Business of the House

Debate between Lord Hague of Richmond and Michael Connarty

Thursday 8th January 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

My hon. Friend makes a good point. He is renowned for his reading and his reviews of books, but even he would need some time to read 1 million well-chosen words. Of course it will be important for the House to digest the report before having a full-scale debate on it. Whenever it is published, I certainly expect that to happen, but I cannot undertake—and the Prime Minister made this clear yesterday—that that will be in this Parliament. It may well be something for my successor in the next Parliament to deal with, but I am sure that those running the inquiry will have heard the concern in Parliament, which my hon. Friend has again expressed today.

[Michael Connarty (Linlithgow and East Falkirk) (Lab)]

May we have a statement or a debate led by the Department for Work and Pensions on the guarantees or guidelines that have been given to local authorities for when the independent living fund is abolished? Sadly, no Conservative Members attended a recent lobby meeting to speak to people who are facing this problem. One representative told me:

“When ILF closes in June 2015, none of the 18,000 disabled people who currently receive the independent living fund, nor their families or friends, have any idea whether they will end up condemned to living in a care home or effectively imprisoned in their own home without adequate support.”

There were poignant tales of people who have gone from independent living to being put into care homes by local authorities. May we have a statement and a debate on this terrible tragedy, which has been caused by the Government’s abolition of the independent living fund?

[Mr Hague]

That is something that can be raised with DWP Ministers at their regular questions. It is a perfectly normal subject for debate, and the hon. Gentleman may wish to pursue all the various means of obtaining a debate—through the Backbench Business Committee and so on—but I will bring this matter to the attention of the Ministers concerned.

Devolution (Scotland Referendum)

Debate between Lord Hague of Richmond and Michael Connarty

Tuesday 14th October 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

I need to emphasise this point. It is no longer fair or just for Scotland to be able to decide its own laws in devolved areas, only for Scottish MPs to cast decisive votes on similar matters that affect only England, or only England and Wales.

[Michael Connarty (Linlithgow and East Falkirk) (Lab)]

Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?

[Mr Hague]

I will give way again in a moment; I am trying to give way a lot.

We must establish the principle that when this House makes decisions affecting only the people of England, or only the people of England and Wales, those decisions should be made only by, or with the consent of, the MPs elected to represent them. There will be considerable debate on how to do this. Many reports have been published and solutions proposed, but this issue must be confronted now.

[Michael Connarty]

Before the right hon. Gentleman moved on to that structural point, he mentioned the question of legislation. Some Members in the Chamber will leave at 2 o’clock to go back to the Modern Slavery Public Bill Committee, including myself and a Member from Northern Ireland. The right hon. Gentleman will know that I have been involved in that campaign long before this Government came in. Would it be right for Members from Scotland and Northern Ireland to be denied the right to sit on what is a piece of English legislation that will have worldwide repercussions if it is passed in its correct form?

[Mr Hague]

I believe that where a matter only affects England, then key decisions should be made, one way or another, by those MPs elected for English constituencies. The hon. Gentleman believes that for Scotland decisions on such matters should be made by Scottish representatives. We are not asking for anything greater than that. This is not a question that can be ignored or prevaricated over for the next decade. It is right we should address it now without establishing additional layers of government and without increasing the cost of politics.

Business of the House

Debate between Lord Hague of Richmond and Michael Connarty

Monday 13th October 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

Of course, the debate will primarily be about what the House will make it about, but this is about the whole of the United Kingdom following the Scotland referendum. Therefore, it is a debate for all Members, including those who wish to raise the vital issue of English votes for English laws, as it has become known.

[Michael Connarty (Linlithgow and East Falkirk) (Lab)]

Will the Leader of the House assure the 55.3% of the people who voted to keep the Union that his committee will not do anything further to threaten the Union, including changing the franchise for UK Members of Parliament from Scotland?

[Mr Hague]

The hon. Gentleman and I support the 55.3% and, indeed, the Union being able to work successfully, not just for them but for everyone in Scotland. For the great majority of us, all of our business should very much be about strengthening the United Kingdom, but the hon. Gentleman should not think that strengthening the United Kingdom will be achieved by indifference or insensitivity to the needs of other parts of it. This is a matter of fairness for the whole United Kingdom.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Hague of Richmond and Michael Connarty

Tuesday 17th April 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

Of course it is our view that the Assad regime should go—that was our stated view from last summer—but as my hon. Friend knows, that is not the united view of the whole United Nations Security Council, so this resolution and the work of Kofi Annan is based on a political process. However, that is a process, as set out in the Annan plan, to lead to a plural democratic political system. Of course, the regime will try to use a ceasefire and a political process to its own advantage; but the more it is a genuine ceasefire and a genuine political process, the less it will be to the regime’s advantage.

[Michael Connarty (Linlithgow and East Falkirk) (Lab)]

9. What representations he has made to the Government of Israel on the increase in demolition of Palestinian houses in the last year.

European Affairs

Debate between Lord Hague of Richmond and Michael Connarty

Thursday 3rd June 2010 Commons Chamber

[Michael Connarty (Linlithgow and East Falkirk) (Lab)]

I may be anticipating what the Foreign Secretary will say, but at the moment, many items are available as opt-ins, particularly on criminal law and so on. There will be many cases over the next few years in which the choice will be either to opt-in or to withdraw from a whole section of a treaty. Will those be dealt with so that the House is given a vote on whether the Government should opt in or opt out?

[Mr Hague]

They will certainly demand a lot of examination in the House. In the coalition agreement, we have committed to approaching further criminal justice legislation on a case-by-case basis. The UK has the right to decide whether to participate in new EU justice and home affairs measures, so we will give careful consideration to whether to opt-in to new measures in those areas while at the same time ensuring that the UK’s security is maintained and our civil liberties are protected, and that the integrity of our criminal justice system is preserved.

We recognise the importance of Parliament having adequate time to scrutinise those opt-in decisions. In all but the most exceptional cases, that means that we will not opt-in to any new measure in the first eight weeks following its publication, to give Parliament time to give a considered opinion. The hon. Gentleman will know that we are looking at how to improve parliamentary scrutiny of decision-making in Europe, and the positions that this Government or any future Government take at European councils. Indeed, we would welcome his views, as a distinguished former Chairman of the European Scrutiny Committee, on how those procedures can be improved. I know that my right hon. Friend the Leader of the House would welcome hearing from the hon. Gentleman.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Hague]

I very much agree. It cannot be taken for granted that the problems have been solved. The 5+2 conditions necessary for the closure of the office of the High Representative have not yet been satisfied. As I have often said, I believe that European nations will have to be more forceful about this, and we will have to be prepared to push as well as pull some people in the western Balkans towards EU membership.

[Michael Connarty]

Will the Foreign Secretary give way?

[Mr Hague]

I have given way for the last time: I owe it to the House to allow the shadow Foreign Secretary and others to speak.

We continue to support the negotiations to re-unify the island of Cyprus—I am pleased that they restarted last week. Although we do not underestimate the difficulties, it would be very greatly in the interest of both communities on the island for those talks to succeed.

The House will also want to know about the institutional aspect of the EU’s external relations, the establishment of the European External Action Service. As the House will know, my party did not support the creation of the External Action Service, but it is now a fact. We warned that its creation would not necessarily lead to greater inter-institutional harmony in Brussels and that has unfortunately proved to be the case so far. It is now our task to ensure that the service is both useful to the nations of Europe and respects the role of national diplomatic services. The European Parliament has made its suggestions on how the service is to be organised, and there are discussions on the matter with the High Representative and the Spanish presidency. I hope that the European Parliament will recognise that the service will be a success only if it commands the confidence of member states. That is a crucial consideration.

The High Representative has made a good start to her very challenging role. We wished her well when she embarked on the task, and we look forward to working with her closely in the future.

The last Conservative Government left a considerable legacy in the European Union: the creation of the single market; the enlargement from nine to 15 members; and the setting in train of further eastwards enlargement. I will not take away from the last Government their achievement in helping to complete that enlargement, but in other respects their legacy is to be regretted: the alienation of the British public from the EU; the failure to stand up for Britain’s interests on the budget, and so on. The new Government have started as we mean to continue—with activity and energy in European affairs. We will play our role with enthusiasm, while vigorously advancing our country’s interests and never taking the British people for granted.

Foreign Affairs and Defence

Debate between Lord Hague of Richmond and Michael Connarty

Wednesday 26th May 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

Consideration of this will not be long delayed, I can assure the hon. Gentleman. Given that the previous Government said in December that it was urgent to deal with the matter but had done nothing about it by April, I will not, after two weeks in office, take lectures from the Opposition about the speed with which we are dealing with it.

[Michael Connarty (Linlithgow and East Falkirk) (Lab)]

I, too, congratulate the right hon. Gentleman on his elevation. Everyone will look at his words in detail and he just said that this is a coalition, and the inference was that action on Israel was somehow being held back by someone in the coalition. Is he saying that the Liberal Democrats take a softer view on action on Israel or that his own party has a softer view? Coalition difficulties must, presumably, have some source.

[Mr Hague]

I am merely saying that there are a range of issues for the Government to address. I explained earlier how our concentration in our collective discussions on international affairs has been very much on Afghanistan. The three meetings of the National Security Council that we have had so far have concentrated overwhelmingly on Afghanistan. We have not yet determined the exact action that we will take on universal jurisdiction. However, that is after two weeks in office. As I said, the former Government had a good deal longer to try to deal with these things.