Business of the House
Baroness Keeley Excerpts(13 years, 11 months ago)
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Sir George Young
The whole House will deplore any waste of funds. Of course, it is right that EU structural funds should be put to the use for which they are designed. I am happy to say that the UK has above average implementation of the structural and cohesion funds, and the UK programmes are on track to meet their targets. I cannot comment on the programmes of other member states, but I will draw the Foreign Secretary’s attention to my hon. Friend’s general point about the lack of accountability in part of the budget.
Barbara Keeley (Worsley and Eccles South) (Lab)
On 16 June, in his speech to the Hansard Society, the Leader of the House said that
“it has simply become too easy for the Government to sideline Parliament; to push Bills through without adequate scrutiny; and to see the House more as a rubber-stamp than a proper check on executive authority”.
He also said that his Government believe that a strong Parliament leads to a better Government. How does he square his belief in a strong Parliament with the Government’s shameful truncating of the debate on their proposals on tuition fees?
Sir George Young
I have to say to the hon. Lady, who was Deputy Leader of the House, that we could have done what the previous Government did and allocated five hours for tuition fees, including the business motion. Any time spent on the business motion would have come out of that five hours. The previous Government did that, but we have more respect for Parliament than to do that on this issue.
Business of the House (Thursday)
Baroness Keeley Excerpts(13 years, 11 months ago)
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Hilary Benn
And judging by the number of Members who wish to intervene, this is probably just a prelude to the speeches that they will make.
Clive Efford
On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. I hope that you were listening intently to the intervention from the hon. Member for Dover (Charlie Elphicke), who called for more time to allow Back Benchers to participate in this debate.
Hilary Benn
Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I was giving way to my hon. Friend the Member for Worsley and Eccles South (Barbara Keeley).
Barbara Keeley
My right hon. Friend has been very generous in giving way this evening. Let me touch on the point that he made about the impact on universities. We have already heard a little about Salford university this evening, and about how many local young people attend it. Indeed, there are two Salford graduates on the Labour Benches listening to this debate, and we are very concerned indeed about the possibility of our course—politics and contemporary history, which we both did at Salford university—disappearing. Will there be time in five hours to consider not just the future of social science courses such as the politics and contemporary history course at Salford—which was an excellent course, as I am sure my hon. Friend the Member for Denton and Reddish (Andrew Gwynne) will agree—but the future of this House? Where are the future Labour and other candidates going to come from if these politics and contemporary history courses disappear?
Hilary Benn
The importance and the power of a university education is indeed to give people the chance to understand where we come from. If we do not understand where we come from, it is difficult to work out where we should be going.
Paul Farrelly
Indeed. I think that the Leader of the House should find time—separate time—to look at Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Barbara Keeley
I thank my hon. Friend for giving way; he is being generous with his time. As for understanding how the abolition of the EMA will affect different groups, I hope we will get enough time to discuss the impact on young carers. I recently spoke to someone who worked in a young carers’ project in Salford who told me that all but one of the young carers, aged 16 to 18, were on the EMA. She was very worried that they would lose out on the end of their education. Maintaining an education alongside a big caring work load is a very difficult thing. Let us hope that we will have enough time to discuss that issue.
Paul Farrelly
Indeed. People who have to take a break from work—women raising a family, for example—will lose out in terms of their ability to repay because they become carers. Again, we need more time to look at the impact of the changes on such people.
Oral Answers to Questions
Baroness Keeley Excerpts(13 years, 11 months ago)
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Barbara Keeley (Worsley and Eccles South) (Lab)
It is known that a proportion of girls and young women dislike competitive sport, and that reduces their participation levels compared with boys and young men. If we are to ensure that the Olympic legacy meets the needs of all young people, what is the Government’s policy to increase participation among young people who just do not like competitive sport?
Hugh Robertson
I am glad to tell the hon. Lady that precisely those plans are contained in the Sport England plan “People, Places, Play”. It is also worth mentioning that at schools benefiting from the pupil premium, precisely those groups will be able to benefit. Indeed, the early evidence is that schools that have had extra money from the academies programme have spent it on sports equipment.
Points of Order
Baroness Keeley Excerpts(14 years ago)
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Mr Speaker
The short answer to the hon. Gentleman is that that may or may not be so, but unfortunately, it is not a matter of order. If he or other hon. Members are seeking to increase the powers of the Chair, they must find ways to do so—if he is asking whether I would strenuously resist, the answer is almost certainly no—but within the powers that I have, I cannot do anything about the matter other than to allow him, within limits, to expatiate, which is what he just did.
Barbara Keeley (Worsley and Eccles South) (Lab)
On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Today we heard the Prime Minister pledge that the Government would stand ready to help the flood victims in Cornwall. That pledge is similar to one that he made to my constituents when we had a terrible gas explosion two weeks ago—200 households were evacuated, and a dozen people were injured, including one very seriously.
When I tried to follow up on the Prime Minister’s pledge to my constituents, his officials said that no help was forthcoming. Is it in order for the Prime Minister to stand at the Dispatch Box in Prime Minister’s questions pledging the Government’s support to victims of explosions or floods when his officials have no intention whatever of offering any support?
Mr Speaker
Of course, action should always follow words, but if we were to establish that as a total precedent in the House, it would probably create some difficulty. The hon. Lady has put her thoughts very clearly on the record. It was not really a point of order, but she is a pretty ingenious Member, and I have a feeling that she will find other ways, in debate and questioning, to air her views on that subject. I look forward to her doing just that.
Summer Adjournment
Baroness Keeley Excerpts(14 years, 3 months ago)
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Barbara Keeley (Worsley and Eccles South) (Lab)
I thank all hon. Members who contributed to the debate. Clearly, we have to look at how we allocate time, because I understand that we have had 41 speakers. We have had subjects ranging from fishing quotas and pre-fab bungalows, to maternity services and cancer drugs, and from a much-needed bypass to much-wanted railway improvements. We have also heard three excellent maiden speeches from the hon. Member for Witham (Priti Patel) and my hon. Friends the Members for Hyndburn (Graham Jones) and for Livingston (Graeme Morrice).
One major theme has been the continuing concern of hon. Members about the loss of new school buildings under the Building Schools for the Future programme. That was raised by my hon. Friends the Members for Bolsover (Mr Skinner), for Bolton West (Julie Hilling), for Makerfield (Yvonne Fovargue) and for Leyton and Wanstead (John Cryer), and the hon. Member for Portsmouth South (Mr Hancock). It is of great concern to those hon. Members and to the head teachers, governors, pupils and schools affected. We cannot have good quality education in schools where tiles have to be stuck back on the walls. Hon. Members have urged the Education Secretary to think again, and I join them in repeating that, for the sake of our schools and for the jobs that would have been created or protected by investment in BSF.
The hon. Member for Witham made a good maiden speech. She had the task of paying tribute to not one but four predecessors, and she did so very well. Like other Labour Members, I do not share her enthusiasm for Margaret Thatcher, but I am sure that most Members are supporters of their local newsagents and other small shops in our communities. My hon. Friend the Member for Hyndburn made an excellent maiden speech, paying tribute to his predecessors and drawing a picture of the communities from Oswaldtwistle to Accrington, and on to the borders of the Ribble valley. He cited as badges of honour that his constituency contains the birthplace of the industrial revolution, and that his predecessor invaded the stage at a Clash concert. My hon. Friend the Member for Livingston also made an excellent speech. On confusion over names, I should tell him that in the last Parliament, we had two Michael Fosters and two Angela Smiths, but there was only one Robin Cook, to whom he rightly paid tribute. He drew some vivid pictures of West Lothian communities and paid tribute to local government leaders, of which he was formerly one.
Several hon. Members raised issues caused by policy confusion in developments in the NHS. My hon. Friend the Member for Bolton West spoke about confusion and disarray caused in Greater Manchester by the Health Secretary’s decision to revisit the consultation on maternity and neonatal services. In Salford, we very much want to keep open our maternity unit at Hope hospital. She is right to draw attention to the confusion caused not only in Bolton, but in Bury, Rochdale and other parts of Greater Manchester. We ask that Health Ministers listen to local people and resolve the future of our maternity services.
The hon. Member for South Staffordshire (Gavin Williamson) talked about cancer drugs. There is much condemnation of primary care trusts when difficult decisions are made about the funding of certain drugs. It is tempting to think that if all decisions were taken by GPs, that would solve all the problems. However, not all GPs either want or are ready to take on commissioning. We should ask what effect their taking financial decisions will have. What will a patient think when a GP says no to a particular treatment or drug for financial reasons? The disappointment will be the same.
My hon. Friend the Member for Stretford and Urmston (Kate Green) made a compelling case for fairness in the services delivered to her constituents and voiced her concern about the cuts made by Trafford council. I should say that I was a councillor in Labour-run Trafford from 1995 to 2004. We worked hard to protect care for older people, develop services for children and young people, and even keep our parks and gardens. She is a strong advocate for her constituents, as she showed in her speech today.
The hon. Member for Crewe and Nantwich (Mr Timpson) talked about competitive sport. Although I agree with him about the need to encourage excellence, my biggest fear is for all those children and young people who will not be able to afford the costs of participating in sport, particularly now that the grants for free swimming have been cut.
My hon. Friend the Member for Islington North (Jeremy Corbyn) talked about enjoying Adjournment debates in the middle of the night in the 1980s. For most people, this debate, lasting five hours in the daytime, has been long enough. [Interruption.] “Oh no!” I hear. “We could have gone on longer.” He also referred to his concern about the future of the health service in Islington. He urged Ministers to stop messing with the NHS, a view that I strongly support.
The pre-recess Adjournment debate is a good vehicle for allowing hon. Members to raise issues and express views. The hon. Member for Southend West (Mr Amess) has raised nine issues today. I have known him to raise 13, so he was being kind to the Deputy Leader of the House.
The hon. Member for Mid Bedfordshire (Nadine Dorries) spoke of a local case involving a trader and constituents who had lost their life savings. I hope that her raising the issue today will help to publicise her constituents’ plight.
The hon. Member for Rossendale and Darwen (Jake Berry) talked about a superb new leisure centre and a new academy school in his constituency. It is very good to hear of sound investment from a Labour Government. I agree with my hon. Friend the Member for Kingston upon Hull North (Diana R. Johnson) that Government investment, including that made through regional development agencies, is welcome in many constituencies.
The hon. Member for Shrewsbury and Atcham (Daniel Kawczynski) argued strongly for the first-past-the-post system of voting. My hon. Friend the Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant) talked about the coalition Government’s appalling proposals to hack away at communities and change constituency boundaries to suit a political purpose. We will all have more to say on that when we return in September.
My hon. Friend the Member for Stalybridge and Hyde (Jonathan Reynolds) made a strong case for a bypass in his constituency. My constituency of Worsley and Eccles South suffers from congestion, and we have three motorways and some of the most badly designed junctions anywhere. I hope that the Department for Transport will cancel the ill-advised lane gain scheme proposed for junctions 12 to 15 of the M60, and that whatever is saved can be used to help further the proposals for the bypass in Stalybridge and Hyde.
A number of Members have talked in strong terms about planning and faceless bureaucrats, and about central decisions being made on planning issues. However, that is exactly what the Conservative-led Government are doing by closing more than 150 magistrates and county courts, including in Salford. As we have heard, keeping justice local is a key issue in places such as Sittingbourne and Sheppey too. I hope that Government Members will continue to argue against the Government’s centrally driven decision on that.
When we are working in our constituencies over the recess, rather than here, it is important that we keep in mind those in our armed forces, to whom I pay tribute. I pay tribute to those serving in Afghanistan, to those who have fallen and their families, and to those who have been injured. We must always remember their service and sacrifice, and support them and their families.
I should like to wish a good summer break to all the staff who provide so much support to us throughout the year, particularly the staff of Hansard, who make sense of our debates, the staff in the Library, all the wonderful staff in the Tea Room, the other catering staff in the House, the cleaners, the Clerks of the Committees, the police, the Serjeant at Arms and her team, and the Doorkeepers. We really appreciate the work that they all do to ensure that this place runs as smoothly as possible.
Finally, Mr Speaker, may I thank you and all the Deputy Speakers for keeping such excellent order in our debates? The new team has done a great job, and I hope that you all have a good break during the summer.
Use of the Chamber (United Kingdom Youth Parliament)
Baroness Keeley Excerpts(14 years, 4 months ago)
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Mr Heath
May I let the hon. Gentleman into a secret? If the House agrees on an issue, we do not need to take up debating time. If the House agreed on a matter, it would be sensible not to schedule a debate on the Order Paper, because we could use the time for more important things, such as those statements that hon. Members have said they want to hear in the Chamber. We could ensure that Ministers come here to explain their policies, and have more time for legislation, rather than debating matters on which the whole House agrees. But it would appear that there are some in the House who do not agree, which is why we are happy to provide time for the debate this evening.
Last time we debated this matter, I was on the Opposition Benches and supporting the hon. Member for Worsley and Eccles South (Barbara Keeley)—no, it was not her; it was the hon. Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant).
Mr Heath
I beg the hon. Lady’s pardon. It was her who put forward the motion. I said then that if we were to decide in the future that the first occasion had been a great success in building confidence in democracy, and an understanding of democracy, among the young in this country, we might repeat the experience. I hope that hon. Members who were in the House during the previous Parliament and who actually saw the debate—I attended the whole of it—would agree that those tests were met, and that the experience should be repeated. I hope that new Members in the House, who worked hard to ensure they could take their seats, will feel it right to encourage young people to express themselves and take part in the process of politics, and I can think of no better way of doing so than this particular suggestion.
Barbara Keeley (Worsley and Eccles South) (Lab)
The question of whether young people engage in politics should concern Members because of its potential impact on the fabric of democracy in future years. Labour Members are very proud that in March 2009, the Government set the very good precedent of tabling a motion to allow the UK Youth Parliament to sit in the Chamber at a time when the House was not sitting.
Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)
The hon. Lady has made the point that the Government established a precedent. However, in our last debate on the subject it was made clear to the House that it would not be a precedent: that it would be a one-off for the annual meeting of the UK Youth Parliament on its 10th anniversary. Is this not the slippery slope that many of us feared?
Barbara Keeley
I would not call it a slippery slope, but I will come to the point that the hon. Gentleman has raised.
As some Members have observed, the meeting that took place last October was a great success. These Benches were packed with 300 young men and women, many from ethnically diverse backgrounds, and it was a fantastic debate. One of the young people described how she felt about it, saying:
“It is an outstanding example of how democracy among young people is alive and kicking. Tackling debate topics such as tuition fees, transport, crime, the economy AND lowering the voting age really shows that anyone who thinks young people aren’t interested in politics is extremely misinformed.”
We want to encourage young people to see democracy as important, and to see the House of Commons as relevant to their lives and to the future. It would be very odd for us not to continue to let young people use the Chamber when we are not using it—on a Friday, during a weekend, or when the House is in recess. It would be very odd indeed for us to say now, after all the success of the debate last October, that we were raising the drawbridge on the use of Parliament by young people. Instead, we should be opening the windows to the breath of fresh air that they will bring in.
Kerry McCarthy (Bristol East) (Lab)
Does my hon. Friend agree that if, after the great success of last year’s experiment, we turned around and said, “No, we are not letting you in here again,” that would send entirely the wrong signals to the young people?
Barbara Keeley
It would indeed. Members are clearly concerned about the issues affecting young people. We regularly discuss in the Chamber the same issues that the young people discuss themselves, and it is important for us to hear their angles and views as well. The engagement of the UK Youth Parliament—whose members are themselves elected from all parts of the country, often on a bigger turnout than some Members here—is very important.
Barbara Keeley
I hope that I speak for all Labour Members when I say that we support the motion.
Madam Deputy Speaker (Dawn Primarolo)
Order. Has the hon. Lady finished her speech?
Madam Deputy Speaker
In that case, given that the hon. Member for Shipley (Philip Davies) is on his feet, he has the Floor.
Philip Davies (Shipley) (Con)
Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. It is a poor show when, although it is apparently so important for the Youth Parliament to sit in this Chamber, the main Opposition party can find only about two minutes’ worth of things to say about it. It clearly cannot be all that important to them if they have nothing to say in support of it.
Philip Davies
The hon. Lady would not give way to me, but because I am of more generous character than she is, I will give way to her.
Barbara Keeley
I thank the hon. Gentleman.
It is easy for Labour Members, because we are unanimous on the subject. It is the backwoodsmen on the Government Benches who are raising all the objections.
Philip Davies
The hon. Lady talked—very briefly, I must say—about the views of young people, and the importance of their perception of the House of Commons and its relevance to them.
May I tell the hon. Lady something that she might want to bear in mind when considering what people think of the House of Commons? It comes back to something that my hon. Friend the Member for Kettering (Mr Hollobone) said in his earlier intervention, which was not dealt with particularly well. The hon. Lady started off by saying that the previous Labour Government set a precedent with last year’s debate.
Barbara Keeley
To clarify that, my point was that moving the motion was a precedent, not that the debate itself was a precedent.
Philip Davies
We are very grateful in this place that we have our Hansard reporters, and we can all read tomorrow what the hon. Lady actually said. We certainly heard that she said that it was a precedent.
The hon. Member for Bristol East (Kerry McCarthy) said that it was an experiment last time. However, if anyone wants to cast their eyes back on the account of last year’s debate, they will see that it was made abundantly clear by the Government and others who supported the principle that the debate was a one-off.
Therefore, the hon. Member for Worsley and Eccles South (Barbara Keeley) and those supporting her stance are saying that what the young people in the Youth Parliament should learn from the House of Commons is that we cannot believe a word anybody in this House says, because they say one thing one year and they then go and completely reject the solemn promises they made at that time. If that is the kind of message they want to give to young people, that is very interesting.
Barbara Keeley
The debate is not about the Shipley youth council or the West Yorkshire youth council, but about the UK Youth Parliament. Young people want to meet young people from other parts of the country and to debate issues with them. If this was just a local matter, one could appreciate that they would feel the way that the hon. Gentleman suggests, but it is not; it is a UK-wide Youth Parliament.
Philip Davies
No one is arguing that the UK Youth Parliament should not have a national meeting, but that is not what is before the House. We are discussing where it should have its meeting. I am sure that the hon. Lady will concede that the Youth Parliament members could meet in Westminster Hall or the House of Lords. If her prime purpose is that they should meet, that is not an argument for why they should meet here.
Philip Davies
I am not sure whether to take that as a compliment or an insult, although knowing my hon. Friend as I do I shall take it as a compliment. He would not wish to suggest anything else.
The point that I am making is that the motion is wholly illogical. It makes absolutely no sense whatever, because all the justifications for allowing the Youth Parliament to sit here are justifications for allowing lots of other organisations to do the same. The hon. Member for Worsley and Eccles South and the hon. Member for Bermondsey and Old Southwark made the great point that one of the great features of the Youth Parliament debate last year was that so many people from ethnic minorities took part. If that is the rationale for allowing it to be here, presumably the hon. Lady will advocate that the Muslim Council of Britain should have its meetings here. If we want lots of people from ethnic minorities here, the council would be a prime candidate.
Barbara Keeley
In raising the point about ethnic diversity, the hon. Gentleman misses the point. The point is that the UK Youth Parliament, through its work and how it elects its members, is more diverse than this House. That is impressive.
Philip Davies
That may well be the case, but is the hon. Lady really suggesting that any organisation that happens to have a more diverse make-up than the House should therefore be entitled to have a debate here? That is the logic of her position. The make-up of the Youth Parliament may well be more diverse, but that is no argument for allowing it to have a debate in this Chamber.
Business of the House
Baroness Keeley Excerpts(14 years, 4 months ago)
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Sir George Young
I am not getting ahead of myself at all. If the hon. Gentleman had listened to the statement made by the Deputy Prime Minister on Monday, he would have heard clearly outlined the legislation that would be introduced on constitutional issues. There will be a Bill on the alternative vote system and boundaries, and there will be a Bill on fixed-term Parliaments. That is likely to take some time for us to discuss and there will be opportunities for the hon. Gentleman and my hon. Friend the Member for Windsor to raise the issues that concern them on the Floor of the House.
Mr Speaker
The hon. Lady can raise a point of order, but only after the statement. Perhaps she could hold her horses for a little while.
Points of Order
Baroness Keeley Excerpts(14 years, 5 months ago)
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Barbara Keeley (Worsley and Eccles South) (Lab)
On a point of order, Mr Speaker. My right hon. Friend the shadow Leader of the House raised today the issue of the announcement made by the Secretary of State for Health at 9.25 am on Monday of revisions to the NHS operating framework. I checked personally with the Library at 9.30 am and then throughout the morning for the written ministerial statement. It was not made available until 12.40 pm, 10 minutes after the deadline for submission of an urgent question to you, Mr Speaker. Is it in order for me to ask now for a review of the way in which written ministerial statements are made available to Members?
Mr Speaker
I am grateful to the hon. Lady for her point of order. The handling of matters of this kind, subject to its being orderly, is in the hands of the Government. As the Leader of the House is here, he might wish to respond, and is welcome to do so.
Speaker’s Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority
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Barbara Keeley (Worsley and Eccles South) (Lab)
I welcome the setting up in this Parliament of the new Speaker’s Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, as defined in the Parliamentary Standards Act 2009, amended by the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010.
I add my support to the suggestion that we are reaching the point where we need some feedback. Hon. Members have raised a number of issues and having some sort of question time slot would be helpful. We know that the public want to have full confidence in our system here in Parliament, but it is equally important that Members of Parliament have full confidence in the system, and perhaps that is what we need to develop.
I welcome the nomination of those Members listed in the motion. I hope that it helps the House to move forward on this issue.
Question put and agreed to.
Oral Answers to Questions
Baroness Keeley Excerpts(14 years, 5 months ago)
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Sir George Young
I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for that question, and I know that a number of colleagues have had difficulties in accessing the system. The whole purpose of allowances is to facilitate and enable MPs to represent their constituents and hold the Government to account. I am considering whether we can have a proper channel of communication between the House and IPSA to get a sensible dialogue under way. I hope he welcomes the announcement a few days ago that there will be a review of the scheme later this year.
Barbara Keeley (Worsley and Eccles South) (Lab)
Since the start of this Parliament, the coalition Government have repeatedly ignored the House of Commons when making major policy announcements, thus avoiding scrutiny in the Chamber. There have also been some major leaks. Today we have the BBC announcing that the Chancellor will freeze council tax in the Budget, and the Department of Health announced major changes to the NHS operating framework to the media hours before a written ministerial statement on those changes. The Government’s discourtesy also means that copies of statements are delivered late to the Opposition Front Bench, often with only minutes to spare. Will the right hon. Gentleman, who I think believes that good scrutiny leads to good government, assure us that statements will be made first to the House and not to the media, and that the Opposition Front-Bench team will receive a copy of the statement at least an hour before it is delivered?
Sir George Young
Of course, statements should be delivered to the Opposition on time, and during the last Parliament Opposition spokesmen did receive copies of statements later than they should have, but I wholeheartedly reject the hon. Lady’s allegation about statements. By the end of today, Ministers will have made no fewer than 10 statements since the Queen’s Speech, and I think that she will find that that is a higher strike rate than was achieved by the last Government. Of course, the House should be the first place to hear of any changes in Government policy.