Points of Order
Sir Mike Penning (Hemel Hempstead) (Con)
On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. Thank you for allowing me to make this point of order, of which I gave Mr Speaker notice.
Today, the Government and the Department of Health and Social Care have issued a written ministerial statement on their review of the scandal of Primodos, sodium valproate and pelvic mesh. On average, the recommendations were given three to four paragraphs in the document. This affects every single constituency and it is an insult to this House—and, more importantly, to the victims of the conditions brought on them by the NHS—that we are not here listening to a Minister and questioning them. Is there any indication of why, in this short time—I am sure that is why the statement was issued so late today—we have not got a Minister before us today and why, for such an important issue to so many victims in this country, and one that has been going on for years, the Government’s own review gives only four paragraphs per recommendation and no compensation? I know the Minister is listening and she may like to pass this message on.
Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Eleanor Laing)
I thank the right hon. Gentleman for having given me notice that he intended to raise a point of order. As he knows very well, I cannot answer for what the Government do. It is not for the Chair to decide which statements are made here and which are made as written statements. To be the fair to the Government, we already have three statements today.
Madam Deputy Speaker
Well, if it had been four, I would have had people complaining that they did not have time to speak on the important Bill that is also before us. I fully appreciate the right hon. Gentleman’s points about the importance of the subject matter of the written statement and I am sure he will seek advice from the Table Office as to how he could take this matter further. I am also certain that Ministers have heard his concerns.
Andrew Gwynne (Denton and Reddish) (Lab)
On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. Yesterday, the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman published the long-awaited report on the state pension changes affecting 1950s-born women, which found maladministration on the part of successive Governments. Has there been any indication of Department for Work and Pensions Ministers coming to the House to make a statement on this important matter that affects 3.8 million women across the United Kingdom? If not, how can we get them here to scrutinise them, given that the recess begins tomorrow?
Madam Deputy Speaker
Again, I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for having given me notice of his intended point of order, which is similar to that of the right hon. Member for Hemel Hempstead (Sir Mike Penning). My answer is, of course—consistent as I am—the same. It is not for the Chair to decide which statements come here to the House and which are written. I am sure that the hon. Gentleman will seek advice from the Table Office as to how he might take his point further. However, having made his point here in the Chamber, the relevant Ministers will be aware of his concerns, which I suspect are shared by a great many hon. Members in all parts of the House.
Richard Burgon (Leeds East) (Lab)
On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. In Prime Minister’s Question Time today, in response to my question about whether the Prime Minister could live on £96 statutory sick pay per week, he said,
“The hon. Gentleman is quite wrong, because everybody who is self-isolating is entitled, in addition to the equivalent of the living wage”.
That is inaccurate. Not everyone who is self-isolating is entitled to the £500 test and trace support payment, as the Government’s own website makes clear. Can you advise me, Madam Deputy Speaker, as to whether the Prime Minister has corrected the record or notified you of any intention to correct the record? If not, what steps can be taken to ensure that the Prime Minister does correct the record on this very important matter?
Madam Deputy Speaker
I thank the hon. Gentleman for having given me notice of his intention to raise this point of order. As Mr Speaker has said from the Chair many times, and as I have said myself, we are not responsible for what Ministers say at the Dispatch Box —that is up to the Minister—and of course one person’s interpretation of statistics can often be different from another person’s interpretation of statistics; indeed, there can be as many interpretations as there are statistics.
The hon. Gentleman clearly disagrees with the answer that the Prime Minister gave, and I am sure that he will find a way of asking the question again. As with any other Minister, if the Prime Minister has been mistaken in the facts that he laid before the House, then I am sure that, by my saying this now, those around him will be aware that the suggestion of a mistake in fact has been made and he will take the earliest opportunity to correct it, which of course would be the honourable thing to do. But if the Prime Minister does not believe that he is mistaken in fact, the hon. Gentleman will have to await the next opportunity that he has to raise the matter again, which I am sure he will do.
Bills Presented
Judicial Review and Courts Bill
Presentation and First Reading (Standing Order No. 57)
Secretary Robert Buckland, supported by Secretary Priti Patel, Michael Gove, Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng, Secretary Thérèse Coffey, Secretary Gavin Williamson, Secretary Robert Jenrick, Mr Jacob Rees-Mogg and Chris Philp, presented a Bill to make provision about the provision that may be made by, and the effects of, quashing orders; to make provision restricting judicial review of certain decisions of the Upper Tribunal; to make provision about the use of written and electronic procedures in courts and tribunals; to make other provision about procedure in, and the organisation of, courts and tribunals; and for connected purposes.
Bill read the First time; to be read a Second time tomorrow, and to be printed (Bill 152) with explanatory notes (Bill 152-EN).
Button Batteries (Safety) Bill
Presentation and First Reading (Standing Order No. 57)
Jo Gideon, supported by Sir John Hayes, Robert Halfon, Edward Timpson, Dr Caroline Johnson, Holly Mumby-Croft, Andrew Selous, Munira Wilson, Siobhan Baillie, Dr Kieran Mullan, Dr Luke Evans and Dame Andrea Leadsom, presented a Bill to make provision about the safety of button batteries; and for connected purposes.
Bill read the First time; to be read a Second time on Friday 10 September, and to be printed (Bill 153).
Local Electricity Bill
Presentation and First Reading (Standing Order No. 57)
David Johnston, supported by Peter Aldous, Hilary Benn, Sir Graham Brady, Simon Fell, Patrick Grady, Wera Hobhouse, Ben Lake, Clive Lewis, Selaine Saxby, Mick Whitley and Jeremy Wright, presented a Bill to enable electricity generators to become local electricity suppliers; and for connected purposes.
Bill read the First time; to be read a Second time on Friday 10 December, and to be printed (Bill 154).