Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill

Lord Randall of Uxbridge Excerpts

3rd reading
Thursday 21st September 2023 Lords Chamber

[Lord Randall of Uxbridge (Con)]

My Lords, I want to thank the Government and in particular my noble friend Lord Howe, the Minister. It is an interesting symmetry that he is the one proposing the amendment on areas of outstanding natural beauty in national parks, as my forebears came from the Chilterns—although I have a feeling that we were more tenant farmers than anything else. So we share a common love of these areas.

I give grateful thanks that this has been a cross-party campaign, with a lot of help from Wildlife and Countryside Link—and, of course, the Glover review. I pay particular tribute to the noble Baronesses, Lady Jones of Whitchurch and Lady Willis of Summertown, for helping me by moving some of the amendments earlier, when I was still ill, and I thank the Government for seeing sense on this. There is more to do on preserving our wonderful landscapes—we will be talking about protection of SSSIs in more depth whenever I get the opportunity. But I am going to stick there and thank the Government, and everybody else, very much indeed for making this happen.

[Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Lab)]

My Lords, first, I remind noble Lords of my interest in the South Downs National Park. I add my welcome to that of the noble Lord, Lord Randall, for government Amendment 9, which fulfils the commitment that was made on Report to take the rather weak phraseology of public bodies “having regard to”, which we knew in practice was not working, to a much stronger phraseology —that public bodies should “further the interests and statutory purposes” of national parks. It sounds technical, but it makes a big difference in practice. The fact that that is linked to management plans and the targets and so on really helps make sure that those processes will work in tandem and will be in force.

Of course, the new government amendment changes the wording that we had in our amendment on Report, which said that the Secretary of State “must” make regulations—and now we have the normal government fall-back phrase of “may” make regulations. I take it in good heart from the Minister that the government intent is here, and we do not need to worry too much about “must” being replaced by “may”. I hope that the Government’s intent is properly made in good faith.

The Minister talked about the timing of the regulations and doing this in a timely manner—and that could hide a thousand sins. So I shall not be the first person to push him a little bit and say, “What is this timely manner? Can we expect something this side of Christmas, or will it drift on beyond that?” Any further light he could shed on that would be much appreciated.

The noble Lord, Lord Randall, made reference to the Glover review. There are other issues that are outstanding from that review. I hope that the Minister can give some commitment to continuing to look again at those recommendations and find ways in which to roll out those recommendations so that we have a complete picture and substance from Glover, which, as the noble Lord, Lord Randall, said, was widely praised across all parties.

There continues to be a weakness in legislation relating to national parks, in terms of their power of competence, which prevents national parks operating outside their borders. This matters, because national parks increasingly operate in partnerships across wider landscapes than their own borders. The current legislation prevents many of the opportunities that they would have to work in broader partnerships and to take up opportunities.

To take one example of that, in the South Downs we are leading on the development of the green finance initiative, but the legal limits on our scope and powers prevent us providing green finance support to our neighbouring areas of outstanding natural beauty. There is a problem with the terminology and phraseology of the current legislation. I do not suppose that the Minister will feel able to give any commitments on this now, but I hope that he will continue the dialogue to look at ways to address this. Everybody would accept that more—and broader—partnerships, particularly in terms of the local landscape review, would be really effective.

In the meantime, I very much welcome Amendment 9 and I am pleased to support it.

Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill

Lord Randall of Uxbridge Excerpts

Report stage
Wednesday 13th September 2023 Lords Chamber

[The Minister of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Benyon) (Con)]

My Lords, I beg to move Amendment 230A, and I will speak to Amendment 309B. These make clear the Government’s commitment to ensuring that biodiversity net gain achieves its intended positive outcomes for nature. They seek to reduce incentives for site clearance on development sites and on sites generating off-site units.

Biodiversity net gain is a flagship government policy. Officials are working closely with stakeholders to prepare for its implementation. It will mean that new developments improve nature and, as its name suggests, will be a net gain for nature. We have heard concerns raised that developers would be incentivised to clear habitats prior to the submission of a planning application or site survey. We have brought forward government Amendments 230A and 309B to address this concern.

The Environment Act already requires the use of a historic baseline of on-site habitat for sites where habitats have been degraded. These amendments go further and ensure that a precautionary approach to the baseline habitat for these sites must be undertaken when sufficient evidence is not available.

These amendments also seek to close a potential loophole in legislation. Currently, a site could be cleared under an existing planning permission, even if the development and biodiversity gains of this permission were not completed. Then, a new permission could be applied for, using the cleared site as the baseline for BNG purposes. These amendments will prevent this.

The amendments also ensure that habitats will not be cleared in advance of delivering habitat creation off-site in order to sell biodiversity units. Without these amendments, an area of off-site habitat could be cleared and then recreated and sold as habitat enhancement. These amendments will prevent this by requiring that pre-enhancement measurements of biodiversity are registered before any activity that lowers the biodiversity value.

Noble Lords will note that these amendments will apply retrospectively, back to the date of tabling. We have secured law officer agreement to this approach, which is important to make sure that people do not use the period between now and the commencement of these provisions to reduce their habitats’ baselines. I hope noble Lords will see how important these amendments are in addressing these concerns within the existing BNG framework.

I go on to thank my noble friend Lord Randall of Uxbridge for tabling Amendment 282M and the supplementary Amendment 288C. I am pleased to continue the conversation about the importance of these treasured landscapes. Having thoroughly considered Amendment 282M, we are content to accept it in principle. Protected landscapes are crucial delivery partners for so many of our goals for nature, climate and rural communities. We agree that their management plans should be enhanced and that the contribution of partners should be bolstered. This amendment takes a balanced, proportionate approach to achieving these aims. We have a wish to consider any technical drafting amendments that may be required to ensure that the amendment operates correctly in practice. The Government are therefore undertaking to bring forward a similar amendment at Third Reading. This will ensure that protected landscapes organisations continue to be at the heart of our work to unleash rural prosperity and create a network of beautiful, nature-rich spaces that can be enjoyed by all parts of society. This will be supplemented by our upcoming protected landscape outcomes framework and updated guidance, further delivering the Government’s response to the landscapes review.

I take this opportunity to extend my and the Government’s continued thanks to Julian Glover and his panel for this superb piece of work. I also thank my noble friend Lord Randall for his tireless work on this matter, which I know is dear to his heart. With that commitment, I hope my noble friend will not move his amendment and will agree to work with us as we take this forward to, in principle, the same amendment at the next stage.

[Lord Randall of Uxbridge (Con)]

My Lords, I should first declare some interests. When I spoke on the swift bricks amendment in the name of my noble friend Lord Goldsmith the other night, I was so excited that I forgot to declare them. I hope I can make an apology. I have many conservation interests, including as a councilman with the RSPB—particularly relevant to the swift bricks—and, for consideration later today, as a member of the advisory board of River Action, which might give noble Lords an indication of where my interests will lie this afternoon.

I also have some good news. My noble friend the Minister has given me some, which I will come back to, but mine is this: I am losing my voice. I think that will be generally approved of on all sides of the House.

I know my noble friend has been working tirelessly and I thank all those members of the Government in the two departments—the Secretaries of State and the Ministers, as well as many others—who have got us to where we are today. In particular, apart from thanking Julian Glover, who, as my noble friend said, did this excellent review, I thank two strong allies on this from across the Chamber: the noble Baroness, Lady Jones of Whitchurch, who tabled the original amendment in Committee when I was elsewhere, occupied in hospital, and the noble Baroness, Lady Willis of Summertown. Their support has kept me going.

I know that I have begun to sound like a record with a needle stuck in it, but I think it has paid off. I thank everybody concerned with this. National parks and areas of outstanding natural beauty are what we are about, and biodiversity in those areas is depleted. I am pleased that the Government have recognised this and the need for legislation.

[Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Lab)]

My Lords, I will speak very briefly. I declare an interest as a member of the South Downs National Park Authority. I thank the Minister and the noble Lord, Lord Randall. It has taken a long time coming, but I will not be churlish at this point; I am glad that, eventually, the very sensible, common-sense arguments that the national parks have put forward on this issue have been listened to. I have read the Written Ministerial Statement on this. The Minister has echoed that, more or less, in technical terms, our amendment has been accepted and they will just tweak it somewhat. Obviously, we would like to see the final version of it, but I am sure it will appear in good faith. I thank him for that.

--- Later in debate ---

[Lord Randall of Uxbridge (Con)]

My Lords, I will be even briefer in full support of the amendment in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Young. I agree with everything that has been said. I will not rise to the bait at the mention of HS2; that is not going to happen. But we need legislation—we cannot afford to lose this incredible habitat.

[Lord Lucas (Con)]

My Lords, I very much hope that the Government will take this amendment seriously. I would like to see them accept it. I do not agree with the noble Baroness, Lady Young, that ancient woodland is irreplaceable. It just takes a very long time—a matter of centuries—to replace it. As part of our planning, when it comes to 30 by 30, where to put woodlands and the extremely important issue of connection, we ought to be saying that losing 0.2% of our ancient woodland every year is not good. We want to plan to add 0.5% a year to where we plant and how we connect. We should have a long-term strategy to make sure that, in 100 years, we have twice as much woodland as now; otherwise, we will continue to bite into it.

A planning permission is currently being sought in Kent. I can see the argument for it. We want a supply of ragstone. A lot of important buildings are built of ragstone. This may be entirely the right place from which to get it. An additional Thames crossing is in prospect. We may well need it. We know that there will be circumstances in which we want to tear down ancient woodland. You cannot just take the soil and stick it somewhere else in the hope that things will re-establish themselves. It needs much better, more careful and longer-term planning.

Ten thousand years ago, there was none of this stuff. It has moved and come since. All these plants and animals have moved here during this period. We should not think that we cannot multiply it. We should be planning on the basis that we can, which needs a lot of thought, care and consideration. I declare an interest. I own a PAWS—a plantation on an ancient woodland site. I do not have any ancient woodland but I own a space where one used to be. We should give it careful attention, ensuring that every time we damage a woodland, there is proper consultation and consideration. It should not just be about whether we should lose this bit but about how we, as a local authority, plan to end up with more in a century’s time, rather than saying, “Shall we eat this slice of an ever-diminishing cake now?”.

Business and Planning Bill

Lord Randall of Uxbridge Excerpts

2nd reading & 2nd reading (Hansard) & 2nd reading (Hansard): House of Lords
Monday 6th July 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Randall of Uxbridge (Con) [V]]

My Lords, I am pleased to be able to support the measures in the Bill. There are so many businesses that are potentially on the edge of a financial precipice and I am sure that, across the House, we want to see them get back to economic viability as soon as possible. I hope that the Bill and the measures contained in it will jump-start those enterprises and sectors. I am pleased that Her Majesty’s Government are being innovative and flexible in their plans for the recovery.

There are a few areas I would like to explore in a little more detail. The Bill has helpful measures for flexibility in planning appeal procedures to enable more use of virtual sessions and to reduce the need for members of the public to travel to appeal examinations. However, I have some concerns. While appreciating the speed with which the Bill needs to be passed in order to maximise the assistance, particularly for those who are financially struggling, there is a lack of consultation on this new legislation. The Minister, who I welcome to his maiden Second Reading debate, said regarding planning that there will be separate legislation, but he will be aware of my continuing concerns that there may be changes to the planning system which relate to environmental matters and are of significant public interest. Can the Government commit to any consultation on any forthcoming changes they may be thinking of making? That would confirm the Government’s ongoing commitment to no lessening of environmental protections for habitats and species.

I am also concerned about the provisions in Clause 16 on the ability to modify construction working hours conditions. Of course these measures are helpful in terms of economic recovery, but there appear to be no restrictions on an authority’s ability to agree to applications made. With the possible changes applying to construction up to 1 April 2021, I have worries about the relaxation of current planning permission conditions restrictions on construction working hours due to nature conservation interests—for example, in relation to disturbance to birds during the harsh times of winter, during their migrations or at the start of next year’s breeding season. Currently, the Bill simply states, in new Section 74B(4) inserted by Clause 16(2), that modifications can be,

“to allow construction activities to be carried out for a longer period on a particular day (which may be the whole of that day)”

or

“to allow construction activities to be carried out for the whole or part of a day on which they would not otherwise be allowed to be carried out.”

There is nothing about a need to check why those restrictions were made in the first place and whether it is appropriate to allow modifications. What steps are the Government taking to ensure that wider environmental issues are not affected by the decision to extend planning permissions? As already mentioned by several speakers, there are worries about the effect of the extension of working hours on residents. I hope that my noble friend can give some reassurance on these issues.

Finally, like many others, I have some concerns around Clause 11. As we have heard, this clause deregulates off-sales under the Licensing Act 2003. The change will automatically allow any premises with an on-sales alcohol licence—bars, pubs, clubs, restaurants et cetera—to sell alcohol for consumption off the premises in open containers for the same hours as for on-sales. I worry that this will encourage drinking in the street into the early hours. I fear that that would increase anti-social behaviour in town and city centres in the late evening and early morning. The images from the weekend, when in some places social distancing was increasingly reduced as the alcohol intake increased, give me real concern. Sadly, drunken and anti-social behaviour is not unusual in some city centres.

The Government say that the police and councils have powers to issue closure notices and that the Bill proposes an expediated review process. However, there are no powers to address the cumulative effect of having many premises in close proximity, and experience shows that these powers do not work effectively. Therefore, will the Minister consider an amendment to Section 11 to limit the deregulation of off-sales to 11 pm? With those comments, I otherwise support the Bill in its response to the current crisis.

Valedictory Debate

Lord Randall of Uxbridge Excerpts

Thursday 26th March 2015 Commons Chamber

[Sir John Randall (Uxbridge and South Ruislip) (Con)]

It is an honour to follow the hon. Member for Aberdeen North (Mr Doran). I served on his Administration Committee until a PowerPoint presentation on own-brand cookies led me to resign, as I could not cope with the excitement anymore.

I do not know how you slept last night, Mr Speaker, but I have to admit that I did not sleep very well. I knew this was going to be my last speech and I wanted to make it a great oration, but I have worked out that I am what I am—a son of the suburbs. We have heard all these statesmen speaking and people with vast experience, and it is no good my trying to do something I am not any good at. I remember in my by-election, Matthew Parris, the columnist, described me as the missing link. On the pictures of the ascent of man from ape to homo sapiens, I was somewhere in the middle apparently, stooping, with, in those days, an orange hairy chest, or beard, or whatever it was—rather like an orang-utan.

I have tried my best, and I could never have imagined, 18 years ago, standing here now as an MP. I had no ambitions to enter this place at all. It was sad circumstances that led me to being elected and find myself standing here. To represent the area I have always lived and worked in has been the greatest privilege indeed, and of course it has been an easy task to be an advocate for the area in Middlesex I represent. Nothing much has changed since the description I gave in my maiden speech, apart from the fact that RAF Uxbridge sadly has closed—although the Boundary Commission made sure I got RAF Northolt for the last five years. Equally, I feel privileged to have represented an area with such an impressive and proud history.

The job of an MP has changed over the years I have been here. I have attended weighty issues of state. Who could forget the Iraq debate, when I had to resign as Opposition Whip because I wanted to oppose the Government? That seems strange, as the Government was the other side, but there we are. That is what happened. I have also been involved in less weighty issues, but what others might call less important can still be just as important to many people and are often just as fascinating.

One reason why I have enjoyed this job—I hope I have not been bad at it—is that I find people, including constituents, colleagues and everybody else, fascinating. That is what makes the job good. Even when I was in the Whips Office, it was talking to colleagues that made it fun.

[Mr Newmark]

Does right hon. Friend agree that the camaraderie in the Whips Office is a unique experience that he and I had together? Once a Whip, always a Whip.

[Sir John Randall]

I agree, but I am not going to dwell on that. It is for my memoirs—luckily, I am not going to publish them!

I have been lucky in Hillingdon. The previous Member representing Ruislip Northwood was John Wilkinson, and today there is my hon. Friend the Member for Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner (Mr Hurd) and the hon. Member for Hayes and Harlington (John McDonnell)—and we have always got on. We may be political opponents, but we have become friends and we work together for our constituents in Hillingdon. I believe our constituents like and respect that and that they do not like too much adversarial stuff.

I sometimes think when I am watching a rugby match that people are putting everything into the game, but at the end of it, they shake hands and probably go and share a beer together. Some people outside the House probably do not realise that although we have our arguments and discussions that can sometimes get quite heated, we are basically on the same side, trying to help our people.

I have some great memories. I remember going to the smoking room, which was empty apart from Edward Heath and Tony Benn. They asked me to come and join them as they talked about Europe. Both opposed their own party’s particular view on the subject, and I was like a bystander, just listening to them. In many ways, that is how I feel my experience here has been. When I first came into this place, I described it as an “out of body experience”. It has been like a dream. I have a feeling that in six months’ time, waking up in a hospital bed somewhere, I might wonder whether it was all a dream. There might be no trace of anything that went on, no trace in Hansard or anywhere else.

It was sad that my father, Alec, never saw me elected to this place, but I was delighted that my mother did. She was an ardent royalist and was particularly proud of my role as Treasurer of Her Majesty’s Household. The fact that I, the grandson of teachers and traders in Uxbridge, was travelling in a coach on a state occasion shows that it is possible to achieve a lot in this country, irrespective of background.

I look forward to engaging and training up my successor. I sometimes have a feeling that it is a bit like “Dr Who”, with MPs morphing into something else. I can already feel my hair getting a bit blonder and I seem to have found an encyclopaedic knowledge of Horace—we never know.

Finally, I would like to thank my long-serving secretary, Delma Beebe, who was with me from the start. She was sent to look after me and make sure I did not make too many mistakes. Luckily, I have not. I thank, too, my wife Kate, my sons Peter and David and my daughter Elizabeth, and, most of all, the people of my constituency for giving me this great opportunity to serve in the best place in the UK, serving the greatest country in the world.

Christmas Adjournment

Lord Randall of Uxbridge Excerpts

Thursday 18th December 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mark Reckless (Rochester and Strood) (UKIP)]

It is a privilege to follow the hon. Member for Congleton (Fiona Bruce), who I am sure speaks for the whole House in her moving and compelling contribution.

The hon. Member for Harrow West (Mr Thomas) spoke about Transport for London, and the ridiculous plans of the Mayor of London and Transport for London which no one could do anything about. He gave two examples, one of which was a Thames estuary airport. I am pleased to say that we could do something about that, following a fantastic campaign, which the Airports Commission said generated more representations than any other. I was privileged to lead that campaign with people from the Hoo peninsula and elsewhere in my constituency, but also with people from across the country and beyond, so that on 2 September this year, the Thames estuary airport pie-in-the-sky proposal promoted by the Mayor of London was categorically ruled out.

Unfortunately, two days later, Medway council’s own planning committee attacked the Hoo peninsula with its own threat—a very serious threat—to build approximately 5,000 houses at Lodge hill, a bird sanctuary in my constituency. Two days after we had had the dreadful threat of the Thames estuary airport ruled out, we had this other one to deal with. Five days later, Medway council had to refer the application to the Secretary of State to consider whether it should be called in.

[Sir John Randall (Uxbridge and South Ruislip) (Con)]

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

[Mark Reckless]

No. [Interruption.] I said no.

The criteria used for planning application call-ins used to be called the Caborn criteria. Three of those criteria appear to be met very clearly by this application to the extent that a call-in is required. The first relates to conflicting with national policies on important matters, notably the protection of sites of special scientific interest—and, indeed, the whole integrity of our system of environmental protection.

The second relates to having significant effects beyond the immediate locality. It could even have an effect as far away as west Africa, where the nightingales that are the cause of this area becoming an SSSI spend the British winter. There could be an impact on Essex, because the planning committee of Medway council has, in its wisdom, accepted a proposal that the nightingales can be told to go to an alternative location somewhere in Essex. We do not have much in the way of detail, but this clearly suggests significant effects beyond the immediate locality. Perhaps most importantly, approving the proposal or failing to call it in and seeking to nod it through with a green light could have impacts on other SSSIs across the country.

The third criterion is where the development would give rise to substantial cross-border or national controversy. Having been at the centre of such controversy during the recent Rochester and Strood by-election, I can vouch for that.

On 25 September, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government recused himself from considering the application on the basis that he is a member of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. Two days later, I recused myself from the Conservative party and was determined to fight a by-election partly on this issue. Since the Secretary of State recused himself, the matter has been considered by the Minister of State, Department for Communities and Local Government, the hon. Member for Great Yarmouth (Brandon Lewis). He wrote to me on 15 October, and I was glad to hear that no ministerial decision had been taken on whether the matter should be called in. He criticised what he described as my claim that such a decision had been taken.

Of course, that was not my claim. It was a claim made by the deputy leader of Medway council, Councillor Alan Jarrett, in a meeting of Conservative councillors. His statement was that it had apparently been communicated to him by the Government that the proposal would be green-lighted and would not be called in. That led to another councillor present at the meeting, Councillor Peter Rodberg, leaving the Conservative group and joining me in UKIP. He says—and this is borne out by another councillor who has spoken to me, and who remains a Conservative—that at the end of the meeting, after the councillors had been told that the Government would green-light the proposal, Councillor Peter Hicks, who represents Strood Rural, said that they should keep quiet about it until after the election.

It was a pleasure to learn from the Minister that he was dealing with the issue of the call-in properly. He clearly recognises that he is acting in a quasi-judicial capacity, and—at least in terms of the time that he has already devoted to the issue and the correspondence that he has issued—he appears to be performing his duties with diligence. His most recent letter was written on 8 December to Councillor Rodney Chambers, the leader of Medway council. I understand that since this Government have been in office no more than a dozen applications have been called in each year, whereas under the last Government about 30 a year were called in, but I am not aware of any precedent for such a letter.

The Minister wrote asking for Medway council’s views, and in particular the views of the planning committee that had considered the application on 4 September, on a number of representations that had been received, including representations from the RSPB and Natural England. Unfortunately the Minister did not attach the representations that he said he had attached to the letter, and, as far as I know, they have not been published. The letter is peculiar, however. It is not clear whether Medway council’s views were being sought, or the views of the planning committee, or both, and it is not clear how any conflict between them should be resolved. The planning committee meeting was, of course, on the record, so the extent to which it has considered—or, one suspects, not considered—the matters that it should have considered should have been made clear either in its decision notice or in the record of that meeting. I therefore question the credibility and reliability of any ex post facto justifications that Medway council may now produce for its decision, and any statement in which it purports to have abided by the national planning policy framework.

Given that letter, given that at least three of the criteria for call-in were clearly met, and given the statement by the deputy leader of the council that the proposal would be green-lighted in the light of communications that he at least believed were taking place within the Government or among those who he thought could speak for them in respect of there not being a call-in, I think it is clear that the safest and, indeed, the only appropriate option is for the Government to call in the application, appoint an inspector, and give proper consideration to what is, in my view, an incredibly damaging application. This application would result in the pulling together of several villages into a single conglomeration, and would cause a site of special scientific interest to be almost completely built over, which would undermine the whole system of environmental protection in this country. It should now be considered by an inspector and then by the Secretary of State, and, hopefully, turned down as a result.

--- Later in debate ---

[Sir John Randall (Uxbridge and South Ruislip) (Con)]

One of the regrets I will have when I leave this House will be not to work alongside—at least in parliamentary terms; I may be able to do so in an extra-parliamentary way—my comrade in arms, the hon. Member for Hayes and Harlington (John McDonnell).

This will be my last Christmas Adjournment debate. Like all good things, it must come to an end. Yesterday in the Division Lobby, I rather got the impression that the time had come to leave, because as I approached the desk to register my vote, I pulled out my Oyster card. I think that sums up the fact that I am getting ready to go.

I remember these Adjournment debates with great pleasure. When the hon. Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant) was Deputy Leader of the House, he used to make very amusing wind-up speeches in which he gave all the speakers roles from various television sit-coms, such as “’Allo ’Allo!”, “Dad’s Army”, and perhaps appropriately, “Are You Being Served?” As the hon. Member for Hayes and Harlington has said, I was usually portrayed as Young Mr Grace. I think the Prime Minister must have read some of those Hansard reports, because he used to refer to me as Young Mr Grace. I do not think that was necessarily a compliment, but I will take it as such.

As the hon. Gentleman has said, unfortunately the family business is closing its doors. I want to thank the staff who have worked there over the years. When I go around canvassing or talking to constituents and they mention the store, it is usually not the quality of the products that they talk about—although they do mention the things they have bought—but the wonderful staff. The longest-serving member of staff has been there 42 years and I assure the House that I will do whatever I can to help those who want to find another job. I will do my very best.

Having witnessed the experiences of those looking for work elsewhere, I am shocked at how the retail world has changed. The sort of employment being offered now, including zero-hours contracts, makes it quite scary for people going into the retail business. All of us, as consumers, have to take some blame for that, because it is consumer pressure that leads to margins being cut and everybody looking at how they can do that, and I am afraid that employment is one of the affected areas. Although I can blame online services and lots of other things, we all have to take responsibility for that.

On the issue of long-serving members of staff who have probably done more for my constituents than I have ever done, I want to mention my secretary, Mrs Delma Beebe, who has been with me since I entered the House in 1997. She started working in the House in 1963, in the Refreshment Department. In 1967 she took on a Member of Parliament and I am her latest, and probably her last, MP. She is the person with whom my constituents have most interaction. If it was not for her, I am not sure that I would be here today, because they may well have booted me out.

One of my constituents, Mr Conrad Tokarczyk, has raised with me the issue of step-free access in underground stations, and the hon. Member for Hayes and Harlington and I have been working on that, together with Deborah King. She is another constituent of mine who is always coming up with good and interesting ideas, although I do not always agree with them. For instance, she wants job sharing for MPs, but I do not understand how that would work with votes. Anyway, step-free access is very important and there are some innovative ideas about how businesses could provide sponsorship. Money could also be taken off a passenger’s Oyster card—to return to my favourite subject—on a voluntary basis and given to their particular station in order for it to improve its facilities. Transport for London should find out how much the necessary improvements will cost, because then we would know the sum we are working towards.

One of the things I have been very pleased to have played a small part in during my time in the House is the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009, because I did some work on marine issues. I was delighted to hear the recent announcement on fisheries. The anglers and I do not always agree—they have different policies from mine on cormorants and goosanders—but I have spoken to Members and an ex-Member, Martin Salter, and they are disappointed that there are not enough measures relating to the preservation of sea bass stocks. We should address that.

I know that not only the House but somebody from Private Eye who likes to follow these debates and regards my speeches as among the most boring things that happen in this place would be disappointed if I did not mention birds in the remaining minutes of my speech. I was disappointed that the hon. Member for Rochester and Strood (Mark Reckless) did not take my intervention earlier, because I was going to welcome him to the side of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. I remember having a heated discussion with him in the Members’ Lobby some time ago. He had said during a Westminster Hall debate that houses were more important than birds, so I was going to congratulate him on his Damascene conversion in the past few months. Is it not refreshing to find UKIP actually speaking on behalf of west African migrants? We should all welcome that.

I want to talk about a success story, which Members from both sides of the House can take pleasure in. The numbers of bittern—the bog bumper, as it is also known—have been increasing. It is a marvellous bird. People do not need to go to incredibly special places to see them. In the winter, not far away at the London Wetland centre in Barnes, people can, if they are lucky, see these elusive denizens of the marsh. In 1997, there were only 11 booming males. They are called that because of their display call, which can be heard for miles.

[John McDonnell]

How does it go?

[Sir John Randall]

I do not think that Hansard had better try to do it.

In 2014, there are now 140 boomers, or singing males, over 61 sites. The great thing is that that is all the result not only of a bittern project, but of making sure that the reed beds are in a good way. I am particularly pleased about the reed beds not only for the bitterns, but for other denizens of the reed beds that are doing really well. One bird that I perhaps feel a great affinity for, and which is also doing well, is the bearded tit. [Laughter.]

On that note, as always at this time of year, we like to thank everybody who works in the House. Because I worked with them for a long time, I particularly want to refer to the people in the Government Whips Office. I have previously mentioned those at the very top of it—Mark Kelly, Roy Stone and Kate Wilson—but I also want to mention Claire Scott and the others in the administration unit.

Finally, I must mention one person whom I have never referred to in Parliament before, but who has done as much for me as anybody else in this place—my wife Kate, and I will also mention our children Peter, David and Elizabeth. If it had not been for their support, I would have been even grumpier than I normally am.

[Several hon. Members]

rose—

Business of the House

Lord Randall of Uxbridge Excerpts

Thursday 5th June 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for raising that matter. I am sure that all Members of the House want to express our deepest sympathy to the parents and family of the baby who died, and indeed our concern to the other parents whose children were infected and have suffered, but who hopefully are now recovering. As the hon. Gentleman may have heard, these issues are being pursued rapidly and urgently by Public Health England and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. It is clear from what they have said that the batch that may have been infected—we do not know precisely how, but this is where the evidence points—has been recalled. That batch has a short shelf life, so there is no prospect of further infections as a consequence. I feel strongly about this because two of the infected babies were at Addenbrooke’s hospital in my constituency. The first thing was to ensure that no further risk will result from this unfortunate event, and the second is to investigate and ensure that we know what happened, why it happened, and how to prevent it from happening again. If it is to do with the manufacturing process, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency is responsible for that. I know that my hon. Friends at the Department of Health will want to report to the House when those two agencies have thoroughly completed their work.

[Sir John Randall (Uxbridge and South Ruislip) (Con)]

Does my right hon. Friend share my disappointment that the Opposition have not—for the second year running, I think—allocated a day during the debate on the Queen’s Speech to foreign affairs or defence? Perhaps he could organise that in Government time. There are many things going on in the world that cannot always be debated in these circumstances but on which we need a debate. Also, the Opposition have been talking about pubs, but does he agree that the last time they were in charge of the brewery, they could not organise any form of event at all?

[Mr Lansley]

I completely agree with my right hon. Friend: it is regrettable. Obviously, competing issues require time during debates on the Queen’s Speech—it is the Opposition’s choice in these matters—but for two years in a row they have chosen not to debate foreign affairs or defence. Frankly, this year, when the events in Syria and Ukraine are immediate, critical and of widespread concern, it is regrettable that the Opposition did not give the House an opportunity to have a debate of that kind.

Business of the House

Lord Randall of Uxbridge Excerpts

Thursday 10th April 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

I think the hon. Gentleman is wrong in several respects. In particular, it is not possible to buy peerages, and the House of Lords Appointments Commission is clear about its responsibility to make sure that that does not happen. Additionally, the hon. Gentleman should recognise that the coalition Government had a coalition programme that included giving the public the opportunity to make a decision on changes to the electoral system, and the public—the people whom we represent—chose not to do so.

[Sir John Randall (Uxbridge and South Ruislip) (Con)]

Sometimes my motives are misconstrued, but I always strive to be helpful, and I would like to help the Leader of the House. He has been very generous in allowing an extra 60 minutes for the HS2 debate, but if he were happy to test our stamina by lifting the 10 o’clock rule and having the vote the following day, those Members who did not want to stay until the early hours for a vote could come back then, while those of us who really want to push the case for or against HS2 would have ample opportunity to do so. That may be a way forward.

[Mr Lansley]

I am always grateful to my right hon. Friend, not least when he is being helpful. The additional hour—if we are able to avoid urgent questions or statements—would give us substantial time for debate on that Monday. As a matter of principle, and especially on important matters, we should try to avoid separating the vote on an issue from the debate on it. It is also important for the House, notwithstanding your generosity, Mr Speaker, to try to achieve the conclusion of a debate and the vote at a time when our constituents might reasonably expect to be watching it.

Easter Adjournment

Lord Randall of Uxbridge Excerpts

Thursday 10th April 2014 Commons Chamber

[Sir John Randall (Uxbridge and South Ruislip) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Mitcham and Morden (Siobhain McDonagh) and particularly my hon. Friend the Member for Southend West (Mr Amess). I have always regarded these recess Adjournment debates as one of the highlights of the parliamentary Session. They give us all an opportunity to raise a variety of issues, perhaps ones that would not merit the length of an Adjournment debate in the Chamber or Westminster Hall, but which are matters that we care deeply about.

Listening to my hon. Friend as he went from subject to subject, as I shall probably do, I was reminded that the spring sunshine had brought out some butterflies, which many colleagues may have spotted. Yesterday I saw the first orange tip butterfly of the year, which is always a highlight for me as it is one of the marks of spring arriving. I saw it in a most unusual place—on the grass verge by Hanger lane on the A40, not exactly the rural idyll that one might associate it with. I thought to myself, “Shall I be like that butterfly as I flit from subject to subject, gently sipping from the flowers of the various issues?” I leave it to hon. Members to decide whether they see me as a butterfly, gently floating.

On the subject of the wildlife world, I should like to raise two important matters that impinge on the European Union. The first concerns vultures, which I have always been very fond of. That predates my time in the Whips Office by a long way. Vultures have had a tough time both in the Indian subcontinent and in Africa, mainly as a result of a drug called diclophenac, which is a powerful anti-inflammatory used in veterinary treatment. Unfortunately, one of the side-effects is that it is a lethal poison to vultures. Animals in Africa or the subcontinent that have been treated with the drug die and as the vultures feed on the carcases containing the drug, they are killed. The vulture populations in both areas have almost been wiped out.

In India, Pakistan and Nepal, diclophenac was used regularly in the 1920s. A lot of work has been done on the subcontinent and the drug has largely been banned. I was distressed to read the other day that the EU has authorised its use on domestic animals in Italy and Spain, where 80% of European vultures live. This is a backward move and sends a poor message to countries in Africa, which we are trying to persuade to ban the use of the drug. Four species of vulture are commonly found in Europe, none of which has brilliant populations and some of which are very threatened, chiefly the bearded vulture, with which I feel a certain empathy. We need to be aware of the problem. I hope the Government will raise the issue at various EU opportunities.

While the Government are on the subject, they should raise another matter. One of the EU states, Malta, has a derogation to allow spring hunting and the shooting of birds. This badly affects turtledoves, which are in decline all over Europe and especially in Britain, and quail. All the migratory birds that we are beginning to see coming into the country face a battery from hunters in Malta. It is time the practice was looked at. I say to the Maltese people that theirs is one country in Europe that I have no interest in visiting while the practice continues. Despite their heroics in the second world war—I have always been a great admirer of the George Cross island—such behaviour is no longer acceptable in the 21st century.

We must be careful not just to point out what is wrong abroad. We have problems here. I am pleased to support wildlife trusts in their campaign to save our grasslands, which are rapidly disappearing, and support wide biodiversity. I was lucky a couple of weeks ago to visit a commercial farm in Leicestershire called the Allerton project, which is run by the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust. I was impressed by the ability to show how a farm can be commercial, but also aware of its conservation and wildlife responsibilities. I recommend to any Member who has an interest and to officials of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, who I know go there, to visit the project and look closely at it as it is doing very good work. I was shown around by Professor Chris Stoate, who impressed me with his knowledge and his love of the subject.

In the past Session I have been rather busy as a member of the Joint Committee looking at the modern slavery Bill that my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has, with a great deal of passion, brought into being. We reported only a couple of days ago. It is going to be a very important piece of work. I hope the Home Office will study our recommendations seriously. It is an opportunity for the House and the country to be a world leader in combating a modern-day abomination, yet sadly something that most people do not know about. I urge every right hon. and hon. Member at any opportunity, when they are speaking to constituents or organisations, to raise the subject, because until the public know that it is happening in their midst, in their streets and in their towns, we will not get as much action as we would like.

I have been lucky enough, if one can use that expression, to talk to victims—the men and women who have been slaves in the modern era. Anyone who speaks to such victims will find that their lives change and they are not able to rest easy until they have done something to try to help. On that subject, I draw the attention of the House to early-day motion 1257. Having not been able to sign early-day motions, I have found that I can exist in life without them and I am not a great fan of them, but I did notice this early-day motion on the 175th anniversary of Anti-Slavery International on 17 April 2014. Despite us all thinking that slavery was abolished 200 years ago or more, there were people who recognised that it still existed. That work, 175 years on, is still extremely important and the organisation should be commended.

Having raised a rather grim subject, I now want to be positive: the sun is coming out, so I think my sunny disposition should start shining through. Earlier this week, I attended the reopening of Uxbridge central library in the London borough of Hillingdon. I can still clearly remember getting my first book out of the old Uxbridge library with a great deal of excitement about 50 years ago. Books have given me a great deal of pleasure over the years and it distresses me whenever I hear that libraries in many areas have suffered cuts and generally seem to be going slightly out of fashion.

I am old enough to remember—everybody present is much younger than me—when Boots the Chemist had a lending library. When it finished, the books were sold off and I still have some at home. Those interested in nostalgia might like to know that they have a little green shield-shaped sticker on them.

I want to be as unpartisan as possible, but the London borough of Hillingdon has been brilliant. It has put the residents first and it is a pleasure not just to be a resident of the borough, but to be its Member of Parliament, because I experience relatively few problems with my local authority. I know that that is not always the case for MPs, even when their local authority is run by their own party, but mine is exemplary. Hillingdon is a little hidden treasure on the west side of London, although it is still in Middlesex, of course.

The library reopened on Monday. The London borough of Hillingdon has spent £10 million on all 17 borough libraries and they are vibrant. New libraries with new ideas are being opened. Uxbridge library has six floors, a ground floor café and an atrium for art exhibitions, drama and dance. I was particularly pleased that it was opened not just by Councillor Ray Puddifoot, who is the local authority leader, but by a wonderful gentleman called Philip Colehan, who is 92 and used to be the borough librarian. In 1964, he opened 10 libraries and his passion for public libraries and the services they provide meant that he could see back in those days—before anyone had even come up with the idea of a one-stop shop—the opportunities a library can give. It can be a community hub.

If Members pop down to the end of either the Metropolitan or the Piccadilly line—Uxbridge is well served by both—they should have a look at the library. They could compare it with their own public libraries and local authorities and see that Hillingdon has got it absolutely spot on. Our libraries are able not just to exist but to flourish.

Given that it is coming up to the Easter break, the public and the press will all say that we are going to be off on a long holiday, but we know that we are going to be very busy with all the constituency stuff we do. I hope colleagues will take a little time off. If anybody is thinking of taking a break, I will give a little plug to Northern Ireland, which I visited last weekend. I went to watch my rugby team, Saracens, beat Ulster. According to the Ulster fans it was a controversial victory, but that is because they lost.

The hospitality and atmosphere were wonderful. Londonderry/Derry is a very interesting city and it was a pleasure to visit it. The countryside is wonderful, as are the Giant’s Causeway and the Bushmills distillery. I am now on the wagon, but the people there were absolutely wonderful. I recommend a visit.

I like a bit of continuity, so I will end by noting that in our previous pre-Adjournment debate just before Christmas, I cheekily mentioned what was on my Christmas present list. Mrs Randall read Hansard, as she does every day, and I was lucky enough to receive a bat detector. All I can say is that I am looking forward to getting that bat detector out in the next few days and using its radar and locator. Perhaps I will pop down to where HS2 is planned to go through the borough of Hillingdon. There are some very interesting bats there and I want to hear and see them for myself so that I will be able to mention them in a debate when we return.

Finally, I wish you, Mr Deputy Speaker, the other Deputy Speakers, Mr Speaker, all right hon. and hon. Members and, in particular, all those people who serve us so well in the House a happy and restful Easter—and don’t overdo it on the eggs!

--- Later in debate ---

[Sir Bob Russell (Colchester) (LD)]

I have a cunning plan to get potholed streets in Colchester filled in: I will invite the organisers of the Tour de France to hold one of the stages of this great cycling event in Colchester, which, created in 49 AD, was Britain’s first city and the first capital of Roman Britain. That would guarantee that the potholes in Colchester—wilfully neglected by Essex county council, by contrast with other parts of Essex—are attended to, at least on the route taken by some 200 of the world’s leading racing cyclists.

I know that that is true because regional television this week featured the part of rural Essex to which the Tour de France is going this year. Every inch, every foot, every yard, every furlong of rural road that the cyclists will speed along—probably without noticing the wonderful scenic beauty of the Essex countryside—has been surveyed for potholes. By the day of the race, every pothole will have been filled in, even those that Essex county council highways department would elsewhere deem to be of insufficient depth to need filling. The county council clearly considers that cyclists from around the world are worthy of greater attention and safety consideration than the residents of Essex whose council tax will go towards the cost of making the Tour de France route safe. It would not look good if professional cyclists toppled from their machines because of an Essex pothole.

Talking of looking good, some say that the picturesque village of Finchingfield is the most attractive village in Essex. It is assumed that the world’s media will regard it as a good place to photograph and film cyclists speeding through. It is not a question of filling in potholes there—oh no—because the patchwork quilt appearance of the road surface might spoil the photographs, so at great expense the whole road has been resurfaced to ensure the kind of pristine surface that is rare in most of Essex. If I can get the Tour de France to come to Colchester, it would ensure that our potholes were filled in. I am sure that my constituents could design a route to maximise the number of roads and potholes to be attended to in their area. For example, on the Monkwick estate, I would nominate a route that included Queen Elizabeth way, Prince Philip road, Prince Charles road and Coronation avenue.

Behind my mockery, there is a serious point—namely, the performance, or lack of performance, of highway maintenance in Colchester under the auspices of Essex county council. I raised that at Communities and Local Government questions on Monday, when I got an encouraging response from the Secretary of State. Like me, he is an Essex MP, and thus fully aware of the shortcomings of county hall at Chelmsford, where favouritism rules.

Until a few years ago, Colchester borough council was responsible for highways maintenance and street lighting, but then the county council grabbed the work. The result is that our roads and pavements are the worst that I have ever known, and the county switches off our street lights at midnight. Although there is a case for tackling light pollution, most of my constituents do not want a total black-out. I have tried to get a meeting with the cabinet member responsible, but he will not reply to my letters. Indeed, he is on record as saying that when he gets a letter he disapproves of, he throws it in the bin. That is democratic accountability in Conservative-run Essex county council.

Complaints about highways maintenance make it the biggest local issue that residents currently raise with me. When Colchester borough council looked after highways, pavements and street lights, complaints were few and far between. It all changed and got worse when Essex county council took over, and it has got even worse—much worse—during the past two years, following the county council’s decision not to continue with nine contracts covering different parts of Essex, but to lump them together in a single contract worth £3 billion over 10 years from 1 April 2012. That contract has been awarded to national company Ringway Jacobs, whose headquarters is in Sussex.

While the Government and the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government promote localism, which is a concept that I support, Essex county council has centralised highways to a devastatingly negative degree. In the good old days, when Colchester borough council’s highways depot was opposite where I live, potholed roads and damaged pavements would be attended to in a matter of days; it is now months—if you are lucky. If we are serious about localism, let us return to how it used to be, with the local council using local people with local knowledge, people with pride and a personal commitment to the area, to undertake that important work.

I have personally reported five times to Essex county council’s highways department the dangerous condition of the pavement outside my constituency office. It is a narrow pavement to a through-traffic route used by a large number of vehicles, many of them travelling too fast for the conditions. My office has witnessed, via CCTV cameras, four occasions when youngsters on mini-scooters have tumbled after hitting a pothole. Fortunately, each youngster fell forward. My concern is that on another occasion a youngster might topple into the road and under the wheels of a passing vehicle. On two occasions I was in my office when a youngster toppled from their scooter with the resultant tears. On one occasion I administered first aid to a three-year-old boy’s bleeding knee. I have reported the dangerous pavement five times. Earlier this year, I managed to get two people from the highways department to visit. The result? Nothing. My fifth letter, subsequent to their visit and following a further incident involving a little four-year-old girl, was acknowledged but, weeks later, the potholed pavement still needs attention.

Having described Essex county council’s appalling highways record, I will now draw attention to another matter: the way in which the county council engages with the 16 MPs who represent constituencies in the administrative county of Essex. I am the only MP who is not a Conservative, which clearly rankles at county hall. On 21 February, I received a letter from the council’s chief executive that was headed: “Improving our correspondence and communications with Essex MPs”. The letter referred to

“the recent Essex MP quarterly meeting”.

That surprised me because I had no knowledge of quarterly meetings with Essex MPs. I submitted a freedom of information request to the chief executive. In due course, albeit later than the time specified in the Freedom of Information Act, I received a response from the person in charge of the incredibly named “your right to know” office. I am not making it up; that is what the office is called. It appears, however, that the right to know does not necessarily apply to the MP for Colchester. In the reply sent to my office on Monday, in response to my eight questions of 25 February, reference was made to

“quarterly meetings between Essex County Council Cabinet Members and Essex Conservative MPs.”

I note that the letter I received from the council’s chief executive made no mention of any party political affiliation and simply stated “Essex MPs,” of which I am one, albeit the only non-Conservative MP in Essex.

I have no problem with Essex Tory councillors having meetings with Essex Tory MPs. That is not the issue; the issue is that what are purported to be occasions for the county council to engage with the county’s MPs have deliberately excluded an MP from another party, yet the council tax payers of Essex are footing the bill and council officers are being sent to what are clearly party political meetings. In cobbling together a response, county hall cannot seem to give a consistent line to justify that arrangement. Using council officers, who in accordance with the local government code of conduct should be politically neutral, is wrong. Even though the cost to the public purse represents only a fraction of the £500,000 blown by the council’s former leader, Lord Hanningfield, on his political advancement within the Conservative party, it should not happen. I trust that the district auditor will investigate.

The FOI response states that “quarterly” meetings with Essex Tory MPs commenced on 17 October 2012. There were only three meetings in 2013, on 16 April, 4 June and 3 September, and there has seemingly been just one meeting so far this year, on 14 January. The FOI response tells me that

“the meetings are informal and not minuted”.

But that does not accord with the chief executive’s letter of 21 February, in which she refers to

“the recent Essex MP quarterly meeting when a number of concerns were raised”.

I assume that was the January meeting. She goes on to detail how such concerns will be addressed in future. After detailing action points, she tells MPs:

“I would like to invite you to provide feedback on these improvements which can be discussed at future Essex MP quarterly meetings.

Your concerns are recognised and I hope our intended actions assure you of our commitment to improve the current service we offer MPs.”

[Sir John Randall]

I am distressed to hear of my hon. Friend’s situation, but I have thought of a practical solution. If he joined the Conservative party, he might be able to get in on the meetings.

[Sir Bob Russell]

My right hon. Friend has a reputation for being a bit of a joker, but on this occasion, although some of my Labour opponents in Colchester feel that I have become a closet Tory, I am light years away from being a Tory of any sort, as my speech has indicated.

Having been rumbled, it will be interesting to see whether Essex county council will continue its policy of politicising its dealings with MPs in the administrative county of Essex. Post-Lord Hanningfield, I hope that what I have disclosed today will warrant investigation by the Department for Communities and Local Government, the Local Government Association and the district auditor.

I join colleagues in thanking all who work on the parliamentary estate. Their dedication to assisting Members is greatly appreciated. They do so much for us.

--- Later in debate ---

[Tom Brake]

I rather worried that the final sentence of my hon. Friend’s intervention would be a requirement to respond in suitable detail to all the other speeches. I do not want to give away any secrets, but there are advantages to Members letting me know in advance what will be in their speech, because it perhaps ensures a slightly greater degree of detail in the response. Fortunately for me, however, my neighbour the hon. Member for Mitcham and Morden raised an issue with which I am extremely familiar—the future of St Helier hospital, which is in my constituency—so I required no briefing notes from officials on it. I have been living, eating and breathing it for the past 25 years or so, and my wife had my children there.

As the hon. Lady will be aware, £219 million was allocated to St Helier under the previous Government, which I welcomed, and that was confirmed under the current Government, which I also fully supported. As she said, a review called Better Services Better Value was put forward. Had the Surrey GPs not said that they did not support it, it would potentially have led to the closure of the A and E and maternity services at St Helier and Epsom, which I opposed. She referred to the 13,000 signatures on her petition, and I think mine currently has 19,000, so we are both raising awareness of the issue. She commended the supporters of the campaign in Merton, as I do, and a wide range of organisations in Sutton, such as the league of friends, that are campaigning on the issue.

I must say, however, that I do not think it is entirely helpful to the campaign to try to make it partisan in the way that I am afraid some of the hon. Lady’s fellow party members have. They have claimed that clause 119 of the Care Bill will allow the Secretary of State for Health to close any hospital anywhere in the country at any time if he decides on a whim to do so. That is clearly not what the clause is about. It is about scenarios such as Mid Staffordshire, where the way in which the hospital was run meant that more patients were dying than should have been the case. In a very limited number of circumstances—it has been used only twice—there is a need to take urgent action, and that is what the clause is about. It is not about a well run hospital such as St Helier, which is in category 6, the category for the safest hospitals in the country. I wish that that argument were not being deployed, because it does not add to the campaign, which is strong enough as it is. The hon. Lady and I, along with my right hon. Friend the Member for Sutton and Cheam (Paul Burstow), who is also campaigning hard on the issue, will continue to run the campaign.

The hon. Lady also referred to surgery schemes that have stalled. I am sure that her local clinical commissioning group will have noted her concerns, and I hope that it will respond promptly, and preferably positively. I will also draw the matter to the attention of the relevant Health Minister, to ensure that the Department of Health takes whatever action it can.

The hon. Lady referred to GPs charging for letters. I am not aware of any other organisations that I contact that charge for providing a letter to assist a Member of Parliament in pursuing casework—I do not know whether any other Members know of any. It is regrettable that some GPs choose to do that. I should point out, however, that although GPs have a statutory duty to provide certain things for free, they may charge fees in some circumstances. I will ensure that her concerns are raised with the Department of Health and that it responds to her directly.

My right hon. Friend the Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip (Sir John Randall) said that the pre-recess Adjournment debates are one of the highlights of the year, and I agree with him. He referred to the butterfly supping on the nectar of a flower alongside the A40. I hate to spoil the picture that he built up for us, but I suspect that by now the butterfly has been demolished by a juggernaut driving along the A40. I heard on Radio 4 that this has been a slightly better year so far for butterflies, and I also felt rather guilty about removing a substantial amount of ivy from a tree when I learnt from the same programme that ivy is exactly what butterflies need in the winter and to provide nectar in the autumn when few flowers are available.

My hon. Friend also talked about vultures and I think we all wondered for a moment what he was about to say. He then mentioned the European Union and I thought it would be one of those stories in which the EU is to blame for everything. In this case, it would seem that the EU is to be blamed for the deaths of European vultures. I will ensure that, if appropriate, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs responds on the issue of bearded vultures as I know that my right hon. Friend identifies with those birds and wants to see their numbers grow—

[Sir John Randall]

I just wish to point out that the bearded vulture is also known as the lammergeier and the bone breaker.

[Tom Brake]

We have learnt two more stunning twitcher facts this afternoon. They will go down on the record, and in years to come people will read my right hon. Friend’s contribution and benefit from his expertise in bird watching.

My right hon. Friend also explained that Malta was not on his holiday list until it addressed the issue of turtledoves and the wall of lead that birds fly into as they approach that island. He then went on to the subject of the Wildlife Trusts and the campaign it is running to save grasslands as part of our natural environment—something that I am sure we would all support. He referred to the Allerton project which is a farm that operates on a commercial basis, but takes its conservation responsibilities very seriously. That best practice should perhaps be more widely promoted, and I am pleased that DEFRA is aware of it.

My right hon. Friend then talked about the modern slavery Bill, and I am sure that the Home Office will look seriously at the recommendations from the Joint Committee. I agree that modern-day slavery is an abomination. Members of Parliament all read their local papers avidly, and we can all spot the cases of modern slavery they contain, such as the brothels that have been closed down or the cannabis farms that can be found in all sorts of places, including neat, tidy and relatively affluent suburbs such as Sutton, Carshalton and Wallington. Cannabis farms are regularly found in houses, empty warehouses and empty blocks of flats. My right hon. Friend referred to early-day motion 1257. He does not normally support early-day motions, but this one was to celebrate the 175th anniversary of Anti- Slavery International, and we join him in congratulating that organisation on its anniversary.

My right hon. Friend also mentioned his central library and the investment that has gone into it. He said that he was not being partisan in saying that the London borough of Hillingdon was brilliant in terms of its library provision, and I am not being partisan when I say the same about the London borough of Sutton, where we have also succeeded in investing in libraries, especially those that work jointly with sports centres and so on to maximise footfall and other benefits.

My right hon. Friend plugged Northern Ireland as a holiday destination, and I agree with him that it is a place that everyone should visit. Great steps forward have been taken since the Good Friday agreement, but some significant issues still need to be addressed. We are all very pleased that he got a bat detector for Christmas. I hope he makes good use of it.

The hon. Member for Harrow West (Mr Thomas) also mentioned the Wildlife Trusts and praised its work. He touched on residents’ associations. We all have effective residents’ associations working hard in our constituencies. In my case, they are fighting against a proposal for a very large McDonald’s on Stafford road. He referred to RAF Northolt, wanting to ensure that any consultation, for example on plans to increase the number of flights, goes beyond just Hillingdon council. I will pass on his concerns to the Ministry of Defence to ensure that perhaps a wider consultation is embarked upon.

The hon. Gentleman referred to underrepresentation of black and minority ethnic people in the media. The Government are committed to black and minority ethnic diversity in TV, film and the arts, both on and off screen. The Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, my hon. Friend the Member for Wantage (Mr Vaizey) recently met leading figures from these sectors to consider options to improve representation. I think we all support the idea that people who appear on our screens or on our airwaves should be fully representative of the population as a whole, and be in roles that do not stereotype.

Christmas Adjournment

Lord Randall of Uxbridge Excerpts

Thursday 19th December 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr David Amess (Southend West) (Con)]

I beg to move,

That this House has considered matters to be raised before the forthcoming adjournment.

I wish to raise a number of issues before the House adjourns for the Christmas recess, and I promise the House that I will get through them as quickly as I possibly can. There is a danger that I will appear grumpy throughout my speech, because I have a long list of complaints about all manner of things, but I assure the House that I intend to be cheerful right at the end.

You and I, Mr Speaker, care about this place, and anything I am going to say about it is in no way a criticism of your good self. Under your stewardship, you have introduced a number of changes to our proceedings. We get through the Order Paper and we have the Speaker’s lectures; there are all manner of things that I absolutely welcome. However, there are a number of developments in the House that I am not a fan of. I think it was a big mistake to change our Tuesday sittings to the hours that we have now. I very much regret that we have Prime Minister’s questions only on a Wednesday; I would like to return to 15 minutes on a Tuesday and a Thursday. The Press Gallery is constantly empty, and we need to look at what its purpose is these days. Since we changed our sitting hours, the wonderful staff of the House of Commons, who work so hard, have been affected. The catering facilities have been devastated, and that has had all sorts of repercussions for a number of our staff—I greatly regret that.

I am also worried about little things, such as access to the Crypt. When I first came here, I could press the bell to draw the attention of someone in the Members’ Cloakroom and gain admittance immediately, but now a song and dance seems to be made if Members want to take their constituents to see the Crypt. The point of this place, as I have always understood it, is that there were 646 democratically elected Members of Parliament and everyone worked here to support us in our work, but it is increasingly as if we are the strangers in our own place.

I think we should have a dedicated police and security force. I do not understand why that is not the case. It used to be a job for police officers as they approached retirement, but we are increasingly seeing new police officers every day and two or three officers carrying guns around. I do not understand what is going on.

[Sir John Randall (Uxbridge and South Ruislip) (Con)]

As a previous Chair of the Joint Committee on Security, I have to say that the security threats to this place have increased over the years and that the idea of having only eminent but elderly police officers who are approaching retirement does not necessarily fit in with today’s policing needs.

[Mr Amess]

I absolutely agree with my right hon. Friend. I have been here so long that one of the officers who carries a gun came up to me and asked, “Do you remember taking me around the House of Commons when I was a schoolboy?”, so I understand that things have changed dramatically in the time I have been here. I am not complaining about that; what I am saying is that there seems to be constant change in personnel. I think it would be better to have an established group who understand how the place works. I certainly do not approve of the constant, huge change.

I worry about this place. The damage started in 1997, when huge powers went to quangos. If the place were shut for a few weeks, would anyone notice? That is what I worry about. Where has the power gone from this place? I fully accept that I am no longer fashionable: I do not send e-mail Christmas cards, I am not on Twitter, I do not blog and I am not on Facebook.

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[Sir John Randall (Uxbridge and South Ruislip) (Con)]

To me, this is a bit like groundhog day; this debate seems to have come full circle. The only difference is that I used to be on the Opposition Benches when I took part in it. I am delighted to see that some of the familiar faces from recess Adjournment debates are still around. It is one of the best opportunities we have to raise issues that we cannot always raise over the course of the Parliament.

As I said, I possibly come a little bit like the ghost of recess Adjournments past, and Members who are listening keenly may be able to hear the jangling of chains from my previous jailors, which I have not quite thrown off. Keeping to the Dickensian theme, I come here, as always, with “Great Expectations”, but I am rather of the Micawber school and think that something will turn up. There was a lot to be said for Mr Micawber, and his view of economics is one we would all share in with regard to annual income and expenditure. Hon. Members across the House ought to remember that.

While on the subject of Mr Micawber, when my hon. Friend the Member for Southend West (Mr Amess) spoke about culture and Southend—the two words are closely linked—I was reminded of an excellent production of “David Copperfield”. Mr Micawber, and various other roles, were played by a gentleman called Adrian Preater from Hotbuckle Productions, which is touring around the country. If any hon. Members wish to see that production in one of their local theatres, I can probably supply them with upcoming tour dates in the spring, and would be happy to do so. At the moment—I am reticent to say this, Madam Deputy Speaker—the company is appearing in a pantomime in Walton-on-Thames and doing MacLaddin. I am afraid that is somewhat Scottish in nature, and possibly takes a rather comical view of that, which I am sure would be disapproved of, although I hope to go and see the production at some stage. I am plugging the company so much because I am hoping for a role in its pantomime next year, and that at least one colleague from across the House will join me as one of the other ugly sisters, or something. We will have to see.

I have a few areas bottled up that I wish to discuss, and I will try not to detain the House for too long. My remarks will be more a trailer of things to come in the coming year; I will not really touch on some of the big feature films such as High Speed 2 and the third runway, because those will probably run and run. While we all enjoy Christmas, however, there are many people affected by those major transport infrastructure plans who have yet another year of great uncertainty ahead.

In my borough—not in my constituency but that of my hon. Friend the Member for Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner (Mr Hurd)—are the wonderful, superb facilities offered by Hillingdon outdoor activities centre. That is very much under threat because a certain railway is planned to go straight through its middle and it will not be able to function. We are all trying to find a site for its relocation because it is a fantastic facility. It is not just for young people; it has lots of facilities for disabled people and serves a wide area. It is almost unique and must be found a new home if HS2 goes ahead.

We are discussing those who will have an uncertain Christmas and future, and I know the hon. Member for Hayes and Harlington (John McDonnell) will almost certainly mention what will happen to many of his constituents who face losing their homes, places of worship and, as we know, the places where the dead are buried. Those serious issues concern us greatly and I understand the passion they engender.

We are lucky to have in the Colne valley a lot of gravel pits that are used for various things such as sailing and wildlife habitats. I shall visit the Broadwater site in January to see whether anything can be done to relocate the Hillingdon outdoor activities centre there.

I must declare my interest as a member of four wildlife trusts. It is always difficult to balance different interests with different habitats. Apart from looking at the impact of HS2 on my constituency, I will look seriously at its impact on ecology all along the line. Not too far from my constituency, a little further up the line, are colonies of Bechstein’s bats. That may not seem the most pressing issue, but they are an endangered species in Europe and we must take serious note of that, as well as many other things. Although it is unlikely that Mrs Randall is listening to this debate, I am hoping she knows that on my Christmas list is a bat detector. I now have a bit more time and I am going to try to find where all the bats are. They can be detected by their different frequencies. In the new year, if anyone sees me walking around holding something in my hand outside the House of Commons or in the environs of the Palace, I will be trying to find out “who’s bats” and where they are.

Reading the report earlier, I noticed that HS2 will also impact on the barn owl population, although there are some measures to address that. I hope that when HS2 Ltd looks at such matters, it will take the advice of wildlife trusts, and others, on how to mitigate the impact of the project.

The country can set an example, but on an international scale there is one pressing area in which I know the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has been active and where we must keep up the pressure. The Virunga national park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is threatened because 80% of the land has been allocated for oil concessions. It was, I think, the first wildlife park, and it was set up a long time ago at the beginning of the 20th century. It contains important biodiversity, including mountain gorillas and okapis. We must keep up that pressure, and although it is not strictly within our competence, this country is in a position to lead on those issues.

Where we do have competence is in our own country, and in the forthcoming months I shall raise the issue of the protection of our upland habitats. England’s habitats are vital stores of beauty, biodiversity and sequestered carbon, but they seem to be mismanaged. They sustain populations of endangered or critically listed species such as black grouse, curlews, hen harriers and freshwater pearl mussels. Despite the protection that has been afforded in many ways, a lot of bird species have declined in numbers.

While not wishing to seem too ambitious with my Christmas list, I have asked for something else—in fact, I have actually purchased it to ensure I get it because by and large in this world it is better to make sure we get what we want. It is an excellent piece of work—a bird atlas—compiled recently by the British Trust for Ornithology. It is a follow-up to a previous work, and before any of us had heard of the big society, this was an example of the big society in action. Volunteers go throughout the British isles, map the bird species they have seen over a period of several years, and then put them into a huge compilation. The important thing this time around is that we can compare it with the previous one, which I think was published 10 years ago, and see exactly what has improved and what species have declined. Some populations have declined dramatically—the whinchat population is down by 57%; curlews are down by 44%; and lapwings by 32%—and we have to take note of that. There have been huge reductions in some species. Not all of those problems are man-made. Some are due to climate change. However, there are things we can do.

One of the things that I am most upset about is the striking loss of a species called the hen harrier. The male hen harrier is a magnificent grey creature. The female is also magnificent, but not quite so grey—more brown, really. It is estimated that its habitat in England could sustain more than 300 pairs. Last year was the first time ever that no hen harriers bred in England—a direct result, I think, of man’s intervention. Unfortunately, one habitat that hen harriers like is the grouse moor—grouse are one of their favoured prey. You can probably sense, Madam Deputy Speaker, where the conflict lies. Grouse moors are managed commercial interests. However, they do not have to be managed quite in the way they are and some offences that are committed will be criminal.

A recent report by the Law Commission set out recommendations following consultation on potential changes to wildlife law. Much in the report was very good. I was a little disappointed to see that it did not go down the line of suggesting that the Government should introduce a provision for vicarious liability, where employers are legally responsible for wildlife crimes committed by their employees. I know that is a contentious subject, and if I was still in the Whips Office I would be tut-tutting because it falls into the “rather difficult” category. However, we cannot afford to lose species such as the hen harrier just because commercial interests have taken the view that wildlife is in their way. We must do something about it.

The first wildlife laws were introduced in 1954. I am pleased to say that it was 10 years later, in 1964, when I was a very small boy, that I first became a member of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. I have been a member for 50 years. It is an interest that was with me a long time before I gained all the other interests that I mention in this House or elsewhere.

On the subject of crime, legal aid charges for the criminal Bar have not previously been within my competence or even interest, but I have suddenly become aware of them. Raising this matter will, unfortunately, put me slightly at odds with some of my colleagues, but I think these things have to be said from time to time, and at Christmas they may just forgive me for doing so. I am lucky, because I am not a lawyer—the legal profession is probably very lucky that I am not one too, but that goes without saying. I have discovered that the criminal Bar and criminal barristers are receiving a real-terms reduction of 30% in very high cost cases, and there are other reductions as well. In real terms, they are losing income. It is very easy for us in this House to think of all barristers as being extremely well paid and that they can afford it and so on. That perception is rather like the one of Members of Parliament: we are portrayed as always being extremely well paid, and that we can do without this and that.

Sometimes the truth is not always the popular perception. In fact, only a few—a significant few—earn very high fees. The level of competence in defence cases will be reduced, because chambers will use their most junior members. I apologise to the legal profession for not quite understanding exactly what goes on, because I try to keep well away from the law—I find, by and large, that that is a useful thing to do. I can see, however, after talking to people, that the reductions could lead almost to the extinction of the self-employed criminal Bar as a specialist referral profession of excellence. There will be an increase in cost to the taxpayer eventually, even though the reason for the reductions is to make savings; I will come back to the issue of savings in a moment. There might also be an impact on the quality of the judiciary, because the judiciary are promoted from the criminal Bar and people will have been taken out of the system. What worries me most is that what we value most highly in this country is, I think, our legal system: the jury system and the fact that people can get a high-quality defence when they need it.

I understand why we have to make savings— Mr Micawber was right. I also understand, however, that there are costs involved with prisoners not turning up on time. I am sure that if I was sitting on the Opposition Benches I might mention some of the organisations, which are more private than public, that are responsible for bringing prisoners to court. The interpreter system is costly and sometimes interpreters are not always there at the right time. Any delays in the court system—aside from the potential misery caused to defendants, the prosecution and witnesses—bring with them a large element of cost. That all has to be looked at, and I will return to that. I may have to do a bit more work on understanding how it all works—I always think that when people talk about the Bar, they are talking about something else, but I shall have to move away from old habits.

Moving effortlessly on to my final remarks, as I mentioned earlier to my hon. Friend the Member for Southend West, one of my previous roles was Chair of the Joint Committee on Security. In that role, I found a greater understanding of how this place is secured and looked after. I would like to thank publicly the work of the police and the security people in this place. I would also like to thank the Metropolitan police. I was listening to the “Today” programme earlier and the Metropolitan police have not had the best of years. That always happens when one or two things have gone wrong, or when there has been a bad apple. That can happen, as we know, in every walk of life and in every profession. We should not lose our faith in the Metropolitan police and we should thank them for what they do. While we are back at home on Christmas day, or whatever we are doing over Christmas, police will be guarding the Palace of Westminster. They will be outside Downing street, whatever the weather, and potentially subject to real threats. I remember going out with the police a few years ago. They had just had a call through to go to a pub where a big fight was going on. They did not know what to expect—there could have been knives or firearms—but they went out of the van unarmed. We owe them all a huge debt of gratitude. I still think, as I am sure many other Members do, that we have the finest police service in the world.

I would also like to thank publicly—because they are not seen publicly—the civil servants who helped me when I was in the Whips Office, both in opposition and, more especially, in government. They were wonderful. They had to put up with all sorts of things going on. Do not think for one minute, Mr Deputy Speaker, that government is anything but a smooth and efficient operation without crises and so on, but occasionally such things might happen, and at those times two people in particular, Mr Roy Stone and Mr Mark Kelly, have been on hand. Normally they work under the title of “the usual channels”, but they are more than that; they are absolutely unusual in their devotion to duty and their abilities. I would like to put on the record my thanks to them.

[Jim Fitzpatrick]

I was not deputy Chief Whip, but I was Vice-Chamberlain of the Household, and I saw at first hand the excellent work of “the usual channels”, which must be one of the most modest generics ever dreamt up for two of the most professional civil servants that one could possibly come across. I fully endorse everything the right hon. Gentleman says about the usual channels.

[Sir John Randall]

I am extremely grateful to the hon. Gentleman for that. We know exactly how hard those people work.

In conclusion, Mr Deputy Speaker, I would like to wish everybody in the House, regardless of what side they sit on or what their views are—even, just about, those who want to build a runway in my borough—a happy Christmas. We are going to have an exciting new year. That is my promise to hon. Members.

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[Jeremy Lefroy]

I am pretty sceptical about it. When that Bill comes back to the House, I will make some remarks on it if I am given the opportunity to do so. In fact, I would take my remarks much wider than that. I have written a paper to Monitor on all the faults of the TSA process that I have experienced at first hand. One in particular is that when an administrator is installed, the trust loses its board. The chief executives and the executives lose their support. I am not saying that the TSAs do not try to do some work, but their focus is on the financial side and the future. Inevitably, they are not so focused on running the hospital now, and that is a serious omission. There are many other serious points that I want to make, and I would welcome a debate on the whole matter.

We have had two experiences of TSAs. One was under the National Health Service Act 2006, which affected Lewisham, and the other was under the Health and Social Care Act 2012, which affected Stafford. We should look at the matter carefully, because there will be others in the future. Indeed, we need to assess whether the whole process of a company-like administration is the best way to cope with a failure in the hospital context, and I am pretty sceptical about that. Perhaps we can use our mutual experience to consider that.

I want to return to the enormous support of the community. It was exemplified in two marches in April and then again in September. There were also rallies, at which I had the honour to speak. Indeed, at a children’s disco in Stafford, which was organised by the Support Stafford Hospital group, more than 200 children and their families came together to show their support for the paediatric services offered by the hospital. We have come a long way since the beginning of the year with our support for the hospital and, more importantly, for the services for my constituents, but we have much more to do.

I want to touch on a number of other areas that affect my constituents. We have already heard today at some length about High Speed 2. I will not go into too many details other than to say that the railway line runs straight through four villages in my constituency. I understand the national need for increased capacity, but I do not think that this is the right solution. I wish that the approach to HS2 and rail capacity had been similar to that of aviation. Instead, what we seem to do with railway capacity is to come up with a solution and then look around for problems for it to address. With aviation, we are doing it the other way around, although I know that the hon. Member for Hayes and Harlington (John McDonnell) and others might not necessarily agree with some of the solutions. On rail, we need to look again at whether this line drawn on a map is the right line.

We also need to consider mitigation measures and compensation. It comes back to what I have said time and time again to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport: we need to be reasonable and fair in our compensation, as the French are with such schemes, not miserly. I am afraid that I have seen instances of my constituents who were dealt with in a less than generous manner when their whole life was affected. We are talking about a railway whose construction is not due to start in my constituency until 2026. That means 30 years of blight and waiting for this thing to happen, if it ever does.

I also want to mention Staffordshire university. It has an important campus in my town, but it is considering moving away perhaps partially and perhaps fully. That would be a major error. The university is very good for Stafford and Stafford is very good for the university. When it was a polytechnic in the 1960s, it was one of the first in the country to introduce a course in computing, through English Electric. It has produced many fine graduates over the years. I will continue to support tertiary education in Stafford with all my might and I hope that it will continue to be provided by Staffordshire university.

Let me also raise the question of a western access road in Stafford. I was talking to somebody from a neighbouring village last night who said that they never come to Stafford because of the congestion and traffic. That is partly because of the popularity of the town, but it also shows that the road network—the town has two rivers, a canal and two main line railways, the one from Birmingham and the west coast main line, that merge—has an infrastructure problem. The western access road, for which we need £25 million, would help in some way to alleviate the congestion and make Stafford an even more attractive place for people to come to.

Many good things have happened this year in Stafford. The unemployment rate for jobseekers has fallen to 2.2% from about 3.6% three years ago. The number of apprentices has more than doubled in the past two years. Two new business parks are being built. I apologise to my constituents for the problems with traffic congestion that those roadworks are causing, but the parks will result in many hundreds if not thousands of highly skilled jobs being created for the area. We had the great news earlier this year that two more signal regiments will come to Stafford from 2015, with 1,000 servicemen and women and their families. Stafford is a very loyal town that is tremendously supportive of the armed forces and we will welcome them with open arms.

We also have a town centre development that will, I hope, start fairly soon. A brand new Marks and Spencer, a brand new Debenhams and many other shops will be coming to the town centre. We are also seeing housing development. I am not someone who believes that we should not build many more houses—we need more houses for our young people and families. However, they need to be the right kind of houses. We need to ensure that they are fit for older people, who might want smaller properties, less of a garden or a bungalow that it is all on one level. We need to build houses that enable families to have a side room or side apartment to care for relatives. We need to be imaginative.

[Sir John Randall]

My hon. Friend is making a very good speech about his constituency. As he is talking about house building, may I make a plea as someone who might well have to go out in delivery vans with furniture in the next few days? They make the doors smaller now and it is impossible to get a three-piece suite through them.

[Jeremy Lefroy]

My right hon. Friend is absolutely right. I have been out with the Staffordshire furniture exchange twice in the past two years and I have the same problem getting furniture through the doors.

I also welcome the new care village being built in the north of Stafford, with different levels of residential care. That is being pioneered by Staffordshire county council and I would welcome any hon. Member who wants to come along and see what is being done there. I believe that it is a template for the future.

That brings me to the subject of our local councils: South Staffordshire district council, Stafford borough council and Staffordshire county council, led by Brian Edwards, Mike Heenan and Philip Atkins respectively. They have all taken some difficult but far-reaching decisions over the past few years in difficult times and have been able to balance the books and to maintain and improve services.

While we are on the subject of housing, I want to bring up one matter that has proved contentious in politics in the past few months—that is, the question of the spare room rent, the spare room subsidy, the bedroom tax or whatever one wants to call it. There has been a lot of understandable debate in the House and I believe that we will need to consider the issue quite carefully. The principle of it is based on what the previous Government introduced in the private sector, and I believe that that principle is probably right. However, the percentage of rent that has been introduced at the beginning results in genuine difficulty in many parts of the country. Eventually, a decision will have to be taken on whether it will result in a no-eviction policy or in evictions.

I urge the Government to consider how, without getting rid of a policy that has real merit in helping people to move into other accommodation, they can deal with the fact that the cost of 14% or 25% of rent is far too high for most people at the beginning, particularly when there are no other properties for them to move to. I will leave that one in the air as it is slightly off my subject of Stafford, although it affects my constituency and those of other colleagues.

Let me conclude—I can see that you are impatient for me to do so, Mr Deputy Speaker—by talking a little about the international scene. As a member of the Select Committee on International Development—I am honoured by that membership and I pay tribute to my right hon. Friend the Member for Gordon (Sir Malcolm Bruce) for his excellent leadership of the Committee—I have been privileged enough to see some of the excellent work that the Department for International Development has been doing around the world. I pay particular tribute to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Development for her work.

I was glad to see that yesterday the UK announced strong support for the International Development Association, the World Bank fund for the poorest countries in the world. Under the previous Government, the UK was, rightly, the largest and second largest donor at various times and we have maintained leadership in that regard. It is an extremely important multilateral fund that was given a great deal of praise in the multilateral aid review produced by the Government in 2010. It is vital for tens of millions of people around the world, whether it is helping them to access better health care, better education or better sanitation—all those matters on which this House rightly places such importance.

In my role as chairman of the all-party group on malaria and neglected tropical diseases, I commend the Government for the tremendous work they have done, following on from that of the previous Government, to support work in malaria research and intervention around the world. Indeed, they have increased the amount provided for the neglected tropical diseases that blight the lives of some 1.4 billion people around the world, which can often be tackled for a limited amount of money—sometimes less than $1 per person per year.

Recently in the House we have had some excellent debates on religious persecution. I commend all those who have spoken on the subject and brought it to the attention of the House. I believe that it is something that the House needs constantly to consider. Indeed, His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales has spoken eloquently about it in recent days. I believe that this House has a leadership role to play not just in this country but internationally.

At this time, we should not forgot those who are suffering—irrespective of their faith or indeed if they be of no faith—particularly in Syria. It is vital that we do not accept the situation in Syria as if it were somehow normal. We must not allow this killing, which goes on day in, day out, to be viewed in the same way as Biafra, Vietnam and all the other seemingly endless crises were when I was a boy. We almost became immune to them, but let us never become immune to this horror. Unfortunately, we are seeing it in the Central African Republic and the killing has started again in South Sudan. Whatever else this House does, it is vital for it to bring these matters to public and international attention time and time again. If we do not do it, often nobody else will, including other Parliaments around the world. I truly believe this is vital.

I thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker, your colleagues and all House staff for the work they do; I wish all a very happy Christmas, and thank you for your indulgence.

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[John McDonnell]

I am sorry—how could I?

I hope to re-launch our housing campaign in Hayes and Harlington in the new year, and many of the themes the hon. Gentleman set out are echoed in many constituencies across London. Some of the solutions he set out—particularly the engagement of local authorities—are critically important. I welcome the Government’s additional money for Hillingdon, but it did not go far enough. A much more serious approach is needed.

My hon. Friend the Member for West Ham (Lyn Brown) made a terrific speech, which needed to be made, although it was excruciating to hear about the pain that women have gone through. If she needs support in campaigning on any of the issues she raised, I am sure that she secured it across the House today.

I wish to raise a number of issues as briefly as possible. It would be remiss of me not to mention the threat to my constituency from the proposed third and fourth runways at Heathrow. Many of my constituents, particularly in Harmondsworth and Longford, will be sitting down this Christmas faced with the threat of their homes being bulldozed. We saw what happened with the original third runway proposal for Sipson, where a compensation scheme was introduced and BAA bought up virtually all the properties. People are living in those properties, but the life of the village—some have described it as a shell; I do not think it is that bad—is somewhat different from what it was. We are engaging the new residents in community life as best we can, but the blight caused by the threat of a runway being built over their homes has resulted in the loss of a large number of residents who had lived there for generations.

The threat now extends across to Harmondsworth and Longford, and beyond into West Drayton, which was represented by the right hon. Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip (Sir John Randall) in former years. A population of 10,000 to 15,000 people now face an overall threat to their accommodation and from noise and pollution. Parents are sitting down at Christmas thinking that their home is going to be demolished some time in the future. They are planning their children’s education knowing that two of the best schools in our area—Heathrow and Harmondsworth primary schools—would be bulldozed as well. It looks as though other schools, particularly along the M4, perhaps Pinkwell and Harmondsworth primary schools, would be rendered unusable as a result of noise and air pollution.

The right hon. Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip talked about Cherry Lane cemetery becoming an issue again. The last time we had this misfortune, the BAA documents that were leaked to us demonstrated that the road network that would service the new runway and the expanded airport ran through Cherry Lane cemetery. In particular, it ran through the children’s area of the cemetery, and that of course caused immense distress within my community. That threat will return with the road structure that would be proposed for the new third and fourth runways.

I am also worried that Harmondsworth village will be obliterated, and that includes St Mary’s church and the mediaeval barn. Linked to St Mary’s church is the graveyard, which is still being used. Ironically, Keith Dobson, one of the prime campaigners with me over the past 40 years against a fourth terminal, a fifth terminal and a third runway, is buried in St Mary’s churchyard. It would be a tragedy if we had to disinter the bodies of our relatives and friends as a result of this.

[Sir John Randall]

There are also a number of war graves in St Mary’s churchyard, and that is something else we have to consider.

[John McDonnell]

The right hon. Gentleman will remember that in our previous campaign, John Wilkinson, who was the Member for Ruislip-Northwood and served on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, raised that very point. It was one of the key issues that was raised at the time of our very broad-based campaign against the expansion of Heathrow airport.

I want Members to go away and think how devastating the announcement from the Davies commission is for these families. However, I am optimistic, as I think the right hon. Gentleman is, that we can defeat this. Any Government who sought to expand Heathrow airport, which would impact on perhaps 2 million people in terms of noise and air pollution, would face opprobrium. The political impact would be significant; I think it would determine a shift in a number of seats. On that basis, I cannot see any Government politically sustaining the policy of expanding Heathrow airport.

Just in case anyone tries, let me give this warning: we will campaign on a scale that this Government and previous Governments have never seen before. It will be a campaign in which we mobilise local residents, but because of the impact across London, it will unite communities across London. There are already plans for a march all the way from Harmondsworth through every constituency affected—all the way through west London and into central London—which will garner support as we go along. It will be a crusade that will march right the way through west London and pick up hundreds, if not thousands of people in opposition to the Government. There will also be support from green campaigners who are concerned about the impact of the expansion of Heathrow airport on climate change. There will be direct action campaigns by environmentalists.

Last time this happened, a climate camp appeared in my constituency: 1,000 people turned up overnight, built a village and launched a direct action campaign, which contributed to influencing the Conservative party to change its policy. I warn the Government that people will not lie down and let their homes be bulldozed and their schools demolished, and they will not be threatened with having to dig up their dead from the cemetery. People will fight back, and as part of that fightback I will convene a meeting at Heathrow primary school on 16 January. I encourage Members to come along, because it will be the first discussion among local residents on the implications of the Davies announcement.

On the HS2 link, which the right hon. Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip has mentioned, ours is the only area in the whole country that does not yet know where HS2 will go. We have been denied the opportunity to engage in a consultation on the route, because the Government will not reveal the route into the airport. That has resulted in uncertainty in the community. It will be a blight on the area and, to be frank, the community is angry, because it no longer trusts politicians or Governments on any issue of infrastructure in our area. I do not mean this as a party political point, but for the Prime Minister to explicitly say,

“no ifs, no buts, there will be no third runway”,

only for us now to face not only a third but a fourth runway, does not inspire confidence in the Government’s attitude to any infrastructure development in our area, including HS2.

I urge all parties in the House to agree that the decisions on the options for runway and aviation expansion and for the HS2 route into Heathrow airport should not be delayed beyond the next election. The Davies commission was politically and strategically timed to report after the next general election, to get every political party off the hook. The electorate will not find that acceptable. They will see it as another politician’s ploy not to be honest with the people who will be affected by both schemes.

It behoves all political parties to come to an agreement that the final report of the Davies commission should be published before the general election, and individual political parties should go into that election explaining honestly to the electorate their position on aviation expansion. They also need to explain to my community their position on the link between HS2 and Heathrow. It will be seen as fundamentally dishonest of all the political parties if they do not state their case and demonstrate to the electorate their position on aviation expansion. If they do not make their position clear, people will see through them and they will get angry, and when people get angry with politicians and feel that the democratic and parliamentary process is not working for them, they will take to the streets. It will encourage even more direct action and more disillusionment with politics in this country.

I also want to address the Fire Brigades Union dispute, which my hon. Friend the Member for Poplar and Limehouse (Jim Fitzpatrick) has mentioned. We face potential strikes by firefighters on Christmas eve, new year’s eve and beyond. None of them want to take action and go on strike; they want a resolution. The dispute stems from the previous Government’s proposals to increase the retirement age of firefighters under the pension scheme. The Williams review submitted evidence to the Government of concerns about the physical capacity of firefighters undertaking duties beyond a certain age. That was ignored by the Government, and they went ahead.

My hon. Friend mentioned the argument made with regard to other jobs, as did the hon. Member for Harrow West—

Backbench Business Committee

Lord Randall of Uxbridge Excerpts

Tuesday 15th June 2010 Commons Chamber

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

My experience in the Leader of the House’s office was that one was not necessarily in charge of one’s destiny in these matters, and that the relationship with Whips tended to be difficult when it came to allowing things to go forward—

[The Treasurer of Her Majesty's Household (Mr John Randall)]

indicated dissent.

[Chris Bryant]

I see there is a charming Whip saying the whole world has changed, but I do not think that is true. The Leader of the House is asking the House to take it on trust that at some stage he will come forward with further proposals. That means we have a long way to go.