victorian period when the | :57:43. | :57:45. | |
curtains at the Palace of Westminster had to be true in line | :57:46. | :57:50. | |
in order to disguise some of the aroma but there are still pollution | :57:51. | :57:55. | |
issues and no doubt he will continue to keep alive to those issues and | :57:56. | :58:01. | |
represent his constituents accordingly. I can say aye will ask | :58:02. | :58:06. | |
the deaf Department to write to him about the rescheduled meeting that | :58:07. | :58:11. | |
he will appreciate that with the changes that have occurred in recent | :58:12. | :58:17. | |
days it is regrettable that his meeting had to be postponed but it | :58:18. | :58:22. | |
can be rearranged. He mentioned also the shipwrights company of which he | :58:23. | :58:25. | |
is a proud member and made the important point about those who are | :58:26. | :58:33. | |
detained in India and I will ask the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to | :58:34. | :58:38. | |
write to him about that. Can I take this opportunity, Mr Speaker, to | :58:39. | :58:44. | |
wish everyone well over the summer recess, particularly the staff of | :58:45. | :58:50. | |
the House, you Mr Speaker Andreu deputies, the chairs of all of the | :58:51. | :58:54. | |
committees, not only the Home Affairs Select Committee, but all of | :58:55. | :58:59. | |
the committees. Perhaps particular good wishes to that one. The staff | :59:00. | :59:08. | |
of the House and, as many members have done, the retiring staff member | :59:09. | :59:18. | |
of the House, now Lena Dave Kearney who I understand is just approaching | :59:19. | :59:22. | |
the 30th anniversary of her employment here. She has served | :59:23. | :59:29. | |
generations of members of Parliament with generous, kindness and generous | :59:30. | :59:38. | |
of spirit. It is an honour and privilege to serve in This House. It | :59:39. | :59:48. | |
is a duty that is born with great humility and service by everyone on | :59:49. | :59:54. | |
all sides. To be a servant of This House and to appear at this dispatch | :59:55. | :59:59. | |
box for the first time is a great honour for me. I thank everyone for | :00:00. | :00:02. | |
their good wishes and I wish everyone well for the recess. I am | :00:03. | :00:09. | |
grateful on behalf of the House to the deputy leader whose warmth and | :00:10. | :00:15. | |
good grace have been hugely appreciated and the same goes for | :00:16. | :00:19. | |
the Shadow leader. It seems a fitting conclusion to our | :00:20. | :00:23. | |
proceedings. I wish everyone a very relaxing and revitalising summer | :00:24. | :00:28. | |
break. The question is as on the order paper. I think the ayes have | :00:29. | :00:37. | |
it. The ayes have it. We do come out in motion number two relating to the | :00:38. | :00:44. | |
committee on standards. The question is as on the order paper. The ayes | :00:45. | :00:52. | |
have it. Motion number three, relating to the committee of | :00:53. | :00:56. | |
privileges. The question is as on the order paper. The ayes have it. | :00:57. | :01:08. | |
We come now to the adjournment. I beg to move the House be adjourned. | :01:09. | :01:19. | |
Can I wish the party members a good summer and thank Mr Speaker for | :01:20. | :01:23. | |
giving me the final debate of the session before the summer recess. | :01:24. | :01:29. | |
And I welcome the new minister as well to the dispatch box who will be | :01:30. | :01:34. | |
replaying shortly. Mr Speaker, I called this debate following the | :01:35. | :01:38. | |
debate if you sicko called by my honourable friend for Jewsbury, | :01:39. | :01:43. | |
because she and I and many Yorkshire members are deeply, deeply concerned | :01:44. | :01:49. | |
about the staffing levels, not just at it Yorkshire trust, but also at | :01:50. | :01:54. | |
other hospitals across Yorkshire and our health service is being | :01:55. | :01:59. | |
seriously affected. We have warned ministers before about | :02:00. | :02:09. |