Mrs Madeleine Moon (Bridgend) (Lab)
On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Prior to the House going into recess in July, I pressed the Leader of the House on keeping local Members informed of the sale of their Remploy factories into the third sector. I was promised that that would be done. I have since written to the Department for Work and Pensions on 6, 7 and 13 September asking for information relating to the sale of my Bridgend Remploy factory. I have received no reply to any of those letters.
My understanding is that a final decision on the sale will take place either today or tomorrow. As a matter of courtesy, should not the Department for Work and Pensions respond to local Members’ letters and keep them informed of job losses—for me, it potentially means the loss of the jobs of 45 disabled people—so that we can work closely with bidders to ensure that our factories are kept open and that workers have the opportunity to continue the work they so enjoy?
Mr Speaker
I am grateful to the hon. Lady for her point of order, to which I make two points in response. First, Ministers should always reply in a timely fashion to letters from hon. and right hon. Members, as they should to questions from them. Secondly, I would say to the hon. Lady that if she has been assured that she will be kept informed in advance of announced decisions, that commitment should obviously be upheld, whether it was made on the Floor of the House or elsewhere. The Leader of the House is not present, but I would imagine that he is within the precincts of the Palace, and would very much hope—[Hon. Members: “The Deputy Leader of the House is present.”] The Deputy Leader of the House is here and we are extremely grateful to him. He has heard the message and will have digested it already by now, I feel sure.
Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)
On a point of order, Mr Speaker. I hesitate to raise this matter as a point of order, but I would appreciate your advice. I have been extremely concerned about the near-monopoly situation whereby prepaid envelopes are supplied to Members of Parliament without any competition. I have been in dispute—or my office has been in dispute—with Banner, suppliers of prepaid envelopes, for an extremely long period, with no resolution. It has got in the way of helping to deal with constituency correspondence, and I would appreciate your advice.
Mr Speaker
The hon. Gentleman has raised an important point, but it is not one immediately for the Chair. I advise him to contact either the Administration Committee or the Finance and Services Committee, and if he is unsure and genuinely hesitating about which of the two should be his preference, he could always be bold and write to both.
Paul Flynn (Newport West) (Lab)
On a point of order, Mr Speaker. In the exchanges earlier about Afghanistan, reference was made to the three soldiers who have died since last Thursday. I believe it appropriate that the House also remembers the others who have died in the past few years. They are: Guardsman Jamie Shadrake, 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards, aged 20, from Wrexham; Lance Corporal Matthew David Smith, Corps of Royal Engineers, aged 26, from Aldershot; Lieutenant Andrew Robert Chesterman, 3rd Battalion the Rifles, aged 26, from Guildford; Warrant Officer Class 2 Leonard Perran Thomas, Royal Corps of Signals, from Cardiff; Craig Andrew Roderick, 1st Battalion the Welsh Guards, aged 22; Guardsman Apete Saunikalou Ratumaiyale Tuisovurua—
Mr Speaker
Order. It is with some reluctance that I interrupt the hon. Gentleman, but he will understand that I cannot know how long is the list that he plans to read out. I want to say politely to him—because he deserves this response—that I have not forgotten the exchange that he and I had on, I think, the first or second day back in September, when he raised with me his view that there should be a formal oral recording, periodically, of lives lost, and asked me to look into the matter. I said that I would, and I am doing so, and I think it wise to proceed on the basis of consultation. I intend to speak very soon to the Leader of the House, the shadow Leader of the House and various others about the matter, and then to revert to the hon. Gentleman. I intend him absolutely no discourtesy, and naturally I intend no discourtesy to the deceased whose names he was planning to read out, and I hope that in return he will do me the courtesy of allowing me briefly but properly to reflect on how to take this matter forward. If he would be good enough to leave it there for the day, his generosity of spirit would once again have got the better of him.
Paul Flynn
You will recall, Mr Speaker, that I have in the past read out the names of the 179 men and women who died in the Iraq war and the names of more than 200 of those who have died in the Afghan war. By a deliberate decision, this is now banned in the House, and the only protest that I can make against that attempt to disregard and show a lack of respect for the fallen is to continue reading out this list, until we reach an obvious conclusion—
Mr Speaker
Order. Would the hon. Gentleman be good enough to take his seat? I note what he has said, but I say to him and the House that I intend no discourtesy to anybody. In all fairness, we cannot make policy on the hoof. I understand his impatience for what he regards as a satisfactory resolution of this matter, and I hope that such a resolution, in whatever form, can be achieved. Meanwhile, however, we have to operate in accordance with some norms and practices, one of which is acceptance of the decisions of the Chair. I was happy to let him proceed for a short period and to read out some names, and he has done that, but it would not be right today to have a long list read out, without regard to what decision the House might reach. I shall reflect and consult on the matter, and I undertake to him, in full view of the House, to return to him and the House very soon. I hope that that is fair for today.
Mr Speaker
I am extremely grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his forbearance and courtesy.
If there are no further points of order—surely the appetite has now been exhausted—we come now to the main business.