Lord Cryer
Main Page: Lord Cryer (Labour - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Lord Cryer's debates with the Leader of the House
(3 years, 4 months ago)
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Mr Rees-Mogg
I am grateful for my hon. Friend’s support for the proposals approved by my right hon Friend the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government. It is of course only part of Somerset that is included in this. The former county council area will become a unitary authority, but it does not, for better or worse, include the whole of the historic county. From a personal point of view, it is a sadness that the whole county is still suffering from the vandalism of the 1974 local government changes. However, his idea that we should all work together is a very beneficial one, and I think one that will be well received by all parties across both the old county council area and the whole historic county of Somerset—God’s own county.
John Cryer (Leyton and Wanstead) (Lab) [V]
The Leader of the House will be aware that cuts in fire and rescue services across the country have caused deep concern over many years on all sides of the House. In my case, we have lost 50% of our pumps in Leyton and Wanstead, and crewing per pump has also fallen from five to four and in some areas from four to three. Now, with the notably warmer weather, this is causing great anxiety. Could we have a statement from the Home Office in the near future?
On the subject of summer reading, or at least the Wodehouse summer reading, may I make two recommendations of my own? They are “Uncle Fred in the Springtime” and “Leave It to Psmith”, which are two of the very few books I have ever read that can make you laugh out loud.
Mr Rees-Mogg
“Leave It to Psmith” was my recommendation last time, and I entirely agree with the hon. Gentleman that it is a book that does make one laugh out loud. “Uncle Fred” is one of PG Wodehouse’s greatest, although least known creations.
As regards the serious issue of fire brigades and their crewing, the number of fires has gone down in this country pretty consistently. We are very safe in terms of fire outbreaks, and the resources in the fire brigade need to be proportionate to the risk, but I will, of course, pass his comments on to my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary.