European Union (Referendum) Bill
Debate between John Spellar and John Bercow(10 years, 7 months ago)
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Mr John Spellar (Warley) (Lab)
On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Is it not the case that anyone speaking from the Dispatch Box on the Government side of the Chamber is speaking on behalf of the Government?
Mr Speaker
The right hon. Gentleman is correct. That is the situation—a Minister who speaks from the Treasury Bench is speaking for the Government.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between John Spellar and John Bercow(10 years, 11 months ago)
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Mr John Spellar (Warley) (Lab)
After the great flood, in the words of the old negro spiritual,
“God gave Noah the rainbow sign,
No more water but fire next time”.
Smethwick has certainly suffered from fire this week. Will the Minister, with other Departments, look urgently at banning sky lanterns and, with the Environment Agency, look at the licensing arrangements regarding storage at recycling sites that have large quantities of flammable material?
Mr Speaker
The right hon. Gentleman might wish to seek an Adjournment debate on the matter.
Sittings of the House (22 March)
Debate between John Spellar and John Bercow(11 years, 3 months ago)
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Mr Speaker
I think that the hon. Gentleman’s meaning was clear, but it was notably colloquial—obviously too colloquial for the advanced and refined taste of the hon. Member for Dunfermline and West Fife (Thomas Docherty).
Mr Spellar
Thank you, Mr Speaker. I am sure that the hon. Member for City of Chester (Stephen Mosley) will get the hang of this place after a while.
Essentially, the Government determine the business of the House. It is absolutely right that that can be voted on, but it is the Government who work out the pattern of the parliamentary year—
Mr Speaker
Order. Has the right hon. Member for Warley (Mr Spellar) concluded his oration?
European Union
Debate between John Spellar and John Bercow(12 years, 6 months ago)
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Mr John Spellar (Warley) (Lab)
On a point of order, Mr Speaker. We live in some fairly interesting times, because not only do we have a Deputy Prime Minister who has gone missing, but I am reliably informed that not one Liberal Democrat Member voted in the Lobby to support the Prime Minister. Is there a precedent for that within a Government?
Mr Speaker
The right hon. Gentleman is a wise greybeard, and he will know that there are precedents for most things, but fortunately whether people vote or the way in which they vote is not a matter for the Chair. However, he has put his point forcefully on the record.
Points of Order
Debate between John Spellar and John Bercow(12 years, 6 months ago)
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Mr Speaker
I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his point of order. Each case is, of course, considered on its merits, but what I would say to him and to the House is twofold. First, I am always keen to ensure that as many Back-Bench Members as possible should have the opportunity to question Ministers of the Crown. Secondly, as the House will be conscious, I am insistent that statements of policy should first be made to the House of Commons, not outside it. There have been notable breaches of that established protocol and they are a source of concern. To the hon. Gentleman I say explicitly that yesterday I was particularly keen to ensure a full airing of the issues, not least because I wished to hear whether the Chancellor of the Exchequer had anything to say in the Chamber that he had not already said in the media. I hope that that response to his point of order satisfies the hon. Gentleman’s curiosity.
Mr John Spellar (Warley) (Lab)
On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Yesterday, you said:
“All hon. Members, including Ministers, are responsible for the content and accuracy of the statements they make to the House. If an error has been made it is the responsibility of the Member who made it to correct it.”—[Official Report, 29 November 2011; Vol. 536, c. 848.]
On Monday, the hon. Member for Shrewsbury and Atcham (Daniel Kawczynski) said, reported at column 709 of Hansard,
“The shadow Foreign Secretary did not mention Libya once in this whole conversation, and one wonders why”.—[Official Report, 29 November 2011; Vol. 536, c. 709.]
Yet my right hon. Friend the Member for Paisley and Renfrewshire South (Mr Alexander) had clearly dealt with Libya, as reported at column 695. Yesterday, I drew that to the hon. Gentleman’s attention, hoping that he would have the courtesy to apologise for inadvertently misleading the House and to set the record straight. I cannot see that he did so in yesterday’s Hansard. Has he indicated to you that he intends to do so today, Mr Speaker? If he has not, how can we ensure that the correct position is placed on the record?
Mr Speaker
I have had no such indication from the hon. Member for Shrewsbury and Atcham. When the right hon. Gentleman asks by what means he can secure redress, I think that he has found his own salvation, courtesy of his point of order. Although I am certainly not going to instruct anybody to come to the House—Members must take responsibility for what they do—there is nothing wrong with apologies from time to time. They are on the whole good for the soul, I think.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between John Spellar and John Bercow(12 years, 8 months ago)
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Mr Speaker
I do not think that the right hon. Gentleman has quite taken my hint, but I am sure that he can ask his question under this one with great dexterity.
Mr Spellar
Is there not great concern in Libya about the future of the surface-to-air missiles? When I asked the Minister for the Armed Forces about this back in June, he said:
“We continue to assess the situation in Libya closely, including the potential proliferation of man-portable anti-aircraft missiles.”—[Official Report, 28 June 2011; Vol. 530, c. 672W.]
From his answer earlier, he does not seem to have been doing a great deal. This is a major threat and we need some evidence of urgency and some results.
Points of Order
Debate between John Spellar and John Bercow
Mr John Spellar (Warley) (Lab)
On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Have you received any communication from Vodafone to explain its poor network coverage in the Westminster area since last Friday? Fortunately, I am on another network, but other Members are experiencing irregular reception and failing to get Rapide messages, which is quite unacceptable. Are you able to do anything about the situation, which is highly disruptive to the work of the House and its Members?
Mr Speaker
I fear that that is not a point of order and that the right hon. Gentleman perhaps entertains unrealistic expectations of my powers, although I take his point in the constructive spirit in which he volunteered his remarks. I have received no communication from Vodafone on this important matter. However, I think that I am right in saying that it would be of interest to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, representatives of which, I hope, will get to hear of what he said.
Points of Order
Debate between John Spellar and John Bercow
Mr Speaker
I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his point of order and for notice of it. I sympathise with the concern that he has expressed. I understand that other hon. Members have been affected in the same way. I deprecate late replies, but Ministers are responsible for their answers. Oral questions to the Department for Education will be taken next Monday. I suggest that the hon. Gentleman and others with similar experiences and views seek advice from the Table Office on how to pursue this matter. The Deputy Leader of the House is in his place and will have heard the concern expressed. This is a serious matter, and I hope that something will indeed be done to address the concern that the hon. Gentleman and others regularly raise.
Mr John Spellar (Warley) (Lab)
On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Have you had any notification that either the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government or the Secretary of State for Health wants to make a statement about the crisis in Southern Cross Healthcare, whose share price has collapsed to one hundredth of its peak? Southern Cross Healthcare has 750 care homes across the country, with 31,000 elderly and vulnerable residents. They and their relatives need urgent reassurance and action from Ministers.
Mr Speaker
The short answer to the right hon. Gentleman is that I have received no indication that any Minister wants to make a statement on the subject. He has put his concerns about the matter on the record explicitly. I will not call him an old hand, because he will take offence, but he is a wily operator, and I have a feeling that he will use the opportunities open to him in the House to pursue this matter for as long as he judges necessary.