Procedure of the House

Debate between Julian Lewis and John Bercow

Thursday 26th March 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I will respond to the right hon. Gentleman in a moment with pleasure.

[Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

Further to that point of order, Mr Speaker. Can I just say that my right hon. Friend has just excelled himself in the atmosphere he has generated in this House, in precisely the way in which the Leader of the House has excelled himself in the atmosphere of the country?

[Mr Speaker]

I am very happy to respond to the right hon. Member for Bexhill and Battle (Gregory Barker). The short answer is that I have not found it necessary to seek advice on this matter. It is commonplace for the Speaker to be in the Speaker’s Chair. I am genuinely sorry if that disquiets the right hon. Gentleman, but it has been my normal practice to do at least the expected number of hours of the Speaker in the Chair, and frequently rather more so. I have not generally found that that has met with disapproval in the House.

Intelligence and Security Committee

Debate between Julian Lewis and John Bercow

Monday 16th March 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. Excuse me. The right hon. Gentleman is addressing the House. It is bad manners to witter away, Mr Simon Burns, when one of your own hon. Friends is addressing the House. Try—I know it is difficult for you—to learn some courtesy.

[Dr Lewis]

The question was often asked why it was that the intelligence services knew certain people had been radicalised and held extremist views yet were able to go on to commit attacks. The answer is that until people break the law they cannot be locked up. We really would be living in a police state if everybody with extreme views was followed 24 hours a day, which is the only way in which low-level and uncomplicated attacks can be prevented. There has to be evidence of attack planning. If not, some such things will inevitably slip through the net.

[Dr Lewis]

That is exactly the case. It would take only a few hundred people with extreme views to exhaust the resources of any reasonably sized security service in a modern democratic state, and that must never be the case. Instead, we should look at how many complex attacks have been carried out successfully and how many have been thwarted. As far as I am aware, no complex attacks have been successfully carried out on British soil since the 7/7 atrocities.

Moving on to the inquiry on privacy and security, this leads one to the question of where to draw the boundary between the wish to preserve the people’s privacy so their innocent communications are not examined and the need to develop leads that can be investigated further. I was a little surprised—I hope you will indulge me for a moment or two, Mr Speaker—to see a short item in The Times on Saturday about a protest by some of the privacy groups that had given evidence to the ISC on this question. It reads as follows:

“Civil liberties groups demanded last night that a parliamentary committee correct its report on the surveillance state, saying they had been deliberately misrepresented. The intelligence and security committee criticised the pressure groups over their opposition to GCHQ’s collection of bulk data on communications”—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I must just warn the right hon. Gentleman not to be too persuasive in his oration, because if he is, the House might vote against the motion, forcing him to remain a member of the Committee that he has declared his desire to leave. I say that by way of a cautionary note and gentle encouragement.

[Dr Lewis]

I assure you, Mr Speaker, that I am on my ultimate—not even penultimate—point.

The report continued:

“and suggested that they believed that terrorist attacks were a price worth paying for individual privacy. The report reprinted edited transcripts of evidence sessions with Big Brother Watch, Liberty, Justice and Rights Watch UK. Renate Samson, the chief executive of Big Brother Watch, asked the committee for an ‘immediate correction’ to its published report and said that the representation of the evidence session was ‘improper and false’. She said that the ISC’s portrayal of the evidence was ‘an attempt to undermine, discredit and damage our organisation’s reputation’. Isabella Sankey, director of policy for Liberty, said: ‘Instead of attempting to put words into the mouths of privacy campaigners, the ISC should have put its efforts into scrutinising the agencies.’”

People interested in the matter can judge for themselves. If they go to the ISC’s website, at http://isc.independent. gov.uk/public-evidence/15october2014, they will find the full transcript, and I suggest that they examine questions 19 and 20, put by the right hon. Member for Salford and Eccles (Hazel Blears); questions 28 and 29, put by my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Kensington (Sir Malcolm Rifkind); and questions 32 and 33, put by the right hon. Member for Knowsley (Mr Howarth). In there, they will find the following exchange. The Chairman asked:

“If evidence emerged through bulk interception that even you acknowledged had led to terrorists being arrested or prevented from carrying out their objectives, are you saying that, as a matter of principle, you believe so strongly that bulk interception is unacceptable in a free society that you would say that that was a price we should be willing to pay, rather than allowing intelligence agencies to use bulk interception methods?”

Isabella Sankey, of Liberty, replied: “Yes.” Dr Metcalfe, of Justice, replied:

“Yes. Just as you would solve a lot more crimes if you had CCTV in everyone’s houses, and if you opened everyone’s mail and e-mail and read it on a daily basis. Yes, you would solve a lot more crimes and a lot more terrorists would be in jail; that would be a good thing, but it would be bad for our society as a whole.”

The Chair then asked:

“And that is the view of your colleagues as well?”

The director of Big Brother Watch replied with one word: “Yes.”

It has been a pleasure serving on this Committee. When it was put to me that it would assist my right hon. Friend the Member for Broadland (Mr Simpson) to get his feet under the table, even for the last few days of this Parliament, I was only too happy to accommodate him. He will be a splendid successor, and perhaps he will not try the patience of the House as long as I have today.

Electoral Registration

Debate between Julian Lewis and John Bercow

Wednesday 4th February 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his point of order. He has put his concerns on the record. That said I will, if I may, make two points. First, these are matters dealt with by an established process under the auspices of the Serjeant at Arms, and although I do not cavil at the hon. Gentleman having an opinion on the matter, we do not discuss security related matters on the Floor of the Chamber. Secondly, I put it on the record that, although the hon. Gentleman has a view that he has expressed with great alacrity, there is also the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, which is on the statute book. I note what he says and I understand his concern and no one will deny him the right to his point of view, but we will leave it there for tonight.

[Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. May I inquire whether there is any way within the rules of order that I can draw attention to a possible misprint on the Order Paper to the House of Commons relating to the cross-party early-day motion 757 on defence spending, which was tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for Mid Worcestershire (Sir Peter Luff), along with the right hon. and learned Member for North East Fife (Sir Menzies Campbell), the right hon. Member for Coventry North East (Mr Ainsworth) and my right hon. Friend the Member for North East Hampshire (Mr Arbuthnot) and about a dozen others including me? It reads as follows:

“That this House believes that the UK faces a growing and ever more complex range of current and future threats…and supports the UK devoting at least 20% of its gross domestic product to defence.”

When I signed the early-day motion, I was under the impression that I was supporting 2%. It is beyond even my wildest dreams to have 20%, but a figure in between would not be unacceptable.

Points of Order

Debate between Julian Lewis and John Bercow

Monday 24th November 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

There is no difference between commissioned and non-commissioned for this purpose. Beyond that, I would tell the hon. Gentleman, to whom I would never intend any discourtesy, that the decision whether to use the term—the newly appointed Under-Secretary of State for Defence, the hon. Member for Canterbury (Mr Brazier), chooses to do so—is purely a matter of taste. If memory serves, the former Minister, the right hon. Member for South Leicestershire (Mr Robathan), was himself partial to using the term, and I think it has been used in relation to him as well. It is a matter of parliamentary taste. I am sure that we all intend to show good taste to the hon. Member for Huddersfield (Mr Sheerman), as he is now in his 35th year of parliamentary service.

[Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. May I ask, while members of the Defence team are still in their places, whether you have been informed that we are in sight of having the statement or debate on the ending of the campaign in Afghanistan, and the lessons to be drawn from that, which we were promised a little while ago?

Reserve Recruitment

Debate between Julian Lewis and John Bercow

Monday 17th November 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. We need a pithy question without preamble, perhaps to be authored and delivered by the hon. Member for New Forest East (Dr Lewis).

[Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

Is not part of the problem that the increase in reserves has been seen as a cover for a cut in regular forces? What can the Minister, as a champion of the reserves even when we were spending more money on the armed forces, say to dispel that impression?

Points of Order

Debate between Julian Lewis and John Bercow

Tuesday 28th October 2014 Commons Chamber

[Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

rose—

[Mr Speaker]

We must now make some progress, but not before the jack-in-the-box is satisfied—the hon. Gentleman is bobbing up and down with purpose—and we hear a point of order from Dr Julian Lewis.

[Dr Lewis]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Thank you for that build-up. May I ask whether you have had any notification, either from the Foreign Secretary or from the Defence Secretary, that we will be having a dedicated statement on the ending of the campaign in Afghanistan, because such a statement would give opportunities to pay tribute to the fallen and to the wounded, particularly among hon. Members’ constituents, and to debate issues about the way in which the campaign was fought?

[Mr Speaker]

The hon. Gentleman is a canny enough fellow to know that he has now, for his own part, substantially achieved his objective, but I know him well enough to know that he will want lots of other colleagues to have comparable opportunities.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Julian Lewis and John Bercow

Monday 20th October 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

If the Minister is able to induce happiness in the hon. Member for Colchester (Sir Bob Russell), it will be regarded, I think, by all as a great triumph.

[Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

17. What recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the UK’s contribution to the future stability of Afghanistan.

Points of Order

Debate between Julian Lewis and John Bercow

Monday 8th September 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I am extremely grateful to the hon. Gentleman both for his point of order and his courtesy in tipping me off yesterday about his desire to raise it. I think the whole House will have been shocked to hear the hon. Gentleman’s account of the distress and disruption to which he, his family and his neighbours have been subjected. Let me, perhaps—I hope on behalf of the House—make the situation clear beyond doubt: however strongly any individual feels about a particular cause or campaign, each and every Member of this House has a right to go about his or her legitimate business without intimidation or harassment, or fear thereof. Moreover, it is quite unacceptable for any individual to threaten continuing such harassment if the Member fails to seek to bring about the particular change in the law that that member of the public seeks. That simply will not do. I think I can say that the whole House will be behind the hon. Gentleman on this matter, and I hope he will be good enough to keep me informed of the developing circumstances. We wish him, his family and his neighbours well.

[Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

Further to that point of order, Mr Speaker. May I remind the House that in 2009 we had an intense debate on the security of Members’ home addresses, in which the then Labour Leader of the House, the right hon. and learned Member for Camberwell and Peckham (Ms Harman), rightly said that MPs must be able to do their jobs without fear or favour and without having to look fearfully over their shoulders. What disturbs me, from what little I know about this incident, is that the police appear reluctant to intervene. If that is so, is it not absolutely disgraceful?

[Mr Speaker]

I cannot comment on that because I do not know whether it is true or not. I think I had better reserve judgment on that point—

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Speaker]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for that further point of order.

[Dr Lewis]

And I am happy to withdraw what I said.

[Mr Speaker]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for that.

Points of Order

Debate between Julian Lewis and John Bercow

Thursday 4th September 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I am very happy to answer the right hon. Gentleman, and I am extremely grateful to him for raising this point. There are two responses to him. The first is that in the selection of panels that make judgments of this kind, it is perfectly normal practice to vary the membership from one instance to another. There is nothing disorderly, irregular or particularly surprising about that, and I am sorry if he thinks that there is.

Secondly, I say to the right hon. Gentleman, whom I recall raising the point before about an alleged or perceived conflict of interest in respect of the right hon. Member for Barking (Margaret Hodge) on account of her chairmanship of the Public Accounts Committee, that I thought when he raised the point before it was a poor point, and it has not improved with time. There is no conflict of interest at all. I also say to the right hon. Gentleman, who I am sure would wish to be consistent in what I will describe as his thesis, that if he wishes to pursue that line of argument, which I believe to be erroneous, he would presumably apply it also to the Chair of the Finance and Services Committee, the right hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross (John Thurso), in front of whose Committee the Clerk can periodically appear. He did not make that point about the right hon. Gentleman—rightly, because he would have been wrong to do so, and he is similarly wrong to keep making that point in respect of the right hon. Member for Barking.

I think the House will agree that I have set out the matters with crystal clarity, and I have done so a number of times. I would hope that, having had the point made to them a number of times, people would see it and acknowledge its veracity.

[Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Given that modest pauses seem to be the order of the day, may we have a modest pause in bogus points of order made not, as is usually the case—[Interruption.] I did not heckle my hon. Friend the Member for Lichfield (Michael Fabricant), and I will thank him not to heckle me—[Interruption.]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I simply say to the hon. Member for Lichfield: try showing some basic courtesy and manners of a kind that people who attend to our proceedings would wish to hear. He made his point, and it was decisively dealt with by the Chair. I hope he will afford the courtesy to the hon. Member for New Forest East (Dr Lewis) to raise his point of order without interruption.

[Dr Lewis]

Inasmuch as people who raise bogus points of order seek to shout me down, I shall just continue to make my points that much more clearly.

A modest pause in bogus points of order would be appreciated, given that they are emanating not from people who seem concerned about the wider issue but from people who are rather more concerned to damage the particular occupant of the Chair on any issue that takes their fancy.

May I instead, within the rules of order, ask whether it is possible to set on the record my pleasure, and I hope that of the whole House, at the announcement on the parliamentary website that our late and much missed friend Paul Goggins is to have a memorial prize instituted in his name by the all-party group on poverty and the Webb Memorial Trust? I hope that hon. Members will alert their constituents to this fine memorial to a very fine individual, who is much missed by all of us.

[Mr Speaker]

I thank the hon. Gentleman in particular for what he has just said about the late Paul Goggins, which I think will command universal assent in the House. He was a remarkable man who pursued his politics on the basis of the issues, not on the basis of personalities.

Points of Order

Debate between Julian Lewis and John Bercow

Monday 1st September 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Yes, I think I can offer the hon. Gentleman the assurance he seeks. It would be a significant change, and would have to be decided upon by this House. I have sufficient respect for the self-respect and rigorous approach to their duties of colleagues to realise that, of course, they will want to go about their scrutiny seriously before taking any such step.

[Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

Further to that point of order, Mr Speaker. It is usually unwise for a politician to admit total ignorance, but I have done it before and I intend to do it again. I have to confess that, until this dispute about the Clerk arose, I had not the faintest idea, despite being a Member of this House since 1997, that the Clerk of the House, an expert in procedure, was, by default, also the chief executive of the House. Now that you have sufficiently educated ignorant hon. Members such as me about that important distinction, and perhaps about the need to look at the matter rather more rationally than in the past, may I suggest that, as so many other people and bodies are so anxious to seize from you the poison chalice of this decision, you should give it to them with maximum rapidity?

[Mr Speaker]

The hon. Gentleman has been wisely advising me on all sorts of matters since I first came to know him in October 1983. I have very rarely regretted taking his advice, and very much doubt that I would do so on this occasion either.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Julian Lewis and John Bercow

Monday 14th July 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Time for the good doctor. I call Dr Julian Lewis.

[Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

In welcoming what the Secretary of State for Defence has said, may I remind him that those on the Labour Front Bench have similarly committed to the retention of Trident and continuous at-sea nuclear deterrence? Does he therefore agree with me that whatever the complexion of the next Government, there can be no possible excuse for failing to renew Trident—whether in coalition, in government or in opposition? Wherever we are, we all ought to be committing to renewal in the next Parliament.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Julian Lewis and John Bercow

Monday 30th June 2014 Commons Chamber

[Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

One stated objective of the Homes and Communities Agency’s programme for the allocation of economic assets is to

“align the assets with local economic ambitions and thereby to create more effective local economic development strategies”.

However, for Hythe marine park in New Forest East, the HCA seems minded to appoint a preferred bidder on the basis of just a moderately higher bid, without regard to those other important elements. Will the Minister comment on the need for the HCA to follow its own guidelines when appointing preferred bidders for something that will have such a major impact throughout the constituency?

[Mr Speaker]

I cannot wait to hear the reply, but I wonder whether we ought to have an Adjournment debate on the matter.

European Council

Debate between Julian Lewis and John Bercow

Monday 30th June 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I am keen to accommodate more colleagues on this extremely important matter, but in order to do so I require exemplary brevity. I know that the tutorial will be provided by Dr Julian Lewis.

[Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

Trying, as always, to see the bright side of life—I am not going to sing it—is there not something to be said for having an obvious and overt federalist as Commission president rather than a covert and rather cleverer alternative?

Speaker’s Statement

Debate between Julian Lewis and John Bercow

Wednesday 14th May 2014 Commons Chamber

[Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

Further to that point of order, Mr Speaker. It would be a shame not to join the party. I can only thank all those who supported me, congratulate the winner, commiserate with the other hon. Members who stood and say that I am very sorry for whoever it was who hoped to replace me on the Intelligence and Security Committee—[Laughter.] They will have to wait a little longer.

[Mr Speaker]

I thank the hon. Gentleman. With that, I think we should now return to the business of the House. I call the Minister, Oliver Heald, to continue his oration.

Ukraine

Debate between Julian Lewis and John Bercow

Tuesday 18th March 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Far be it from me to say whether anybody has reneged or not, although I note in passing that to renege, whether disagreeable, not least in this case to the hon. Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant), is not unparliamentary—nothing unparliamentary has happened. He is a considerable expert in parliamentary procedure and has just written a two-volume tome on the history of Parliament. He may well be very dissatisfied, but he has vented his concerns and they are on the record.

[Dr Julian Lewis]

rose—

[Mr Speaker]

Clearly the hon. Member for New Forest East (Dr Lewis) is most agitated also to raise a point of order, and we had better hear from him.

[Dr Lewis]

Further to that point of order, Mr Speaker. Yesterday, you noticed my eccentric gesticulations and today you note my great agitation. I think the point raised by the hon. Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant) has wide ramifications, similar to those we were concerned about yesterday: what is the status of motions passed, either in substantive votes or nem. con. votes in this House, when they are the result of the Backbench Business Committee agreeing that something should be debated and voted on? There is something a bit wrong when the House passes a motion and the Government appear to take no notice of it. What is the point of having a vote in that case?

[Mr Speaker]

The hon. Gentleman has opened veritably a can of parliamentary worms. The issue he raises is important, and I do not seek to brush it off for one moment, but it is not a matter of order for the Chair. What I say to him in all seriousness and solemnity, recognising that the concern he expresses is probably more widely shared, is that ultimately it is for the House to decide what is the meaning of a particular decision taken. That is not a matter for the Chair but it is a matter for the House, and it is a point to which he and others can return if they so wish, but we cannot dilate upon it now. [Interruption.] The hon. Member for Rhondda could if he were in order, but he is not and so he will not. We will leave it there for now.

Points of Order

Debate between Julian Lewis and John Bercow

Monday 17th March 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I was not present at the time, but I am advised by a very high—even bewigged, dare I say—authority that the matter was dealt with at the time, and that there is no particular merit in going back over the incident, as far as I am aware. However, I say to the hon. Gentleman that Members are free to write to me at any time if they feel that there has been an impropriety or a breach of protocol. The matter should be treated on its merits. It is the case—[Interruption.] Order. It is the case that vote should follow voice. That is a very long-established principle. Vote should not go in opposition to voice.

[Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

rose—

[Mr Speaker]

The hon. Gentleman is gesticulating in an eccentric fashion, but we will come to him in a moment.

[Mr Speaker]

I thank the hon. Lady for what she has said. I know that she always seeks to be helpful to the House, and I always listen to her.

[Dr Lewis]

Further to that point of order, Mr Speaker. I apologise for my eccentric gesticulations, but one cannot change the habit of a lifetime. I speak as one who, within living memory, may have been guilty of that practice in getting what we considered to be a rather important vote on Syria on the record. If it is decided that the practice is unsuitable and should never be repeated, when there is an important Back-Bench debate on which there needs to be a vote to make the public well aware of the opinion of the House, and the Government choose for technical reasons to advise everyone to abstain, are there other mechanisms available that would enable that vote to be called?

[Mr Speaker]

For a moment I thought that, not for the first time, the hon. Gentleman had foxed me. I am sorry to disappoint him, but his point is not quite as powerful, or his inquiry as penetrating, as he imagined. The short answer to his question is yes. There is a simple mechanism by which a Member who is anxious to ensure that the will of the House is tested can see to it that it is, and that is the mechanism of putting in Tellers. That is a different matter from registering a vote in opposition to what the voice has said.

--- Later in debate ---

[Dr Lewis]

I did that once before.

[Mr Speaker]

The hon. Member for New Forest East (Dr Lewis) says that he did that once before, but I think he was operating under cover at the time.

Syrian Refugees

Debate between Julian Lewis and John Bercow

Wednesday 29th January 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. A large number of colleagues wish to participate, but there is also a debate on this very subject to follow. Therefore, my normal practice of calling everybody might not apply today. What is required is brevity, and I think that the textbook on succinctness can be written by Dr Julian Lewis.

[Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

I was afraid that you would choose me for that, Mr Speaker.

Like hon. Members on both sides of the Chamber, I strongly endorse any help that can be given to vulnerable victims of war, but with regard to the second category that the Home Secretary mentioned—people who have received political asylum—can she assure the House that they are being properly screened so that we do not store up trouble for the future for our security services, as we are already worried about jihadists of our own going out to Syria and coming back?

Points of Order

Debate between Julian Lewis and John Bercow

Monday 14th October 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I think that the hon. Gentleman knows that he has found his own salvation. He has just drawn it to the attention of those on the Government’s Front Bench. The Government Chief Whip, the Patronage Secretary, is in his place, as are other distinguished and senior Ministers. I cannot say that I am familiar with the ensemble concerned, and I have no responsibility, of course, for migration or visa policy. I can say only that if the ensemble is anything like as good as the hon. Gentleman when he is playing in MP4, the people of Cardiff will be sorely deprived by the absence of the said ensemble. We will leave it there for now.

[Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. Sadly, this is one of my points of order that will not find its own salvation. You will be aware that it is very unusual for the head of the Security Service, MI5, to make a public statement about a leak of information, and in this case he has said that it has done extreme damage to the security of this country. Given that the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills has made a pronouncement that The Guardian has acted in the public interest in its role in leaking this information, have you had notice of any intention to have a statement from a Cabinet Minister on whether the concept of collective Cabinet responsibility still applies?

[Mr Speaker]

I have received no indication that any Minister intends to come to the Dispatch Box to opine on that matter. Whether knowledge that the hon. Gentleman is keen for one or other of them to do so would act as an incentive or a disincentive to do so, I leave the House to speculate. We will leave it there for now. I hope that the appetite of the House is now about to be satisfied by the hon. Member for Rhondda.

Points of Order

Debate between Julian Lewis and John Bercow

Monday 2nd September 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

The right hon. Gentleman raises an interesting constitutional point, which I readily accept is worthy of further reflection and consideration. My best advice to him is that, if he wishes to pursue the matter and for the House to have an opportunity to reach a judgment about it, he should, in the first instance, approach the Chair of the Select Committee on Political and Constitutional Reform with a view to that Committee undertaking a study of, and making recommendations in relation to, the issue. There should then be an opportunity for the House, before too long, to come a view about it. I hope that that is clear and helpful.

[Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. You will have noticed that the Defence questions Order Paper was dominated by questions about the Trident successor and the Liberal Democrat-demanded alternatives review. Given that the delay to the main-gate decision cost this country £1.4 billion in extending the life of the existing submarines, is there any way in which I, within the rules of order, can set on the record that, present for those questions, were no more at any one time than two or three out of nearly 60 Liberal Democrat MPs?

[Mr Speaker]

The hon. Gentleman has, not for the first time, found his own salvation. I noticed during Question Time that, when he put his inquiry to the Secretary of State, the Secretary of State, with his customary courtesy, and no world-weariness, observed that the hon. Gentleman had made his point before. I could have told the Secretary of State that the hon. Gentleman has, in my recollection, made the same point in relation to Trident, or a number of the same points, for the best part of the 30 years that I have known him. On most occasions, he has done so on a daily basis.

Trident Alternatives Review

Debate between Julian Lewis and John Bercow

Wednesday 17th July 2013 Commons Chamber

[Dr Lewis]

I am delighted by that intervention, because it not only gives me an extra minute but anticipates the next part of my argument.

If the Leader of the Opposition accepted that deal, then knowing the Liberal Democrats, they would start making the same offer to the current Prime Minister, who would have to think to himself, “Well, if I say no and the leader of the Labour party has said yes, Trident is doomed anyway, so I may as well say yes as well.” Who knows how these things might work out?

However, a solution is at hand: we could sign the main-gate contracts for some or all of the submarines in advance of the next general election. The only reason we put that off was to enable the Liberal Democrats to have their alternative study. They have had their alternative study, and it did not even consider a two-boat solution; it considered only a three-boat or four-boat solution. It could hardly be a breach of the coalition agreement if we were to challenge the Liberal Democrats to accept signing the contracts on the first two boats, if not the first three. That would at least prevent them from blackmailing either party, in the event of a hung Parliament, to get rid of the deterrent entirely.

At the most recent Defence questions I think I heard from the Opposition a commitment to try to bring forward the main-gate decision to this side of the election. I urge Opposition Members who believe in deterrence to join Conservative Members and put relentless pressure on our leaders for a grand coalition to bring forward the main-gate decision and secure the future of the nuclear deterrent—

[Mr Speaker]

Order.

Points of Order

Debate between Julian Lewis and John Bercow

Monday 1st July 2013 Commons Chamber

[Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. I am sure that there was not an MP in the House who was not hugely relieved when questions of MPs’ pay and expenses were given out to an independent body. Notwithstanding that, is there any way in which you can convey my concern and, I suspect, that of many other people, that two years or more in advance, it is being proposed that there should be a massive uplift in MPs’ pay, when we cannot know what the economic circumstances will be whenever such a pay increase is awarded? Why on earth does this Pandora’s box have to be opened now? Is not the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority gripped by some sort of delusional folly if it insists on opening it?

[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.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Julian Lewis and John Bercow

Tuesday 18th June 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. We are deeply obliged to the Foreign Secretary, but we have quite a lot to get through and we need to be a bit sharper.

[Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

I would like to think that I heard the word “yes” in that answer, but I am afraid I did not. Nevertheless, and notwithstanding the unholy alliance between Iran and the Assad regime, how does it help the interests of this country to change yet another Arab dictatorship into another Islamist state, complete with weapons of mass destruction for al-Qaeda to use against us?

Points of Order

Debate between Julian Lewis and John Bercow

Tuesday 18th June 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

There are a number of parliamentary opportunities potentially open to the right hon. Gentleman and others. First, there is the vehicle of the debates that take place under the auspices of the Backbench Business Committee. That would be one opportunity. Secondly, it is open to the Opposition to use an Opposition day and to proceed with the matter in that way, either with an exclusively Opposition-signed motion or a motion signed more widely. I must say I have the sense that the Government are hinting that they would not dream of executing a policy decision of the kind that is being considered without first seeking a debate in the House and a vote on a substantive motion. That would obviously be the democratic course. I think it is the democratic course on a substantive motion that the Government have in mind. I am not sure that there was any other idea ever in their mind, but I feel sure that if it was in their mind, it was speedily expunged as undemocratic and inappropriate.

[Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

Further to that point of order, Mr Speaker. Is there any way within the rules of order that I can place on the record that the Foreign Secretary was nodding vigorously during your remarks?

[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.

Points of Order

Debate between Julian Lewis and John Bercow

Tuesday 4th June 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

It was perfectly reasonable for the hon. Gentleman to draw attention to this very significant anniversary, as he has just done. I think I am right in saying that, in recognition of the significance of the anniversary and of the great contribution to public life of Emily Wilding Davison, an event is to take place in Westminster Hall early tomorrow evening, as a result of the prodigious last-minute efforts of the hon. Member for Islington South and Finsbury (Emily Thornberry), of which I was kept well informed. In fact, it is my intention to join in on the occasion.

So far as the second part of the hon. Gentleman’s point of order is concerned, I cannot say I am aware of any of the matters he describes, but it would be unseemly of me to comment further.

[Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. When the Prime Minister was asked yesterday whether there would definitely be a vote in this House before arms were supplied to the opposition in Syria, he replied that

“Parliament has that opportunity whenever it wants to.”—[Official Report, 3 June 2013; Vol. 563, c. 1241.]

Given that some of us suspect a decision to supply arms to the rebels in Syria might be taken during the recess, have you, Mr Speaker, had any indication from, or via, the usual channels that the Prime Minister would propose to recall Parliament, so that there could be a vote before such a serious step was taken?

[Mr Speaker]

I can say to the hon. Gentleman that I have received no indication of any plans one way or the other so far as Her Majesty’s Government are concerned. In the event that the situation the hon. Gentleman describes—which is, so far, hypothetical—were to arise, I would be obliged to deal with the matter under the current terms of the relevant Standing Order governing recall, a Standing Order with which I fancy the hon. Gentleman either is, or will shortly become, familiar.

More widely on the merits of the matters being debated, having known the hon. Gentleman for 30 years this October, I know what an incredibly persistent woodpecker he is and I feel sure that he will return to the matter at every conceivable opportunity.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Julian Lewis and John Bercow

Wednesday 20th March 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. When a question is asked, Members should not shout their heads off when the Prime Minister is giving an answer.

[Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

Given that SAS Sergeant Danny Nightingale has had his conviction quashed following the quashing of his military prison sentence last year, does the Prime Minister agree that it would be totally against the public interest, and against the interests of the SAS Regiment, for Sergeant Nightingale to have to face a fresh trial when others are benefiting from the weapons amnesty that was rightly introduced by the Secretary of State for Defence as a result of the Nightingale case?

Points of Order

Debate between Julian Lewis and John Bercow

Tuesday 5th March 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman. We appreciate his display of a sense of humour in these circumstances. I will say two things to him. First, strictly speaking, points of order do not arise pursuant to refused Standing Order No. 24 applications. I was willing to hear him, as who could be denied that particular privilege? He made his point with his usual force and eloquence, and it will doubtless have been heard very clearly by those on the Treasury Bench. The hon. Gentleman will have been in the House for 29 years in June, so he knows that there are many opportunities to pursue matters; there is rarely just one opportunity. He is as persistent a woodpecker as the hon. Member for New Forest East (Dr Lewis), who also feels impelled to raise a point of order.

[Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. On a different subject, I am sure that you will have noticed the unprecedented number of Liberal Democrat right hon. and hon. Members who suddenly appeared in the Chamber, as if by magic, just before the swearing in of the new Member, only to evaporate just as rapidly so that normal service could be resumed as soon as possible. Is there any way within the rules of order that I can place that remarkable phenomenon on the record for the benefit of history?

[Mr Speaker]

No, but the hon. Gentleman has already done so. If he is going to raise an obviously bogus point of order, he should at least make the effort to contrive an air of solemnity, rather than looking so ostentatiously cheeky.

Health Professionals: Regulation

Debate between Julian Lewis and John Bercow

Monday 4th March 2013 Commons Chamber

[Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

I thank the Minister for his courtesy in giving way. It might be helpful, Mr Speaker, if you would give us guidance on whether pre-notification is still required. What the Minister says is all well and good but why is it, after so many people died in such an unacceptable way, that nobody seems to have carried the can or taken responsibility?

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I thought, in the circumstances, that I would let the debate flow, but for clarification I ought to say that there is a requirement that a Member who wishes to make a speech in someone else’s Adjournment debate secures agreement in advance, but there is no such requirement—this point is widely misunderstood—in respect of an intervention. It is purely for the Minister to decide whether to take an intervention. No impropriety has been committed by the hon. Member for Bristol North West (Charlotte Leslie); her virtue is unassailed.

Growth and Infrastructure Bill (Programme) (No. 2)

Debate between Julian Lewis and John Bercow

Monday 17th December 2012 Commons Chamber

[Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

Excellent.

[Mr Speaker]

Somebody says “Excellent”. [Interruption.] Oh, it was the hon. Member for New Forest East (Dr Lewis). We are grateful to him for his views.

Question put and agreed to.

European Council

Debate between Julian Lewis and John Bercow

Monday 22nd October 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

The moment has arrived for the good doctor.

[Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

Thank you, Mr Speaker. Can the eurozone have a banking union that works without that leading to economic and political union too?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Julian Lewis and John Bercow

Wednesday 17th October 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Question 4 is a closed question.

[Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

Q4. Whether he remains committed to the continuation of the UK’s Trident nuclear deterrent after the Vanguard submarines are withdrawn from service.

Points of Order

Debate between Julian Lewis and John Bercow

Wednesday 17th October 2012 Commons Chamber

[Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. You will remember the extensive—[Interruption.]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I am sorry, but before the hon. Gentleman proceeds with his point of order, may I ask Members who are—perhaps unaccountably—leaving the Chamber to do so quickly and quietly, affording the same courtesy to the hon. Gentleman that they would wish to be extended to them under comparable circumstances?

[Dr Lewis]

Thank you, as always, Mr Speaker. You will remember the long campaign, successfully waged three years ago, to change the law so that the home addresses of Members of Parliament would never be disclosed as a result of freedom of information requests. A number of colleagues from both sides of the House have approached me about a freedom of information request that those colleagues who, unlike me, rent their homes should have their landlords’ names disclosed. There is concern that this could breach the security of MPs’ home addresses. Can you tell us what action you propose to take in this matter?

[Mr Speaker]

I am extremely grateful to the hon. Gentleman. I well remember the events of three years ago and more, in which he was closely involved. I note the point of order that he has raised. He will be aware that we do not discuss security matters on the Floor of the House. That said, I am very conscious of this current issue, to which he has drawn attention. It might be helpful to him and the House to know that I share some of the very real concerns that have been expressed across the House by Members, and I wrote—in, I hope, courteous but explicit terms—on this matter yesterday to the chairman of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority. If Members wish to see my letter, they are most welcome to do so; a copy might usefully be placed in the Library of the House. I will keep my eye on the situation on behalf of Members.

Afghanistan (NATO Strategy)

Debate between Julian Lewis and John Bercow

Tuesday 18th September 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. There is notable interest in this urgent question, but I remind the House that there is a motion on a ten-minute rule Bill to follow, and after that there is the pre-recess Adjournment debate, which is to take place under the auspices of the Backbench Business Committee; I can assure the House that that debate is heavily subscribed, which means that there is a premium on brevity.

[Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

The reason why, in opposition, the shadow Defence ministerial team opposed naming an advance date for withdrawal was the fear that the Taliban would redouble their efforts in the run-up to that date. Given that we are where we are with such a date, is it not obvious that a move towards a strategy of maintaining one or more long-term strategic bases in Afghanistan would show the Taliban the need to negotiate a solution and a settlement? Without that, it will not happen.

Point of Order

Debate between Julian Lewis and John Bercow

Monday 10th September 2012 Commons Chamber

[Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. The complex and sensitive issue of assisted suicide is one which thoughtful people on both sides of the argument, on both sides of the House, take very seriously. Have you had any indication that a Government Minister will make a statement on whether or not the rather superficial comments attributed in the media over the weekend to two junior Health Ministers represent any change in Government policy on this important issue of conscience?

[Mr Speaker]

No, but the hon. Gentleman might wish to approach the Backbench Business Committee in pursuit of a debate on this matter.

House of Lords Reform Bill

Debate between Julian Lewis and John Bercow

Monday 3rd September 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Patience rewarded. I call Dr Julian Lewis.

[Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

Thank you, Mr Speaker. The spectacle of Cabinet Ministers voting against a major Government Bill without resigning their positions will surely bring collective Cabinet responsibility into total disrepute. Given that the Deputy Prime Minister believes in making progress by inches, will he not support a single, simple, one-line Bill to allow the exclusion from the upper House of people who have been convicted of serious criminal offences?

Points of Order

Debate between Julian Lewis and John Bercow

Tuesday 26th June 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

We are grateful to the Secretary of State for that acknowledgement and explanation, which is very helpful.

[Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Although, sadly, the Deputy Prime Minister is no longer with us—corporeally, at any rate—I was concerned, as I trust you were, at the widespread reports in the weekend press that he had vetoed any prospect of a referendum on the possible introduction of a proportional representation voting system for elections to a reformed upper House. Given the constitutional importance of such an issue and the motivation that it is clearly designed to help the Liberal Democrats retain a permanent stranglehold on future legislative processes, should not such announcements be made initially to this House rather than via the media?

[Mr Speaker]

That was a scintillating polemic for the House to savour, but what I would say to the hon. Gentleman, whom I have known for 29 years this October, is that although the logic of his attempted point of order is compelling, it suffers as a point of order from the disadvantage that the premise on which the logic has been built is, in my judgment, misplaced. The reason I say that to the hon. Gentleman is that the Deputy Prime Minister was not announcing a change of Government policy but, as far as I can tell, merely reiterating the status quo. That will have to do for now, but all these matters will doubtless be explored eloquently, in detail and at length in the upcoming debates on House of Lords reform, to which I fancy the hon. Gentleman will wish to contribute.

Nuclear-powered Submarines

Debate between Julian Lewis and John Bercow

Monday 18th June 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I appreciate that the Secretary of State was making a kind of rhetorical point, but I should say for the benefit of the House that there will be no further dollop of the hon. Member for Moray (Angus Robertson), at any rate in respect of this matter, this afternoon. We await further particulars at a later stage.

[Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

Given that as long ago as 9 February 2011 the Prime Minister told this House:

“The replacement of Trident is going ahead… I am in favour of a full replacement for Trident, a continuous at-sea deterrent… it will remain Conservative policy as long as I am the leader of this party”—[Official Report, 9 February 2011; Vol. 523, c. 296.],

is there any reason for surprise that this step should have been taken, and is there any reason for the undue delay in the study of alternatives, which can only come to the conclusion that replacing Trident is the only sensible option?

Business of the House

Debate between Julian Lewis and John Bercow

Thursday 14th June 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. A great many right hon. and hon. Members are seeking to catch my eye. I remind the House that there is a statement on banking reform to follow, and then a very heavily subscribed debate on mental health under the auspices of the Backbench Business Committee. I am keen to accommodate as many colleagues as possible, but if I am to do so I require short questions and short answers.

[Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

At this time of year, local groups such as New Forest’s Normandy Veterans Association commemorate the greatest amphibious invasion in history. In two years’ time, it will be the 70th anniversary of that invasion. May we have a statement from a Defence Minister indicating whether there will be Government support for the surviving veterans to revisit the beaches in 2014 for the 70th anniversary commemorations?

National Planning Policy Framework

Debate between Julian Lewis and John Bercow

Tuesday 24th April 2012 Commons Chamber

[Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker, of which I have given you notice. Very recently, in the course of an Adjournment debate, both an hon. Labour Member and myself were refused by a Minister the opportunity to make a brief intervention while he had the floor. He explained in all sincerity afterwards that he thought one had to ask permission in advance of an Adjournment debate—both of the hon. Member whose Adjournment debate it is and of the Minister concerned—whether one could make such an intervention. For the sake of the clarity, would you make an pronouncement on that? If, as I suspect, interventions do not require that sort of prior permission, would you undertake to let Ministers know for the future?

[Mr Speaker]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his point of order and for his advance notice of his intention to raise it. The answer is that permission to intervene in an Adjournment debate is not required from the Minister, the Member whose debate it is or the Chair. Permission is required if a Member is seeking to make a speech in the debate. I am constantly struck by how little understood that important distinction is between interventions, which do not require permission, and speeches, which do. I hope the position is now clear to the hon. Gentleman and the House, and I am very happy to inform Ministers more widely, either directly, or through the good offices of the right hon. Gentleman who serves as the Patronage Secretary, and who conveniently is loitering, with or without intent, at the Bar of the House. I hope that is helpful.

IMF

Debate between Julian Lewis and John Bercow

Monday 23rd April 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. There is still extensive interest in the subject, which I am keen to accommodate, but if I am to do so, brevity is of the essence.

[Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

When one’s friends are trapped in a burning building, is not the kindest thing to do to lead them in the direction of the exits in an orderly way, rather than give them billions to stay exactly where they are?

Afghanistan (Civilian Killings)

Debate between Julian Lewis and John Bercow

Monday 12th March 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. Accommodating the level of interest in this subject, given that there is important time-limited Back-Bench business to follow, will necessitate brevity, which will now be exemplified by Dr Julian Lewis.

[Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

I thought you might pick me for that, Mr Speaker.

The Afghan Government and the Afghan people are rightly outraged by this atrocity, but does the Minister agree that the one bunch of people who have no right to promise revenge are the Taliban? It was their hosting of an international terrorist organisation that murdered thousands of men, women and children that led to the invasion of Afghanistan in the first place.

Points of Order

Debate between Julian Lewis and John Bercow

Tuesday 21st February 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I appreciate what the hon. Gentleman has said, and I think that the Clerks who serve the House will appreciate it too. Perhaps we can leave it there for today.

[Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

rose—

[Mr Speaker]

I am sure that the hon. Gentleman wishes to raise an entirely separate and unrelated point of order.

[Dr Lewis]

On an entirely separate and unrelated point of order, Mr Speaker. No doubt you will recall the excellent work done by the Leader of the House—whom I am pleased to see sitting on the Front Bench at this moment—in relation to the question of the demonstrations in Parliament square. I believe that we have freedom of speech in the House, but that does not mean that we have the freedom to shout and bawl our opinions incessantly whether people wish to hear them or not. I understand, however, that an application has been made to Westminster city council to reinstate permission for amplified noise to be used to broadcast, for hours on end, abusive and hostile political messages at this House, in the way that was done—causing maximum disturbance—by the late Brian Haw, notwithstanding his lawyers’ assurances to Westminster city council when they applied for a licence that he would not use it to harass people going about their normal work in the Chamber.

May I ask, Mr Speaker, whether you have had any indication of a statement from the Leader of the House on whether he is willing to make representations to the city council that no requirement of freedom of speech enables people to have the right to broadcast at top volume, when no demonstration is taking place, political messages which are intended to disturb people going about their lawful occasions, not least the armed security guards who have to be on constant readiness in front of the Houses of Parliament?

[Mr Speaker]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his point of order. Certainly no concept of free speech should mean that some people have a right to shout at the tops of their voices through an amplifier at other people irrespective of those other people’s wishes. The point that the hon. Gentleman has made seems to me to be entirely reasonable; but the Leader of the House is stirring in his seat, and I feel certain that the House will want to hear what he has to say.

Points of Order

Debate between Julian Lewis and John Bercow

Wednesday 30th November 2011 Commons Chamber

[Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. I am sure that hon. Members on both sides of the House appreciated the almost unprecedented opportunity you gave them yesterday to interrogate a senior Cabinet Minister, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, at considerable length. May I ask whether that innovation is a practice that is likely to recur with any regularity?

[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.

G20

Debate between Julian Lewis and John Bercow

Monday 7th November 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. In the interests of accommodating more colleagues, I now appeal for single, short supplementary questions and the Prime Minister’s characteristically pithy replies.

[Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

Why does the Prime Minister seem to think that the Greeks will be any more successful at staying in the euro than we were at trying to remain in the ERM?

Points of Order

Debate between Julian Lewis and John Bercow

Wednesday 26th October 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

In a sense, it is flattering to me that the hon. Gentleman seeks my guidance, but it is not appropriate for me to provide it. My simple advice is that it is for the hon. Gentleman as an individual Member to decide whether to sign a petition, and I offer that advice to all hon. Members—make your own judgment on the merits of the case. There is no rule, no Standing Order and no matter of parliamentary proprietary involved one way or the other.

[Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

Further to that point of order, Mr Speaker, while we are on the subject of Monday’s important debate, which was the result of a Backbench Business Committee decision, would it assist the House if you were to indicate that when the Committee chooses a resolution for debate, it should not normally be subject to amendment, certainly not to amendments tabled by Front Benchers, and probably not to amendments tabled by Back Benchers who did not attend the Backbench Business Committee to try to have their suggestions adopted?

[Mr Speaker]

I am sure the hon. Gentleman understands that the Chair preserves, rightly, a certain discretion in these matters, and I always look at each case on its merits. Suffice it to say that I respect the Backbench Business Committee process. I am strongly in favour of clarity and straightforwardness in debates of this kind, and any proposed amendments tend to be considered by me in the light of that criterion.

If there are no further points of order, we come to the ten-minute rule motion, for which the hon. Member for Bolton West (Julie Hilling) has been so patiently waiting. That has the advantage that the Chamber is rather quieter now.

Business of the House

Debate between Julian Lewis and John Bercow

Thursday 15th September 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. We are short of time. May I appeal to colleagues to ask single, short—one sentence—business questions of the Leader of the House? This would be a dramatic breakthrough and of benefit to the House as a whole. I know that a fine example will be set by the hon. Member for New Forest East.

[Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

I was afraid that you were going to pick me, Mr Speaker. May we have a debate on the importance of in-patient beds in acute mental health facilities, given that those at Woodhaven hospital in my constituency face the possibility of closure, unless people write in urgently to the consultation that is under way?

Point of Order

Debate between Julian Lewis and John Bercow

Monday 5th September 2011 Commons Chamber

[Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. It has recently been reported that the Director of Public Prosecutions has stated that the same sentence ought to be imposed on a rioter committing a criminal act in the context of the riots as on an individual criminal committing the same act by itself. Given that magistrates have admirably been imposing exemplary sentences, can you, Mr Speaker, tell the House whether we can expect a statement from a Justice Minister on whether the Government support the DPP’s view or the view of the magistrates and, indeed, the British people?

[Mr Speaker]

Experience has suggested to me that it is unwise for me to expect anything—and I have expected so far nothing from a Minister on this matter. I have received no notification, no hint, no twitch of an eyebrow, no signal otherwise. I hope I satisfy the hon. Member for New Forest East (Dr Lewis) who, in the process of making his point, has alerted none other than the Prime Minister to what he believes is its force and significance.

We come now to the main business—[Interruption.] The Whip on duty is ahead of himself, and we are grateful to him. What I was going to say, and will now do so, is that the Clerk will now—[Interruption.] Whips are usually behind the curve. Something has happened and they are doing better today, almost too well. [Interruption.] It is the effect of the holiday of the hon. Member for North Herefordshire (Bill Wiggin), as he pertinently observes from a sedentary position.

Points of Order

Debate between Julian Lewis and John Bercow

Monday 9th May 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I do not think there can be anything further to it. [Interruption.] Well, I will give the hon. Gentleman the opportunity to reflect on the matter for a moment and see whether his point is still valid.

[Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. It was very reassuring, on entering the Palace of Westminster today, to see the flag of the United Kingdom flying from Victoria tower. Given that the European Union has apparently been issuing orders that the EU flag should be flown over public buildings and a photograph sent to Brussels to prove that it has been done, can you tell the House whether you received any such instruction and what your reaction would have been had you received it?

[Mr Speaker]

I did not, and I will not speculate on matters hypothetical. I have a hunch that that observation was aimed less at the House and more at the Lymington Times.

[Dr Lewis]

And the Southern Daily Echo.

[Mr Speaker]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his sedentary correction.

Special Representative for International Trade and Investment

Debate between Julian Lewis and John Bercow

Wednesday 4th May 2011 Commons Chamber

[Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

Does the Minister agree that one reason why the Duke of York has considerable credibility is his distinguished record as a former member of the Fleet Air Arm who gave valuable service in the Falklands war? That shows a degree of commitment over and above any inherited responsibilities that he might be considered to have.

[Mr Speaker]

Order. We must take great care, and care has not been taken sufficiently on this front, to avoid straying into matters of conduct that render someone suitable or not suitable for a particular role. I believe I am right in saying that “Erskine May” is clear that matters may be raised only on a substantive motion and such matters include the conduct of the sovereign, which we shall therefore strive to avoid discussing.

Master’s Degrees (Minimum Standards)

Debate between Julian Lewis and John Bercow

Tuesday 15th February 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

As the right hon. and learned Gentleman well knows, he has just done precisely that, and with a skill that might be of interest to new Members who might benefit from it. I appreciate the good grace with which he accepted the selection of speakers on this occasion. I apologise to him for having momentarily forgotten about that high office that he holds, but I am not likely to do so again.

[Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. In the light of the fascinating short debate we have just had, are you in a position to inform the House whether the practice of making right hon. and hon. Members who happen to be lawyers honorary Queen’s counsels is still in existence?

[Mr Speaker]

I am not sure that I can inform the House on any aspect of that matter. However, as the hon. Gentleman will know—I cannot imagine that he is referring to any particular Member—it is not within my bailiwick. I think that we had better leave it there.

Points of Order

Debate between Julian Lewis and John Bercow

Thursday 27th January 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his point of order. All I want and need to say is that the notification of the disqualification of a Member appears on page 641 of yesterday’s Votes and Proceedings. I have nothing further to add to my ruling yesterday, and there are no procedural issues within my discretion on which I can rule. Doubtless, these matters will continue to be discussed, but there are no issues to be decided now.

[Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

Further to that point of order, Mr Speaker. Is there any way in which I can, within the rules of order, place on the record my appreciation of the fact that Gerry Adams might not have wanted to accept the authority of the Crown when entering Parliament, but evidently has had to accept its authority in order to leave Parliament?

[Mr Speaker]

The short answer is no, but the hon. Gentleman has done so anyway.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Julian Lewis and John Bercow

Thursday 20th January 2011 Commons Chamber

[Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

I thank the Secretary of State, from the bottom of my heart, for what he said about the disgraceful attack on the reputation of Norris McWhirter, whom the BBC was delighted to have as one of its star celebrities for decade after decade. May I tell him that I worked with Norris McWhirter for many years in politics, and one could never find a more dedicated opponent of totalitarianism? That is hardly surprising given that at the age of 17, he volunteered for the Royal Navy and took part in one of the most successful anti-U-boat organisations in the battle of the Atlantic. It was a particular disgrace that someone—David Baddiel—who, like me, is from a Jewish background, should denounce that admirable man as a fascist or a Nazi sympathiser simply because he disagreed with him politically.

[Mr Speaker]

On the BBC, I call the Secretary of State.

Points of Order

Debate between Julian Lewis and John Bercow

Tuesday 21st December 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I have received no such request from a Minister to make a statement. What has just been said about the importance of accurate statements to the House is true. If there is any inaccuracy, it should be corrected. I hope that the hon. Gentleman will understand that I am unsighted on the matter and not in a position to act as adjudicator. The point has been made; the point has been heard.

[Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Those of us who have been worried about the future of the nuclear deterrent in the light of some Government decisions will have been heartened by today’s report in The Daily Telegraph that at least one Cabinet Minister has access to nuclear weapons. Have you received any notice, from any member of the Government, of a statement to be made in this House about this welcome augmentation of British military capability?

[Mr Speaker]

No, I have received no such indication. I shall take this as a pre-Christmas point of order of the New Forest East genre, and we will leave it at that for today.

With reference to a point that has already been made, let me just say—I am grateful to the Leader of the House for this—that I should perhaps have reminded the House that a written ministerial statement is being made today on the subject of contaminated blood. I simply put that on the record.

Public Order Policing

Debate between Julian Lewis and John Bercow

Monday 13th December 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I must just remind the House that in keeping with very long-standing convention, Members who were not here at the start of the Home Secretary’s statement should not expect to be called.

[Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

Does the Home Secretary accept that it is just as unacceptable for violent extremists to be present at student demonstrations as it would be for provocative foreign preachers to be present in the country when they have threatened to burn the Koran?

Points of Order

Debate between Julian Lewis and John Bercow

Thursday 18th November 2010 Commons Chamber

[Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Is there any way in which, within the rules of order, I can place on record the fact that a request for a debate with a vote on the nuclear deterrent should not really be referred back to a debate on the strategic defence and security review, from which the deterrent was excluded and on which there was no vote at all?

[Mr Speaker]

The short answer is no, there is not, but the hon. Gentleman has naughtily done it anyway—a fact of which I think he is intimately conscious.

Points of Order

Debate between Julian Lewis and John Bercow

Wednesday 8th September 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

That is a matter for the Government, as the hon. Gentleman probably knows. That is the simple answer to his question. It may not satisfy him, but that is the situation.

[Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

Further to that point of order, Mr Speaker. Is there any way in which Members who have waited a long time for the important debate on Afghanistan can stress to the Government, through you, that it would be iniquitous if the debate were to be cut short?

[Mr Speaker]

The short answer to the hon. Gentleman is that there is, and he knows it, because he has just taken advantage of the opportunity to relay it to those on the Treasury Bench and we are grateful to him.

Point of Order

Debate between Julian Lewis and John Bercow

Tuesday 7th September 2010 Commons Chamber

[Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. You will recall granting an urgent question before the recess to, I think, the hon. Member for Islington South and Finsbury (Emily Thornberry) about the death of Ian Tomlinson, a bystander at the G20 riots who was struck by a policeman. The evidence of the pathologist concerned, Dr Patel, was irreconcilably different from that of other experts, and that was cited as the reason for no action being taken. Given that he was last week struck off the register by the General Medical Council, can you tell the House whether you have received any indication from a Law Officer or a Justice Minister that a further statement will be made about the terrible circumstances of the case, which has caused concern throughout the country and on both sides of the House?

[Mr Speaker]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman. The short answer is that I have received no such request at all. However, the great likelihood is that Ministers, including Law Officers, will have heard his point of order.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Julian Lewis and John Bercow

Monday 6th September 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. Time is running out and brevity is required.

[Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

T8. Has the Home Secretary had an opportunity to take forward the suggestion of the anti-terrorism expert, Dr Marc Sageman, that the transcripts of trials where terrorists are convicted should be published in full, in order to educate communities of the stupidity, moral poverty and criminal hatred of the people convicted in such cases?

Points of Order

Debate between Julian Lewis and John Bercow

Thursday 22nd July 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

What I have already said in response to the hon. Lady’s point of order stands. I am happy to reflect further on the point, but I am not sure I want to get into the issue of precisely at what point these statements are distributed. If anything further is required on that matter, no doubt she will come back to me, and I will be happy to seek to respond. But that will do for now.

[Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

Further to the point of order by the hon. Member for Plymouth, Moor View (Alison Seabeck), whom I much admire, may I, through you, Mr Speaker, reassure her that the pieces of paper to which she referred contained nothing more noxious than a few helpful suggestions of questions that might be asked—a practice that, while not entirely to be praised, is not unknown on both sides of the House, whether in government or opposition?

[Mr Speaker]

I am sure that the House is enriched as a result of that point of order. We are grateful to the hon. Gentleman.

Points of Order

Debate between Julian Lewis and John Bercow

Wednesday 21st July 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

The hon. Gentleman is an experienced enough parliamentarian to know extremely well that that was not a point of order, but the views that he has expressed and the concern that he has articulated will have been heard. The short answer to his question is that I have had no indication from a Foreign Office Minister of any intention to make a statement on that matter. Whether Ministers will seek to do so in light of what the hon. Gentleman has said remains to be seen, and he will require his usual patience.

[Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. I understand fully that any expenses system, including one involving home accommodation, must retain records of hon. Members’ private home addresses, private telephone numbers and private bank details. But were you as disturbed as I was to read in The Times on 15 July that, owing to a glitch in the website, all such details became accessible to 1,300 hon. Members and their assistants, who are entitled to log on to their own part of the website? Such mistakes can always happen with online systems. Will you, Mr. Speaker, take up with the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, and, if necessary with the Information Commissioner’s Office, the necessity to impress upon IPSA that such private details should not be held in any online system whatsoever, as there is absolutely no need for the information to be held in that vulnerable way?

[Mr Speaker]

I was as disturbed as the hon. Gentleman by this very unfortunate incident and breach of security. The Speaker’s Committee on IPSA is now the appropriate forum through which concerns about matters of operation or policy can be transmitted to IPSA. I have regular meetings with representatives of IPSA. It will not be my normal practice to talk in this House about the detail of those exchanges, but the hon. Gentleman has raised a very serious point, and I am aware of other Members who have expressed similar concerns. Those concerns will be transmitted, and I will be happy to play my proper role in helping to transmit them.

Points of Order

Debate between Julian Lewis and John Bercow

Tuesday 13th July 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

We will take it in turns between the parties. Dr Lewis looks as though he is about to overflow —we must hear from him.

[Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

Further to that point of order, Mr Speaker. I am glad that you made that wise choice, because this follows on from the previous point of order. I would like to say—if I can, within the rules of order—that most of these problems seem to flow from an impersonal approach by IPSA. I can advise hon. Members on both sides of the House that I have benefited from a degree of relenting on the part of IPSA, in that it has been willing to send a human being to meet and advise me, even in my own office—and, having spoken to human beings from IPSA, I have to say that they are very reasonable and decent people indeed. They ought to get out and about a bit more.

[Mr Speaker]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his point of order. With reference to the earlier part of his remarks, I would simply say that we are always interested, of course, to hear his advice, and that is what he has proffered today.

Points of Order

Debate between Julian Lewis and John Bercow

Wednesday 7th July 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman and for a few minutes’ advance notice of that point of order. In response to his first point about whether I am aware of the BBC news report, the answer is an unequivocal yes, for the simple reason that he apprised me of his point of order. The second point that I would make is that I have had no communication from the Secretary of State on this matter, so I am reading the report in the way that anybody else might read it. It is of course always open to Ministers to come to the House to make statements, including to make apologies if they deem it appropriate. I have a sense already that it would be regarded by Members as more helpful in these circumstances and perhaps more apposite if the relevant Minister were to seek to come to the House to make a statement. I should emphasise that we have an important Opposition day debate to follow, and that such a statement, if it were to be made today, would have to be made after the Opposition day debate.

As for revealing matters to the media before revealing them to the House, including revealing an intention to say something at a later stage, my ruling stands. If people have things to say, they should come to the House to say them. The House expects to hear before anybody else does. I hope that that is a satisfactory response.

[Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

rose—

[Mr Speaker]

The hon. Member for New Forest East (Dr Lewis) looks as though he is overflowing with enthusiasm. I am quite concerned about him and I think we had better hear what he has to say.

[Dr Lewis]

Thank you very much, Mr Speaker, for your customary indulgence. Further to that point of order, is it in order for me to inquire whether the shadow Minister who raised that point of order informed the Minister concerned that he was going to mention him from the Dispatch Box on this occasion?

[Mr Speaker]

The hon. Gentleman may ask that. I do not know the answer, but there is no breach of order if a Member comes to raise a point of order about someone else without notifying that person first. The hon. Gentleman is a very courteous man—I will have known him for 27 years in October of this year—and he might well expect that as a matter of courtesy there would be advance notification, but there is no obligation to notify. He has put his views on the record and contributed enthusiastically to our exchanges.