Browse content similar to 08/09/2016. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
Line | From | To | |
---|---|---|---|
chance to get to a good school, we have to make sure we change the | :00:00. | :00:00. | |
terms of trade to make sure that they are turned into education | :00:00. | :00:00. | |
opportunities. Business question, Mr Paul Flynn. Will the leader of the | :00:07. | :00:13. | |
House gave us the business for next week? Leader of the House, Mr David | :00:14. | :00:18. | |
Liddington. Mr Speaker, the bidders for next week, Monday the 12th of | :00:19. | :00:23. | |
September, remaining stages of the Wales Bill. Tuesday the 13th, | :00:24. | :00:28. | |
secondary reading of the Digital economy Bill. Wednesday the 14th, | :00:29. | :00:33. | |
motions to approve statutory instruments relating to welfare | :00:34. | :00:38. | |
reform in Northern Ireland and pensions. Followed by an opposition | :00:39. | :00:43. | |
day, and on allotted half day, they will be a debate on NHS | :00:44. | :00:48. | |
sustainability and transformation plans... On the 15th of September, | :00:49. | :00:54. | |
debate and a motion related to domestic abuse victims in family law | :00:55. | :01:00. | |
courts, followed by a debate on a motion related to quantitative | :01:01. | :01:03. | |
easing. These are determined by the backbench business committee. On | :01:04. | :01:08. | |
Friday the 16th, the House will not be sitting. On Monday the 10th of | :01:09. | :01:12. | |
October, the provisional business will include the second reading of | :01:13. | :01:18. | |
the neighbourhood planning Bill. I would also like to inform the House | :01:19. | :01:22. | |
that the business in Westminster Hall for the 15th of September and | :01:23. | :01:27. | |
the 13th of October will be as follows... The 15th of September, a | :01:28. | :01:32. | |
debate on the sixth report from the Justice committee of session 2015-16 | :01:33. | :01:39. | |
on prison safety, that is determined by the liaison committee. And on the | :01:40. | :01:44. | |
13th of October a general debate on Tobacco control, determined by the | :01:45. | :01:51. | |
backbench business committee. Can I briefly at Mr Speaker, that I am | :01:52. | :01:56. | |
sure members of all parties represented in this House will want | :01:57. | :02:02. | |
to wish success to the team GB Paralympic athletes on the first day | :02:03. | :02:07. | |
of competition today and personally as an MP that represents Stoke | :02:08. | :02:12. | |
Mandeville, I think everybody in the United Kingdom can take some | :02:13. | :02:15. | |
considerable pride in the fact that it was in this country that because | :02:16. | :02:23. | |
of the drive of Ludwig Guttman, we saw the creation of a disability | :02:24. | :02:27. | |
sport movement which has grown into the worldwide Paralympic movement, | :02:28. | :02:31. | |
whose achievements we celebrate in the next two weeks. We thank the | :02:32. | :02:40. | |
leader and we all are bass king in the reflected glory of the brilliant | :02:41. | :02:45. | |
success of our Olympians and we acknowledge, as the leader has said, | :02:46. | :02:50. | |
the pioneering work in this country in the whole introduction of the | :02:51. | :02:54. | |
concept of the Paralympic games. We all wish the athletes well. There is | :02:55. | :03:02. | |
one minor quibble we would have, it is an odd moment when we are | :03:03. | :03:06. | |
celebrating the success of sport to diminish the role of the time | :03:07. | :03:14. | |
available of the committee responsible for these affairs in | :03:15. | :03:18. | |
this House, culture media and sport. It has been reduced today. We have | :03:19. | :03:23. | |
gone on with this reluctantly but we see it as a temporary measure and we | :03:24. | :03:29. | |
certainly do not think any of these areas are minor in any way. We look | :03:30. | :03:34. | |
for the restoration of the full-time that was previously available to | :03:35. | :03:40. | |
culture media and sport. Next Wednesday's Welsh debate will | :03:41. | :03:47. | |
illustrate the degraded system that our democracy has and the way that | :03:48. | :03:53. | |
it is heading into further distress. The Welsh Bill will not guarantee in | :03:54. | :04:01. | |
anyway a compensatory increase in the number of members of the Welsh | :04:02. | :04:05. | |
Assembly, although the work level has trouble. But in the future, | :04:06. | :04:16. | |
Wales will lose 11 of the 40 MPs, will lose the four MPs of the MEPs | :04:17. | :04:21. | |
that represent Wales, and we have got this turmoil in the democratic | :04:22. | :04:27. | |
system when the disgrace of buying places in the House of Lords | :04:28. | :04:33. | |
continues. Quite rightly, the press condemned the decisions taken by the | :04:34. | :04:39. | |
previous prime minister in awarding places in the House of Lords, which | :04:40. | :04:43. | |
is already bloated, which is already trying to cope with 300 extra | :04:44. | :04:50. | |
members which they do not need, and to add to this in order to placate | :04:51. | :04:56. | |
the interests of lobbyists, cronies and party donors. What we should be | :04:57. | :05:02. | |
doing, instead of having a piecemeal reform of only one part of the | :05:03. | :05:08. | |
defects in our democracy, and that is a reform which will please only | :05:09. | :05:12. | |
one party and help only the Tory party, but will also disenfranchise | :05:13. | :05:20. | |
2 million voters. Should we not be getting together and realising how | :05:21. | :05:26. | |
far our democracy is degraded and how an all-party agreement on how we | :05:27. | :05:29. | |
can come together with a reform which will be all embracing, which | :05:30. | :05:35. | |
will look at all these abuses, in order to have a system that is fair, | :05:36. | :05:41. | |
that is of good value for the electors, and one that can win back | :05:42. | :05:48. | |
the respect that we have had internationally for the quality of | :05:49. | :05:52. | |
our democracy? The decision to halt the contract on Hinkley point was a | :05:53. | :05:59. | |
bold one hand a brave one. The position is not one in which there | :06:00. | :06:06. | |
is a crisis of security. It is an out of date system which has been | :06:07. | :06:09. | |
introduced, which has never worked anywhere in the world, because of | :06:10. | :06:14. | |
the endless construction delays and the multi-billion cost overruns | :06:15. | :06:19. | |
which have taken place in other countries, and we must also | :06:20. | :06:25. | |
reconsider the atrocious deal struck which would mean that our | :06:26. | :06:32. | |
electricity users would be saddled with the highest prices for | :06:33. | :06:36. | |
electricity in the world for the next 35 years. Can he give us the | :06:37. | :06:42. | |
debate, before any final decision is taken, on Hinkley, so we can | :06:43. | :06:48. | |
consider all these aspects in this House before we blunder into what | :06:49. | :06:52. | |
could be a gigantic financial and technological disaster of Hinkley? | :06:53. | :06:59. | |
Finally, could I ask the minister after his distinguished record as a | :07:00. | :07:06. | |
minister on European affairs, why are we retreating from our noble | :07:07. | :07:13. | |
role as providing the gold standards of human rights in the world and | :07:14. | :07:18. | |
certainly throughout Europe by insisting on a minor matter of our | :07:19. | :07:26. | |
own traditional practices and inviting other countries, the | :07:27. | :07:29. | |
oppressive regimes to go back to the old traditions of abusing and their | :07:30. | :07:35. | |
own nation state citizens and degrading the human rights there? If | :07:36. | :07:41. | |
we are not the as the trailblazers, the gold standard, the others will | :07:42. | :07:45. | |
slip backwards. Does he not feel it is a retrograde step and we should | :07:46. | :07:50. | |
consider being hateful part of the court of human rights and all of the | :07:51. | :07:55. | |
European tradition of human being -- European rights we have lived for | :07:56. | :08:02. | |
many years. -- playing hateful part? -- playing a full role. The usual | :08:03. | :08:14. | |
channels will review those depending upon experience with how it will | :08:15. | :08:18. | |
work out in practice. The question he asked at the end about human | :08:19. | :08:24. | |
rights, I have to say to him, there is absolutely no retreat on the part | :08:25. | :08:28. | |
of the Government from the high human rights standards that we set | :08:29. | :08:34. | |
for ourselves in this country, and which we follow through in promoting | :08:35. | :08:39. | |
foreign policy objectives as well. But the human rights of the United | :08:40. | :08:44. | |
Kingdom were well developed and had a fine reputation before the Human | :08:45. | :08:51. | |
Rights Act of 1998 was enacted. There is a long-standing issue over | :08:52. | :08:57. | |
the way in which a number of particular decisions about the | :08:58. | :09:00. | |
application of Article eight of the Convention have applied, in certain | :09:01. | :09:10. | |
extra in cases. We are looking at how -- in certain cases. The | :09:11. | :09:15. | |
government is absolutely clear that we stand by the human rights | :09:16. | :09:21. | |
embodied in the European convention, which after all was something that | :09:22. | :09:27. | |
was very much the product of work by the United Kingdom, and by its | :09:28. | :09:33. | |
politicians at the time. On Hinkley, as the Prime Minister has said, we | :09:34. | :09:38. | |
do intend to make a decision very soon. I think the objective that we | :09:39. | :09:45. | |
have always had in mind is the need in framing an energy strategy to | :09:46. | :09:49. | |
deliver both on climate change objectives, and on making sure of | :09:50. | :09:56. | |
security of energy supply at a reasonable cost to domestic | :09:57. | :09:58. | |
consumers and British industries so that industry can be competitive in | :09:59. | :10:08. | |
some quite fierce global markets. I suspect he and I on the House of | :10:09. | :10:14. | |
Lords voted the same way when those things were debated in a previous | :10:15. | :10:19. | |
parliament for the partially elected upper house. But in truth there was | :10:20. | :10:23. | |
no consensus or anything approaching consensus in the House of Commons, | :10:24. | :10:29. | |
within parties or across parties about how that issue should be | :10:30. | :10:34. | |
addressed. I do not really think it is likely to be fruitful to try and | :10:35. | :10:39. | |
pursue House of Lords reform as an early priority. I was sorry about | :10:40. | :10:46. | |
the disparaging tone he adopted towards the Wales Bill, because | :10:47. | :10:53. | |
after all, what's this government's record has been about is delivering | :10:54. | :10:57. | |
increased devolution, which the Welsh Assembly and political parties | :10:58. | :11:00. | |
in Wales for the most part have been saying that they wanted to see. | :11:01. | :11:09. | |
I was not shocked, but I was disheartened by the critical remark | :11:10. | :11:22. | |
he threw in about the approach of the parliamentary boundary | :11:23. | :11:25. | |
commission and the framework within which they are operating. One of my | :11:26. | :11:31. | |
treats since my appointment has been to get into the honourable | :11:32. | :11:36. | |
gentleman's autobiography. And I found on pages 57 and 58 of his | :11:37. | :11:46. | |
memoirs that he lauded the achievements of the chartists, and | :11:47. | :11:49. | |
he spilled out that one of the key objectives was that we should have | :11:50. | :11:53. | |
constituencies with the equal numbers of electors in each | :11:54. | :12:00. | |
constituency, and now the framework under which the boundary commission | :12:01. | :12:04. | |
is operating will deliver one of the chartered objectives which he so | :12:05. | :12:07. | |
strongly supported. I would have thought he would be cheering us on | :12:08. | :12:16. | |
and not criticising as. He will be aware that I PSA is out for | :12:17. | :12:23. | |
consultation with quite remarkable changes that are being proposed. | :12:24. | :12:29. | |
They are presenting themselves before various committees and will | :12:30. | :12:32. | |
have two sessions before the admin committee. Would he agree to a | :12:33. | :12:39. | |
debate in the House that might give IPSA the opportunity to get a better | :12:40. | :12:44. | |
understanding of what it is like to be an MP and how they can insist | :12:45. | :12:53. | |
rather than hinder? -- a cyst. It is important that they are statutorily | :12:54. | :13:01. | |
independent, but he is right in saying that any decisions about the | :13:02. | :13:05. | |
salaries, pensions and expenses of members of Parliament should be | :13:06. | :13:11. | |
informed by a proper understanding of what the responsibilities of | :13:12. | :13:14. | |
being a member involved, and about the multifarious different ways in | :13:15. | :13:20. | |
which different members, because of the nature of their constituencies, | :13:21. | :13:24. | |
go about doing the job. I would suggest on a debate that the proper | :13:25. | :13:30. | |
course would be for the backbench business committee perhaps to | :13:31. | :13:36. | |
consider this if there is a large number of members who feel a debate | :13:37. | :13:45. | |
of that kind is needed. Can I join the housing wishing the very best of | :13:46. | :13:53. | |
the Paralympic team, hopefully winning a whole clutch of medals for | :13:54. | :13:56. | |
the country. Yesterday the Prime Minister announced there would be no | :13:57. | :14:00. | |
running commentary on the Brexit negotiations and she refused to say | :14:01. | :14:04. | |
whether she was in favour of being in a single market are not. To me, | :14:05. | :14:11. | |
that sounded that this House will be simply expected to accept whatever | :14:12. | :14:16. | |
this government can clock is when it comes to the Brexit deal, as soon as | :14:17. | :14:20. | |
it gets into deciding what that will be. The leader of the houses | :14:21. | :14:28. | |
parliament 's champion. -- concocted. Will he tell us today | :14:29. | :14:34. | |
that this House will be kept bang up-to-date in every detail of these | :14:35. | :14:38. | |
negotiations as it is the biggest single issue in public life today. | :14:39. | :14:41. | |
We already know that the government have no intention of bringing the | :14:42. | :14:47. | |
trigger for article 60 two this House -- article 50. To this House. | :14:48. | :14:53. | |
We also know there will be no Australian points based, instead | :14:54. | :15:06. | |
we're going to have a wall constructed at Calais. No more | :15:07. | :15:13. | |
keeping this House and the public in the dark about what this government | :15:14. | :15:17. | |
proposes when it comes to wrecks it. This morning it was announced that | :15:18. | :15:21. | |
billions of pounds will be spent on refurbishing this House. I am sure | :15:22. | :15:24. | |
the Leader of the House meant to announce that we will have a full | :15:25. | :15:29. | |
statement on this and a proper debate in government time about | :15:30. | :15:31. | |
these proposals, particularly when we learn that this could cost up to | :15:32. | :15:39. | |
?4.3 billion of public money, and I am sure all the constituents would | :15:40. | :15:44. | |
want to know exactly. Lastly it goes back to the constituency issue in | :15:45. | :15:54. | |
the House of Lords that was raised. We're going to have this | :15:55. | :15:57. | |
announcement on the government's latest plans to gerrymander | :15:58. | :16:12. | |
boundaries. When we have that conversation, can it be all of | :16:13. | :16:15. | |
Parliament because we have to take into account what is going on in | :16:16. | :16:22. | |
that absurd House down the corridor. It cannot possibly be right that we | :16:23. | :16:24. | |
increasing the number of unelected Lords while at the same time | :16:25. | :16:27. | |
decreasing the number of elected members. Mr Speaker, first of all I | :16:28. | :16:40. | |
can say to the honourable gentleman that yes, Parliament will be kept | :16:41. | :16:47. | |
fully informed at the appropriate times about the progress of the | :16:48. | :16:53. | |
negotiations, though I think that the honourable gentleman will | :16:54. | :16:56. | |
understand that if there is an ongoing negotiation, it would be | :16:57. | :17:02. | |
foolish of any government of any political party to go into minute | :17:03. | :17:07. | |
detail about how those negotiations were progressing because that would | :17:08. | :17:18. | |
disadvantage this country in the progress of those negotiations. But | :17:19. | :17:20. | |
the government will indeed report back at regular intervals and of | :17:21. | :17:25. | |
course ministers will additionally be available to answer oral and | :17:26. | :17:30. | |
written questions, and it is open to members to make application to Mr | :17:31. | :17:36. | |
Speaker for urgent questions and debates if they feel the case is | :17:37. | :17:41. | |
strong. I would say to the honourable gentleman, if you looks | :17:42. | :17:44. | |
at the track record this week, on the first day back we had my right | :17:45. | :17:48. | |
honourable friend the Secretary of State for exiting the European Union | :17:49. | :17:55. | |
and questions about this matter for about two hours. Yesterday my right | :17:56. | :17:58. | |
honourable friend the Prime Minister, in giving a statement | :17:59. | :18:04. | |
about the G20 summit, in practice spends a lot of time responding to | :18:05. | :18:07. | |
questions about the impact on the United Kingdom's International | :18:08. | :18:16. | |
status in leaving the European Union, so I do not think he can | :18:17. | :18:21. | |
claim to be short-changed this week. He referred to the report which is | :18:22. | :18:27. | |
to be published at midday today by the joint committee of the Lords and | :18:28. | :18:32. | |
Commons on the restoration and renewal project. That is a report | :18:33. | :18:38. | |
which, like any select committee report, has been developed by the | :18:39. | :18:46. | |
members concerned. The government has not had any input into that or | :18:47. | :18:55. | |
any prior copies of the report sent to us so we could suddenly make | :18:56. | :19:02. | |
comments before the announcement made today. Parliament will indeed | :19:03. | :19:11. | |
have an opportunity to debate this before any decisions are taken. | :19:12. | :19:14. | |
Decisions will be a matter for the House and the House of Lords about | :19:15. | :19:21. | |
the future of the Palace. On the boundary changes, I say to him, the | :19:22. | :19:30. | |
principle involved here is a quality of waiter votes. It really would be | :19:31. | :19:37. | |
an affront to democracy if we went into an election in 2020 on the | :19:38. | :19:45. | |
basis of electoral roll is based on a census to decades-old by that | :19:46. | :19:52. | |
point, and we're some members were representing 100,000 electors and | :19:53. | :19:54. | |
others representing significantly fewer than half that total. Thank | :19:55. | :20:04. | |
you. I note that the Leader of the House has announced the second | :20:05. | :20:06. | |
reading of the neighbourhood planning Bill, and I wonder whether | :20:07. | :20:09. | |
he would comment on whether there would be enough time on matter | :20:10. | :20:11. | |
whether he recommends a second debate on the local plan expert | :20:12. | :20:16. | |
group which has come up with substantial and innovative | :20:17. | :20:19. | |
recommendations to simplify the whole process, including | :20:20. | :20:26. | |
neighbourhood planning. I think that there will be opportunity in the | :20:27. | :20:28. | |
course of proceedings on the bill to have the kind of debate which he | :20:29. | :20:33. | |
wants to see, but should he be dissatisfied there are opportunities | :20:34. | :20:39. | |
available. Under half of the backbench business committee, can I | :20:40. | :20:44. | |
say we welcome the opening of positive dialogue with the Leader of | :20:45. | :20:49. | |
the House about the allocation of parliamentary business for backbench | :20:50. | :20:53. | |
debates, and we welcome time sensitive subject applications. We | :20:54. | :20:57. | |
had such an application at the committee on Tuesday, which is for | :20:58. | :21:01. | |
during the week beginning the 10th of October. And that is an | :21:02. | :21:13. | |
application from the member from Colchester, and I would support this | :21:14. | :21:19. | |
because that week is baby loss week, and this debate is about baby loss, | :21:20. | :21:24. | |
stillbirth and infant mortality in the first week of life. If he could | :21:25. | :21:29. | |
find a slot during that week, we would be very appreciative. Indeed, | :21:30. | :21:35. | |
he makes a powerful and persuasive point. I cannot make a promise | :21:36. | :21:41. | |
today, but I will do my best to accommodate what he wants. Well and | :21:42. | :21:46. | |
prison is a reserve prison and is not operating at the moment, and it | :21:47. | :21:51. | |
is at the end of a large residential area. -- Wellingborough prison. | :21:52. | :21:56. | |
Three days ago ten traveller families dumped themselves on the | :21:57. | :22:00. | |
prison car park. The Ministry of Justice have tried their best to | :22:01. | :22:06. | |
move them. It has become unacceptable to my constituents, | :22:07. | :22:11. | |
particularly the ones living nearby. Could we have a statement next week | :22:12. | :22:14. | |
on how the government deals with travellers who are on Crown | :22:15. | :22:22. | |
property? There are number of us on all sides of the House where we have | :22:23. | :22:25. | |
had this problem of unauthorised encampment upon privately owned or | :22:26. | :22:32. | |
publicly owned land and local residents have become very | :22:33. | :22:37. | |
distressed about that. I am sure the appropriate Minister will want to | :22:38. | :22:42. | |
talk to my honourable friend about this particular case, but he might | :22:43. | :22:48. | |
want to consider applying for an adjournment debate so he can discuss | :22:49. | :22:55. | |
his views more fully and secure a detailed response from the Minister. | :22:56. | :23:02. | |
The campaign for Better Transport has this week set out its concerns | :23:03. | :23:06. | |
that the government's bus services Bill will have a huge impact on | :23:07. | :23:11. | |
rural bus services. I regularly get complaints from constituents about | :23:12. | :23:16. | |
the deterioration of their services, particularly in country areas, | :23:17. | :23:19. | |
around Silloth and the Solway plain. Will he ensure that when the bill | :23:20. | :23:23. | |
comes for debate in this House, there is proper time to discuss the | :23:24. | :23:30. | |
impact on rural bus services? I'm sure there will be ample time to | :23:31. | :23:34. | |
ensure we have those discussions which will be relevant to members | :23:35. | :23:40. | |
across the House with rural constituencies. There are some real | :23:41. | :23:45. | |
challenges in that many rural bus services to provide a vital lifeline | :23:46. | :23:57. | |
which is quite a minority of people because the customer base shrinks | :23:58. | :24:00. | |
but the services are also still important. I would hope that the | :24:01. | :24:03. | |
debate encompasses things like the use of new technology to help | :24:04. | :24:09. | |
provide community transport services which, in my constituency and | :24:10. | :24:15. | |
others, are providing a very useful additional form of support to people | :24:16. | :24:22. | |
living in villages. Could we have a debate on paediatric training in the | :24:23. | :24:28. | |
NHS in England because in my constituency the children's | :24:29. | :24:30. | |
emergency centre that County Hospital has been temporarily closed | :24:31. | :24:35. | |
due to lack of sufficient trained staff, and I understand that I am | :24:36. | :24:37. | |
not the only member of Parliament who has this problem in the | :24:38. | :24:45. | |
constituency. I can understand, particularly given the history of | :24:46. | :24:49. | |
hospital services in Staffordshire, via my honourable friend is so | :24:50. | :24:53. | |
concerned, and he has been a very strong champion of patients in his | :24:54. | :24:59. | |
constituency. I was sorry to hear what had happened. Obviously the | :25:00. | :25:03. | |
local health authorities have taken the decision on grounds of patient | :25:04. | :25:06. | |
safety, which clearly has to come first. I hope those local problems | :25:07. | :25:15. | |
can be resolved as rapidly as possible and the government is | :25:16. | :25:18. | |
certainly determined to continue to ensure that paediatric training | :25:19. | :25:22. | |
standards are of the highest level possible. Can I take the opportunity | :25:23. | :25:28. | |
to congratulate him on his appointment. In January the | :25:29. | :25:30. | |
government announced welcome proposals for a partnership between | :25:31. | :25:37. | |
the DFT and TEFL to specify franchises in London when an divine | :25:38. | :25:41. | |
-- individual franchises lapse. How does the government take this | :25:42. | :25:46. | |
forward in the months ahead? Thank you to the honourable gentleman for | :25:47. | :25:52. | |
his welcome to me. I would draw his remarks to the attention of both the | :25:53. | :25:59. | |
Minister for London and the appropriate Minister in the | :26:00. | :26:01. | |
Department for Transport and ask one of them to make contact with him. | :26:02. | :26:07. | |
I'm delighted at the importance of industrial strategy, now formally | :26:08. | :26:13. | |
recognised, not least by being included in the title of a | :26:14. | :26:18. | |
government department. Can we have a debate on its terms of reference, | :26:19. | :26:24. | |
its aims and objectives? It sounds to me like this would be an | :26:25. | :26:28. | |
excellent idea for my honourable friend to put forward to the | :26:29. | :26:33. | |
gentleman opposite as the chairman of the backbench business committee. | :26:34. | :26:37. | |
I'm sure my ministerial colleagues would welcome it, if such a debate | :26:38. | :26:43. | |
was secured. The industrial strategy is going to be important for future | :26:44. | :26:47. | |
prosperity in this country. It is important we have a strategy that | :26:48. | :26:54. | |
works for all sectors of industry, particularly the new industry which | :26:55. | :26:56. | |
will provide the growth and opportunity for the country in the | :26:57. | :27:00. | |
future and that it is a strategy that works for all parts of the | :27:01. | :27:06. | |
United Kingdom. Every single day in my constituency of Dundee I have low | :27:07. | :27:09. | |
income workers getting in touch after the tax credit support, Rob | :27:10. | :27:15. | |
Lee and without warning is stopped and HMRC payment by results model, | :27:16. | :27:22. | |
in short, commission. It causes immense stress and hardship for | :27:23. | :27:28. | |
households. 12% of all enquiries are about this very issue in my office. | :27:29. | :27:32. | |
Will the House commit to an urgent debate on this matter before more | :27:33. | :27:36. | |
people experience this harsh and brutal situation? Decisions about | :27:37. | :27:45. | |
tax credits are not always what applicants want. It is very | :27:46. | :27:49. | |
important. Every constituency MP would agree with the honourable | :27:50. | :27:54. | |
gentleman, decisions are taken as promptly as possible and that they | :27:55. | :27:57. | |
are accurate. He is right in saying people on low incomes are completely | :27:58. | :28:03. | |
thrown if an application that is justified is suddenly either | :28:04. | :28:07. | |
rejected, or there is an unjustifiable attempt to claw back | :28:08. | :28:15. | |
money after the event. I will let the relevant Treasury Minister know | :28:16. | :28:19. | |
about this particular point. It may be something he would like to seek a | :28:20. | :28:26. | |
debate upon but I hope very much that the problems he has described | :28:27. | :28:34. | |
will be resolved by HMRC and the contractor as rapidly as possible | :28:35. | :28:36. | |
because constituents deserve a better service than that. To assist | :28:37. | :28:43. | |
my honourable friend the leader of the House in the consideration of | :28:44. | :28:47. | |
the Brexit process, I have an idea. I wonder if he could enlighten us as | :28:48. | :28:52. | |
to the state of the discussions on the scrutiny by the select | :28:53. | :28:56. | |
committees in the Brexit process? My perception is that it is clear that | :28:57. | :28:59. | |
each department should have a select committee. We have two new | :29:00. | :29:03. | |
departments and we should have two new select committees. Considering | :29:04. | :29:08. | |
the complexity of the issue and the need for communities to be involved, | :29:09. | :29:11. | |
it would help if we got going on the select committee as soon as possible | :29:12. | :29:16. | |
and I wonder if he could help as I am sure the House would like to see | :29:17. | :29:20. | |
this kind of scrutiny. I will do my best to help. These matters are | :29:21. | :29:25. | |
subject to continued discussion between the usual channels. I think | :29:26. | :29:30. | |
on anything related to the establishment of select committees, | :29:31. | :29:35. | |
if it is humanly possible to have a cross-party agreement it is better | :29:36. | :29:39. | |
we should achieve that. Thank you, Mr Speaker. There is a new and | :29:40. | :29:46. | |
innovative charity established in my constituency to offer opportunities | :29:47. | :29:50. | |
to people to get out and about in the outdoors in the Trossachs. Can | :29:51. | :29:57. | |
we have a debate to explore how we can promote such excellent | :29:58. | :30:03. | |
initiatives across the country? I think that is an excellent subject | :30:04. | :30:07. | |
for the honourable gentleman to draw to the attention of DWP menaces at | :30:08. | :30:15. | |
the next question Time will stop or for him to seek and add -- DWP at | :30:16. | :30:21. | |
the next question Time. It seems to me the word should be spread and | :30:22. | :30:25. | |
this could be an example in which we could copy. The next time we have a | :30:26. | :30:32. | |
meaningful time to have debates will be in October. The government has | :30:33. | :30:35. | |
given a lot of money to flood defences in the United Kingdom, | :30:36. | :30:41. | |
another 12.5 million in Dover North. Can we have a statement from the | :30:42. | :30:44. | |
Government about the future of flooding and flood defences. It | :30:45. | :30:49. | |
affects the whole nation, not only see flooding, but internal flash | :30:50. | :30:53. | |
flooding, and this has to have a continued debate in this chamber. My | :30:54. | :31:00. | |
honourable friend raises an important point and of course I will | :31:01. | :31:04. | |
recall his constituency was very badly affected by floods a couple of | :31:05. | :31:09. | |
years ago. And he was the most fearless and outspoken champion of | :31:10. | :31:17. | |
his constituents at that time. Coincidentally there has been a | :31:18. | :31:22. | |
report published earlier today by Deborah on flooding and the future | :31:23. | :31:30. | |
25 year plan for flood resilience. -- by the Department. I urge all | :31:31. | :31:33. | |
members of the House to take an interest in this matter to study the | :31:34. | :31:39. | |
report. It has a number of important conclusions and also proposals on | :31:40. | :31:41. | |
how the Government will take things forward into the future. I notice | :31:42. | :31:46. | |
request for a debate. Clearly I cannot promise that at the moment | :31:47. | :31:49. | |
but I understand the subject's importance. On the 19th of August a | :31:50. | :31:55. | |
faulty tumble dryer caused a major fire in Shepherd scored, and damaged | :31:56. | :32:01. | |
a major block of flats. 26 families had to move out and it was a miracle | :32:02. | :32:05. | |
there were no deaths, or serious injury. There are 1 million for the | :32:06. | :32:09. | |
products not being recalled by the manufacturer. Can we have eight | :32:10. | :32:14. | |
government statement on how many factors can be made to recall and | :32:15. | :32:18. | |
replace faulty white goods as demanded by the London Fire Brigade | :32:19. | :32:26. | |
total recall campaign? I think if there is a question in my mind about | :32:27. | :32:31. | |
the legal position, if goods have indeed been sold that are | :32:32. | :32:36. | |
demonstrably a threat to the safety of those customers, I would hope | :32:37. | :32:42. | |
that if a situation like the one he described, the manufacturer should | :32:43. | :32:47. | |
take note of his remarks and act accordingly. I shall ask the | :32:48. | :32:55. | |
relevant Minister to have a look at the particular case. If you would | :32:56. | :32:58. | |
like to write to me with the details I will happily passed those onto the | :32:59. | :33:02. | |
relevant department and let's see if we can get appropriate action. I | :33:03. | :33:09. | |
have a familiar question for my honourable friend as one of the | :33:10. | :33:13. | |
longest serving Europe ministers. Can we have a statement after the | :33:14. | :33:17. | |
new minister's visit to Cyprus, which coincides with three meetings | :33:18. | :33:23. | |
taking place this week between the city and leaders and the president | :33:24. | :33:26. | |
saying the end of the road has been reached and it is time to reunite | :33:27. | :33:33. | |
Cyprus? I know that my right honourable friend, the member for | :33:34. | :33:40. | |
Rutland and Melton would be delighted to talk to the member for | :33:41. | :33:44. | |
Southgate about his recent visit to the island full stop I am sure all | :33:45. | :33:50. | |
of us across the Florida house --. I am sure everyone in the House would | :33:51. | :33:56. | |
like to see the country reunited and the Turkish and Cypriot communities | :33:57. | :33:59. | |
brought together again. That would be a good day for the United | :34:00. | :34:04. | |
Kingdom. I think there will be an opportunity to raise this at the | :34:05. | :34:07. | |
next foreign office questions. I think a conversation between my | :34:08. | :34:11. | |
honourable friend and the Minister is probably the best way forward. | :34:12. | :34:17. | |
Yesterday, the BBC reported that Katrina Percy, the former Chief | :34:18. | :34:21. | |
Executive of the sudden health trust, which has been investigated | :34:22. | :34:28. | |
because of a lack of investigation into unexplained death at the trust | :34:29. | :34:34. | |
had resigned from a post but was then shunted into a ?240,000 per | :34:35. | :34:39. | |
year job created just for her with no other candidates. -- Sutton | :34:40. | :34:46. | |
health trust. Can we have a debate about this very worrying decision? | :34:47. | :34:53. | |
My understanding is that this was an appointment which was wholly within | :34:54. | :34:57. | |
the jurisdiction of the local board of the relevant NHS trust and it is | :34:58. | :35:04. | |
a decision which that board therefore needs to explain and for | :35:05. | :35:10. | |
which they are accountable. Health provision is very important to all | :35:11. | :35:16. | |
constituencies. With an ageing population and acute health needs. | :35:17. | :35:21. | |
Given that, can we have a debate in government time about the NHS in the | :35:22. | :35:26. | |
West Midlands and in particular mergers of CCG and NHS trusts | :35:27. | :35:32. | |
serving my constituency? My honourable friend raises an | :35:33. | :35:36. | |
important point. He is already in his first year in this House | :35:37. | :35:39. | |
building up a reputation as somebody who really does stand up for good | :35:40. | :35:44. | |
health services and the interest of patients in the West Midlands. He | :35:45. | :35:49. | |
will have an opportunity on Tuesday the 11th of October when we have | :35:50. | :35:53. | |
health questions to make some of these points to the ministerial | :35:54. | :36:00. | |
team. The communities act application by new Council to | :36:01. | :36:05. | |
control fixed odds betting terminals alongside 92 other councils which | :36:06. | :36:08. | |
represent 42% of the population in England and were expired on the 14th | :36:09. | :36:15. | |
of July. That act says the Government has to compromise with | :36:16. | :36:17. | |
the negotiations and no debate has taken place. When will we get a | :36:18. | :36:23. | |
statement on this important issue for a huge proportion of the | :36:24. | :36:29. | |
country? I will ask the responsible minister to write to the honourable | :36:30. | :36:34. | |
gentleman about that point. Can my right honourable friend arrange for | :36:35. | :36:37. | |
the attorney general to make a statement about appealing against an | :36:38. | :36:43. | |
Julie lenient sentences? A number of people in my constituents felt the | :36:44. | :36:50. | |
sentence given to Anjem Choudary was derisory given the serious level of | :36:51. | :36:55. | |
the offences he had committed. We found out today in the newspapers | :36:56. | :36:59. | |
that the attorney general is not able to appeal against a lenient | :37:00. | :37:03. | |
sentence for that particular crime. We promised in the manifesto to | :37:04. | :37:07. | |
extend the number of crimes that could be appealed for being lenient | :37:08. | :37:13. | |
in sentencing. When are we going to crack on with it? As he pointed out, | :37:14. | :37:19. | |
big and was elected on a manifesto which pledged us to extend the list | :37:20. | :37:26. | |
of crimes that were covered by the right of the attorney general to | :37:27. | :37:30. | |
refer excessively lenient sentences to the Court of appeal. -- the | :37:31. | :37:39. | |
Government was elected. Either the attorney or relevant justice | :37:40. | :37:41. | |
minister will come forward with a statement to the House will stop the | :37:42. | :37:51. | |
petitions --. The committee has agreed on a Parliamentary debate on | :37:52. | :37:55. | |
grouse shooting after the session and there is a debate about the | :37:56. | :37:59. | |
badger culling and I am sure we will reach the 100,000 required. When we | :38:00. | :38:03. | |
had a debate on Westminster Hall this week, more than 40 MPs attended | :38:04. | :38:07. | |
and a lotta people wanted to watch the debate but could not fit into | :38:08. | :38:11. | |
the public gallery. Can we make sure that both of these debates are in | :38:12. | :38:15. | |
the main chamber so people can come and watch and there is time for MPs | :38:16. | :38:23. | |
to take part? There is always a pressure which government must | :38:24. | :38:30. | |
wrestle with and there is also, the backbench business committee must | :38:31. | :38:33. | |
wrestle with which matters are debated in Westminster Hall and | :38:34. | :38:36. | |
which matters are debated in the chamber. She will have an additional | :38:37. | :38:44. | |
opportunity on Thursday the 13th of October, when ministers from | :38:45. | :38:46. | |
environment, food and rural affairs will be answering questions here. I | :38:47. | :38:52. | |
know the leader of the House is very aware of the anxiety caused in Corby | :38:53. | :38:55. | |
aroused the discussions ongoing about the future of the steel | :38:56. | :39:00. | |
industry. Can we have a statement next week from ministers updating us | :39:01. | :39:02. | |
on where we are with these discussions with the industry, the | :39:03. | :39:08. | |
department and unions, so my constituents can be updated as to | :39:09. | :39:13. | |
exactly where we are? I will make sure that the business secretary and | :39:14. | :39:18. | |
the international trade secretary are aware of my friend's concerns. I | :39:19. | :39:24. | |
understand the importance of the steel issue is for his constituents | :39:25. | :39:31. | |
in Corby. The Prime Minister said in her statement on the G20 yesterday | :39:32. | :39:40. | |
that she had raised the question of overproduction on global markets in | :39:41. | :39:43. | |
the plenary session of the G20 leaders when she had been in China. | :39:44. | :39:50. | |
And she hoped that would lead to the international powers considering a | :39:51. | :40:00. | |
way forward to manage this. The leader of the House is very popular | :40:01. | :40:06. | |
in my constituency. And I have been asked to ask this question, whether | :40:07. | :40:11. | |
they voted for Brexit or to Remain, if this is a sovereign Parliament, | :40:12. | :40:16. | |
why did they concede the deal and why has a sovereign Parliament can | :40:17. | :40:19. | |
we not have a vote? Because they love him so much they would like a | :40:20. | :40:22. | |
debate on the closure of accident and emergency in Huddersfield and | :40:23. | :40:27. | |
with the landfill tax going up to ?85 across West Yorkshire, we are | :40:28. | :40:34. | |
getting fires and unscrupulous waste contractors are setting fire to | :40:35. | :40:39. | |
waste in order to save money, can we have debates on all of those | :40:40. | :40:45. | |
subjects? I think all the waste management question he will have the | :40:46. | :40:53. | |
opportunity at questions on the 13th of October. On the local health | :40:54. | :40:57. | |
issue there are questions on Tuesday the 11th of October to the health | :40:58. | :40:59. | |
ministers. As someone who the House knows was | :41:00. | :41:10. | |
on the Remain side of the campaign, if we are Democrats, however | :41:11. | :41:13. | |
reluctantly, to accept the result. If the result had been the other way | :41:14. | :41:18. | |
round, I would have been the first to say to my colleagues supporting | :41:19. | :41:22. | |
the leave campaign that it was time to fold up their tent. We have to | :41:23. | :41:25. | |
respect the view that the electors have taken. As I am sure the whole | :41:26. | :41:35. | |
House will be aware, the world black pudding throwing Championships are | :41:36. | :41:42. | |
taking place in Ramsbottom in my constituency this weekend. It dates | :41:43. | :41:47. | |
back to the War of the Roses. Can we please have a statement on what the | :41:48. | :41:51. | |
government will be doing to promote this prestigious and historic event | :41:52. | :41:58. | |
in the future? For a moment I thought he was going to propose this | :41:59. | :42:02. | |
as an experimental support for the Tokyo Olympics and for -- in four | :42:03. | :42:11. | |
years. I think he has made his point very forcefully, as usual today. I | :42:12. | :42:17. | |
hope he gets the chance to sample the black puddings before they are | :42:18. | :42:25. | |
thrown, rather than afterwords. Does giving evidence, -- when giving | :42:26. | :42:39. | |
evidence, the predecessor offered to come to my constituency to discuss | :42:40. | :42:48. | |
English votes for English laws, much to the disappointment of my | :42:49. | :42:51. | |
constituents. Will the new Leader of the House visit my constituency to | :42:52. | :42:55. | |
discuss this with my constituents in his place? Just say yes! | :42:56. | :43:05. | |
LAUGHTER It is a delight to have such a tempting offer. | :43:06. | :43:13. | |
Her constituency like many others in Scotland contains vibrant | :43:14. | :43:16. | |
communities and absolutely wonderful landscapes. But while I would hope | :43:17. | :43:24. | |
to be able to visit North Ayrshire at some stage in the future, I | :43:25. | :43:28. | |
cannot give a firm diary commitment at the moment. I welcome the | :43:29. | :43:34. | |
statement that there will be a debate on the government's Tobacco | :43:35. | :43:38. | |
control programme. The issue at hand is that the control programme that | :43:39. | :43:44. | |
was running for five years has expired, and we were promised a | :43:45. | :43:50. | |
replacement in the summer of 2016. I realise the summer stretches into | :43:51. | :43:54. | |
the autumn, but we still do not have the new programme published. The | :43:55. | :43:59. | |
government has met the targets it set itself under the five-year | :44:00. | :44:03. | |
programme, but during that debate can my right honourable friend make | :44:04. | :44:08. | |
sure that the Minister announces the date for publication and that it is | :44:09. | :44:13. | |
announced in this place? I will make sure the Minister knows, my | :44:14. | :44:16. | |
honourable friend will have an opportunity not just to take part in | :44:17. | :44:20. | |
the back bends business debate -- backbench business debate, but in | :44:21. | :44:25. | |
the debate on the 11th of October. When will members of the House now | :44:26. | :44:30. | |
when they can elect the chairs of the select committees? I hope as | :44:31. | :44:37. | |
soon as possible. Obviously after this week we have to provide for an | :44:38. | :44:40. | |
additional select committee But I hope this is not delayed | :44:41. | :44:53. | |
indefinitely. Will the Leader of the House look again at the time | :44:54. | :44:58. | |
allocated for the development of international trade. I do not think | :44:59. | :45:01. | |
the leader was in his place this morning when we had half an hour for | :45:02. | :45:04. | |
questions to the culture department then half an hour regarding the | :45:05. | :45:09. | |
international trade Department. There are almost 50 questions listed | :45:10. | :45:14. | |
on the order paper for a one-hour period, whereas a normal one-hour | :45:15. | :45:19. | |
slot would only have about 35. Despite his huge experience, the | :45:20. | :45:22. | |
Speaker had to make heroic efforts to try to squeeze everyone in, and | :45:23. | :45:28. | |
even then it overran by ten minutes. Surely we can do better than this, | :45:29. | :45:34. | |
given the importance of international trade post Brexit? I | :45:35. | :45:41. | |
will look at what experience tells us of the new roster for oral | :45:42. | :45:47. | |
questions and if the House needs to be asked to review this again then | :45:48. | :45:52. | |
we will do that. I think that will be very welcome in the House. The | :45:53. | :45:57. | |
danger otherwise is that there is a recipe for disappointment. There is | :45:58. | :46:03. | |
always unsatisfied demand, but it was very, very striking this | :46:04. | :46:07. | |
morning. Huge numbers and a lot were disappointed. I have also been | :46:08. | :46:17. | |
contacted by hundreds of single women over the summer who have been | :46:18. | :46:20. | |
affected by the behaviour of concentric. I received a written | :46:21. | :46:27. | |
parliamentary answer yesterday to see the contractor had breached its | :46:28. | :46:31. | |
performance standards on 120 occasions over the last 11 months. | :46:32. | :46:35. | |
Can we have an urgent debate about the behaviour and performance of | :46:36. | :46:40. | |
this contract so it cannot punish individuals and particularly single | :46:41. | :46:50. | |
women for another day? Clearly the number of contract breaches she has | :46:51. | :46:52. | |
described is completely unacceptable. I think that she might | :46:53. | :47:00. | |
want to write to the financial Secretary is probably the right | :47:01. | :47:05. | |
minister at the Secretary to make sure the concerns are being directed | :47:06. | :47:09. | |
correctly to the ministers dealing with HMRC, but it seems to me that | :47:10. | :47:13. | |
it is the responsibility of the HMRC senior management to manage their | :47:14. | :47:20. | |
contract effectively and for the contractor to deliver rant delivered | :47:21. | :47:23. | |
a decent service to her constituents and everyone else's. -- to deliver a | :47:24. | :47:40. | |
decent service. The decision by southern health was greeted with a | :47:41. | :47:44. | |
fit of apoplexy in my constituency, but can we have a debate on the | :47:45. | :47:53. | |
scandalous and enduring and read duopoly of the wholesale newspaper | :47:54. | :47:56. | |
distribution market and the disastrous consequences this has for | :47:57. | :48:06. | |
independent retailers? My honourable friend is obviously returning with | :48:07. | :48:13. | |
relish and energy to his new role as a backbench champion, particularly | :48:14. | :48:16. | |
for small retailers in his constituency. I am sure he knows the | :48:17. | :48:24. | |
ropes well enough to know that an adjournment debates might well be | :48:25. | :48:28. | |
the opportunity to discuss these concerns further. I was recently | :48:29. | :48:37. | |
contacted by a constituent when she discovered her energy account had a | :48:38. | :48:42. | |
standing charge of 14p per day higher than other constituents. Aeon | :48:43. | :48:45. | |
tell me that they are entitled to charge a higher rate for those who | :48:46. | :48:51. | |
do not pay their accounts by direct debit, but this | :48:52. | :49:04. | |
amounts to... -- E.on. The way forward would be for the honourable | :49:05. | :49:09. | |
gentleman to see if he could catch the eye of the Speaker for business | :49:10. | :49:18. | |
energy questions and he could put those points to the ministers. Mayor | :49:19. | :49:22. | |
also strongly endorse what was said by the honourable member for Heywood | :49:23. | :49:27. | |
and Middleton, and my right honourable friend for New Forest | :49:28. | :49:32. | |
West about the extraordinary decision of the southern health | :49:33. | :49:36. | |
trust to create a host with a salary greater than that of the Prime | :49:37. | :49:39. | |
Minister to accommodate someone whose position as Chief Executive | :49:40. | :49:45. | |
had become untenable, but may I ask for a ministerial statement on the | :49:46. | :49:50. | |
plight of Afghan and other former interpreters for British Armed | :49:51. | :49:54. | |
Forces in hostile environments who have applied for but not yet been | :49:55. | :50:01. | |
given asylum in this country? This is not only a debt of honour but | :50:02. | :50:04. | |
something that is necessary for the future functioning of British troops | :50:05. | :50:09. | |
in hostile environments when we are greatly dependent upon indigenous | :50:10. | :50:16. | |
interpreters. He raises an important point. Clearly it is a very | :50:17. | :50:22. | |
important principle that asylum decisions are all taken on the | :50:23. | :50:27. | |
merits of each particular case, and that is true of applications of | :50:28. | :50:34. | |
former interpreters as well as everyone else. But the Ministry of | :50:35. | :50:39. | |
Defence and the Home Office continue to review the overall situation in | :50:40. | :50:45. | |
order to ensure that we are providing protection to people who | :50:46. | :50:54. | |
have helped to protect us, -- to protect us. My right honourable | :50:55. | :50:58. | |
friend will be pleased to know that on Monday the 12th of September, | :50:59. | :51:01. | |
next week, we have defence questions, which may be something he | :51:02. | :51:06. | |
wishes to raise with defence ministers Ben. May we have a | :51:07. | :51:12. | |
statement on reports that emerged over the summer that the government | :51:13. | :51:18. | |
equalities office has awarded G4S the contract to deliver the helpline | :51:19. | :51:35. | |
. The matter is urgent, I understand the contract is due to take effect | :51:36. | :51:39. | |
from the 1st of October, so could the leader make a statement on the | :51:40. | :51:42. | |
subject next week, as people have expressed concern at G4S providing | :51:43. | :51:49. | |
public services? I will draw the concern to the attention of the | :51:50. | :51:52. | |
relevant Minister dealing with the government office for the qualities. | :51:53. | :51:59. | |
Parliamentary scrutiny of Sports Direct has helped employees get a | :52:00. | :52:03. | |
better deal from a rogue employer. May we have a debate on a good | :52:04. | :52:10. | |
increase in the minimum wage leading some employers to cut back terms and | :52:11. | :52:14. | |
conditions further staff, leading to a net reduction in pay? That cannot | :52:15. | :52:22. | |
be right. Badge for your staff. It is not right, but I would have hoped | :52:23. | :52:25. | |
that the honourable gentleman would have acknowledged that by setting | :52:26. | :52:28. | |
the first-ever national living wage it is this government that has | :52:29. | :52:33. | |
lifted considerably the minimum levels of pay that the low paid | :52:34. | :52:37. | |
employers can no expect around the country. -- can now expect. The | :52:38. | :52:45. | |
honourable member for North the Beds asked what progress has been made | :52:46. | :52:51. | |
for setting up select committees to scrutinise the new departments of | :52:52. | :52:54. | |
exiting the European Union and the new Department of International | :52:55. | :52:56. | |
trade, and he said discussions are ongoing. When we get back on the | :52:57. | :53:00. | |
10th of October, it will be more than 3.5 months since the | :53:01. | :53:04. | |
referendum. We have had very little detail this week of what is actually | :53:05. | :53:07. | |
proposed by the government. I am sure that lots of other honourable | :53:08. | :53:12. | |
members are inundated with requests about what the government are going | :53:13. | :53:17. | |
to do in light of the vote. Can he guarantee that when we return here | :53:18. | :53:21. | |
on the 10th of October, the select committees will be a position to get | :53:22. | :53:25. | |
up and running and scrutinise these departments to try to get the | :53:26. | :53:30. | |
answers we have not had this week? I very much want that to be the | :53:31. | :53:33. | |
position, I hope the ongoing discussions through the usual | :53:34. | :53:35. | |
channels have a successful outcome soon. Can we have a debate on the | :53:36. | :53:44. | |
performance of South-eastern Trains. The government has put ?20 million | :53:45. | :53:47. | |
into trying to sort out the mess of suburban trains. But my constituents | :53:48. | :53:51. | |
are suffering equally because of the poor performance of this company | :53:52. | :53:55. | |
behaving like they have one foot out of the door because they can see the | :53:56. | :53:57. | |
prospect of TEFL taking over the franchise. -- TfL. He will have the | :53:58. | :54:15. | |
opportunity to raise this with Transport Minister is next week. One | :54:16. | :54:23. | |
of my constituents is waiting for a decision from the DW P regarding his | :54:24. | :54:33. | |
condition. On the 12th of January I was advised a decision whether or | :54:34. | :54:36. | |
not to add this to the list of prescribed diseases will be made | :54:37. | :54:39. | |
early this year. As we are still waiting, can we have a ministerial | :54:40. | :54:44. | |
statement to explain this delay and bring these deliberations to a | :54:45. | :54:52. | |
conclusion? I will draw that matter to the attention of DWP ministers | :54:53. | :54:57. | |
because whatever the decision is to be, the sooner that people know the | :54:58. | :55:05. | |
outcome, the better. The Leader of the House and I have something in | :55:06. | :55:08. | |
common, in that we were both 1's contestants on University challenge. | :55:09. | :55:14. | |
If we were able to have a debate on enhancing democracy, how would he | :55:15. | :55:19. | |
answer this starter for ten, under what school for logic do you enhance | :55:20. | :55:24. | |
democracy by cutting the number of elected politicians and increasing | :55:25. | :55:29. | |
the number of unelected peers? I said to him earlier, I wish I had | :55:30. | :55:37. | |
been the consensus that was absent about the House of Lords, but we are | :55:38. | :55:44. | |
where we are on that, and I doubt the opinion of the House of Commons | :55:45. | :55:47. | |
has changed all that much since we have been -- had to be aborted | :55:48. | :55:52. | |
attempt at reform. I think the answer to him as that he really | :55:53. | :55:59. | |
cannot evade the central point, that we are now operating on electoral | :56:00. | :56:07. | |
registers based on a census taken in 2001. It is now very out of date, | :56:08. | :56:10. | |
given population changes that have taken place, and it is also just | :56:11. | :56:17. | |
plainly wrong to continue with a situation in which constituency | :56:18. | :56:24. | |
electorates are of such disparate sizes which means there is gross | :56:25. | :56:28. | |
inequality between the weight of votes of individual electors. | :56:29. | :56:33. | |
In June of this year, one of my constituents was killed because of a | :56:34. | :56:45. | |
gas blow out at a minus. In August, a contract worker was electrocuted | :56:46. | :56:51. | |
doing service work at the same mind. Back in April, 11 miners escaped | :56:52. | :56:54. | |
with their lives after oxygen ran out. The mining has been | :56:55. | :57:01. | |
investigated over the past 12 months. Those 11 miners, some of | :57:02. | :57:07. | |
which have had to return to work with post-traumatic stress disorder, | :57:08. | :57:10. | |
due to the fact the sick pay is not enough to cover the costs of feeding | :57:11. | :57:15. | |
a wife and children... Can we have a debate in relation to health and | :57:16. | :57:19. | |
safety work and locations of workers having to return to work because | :57:20. | :57:23. | |
sick pay is not adequate enough, when companies have accepted | :57:24. | :57:28. | |
liability? I am grateful to the honourable gentleman to -- for | :57:29. | :57:33. | |
bringing a serious matter to my attention. I want to express my | :57:34. | :57:37. | |
sympathy with those of his constituents who have gone through | :57:38. | :57:39. | |
this horrific experience and also their families. What he raises | :57:40. | :57:49. | |
crosses the border between the Department of business and energy | :57:50. | :57:57. | |
and the DWP in respect of benefits. What I will do is I will draw this | :57:58. | :58:02. | |
question to the attention of ministers in both departments. He | :58:03. | :58:05. | |
might also like to raise this ad business and energy questions when | :58:06. | :58:09. | |
it comes macro up. Or seek an adjournment debate so there can be a | :58:10. | :58:12. | |
consolidated ministerial response across government addressing these | :58:13. | :58:22. | |
concerns. Three people a day die due to a shortage of transplantable | :58:23. | :58:29. | |
organs. Earlier this week a quadruple amputee poses -- pose nude | :58:30. | :58:33. | |
with her body displaying transplantable organs. | :58:34. | :58:45. | |
The honourable gentleman has used today's opportunity well to | :58:46. | :58:50. | |
highlight his support for organ donation. I know constituents who | :58:51. | :59:00. | |
have been given not only a longer life, but a life of unexpectedly | :59:01. | :59:08. | |
improved quality because of a successful organ transplant. I am | :59:09. | :59:13. | |
sure that he can find many ways in which to highlight this matter | :59:14. | :59:19. | |
during Parliamentary proceedings. Order. We will come to the | :59:20. | :59:29. | |
honourable gentleman in due course. Point of order. Can you advise me | :59:30. | :59:35. | |
how best I can bring my concerns to the attentions of the House in | :59:36. | :59:39. | |
relation to the boundary review and House of Lords reform? It seems | :59:40. | :59:42. | |
perverse to reduce the number of elected representatives in this | :59:43. | :59:46. | |
place, while the Lords continues to gorge itself on new arrivals. Mr | :59:47. | :59:53. | |
Speaker, I believe in an appointed other House but not at | :59:54. | :59:54. |