Junior Doctors Contract
Debate between Baroness Stuart of Edgbaston and John Bercow(8 years, 11 months ago)
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Mr Speaker
Order. The Secretary of State is seeking to provide comprehensive and informative replies and that is appreciated. However, progress so far—and it is not entirely down to the Secretary of State, but to the length of questions—has been a bit slow. I am keen to get through everybody if possible, but I remind the House that the next debate is very heavily subscribed, so brief questions and brief answers are the order of the day. We will be led, as usual, in this matter by Gisela Stuart.
Ms Gisela Stuart (Birmingham, Edgbaston) (Lab)
When the Secretary of State chaired his three contingency meetings, did he take account of the fact that last year we had about 43,900 excess winter deaths, which were avoidable and largely caused by almost toxic overcrowding of emergency departments? What provisions has he made to avoid the excess deaths that we had last year and to make sure that that is not made even worse by the present situation?
G20 and Paris Attacks
Debate between Baroness Stuart of Edgbaston and John Bercow(9 years ago)
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Mr Speaker
Order. May I gently say to the House that I am conscious that there are many colleagues here who cannot be accused of underestimating their own expertise in these important matters, but nearly 60 Members still wish to contribute? If I am to have any chance of accommodating them all, they will all need to follow the rubric of brevity, now to be demonstrated to perfection by Gisela Stuart.
Ms Gisela Stuart (Birmingham, Edgbaston) (Lab)
Thank you, Mr Speaker. I welcome the Prime Minister’s commitment to a wider narrative explaining how he thinks Daesh can be defeated, and his insistence that that has to be done with our allies. Press reports this morning suggest that France has invoked the mutual defence clause in the Lisbon treaty for the first time. Will the Prime Minister explain what practical implications that may have for the United Kingdom and our co-operation?
Paris Terrorist Attacks
Debate between Baroness Stuart of Edgbaston and John Bercow(9 years ago)
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Mr Speaker
Order. Accommodating all interested colleagues will require great brevity, in which exercise we can, as so often, be led by Gisela Stuart.
Ms Gisela Stuart (Birmingham, Edgbaston) (Lab)
Further to the answer given to my right hon. Friend the Member for Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford (Yvette Cooper), the Home Secretary knows better than most people in this place that successful counter-terrorism depends on information gathered through neighbourhood policing. If she cuts that extremely important link, her increase in intelligence officers will not bring about the result that she desires.
Points of Order
Debate between Baroness Stuart of Edgbaston and John Bercow
Mr Speaker
I think that the hon. Gentleman has largely achieved his purpose by what he has said and the way in which he has said it. He has spoken for Members throughout the House who will empathise with him, and who will feel enormous sympathy for the families of those involved in this tragic event. As for the wider issues of help for those who have been affected and questions to be raised about the precise sequence of events, they can be aired subsequently in a variety of forums in the House. The hon. Gentleman is dexterous and innovative in his use of those forums, so I am sure that we shall hear from him further as appropriate. I thank him for what he has said today.
Ms Gisela Stuart (Birmingham, Edgbaston) (Lab)
On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. Yesterday the House completed the process of setting up departmental Select Committees and their equivalents. However, one Committee remains as yet unformed, and even its Chairman has not yet been appointed. That is the Intelligence and Security Committee. How can we ensure that the Government will proceed with some speed to set up a Committee whose members are appointed on the recommendation of the Prime Minister?
Mr Speaker
As the hon. Lady has implied, that particular Committee is in a different category from the others with which the House has dealt. However, her point of order is not a matter for me. It is possible that she would like it to be, but it is not. It is a matter for the usual channels, the most senior representative of which is sitting, statesmanlike, on the Treasury Bench, and will have heard what has been said.
In the interests of the House as a whole, I hope that these matters will be attended to before very long, but, knowing the hon. Lady as I do, I am sure that if they are not, she will return to the charge.
Business of the House
Debate between Baroness Stuart of Edgbaston and John Bercow(9 years, 5 months ago)
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Mr Speaker
I also point out to the House that, in order to preserve the unique character of business questions, colleagues need to relate their questions to the business of the House for next week. That simply requires a Member, in pursuing the point of his or her choice, to remember to ask for a debate or a statement in the following week.
Ms Gisela Stuart (Birmingham, Edgbaston) (Lab)
May we have a debate in Government time on Lord Carter’s report on how £5 billion could be saved in the NHS between now and 2020, with particular reference to how, following the Lansley reforms, the Government would find it difficult to insist on value for money in foundation trusts?
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Baroness Stuart of Edgbaston and John Bercow(9 years, 10 months ago)
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Ms Gisela Stuart (Birmingham, Edgbaston) (Lab)
On the subject of birthdays, I am sure that you, Mr Speaker, would like to extend birthday greetings to Sir Simon Rattle—the man who put Birmingham on the map in terms of music—who shares a birthday with you today. However, on character building, I encourage the Secretary of State to look at the work of Professor James Arthur at Birmingham university who is doing a lot of work on how character education can be brought into the curriculum at every level in our schools.
Mr Speaker
Personally I am inclined to offer up birthday wishes to Stefan Edberg, a six-time grand slam champion and currently coach to the greatest tennis player of all time, Roger Federer.
Points of Order
Debate between Baroness Stuart of Edgbaston and John Bercow(10 years, 10 months ago)
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Ms Gisela Stuart (Birmingham, Edgbaston) (Lab)
On a point of order, Mr Speaker. On 19 and 20 December there was a meeting of the European Council, after the House had risen for the Christmas recess. The Council specifically discussed defence as well as sustainable growth and unemployment—all things that are important to the United Kingdom. Have you had any application from the Prime Minister to come to the House and make a statement on the outcome of that European Council meeting?
Mr Speaker
No, I have not. It used ordinarily to be the case as a matter of course that there were statements on such matters, and generally speaking—if memory serves me correctly—that has continued to be so, with one or two exceptions. Those exceptions have sometimes been a cause of some concern to right hon. and hon. Members, and we no longer have the debate in advance of the European Council because the Government judge—which they are perfectly entitled to do—that that should come out of the allocation of time for the Backbench Business Committee. It seems a pity if there is no statement after a European Council meeting, but there are various means by which Members can try to pose questions on such matters orally, and get answers, and each case must be considered on its merits. The hon. Lady is an experienced campaigner and she can apply her own resources to the matter.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Baroness Stuart of Edgbaston and John Bercow(11 years ago)
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Mr Speaker
The terms are a bit too narrow to admit of Birmingham, Edgbaston on this occasion.
Mr Speaker
I am sure, yes. We can always try to catch the hon. Lady later. There is a bit of a distance between Devon and Cornwall and Birmingham, Edgbaston.
Points of Order
Debate between Baroness Stuart of Edgbaston and John Bercow
Mr Speaker
In October of this year, I will have known the hon. Gentleman for 30 years. I have always hoped that he might overcome his natural shyness and reticence, and he is making some progress on that front. He knows, and I can confirm, that his words will be recorded in Hansard. I have a suspicion that a copy of that Hansard will, by one means or t’other, wing its way to the desk of the chief executive of IPSA.
Ms Gisela Stuart (Birmingham, Edgbaston) (Lab)
On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Have you had any representations from the Prime Minister about why, yet again, he is not making a statement following a European Council meeting? The last time, he said it was because the meeting was so boring. Given his deep disappointment with his counterparts at this meeting, it clearly was not boring, so do we have a better reason this time?
Mr Speaker
I recall the previous instance. The hon. Lady will recall that the following day, I granted a Member an urgent question to put to the Foreign Secretary because I felt that such matters most definitely did warrant an airing in the House. I have a strong hunch that the hon. Lady’s thirst for interrogation on this matter will soon be satisfied, and I feel sure that she will be in her place when it is.
Points of Order
Debate between Baroness Stuart of Edgbaston and John Bercow
Mr Speaker
The hon. Gentleman has done that. He and others will take that as an explicit commitment by the Foreign Secretary that there will be no implementation of such a decision without the prior assent in the form of a vote on a substantive motion in this House of Commons. I think we are now clear. Happiness is now universal in the Chamber—well, almost universal.
Ms Gisela Stuart (Birmingham, Edgbaston) (Lab)
Further to that point of order, Mr Speaker. I think we could complete that happiness. When the Foreign Secretary answered my earlier question, which was further to the question from my right hon. Friend the Member for Neath (Mr Hain), as he sat down he was heard by Members on the Opposition Benches to have audibly said, “Yes.” If we could record that in Hansard, that would be very helpful, even though it was said from a sedentary position.
Mr Speaker
I think I will command universal assent when I say that the Hansard writers are expert, professional public servants of unimpeachable integrity who would not be bettered in any part of the United Kingdom in any professional capacity. [Hon. Members: “ Hear, hear.”] Good. We are agreed on that.
Syria: anti-Government Forces
Debate between Baroness Stuart of Edgbaston and John Bercow(11 years, 8 months ago)
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Urgent Questions are proposed each morning by backbench MPs, and up to two may be selected each day by the Speaker. Chosen Urgent Questions are announced 30 minutes before Parliament sits each day.
Each Urgent Question requires a Government Minister to give a response on the debate topic.
This information is provided by Parallel Parliament and does not comprise part of the offical record
Mr Speaker
I understand the Minister of State’s temptation to look behind him at the person by whom he is being questioned, but if he could face the House, we would all be doubly grateful.
Ms Gisela Stuart (Birmingham, Edgbaston) (Lab)
Will the Minister update the House on what discussions the Government have had with Turkey and tell us whether Turkey is arguing for or against lifting the arms embargo?
Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust (Inquiry)
Debate between Baroness Stuart of Edgbaston and John Bercow(11 years, 9 months ago)
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Mr Speaker
Order. These are extremely serious matters being treated with great knowledge and sensitivity. I want to accommodate everybody who is interested in the subject, but we would now benefit from slightly shorter questions and I need therefore look no further than to a specialist in the genre, Gisela Stuart.
Ms Gisela Stuart (Birmingham, Edgbaston) (Lab)
Further to the Prime Minister’s previous answer, what precise steps will he take to force trusts not to accept early resignations or moving on? What will he do to stop that recycling, which has been going on for ever?
London Metropolitan University
Debate between Baroness Stuart of Edgbaston and John Bercow(12 years, 2 months ago)
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Urgent Questions are proposed each morning by backbench MPs, and up to two may be selected each day by the Speaker. Chosen Urgent Questions are announced 30 minutes before Parliament sits each day.
Each Urgent Question requires a Government Minister to give a response on the debate topic.
This information is provided by Parallel Parliament and does not comprise part of the offical record
Mr Speaker
I called two Members from the Government side, so it is still the Opposition’s turn. I call Gisela Stuart.
Ms Gisela Stuart (Birmingham, Edgbaston) (Lab)
May I press the Minister further on his response to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Committee? Are there any other higher education institutions, specifically in the west midlands or Birmingham, whose highly trusted sponsor status the UK Border Agency is considering withdrawing?
Defence Budget and Transformation
Debate between Baroness Stuart of Edgbaston and John Bercow(12 years, 6 months ago)
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Mr Speaker
Order. There is much interest in this matter among right hon. and hon. Members. Accommodating that level of interest will require brevity in questions and answers alike.
Ms Gisela Stuart (Birmingham, Edgbaston) (Lab)
The Secretary of State was enormously helpful last Thursday when he told me that procuring an aircraft carrier was slightly more complicated than buying a bottle of milk or a box of eggs. I wonder whether he will be equally helpful today. He keeps referring to the £38 billion black hole. Will he tell us how much of that £38 billion he assesses as being due to contractual commitments and therefore outside the scope of his cuts, and how much of it as being outside those contractual commitments?
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Baroness Stuart of Edgbaston and John Bercow(13 years, 4 months ago)
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Ms Gisela Stuart (Birmingham, Edgbaston) (Lab)
On the morning of 13 August 1961, the people of Berlin woke up to find a wall being built across their city. That wall remained in place for some 30 years before it came down and allowed the unification not only of Germany but of the east and west. Will the Foreign Secretary, together with the Secretary of State for Defence, use that anniversary as an opportunity to remind Europe that that would not have been achieved without the help of the Americans, and to remind the Americans that Europe remains important to them?
Points of Order
Debate between Baroness Stuart of Edgbaston and John Bercow
Mr Speaker
I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for his point of order, and for his unsolicited advice, of which, as always, I am appreciative. I commiserate with him on his personal loss, and I extend those commiserations to the hon. Members for Darlington (Mrs Chapman) and for Lewisham East (Heidi Alexander), and other right hon. and hon. Members similarly deprived. It is an extremely serious matter. The right hon. Gentleman will know that we do not discuss security on the Floor of the House. However, it is incumbent on me, which is why I welcome this opportunity, to make it clear that the matter is being investigated—I hope comprehensively—and certainly I can testify to him that it is being investigated as a matter of urgency. When those investigations have been completed, I hope they will prove profitable.
Ms Gisela Stuart (Birmingham, Edgbaston) (Lab)
On a point of order, Mr Speaker. This House makes the law and this House should comply with it. Given some of the remarks that were made during the urgent question—remarks that, on reflection, will probably be seen as incautious—may I have your reassurance that, irrespective of the setting up of the Committee, this House will have sufficient time to discuss the problems associated with injunctions before the summer recess?
Mr Speaker
This is of course a matter for the House itself. I welcome the hon. Lady’s point of order. As she will know—because she was present for the statement—the Attorney-General has announced that a Joint Committee of both Houses is to be set up. There will naturally be a chance to debate the terms of reference of that Joint Committee in due course. I think I made it clear that I strongly deprecate the abuse of parliamentary privilege to flout an order or score a particular point.
On the substance of the right and opportunity of Members of Parliament to express their views on this extremely important matter, I am pleased to reassure the hon. Lady and the House that there will be opportunities in the ordinary course of events for Members to express their views on these matters, both in relation to the terms of reference and more widely. There are opportunities to debate matters in Government time, Opposition time and Backbench Business Committee time, and through the mechanism of Adjournment debates. I say to the hon. Lady and the House that there is no injunction, super or otherwise, preventing any right hon. or hon. Member from pursuing those avenues. It is important, however, that we recognise the need to temper our privilege with responsibility.
Points of Order
Debate between Baroness Stuart of Edgbaston and John Bercow
Mr Speaker
I am in favour of a broad and balanced diet of newspapers, because it is analogous to the benefits of a broad and balanced diet more widely. I am not in the habit of regularly reading the newspaper to which the hon. Gentleman refers. I am all in favour of people having access to it if they so wish, but if he is asking whether it is delivered to me, the answer is no.
Ms Gisela Stuart (Birmingham, Edgbaston) (Lab)
On a point of order, Mr Speaker. I would be grateful for your advice on whether parliamentary courtesies also apply to the Prime Minister, who, last Friday, together with some of his colleagues, visited Queen Elizabeth hospital in Birmingham, Edgbaston to get some decent advice on how to reform the NHS, but the local Member of Parliament was not notified.
Mr Speaker
The short answer to the hon. Lady’s point of order is that that parliamentary courtesy is expected of every Member of the House, so it most certainly does extend to Ministers.
Points of Order
Debate between Baroness Stuart of Edgbaston and John Bercow(13 years, 9 months ago)
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Mr Speaker
The decision on whether to make a statement is a matter for the Government, the title of the statement is a matter for the Government and the content of the statement is a matter for the Government. I never have treated and never will treat anything said by the hon. Gentleman, or any other Member, with levity. He is raising a serious point, but I do not feel that it is a matter for the Chair today. I hope I can safely say to the hon. Gentleman, who has been in the House for 31 years—coming up to 32 years—without interruption, that the idea that anything causes him difficulty is hard to credit.
Ms Gisela Stuart (Birmingham, Edgbaston) (Lab)
Further to that point of order, Mr Speaker. Given that we no longer have debates in Government time ahead of the European Council, is it not even more reprehensible that the European Council statement has got mixed up with another major issue that should have been in a separate statement?
Mr Speaker
I really do not think that that is a matter for the Chair. I note what the hon. Lady has said about debates before European Councils, which is an important observation. The Leader of the House is in his place and has heard it, and if the hon. Lady wishes to pursue it through the usual channels or with the Leader of the House she is, of course, absolutely justified in doing so.
Earlier, I had an indication that the hon. Member for Walsall North (Mr Winnick) wished to raise a point of order.
Points of Order
Debate between Baroness Stuart of Edgbaston and John Bercow(13 years, 11 months ago)
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Ms Gisela Stuart (Birmingham, Edgbaston) (Lab)
On a point of order, Mr Speaker. On 2 December, I asked the Secretary of State for Transport about winter tyres. In his response, he told me:
“We have looked at the issue, and in fact David Quarmby addressed it.”—[Official Report, 2 December 2010; Vol. 519, c. 973.]
He went on to say that the use of winter tyres here was “not appropriate”. When I raised the issue with him yesterday, however, I told him that I could find no reference to winter tyres in the Quarmby report and that his response had been inaccurate, in that the Highways Agency actually recommends them. He replied:
“I am grateful to the hon. Lady for giving me the opportunity to clear something up—I clearly mangled my words in my reply to her.”—[Official Report, 20 December 2010; Vol. 520, c. 1226.]
Is it appropriate to use the phrase “mangled my words” to describe something that was clearly misleading the House, when he should have put the record right? The facts were wrong.
Mr Speaker
I am not sure that there is a misleading of the House involved, but the point has been made and the Leader of the House is on the Treasury Bench; he will have heard what has been said. If any message needs to be conveyed to the relevant right hon. Member, I feel confident that, as a result of the hon. Lady’s efforts, it will be.