House of Lords Reform Bill

Barry Sheerman Excerpts

Tuesday 10th July 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)]

I have been impressed by many of the speeches today and yesterday. I felt rather ashamed of the House last week—the debate on the banking crisis was not the greatest day for the Chamber—but these past two days have made me very proud to be a Member because the quality of the contributions has been rather fine, whether I have agreed or disagreed with them.

The hon. Member for Gainsborough (Mr Leigh)—he and I served as Chairmen of Select Committees on the Liaison Committee and know each other well—said that he was a Conservative and that people would not expect him not to be one. I came into politics as a radical, and hon. Members would expect me to continue as one. I have therefore been worried about my choices for this evening. I ran on the Labour manifesto, which contained a commitment to reform of the House of Lords. Like most hon. Members, I do not like voting against my party, but the fact is that the more I contemplated the situation today, the more I convinced myself—this happened quite early in the debate—that the House of Lords reform pledge in the Labour manifesto would not have resulted in this Bill. I am under no obligation tonight, then, to vote for a piece of legislation that no Labour Government, had we won the last election, would have brought before the House. So I shall not be voting for Second Reading.

Being a radical, I believe that the Liberal Democrats must be given a lot of recognition and admiration. Every way we look, political culture in our country is in a pretty bad way. In 1950, 85% of people were engaged in politics, but now that figure is down to 65%, and 6 million people do not even bother to register. Even in this time of crisis, with the economic challenges creating a serious situation for the people whom we represent, very few people vote in local elections. In general elections, too, there have been very low levels of participation.

Furthermore, membership of political parties is at an all-time low, as Members on both sides know. Labour and the Conservatives have the same miserable membership figures—there is not much between us—and the numbers of active members in our constituencies are not what they used to be. The Liberal Democrats are also struggling. Our political culture is in crisis, yet nothing in the Bill will radically tackle the malaise in our country and political system. In fact, the Bill takes our minds off the worrying aspects of our political system. We have to do something. Being old-fashioned, I would have liked either a constitutional commission or—dare I dig up this idea—a royal commission, the latter being much favoured by former Labour Prime Minister, Harold Wilson.

We ought to give the Liberal Democrats credit, however, for recognising the malaise and coming up with a couple of answers. The first was proportional representation, although they were defeated on that and I did not think it the quick fix, or even the difficult fix, they thought. They have also come up with Lords reform. I think they do it with the best of motives.

[Chris Huhne]

The alternative vote system can never be described as proportional representation. It is a majoritarian system. PR has never been put to the people of this country.

[Mr Sheerman]

I was trying to be kind to the Liberal Democrats, but obviously it has not worked.

By their own lights, the Liberal Democrats are trying to do something about the malaise in our political culture. The rest of us, in the other political parties, have to recognise that there is something deeply wrong with the levels of participation and democratic activity.

[Ian Swales]

This is not a Liberal Democrat Bill, but a coalition Government Bill.

[Mr Sheerman]

I understand that perfectly. I know the system and what the coalition Government are about, and I sympathise with the position that the two parties are in. They have to work together and make these agreements, and they are having a problem at the moment, but the fact is, as we all know, that the Liberal Democrats have persuaded the Conservatives to include certain things in the coalition agreement.

I want to look back over my time as an elected representative in this House. We have had more constitutional change in this Chamber in the past 30 years than at any other time in the history of our country, and everyone has become an expert on the constitution. The previous speaker, the hon. Member for Penrith and The Border (Rory Stewart), is an expert on the constitution. We have had many experts on the constitution. I can remember when people on both sides said that referendums were not British, and I can remember criticising the first referendum on membership of the European Union promoted by Tony Benn. I called it, “Tony Benn out of Benito Mussolini”, because dictators love referendums. They are a way out of the problems of weak leadership. The House does not need referendums for everything.

The Bill could have been amended to constitute a positive reform of the House of Lords. There is no need for an elected Lords filled with party apparatchiks similar to those down here. The danger of the Bill is not that the other place will get strong and flex its muscles and that we will become weaker; my concern is that it will simply become a pale and timid shadow of this place. Nobody wants that. I want a strong, reformed upper House. With the time and the opportunity, we could have reached an agreement on an all-party basis, but tonight I will not be voting for Second Reading.

[Several hon. Members]

rose—

Business of the House

Barry Sheerman Excerpts

Thursday 5th July 2012 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

My hon. Friend raises a key issue. We hope to publish very shortly the White Paper on social care together with a progress report on funding. I hope that when we do that, there may be an opportunity for a debate either at that time or subsequently. The issue needs to be addressed as soon as possible, and I think that Members on both sides of the House would welcome a debate on the future regime for social care along the lines my hon. Friend suggests.

[Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)]

Does the Leader of the House realise just how angry Yorkshire Members of Parliament from all parties are about the announcement that the Leeds children’s heart unit will close? There has been a vigorous campaign—the hardest fought that I have ever known in this House—and we have been ignored. Yorkshire has been downgraded in terms of this very important service for children.

[Sir George Young]

Of course I understand the concern of Yorkshire Members at the outcome of the independent review, which was established by the previous Government at arm’s length from Ministers and has now reported. The key motivation was to drive up outcomes for children who suffer from congenital heart disease. There was powerful evidence that the more operations a surgeon performs, the better the performance, which improves the outcome for children. The review has been supported by the royal colleges as well as national charities. Although I understand what the hon. Gentleman has said, I think that the prime objective for us all ought to be to improve the outcomes for children who suffer from this serious disease.

Business of the House

Barry Sheerman Excerpts

Thursday 21st June 2012 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I understand the perplexity of my hon. Friend’s constituents. There is a consultation on ticketing that ends towards the end of the month. I encourage him and his constituents to make representations to that review of ticketing policy. There is a separate consultation exercise on devolving more autonomy to local organisations to resolve issues such as ticketing for local journeys. There are therefore two opportunities to influence the fares structure to which he has referred.

[Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)]

Will the Leader of the House consider having a debate on the quality of management in our country? A recent Chartered Management Institute report suggested that 38% of the managers in this country are not very good at all. That affects every aspect of our lives and ultimately leads to our country underperforming. Given the low morale of staff in this place, which I remarked on only two or three weeks ago, is he doing something about raising the standard of the management of this place so that the people who work here actually feel that we care about them?

Oral Answers to Questions

Barry Sheerman Excerpts

Thursday 14th June 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)]

The Minister will know that young people are inspired to get into sport by top sportspeople. Does he share my concern about what happened yesterday with the bidding for the Premier League broadcast rights? The empire of people who some of us do not think are fit and proper to have senior positions in the media has yet again got the bulk of Premier League matches.

[Hugh Robertson]

That is an interesting point, but it is a very complex matter. One of the very first things that I did as a new Minister was to secure an agreement from all UK sport governing bodies, to which the Premier League voluntarily signed up, to invest 30% of their UK broadcast income into the grass roots. If the league makes more money, that means more money for the grass roots, which we should support. The interesting point about yesterday’s announcement was the arrival for the first time of BT as a partner. I hope that that produces more competitive tension in the market.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Heath]

We are very sympathetic to that view. In fact, we said in our response to the Procedure Committee’s report that we supported its proposals for a pilot. It is for the Procedure Committee to present such proposals in Back-Bench time, but we are working well with the Committee to enable the House to reach what I hope will be a swift decision.

[Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)]

I think that the Deputy Leader of the House will accept that our old friend Tony Wright, who was responsible for the recommendations of the Public Administration Committee, would want the House continually to evaluate the way in which their implementation is working. There is no doubt about the success of the Backbench Business Committee, but e-petitions seem to have been taken over by elements of the popular press such as The Sun and the Daily Mail. How are we going to react to that? It is not the way in which the system was intended to work.

[Mr Heath]

The hon. Gentleman has raised an important point. This was never intended to be simply a cut-out-and-send-back element in a tabloid newspaper’s campaign, but there is no evidence that all e-petitions are of that type: in many cases, they constitute a genuine expression of public sentiment on a subject. Besides, we have the filter of the Backbench Business Committee, which considers whether the House has already debated the issue in question, or will have an opportunity to do so in the near future. When the Committee considers it right for a debate to take place, it will stage one, and I think that it is doing a very good job in that regard. However, we are constantly evaluating what has happened, and we are keen to learn from the experience in order to make the arrangement even better.

Business of the House

Barry Sheerman Excerpts

Thursday 14th June 2012 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I commend what Gallay has been doing in my hon. Friend’s constituency, in winning exports for air conditioning equipment in a very competitive market. I understand that the order to which he refers involves Egypt, where the internal security situation is giving rise for concern. I will ensure that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and BIS process the application for a licence as quickly as they can, consistent with their obligation to ensure that such equipment is not put to the wrong use.

[Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)]

I am sure that the Leader of the House will agree that, for at least 200 years, local newspapers have provided a vital communication link between those elected to this House and our constituents. In today’s Culture, Media and Sport questions, I was disappointed by the complacency of the Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport, the hon. Member for Wantage (Mr Vaizey) in his response to two questions on the subject. Papers such as The Huddersfield Daily Examiner are crucial to the democratic process, yet many of them are under threat. This month, for example, the Halifax Courier changed to weekly and online publication only. This decline in our local newspapers represents a real threat to our democratic process.

[Sir George Young]

I am sure that every hon. Member would agree about the importance of his or her local newspaper. The Andover Advertiser is certainly an important publication. I am sure that there was no complacency at all in the reply from the Minister who replied to those questions a few minutes ago, but, as the hon. Gentleman will know, there are trends throughout the country—and, indeed, throughout the world—that are making local newspapers less viable. I will get back to my hon. Friend and see whether there are any further steps that we can take, but hon. Members can also play their own part in making local newspapers readworthy by writing columns in them that make compelling reading.

Business of the House

Barry Sheerman Excerpts

Thursday 24th May 2012 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I am surprised that the shadow Leader of the House did not mention some of the good news for Merseyside, given her interest in the area. This is an example of our attempts to redirect growth away from, for example, the City of London, and to ensure that parts of the country that have had a rough time get the benefit of growth. I am delighted to learn of the success that my hon. Friend has described.

[Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)]

As the Leader of the House will know, tonight there is to be a jubilee party for all who work in the House. Does it concern him that members of staff here are increasingly worried about their inability to deliver a first-class service to Members of Parliament who represent the people in their constituencies because of cuts, including job cuts, and the fact that this place is being run as though it were a business rather than a service in a democracy? Indeed, the very security of the Palace of Westminster is of concern to the people who work here. It is about time we woke up and did something about this. May we have a debate on it?

[Sir George Young]

I join the hon. Gentleman in paying tribute to those who work for the House. I am aware of their concerns, and I can reassure the hon. Gentleman that my fellow members of the Commission are aware of them as well. Earlier this week I had a meeting with a staff representative, who shared some of those concerns with me.

We want to keep our staff on side. Genuine discussions are taking place between the management board and representatives of those who work in the House, so that they can be aware of what we are planning and have an opportunity to influence decisions before they are made. Ultimately this will be a matter for the Commission, but we share the hon. Gentleman’s interest in maintaining a good relationship with those who work here.

Business of the House

Barry Sheerman Excerpts

Thursday 17th May 2012 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

The commitment to international aid spending was discussed at some length by hon. Members on both sides of the House on Tuesday, in a debate to which my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Development responded. On the specific issue my hon. Friend mentions, I am not sure it would be right to withhold support to the DRC—the aid we give reaches very poor people, who would be deprived of the assistance they need—but I will draw his concern to the attention of my right hon. Friend.

[Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)]

The Leader of the House will be aware that small and medium-sized businesses in my constituency are eager to respond to the Government challenge to export more to Brazil, Russia, India and China, but has he also seen Lord Digby Jones’s remarks that UK Trade & Investment, which is an arm of the Foreign Office, has been devastated? What help can we give small and medium-sized businesses in constituencies such as mine to help them to export to BRIC countries?

[Sir George Young]

UKTI has not been “devastated”. I was in touch with it recently when it held a seminar specifically for small and medium-sized enterprises that wanted to export. The seminar was well attended and found to be of great value by those who came along. I could not praise more highly the input of UKTI to that initiative. I would encourage hon. Members who have not already done so to contact UKTI and have a similar seminar in their constituencies.

Business of the House

Barry Sheerman Excerpts

Thursday 10th May 2012 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for reminding the House that £1 billion is available. We are a month away from the deadline for bidding under round 3. I am sure that all hon. Members with prospects in their constituency for the regional growth fund will encourage businesses to put bids forward. On her bid for a debate on this matter, there will be such an opportunity on Wednesday when my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills will update the House on the steps that we have taken to promote growth and employment in regions of the country that need further help.

[Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)]

Does the Leader of the House share my view that the recent trial and conviction of nine men for child abuse in Rochdale should lead us immediately to have a thorough debate in the House on what on earth was going on? I have a long-held interest in this matter. Indeed, I secured a Westminster Hall debate on it back in January 2009. It surprises me that the Secretary of State for Education has not indicated that he will be at the Dispatch Box to discuss this terrible case of child abuse, but has leaked his reaction to it to the press. He should be here at the Dispatch Box, leading a debate on the matter.

[Sir George Young]

I am sure that the whole House agrees with the hon. Gentleman about the seriousness of the offences that have been revealed and about the need to take action to ensure that vulnerable girls are not subjected to the abuse to which those ones were subjected. I hope that it will be possible in today’s debate on home affairs and justice for hon. Members to intervene on the issues that he has mentioned. He will have seen the announcement by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education on the steps that he has taken to ensure that those in care homes are not subjected to the abuse to which those girls were subjected.

[Mr Sheerman]

He should be making that statement to the House.

[Sir George Young]

The hon. Gentleman says that my right hon. Friend should be here. The subjects for the Queen’s Speech debate are chosen by the Opposition, not by the Government, so I resist his accusation that we have not found time for a debate on this matter.

There is recognition from leaders of the Pakistani community that there is a cultural issue that needs to be addressed. I assure the hon. Gentleman that this is an issue that the Government take seriously, as he will have seen from the statement by my right hon. Friend. I hope that the next time my right hon. Friend appears for questions, he will have an opportunity to update the House on the steps that are being taken.

Business of the House

Barry Sheerman Excerpts

Thursday 19th April 2012 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I commend my hon. Friend on her activity during the Easter recess, and I commend the work that voluntary organisations are doing in delivering the Work programme, which has been calibrated to encourage them to help find work for people for whom it has historically been difficult to find work. I commend the work that is taking place in her constituency. The Work programme is the biggest back-to-work programme that the country has ever seen. It has already helped 300,000 people. We hope it will help more than 3 million people. I cannot promise a debate in the very near future, but there may be opportunities to develop this dialogue in the new Session.

[Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)]

May I remind the Leader of the House that one of the consequences—it may be an unintended consequence—of Government changes to benefits for families is that many children from the poorest families will lose their free school meals? That is a very important and terrible challenge for the House. Will he make sure that we have an early opportunity to debate this dramatic change?

[Sir George Young]

I understand the hon. Gentleman’s concern, which has been in the news today. He will know that we are moving from an array of different benefits to a universal credit—a move that I hope hon. Members on both sides of the House will welcome—under which everyone will be better off in work. There is a particular issue, to which he has just referred, as we migrate from where we are to universal credit, about what happens to entitlement to free school meals. He may have heard the Minister of State, Department for Education, my hon. Friend the Member for Brent Central (Sarah Teather), speaking about this. We are determined to protect vulnerable children—those children on low incomes. We recognise that free school meals are an important ingredient for them and we are in consultation to ensure that, as we move to the new regime, we continue to protect those in most need.

Business of the House

Barry Sheerman Excerpts

Thursday 15th March 2012 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I am surprised that there is any space in the Harlow Star for anything other than reports on my hon. Friend’s activities in the House of Commons. We are consulting on proposals that would devolve to local authorities responsibility for deciding how to reach their target audience, and I am sure that my hon. Friend’s local authority will bear in mind the importance of a vibrant local newspaper when it decides how to place advertisements in the future.

[Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)]

I remind the Leader of the House that at no time in the history of this country have power, influence, employment and wealth been more dominated by London and the south-east. Is it not about time—or is it too late—to influence next week’s Budget so that we can start to redistribute some of the wealth and power to the northern and midland regions that make this country what it is?

[Sir George Young]

I hope that the hon. Gentleman will recognise some of the steps that we have introduced, such as the regional growth fund and the exemption from national insurance employers’ contributions for those outside the key areas to which he has referred and the launch of enterprise zones. I am sure that my right hon. Friend the Chancellor is alert to the importance of bridging the north-south divide to do more to help areas with high unemployment. The hon. Gentleman should await my right hon. Friend’s Budget statement.