Business of the House

Debate between Lord Young of Cookham and Sajid Javid

Thursday 28th April 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sajid Javid (Bromsgrove) (Con)]

In February, I visited Syria in a delegation of MPs and we urged Government Ministers there at every opportunity not to ignore the cries for freedom that are sweeping through the region. Sadly, but predictably, they have resorted to violence against their own people. May I ask the Leader of the House to urge the Foreign Secretary to pursue international sanctions immediately against Syria and to urge our ally Turkey to do more? Also, can we have a debate on it?

[Sir George Young]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend. He will know that the Syrian ambassador’s invitation to the royal wedding has been withdrawn.

My hon. Friend will have an opportunity on Tuesday to ask my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary about the issue, but he will have seen reports in the press of the discussions that we are having with our allies about the possibility of sanctions against Syria.

Business of the House

Debate between Lord Young of Cookham and Sajid Javid

Thursday 10th March 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I very much regret the loss of life to which the hon. Gentleman refers, and I understand the deep feeling in his constituency. The coalition agreement makes it clear that we want to take a robust approach to those who carry knives, with appropriate penalties to deal with knife crime, but I will pass the hon. Gentleman’s request to the Home Secretary.

[Sajid Javid (Bromsgrove) (Con)]

In an effort to bring sanity back to our nation’s finances, Bromsgrove district council was told in December that its budget was to be cut by 28%. Since then, through shared services and other efficiencies, it has not only frozen council tax but announced that there will be no cut in any council services. Will my right hon. Friend join me in congratulating Bromsgrove district council, and may we have a debate on local government finance?

[Sir George Young]

I would welcome such a debate, and I very much hope that other local authorities will follow the example of Bromsgrove in dealing with the challenges of coping with a reduced grant without affecting front-line services. It is a model of what a local authority ought to be doing.

Business of the House

Debate between Lord Young of Cookham and Sajid Javid

Thursday 10th February 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

As that relates to the employment of House of Commons staff, it might be a matter for the House of Commons Commission to discuss. I am sure that it would be happy to receive a letter from the hon. Gentleman if he wishes to pursue the case further.

[Sajid Javid (Bromsgrove) (Con)]

May we have a debate to convey the concerns of the House about the plight of Said Musa, who is in prison in Afghanistan and facing execution for being a Christian? Given the urgency and sensitivity of the matter, will the Leader of the House raise it at the highest levels so that we can stop that heinous act?

[Sir George Young]

This is a terrible case of denying the right of freedom of religion. We will continue to remind the Afghan Government of their duty to abide by commitments on freedom of religion and belief and to respect freedom of worship, as enshrined in the Afghan constitution. I will draw my hon. Friend’s remarks to the attention of the Foreign Secretary.

Business of the House

Debate between Lord Young of Cookham and Sajid Javid

Thursday 27th January 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I understand the hon. Lady’s concern, and when we debate the local government revenue support grant, she will have an opportunity to raise it. However, the plans of the previous Chancellor were for cuts only £2 billion lower than the coalition cuts next year, so the sort of challenges faced by her local authority would have arisen whoever had won the last election.

[Sajid Javid (Bromsgrove) (Con)]

On Tuesday this week, the Office for National Statistics released a devastating economic figure—the revision of our national debt to £2.3 trillion, which at 155% of gross domestic product is higher than that of Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain and equal to that of Lebanon and Jamaica. Does my right hon. Friend agree that that is the true economic legacy of the Labour party, and may we have a debate on it?

[Sir George Young]

I would welcome such a debate. My hon. Friend may have seen in The Independent today that the public have no confidence in the Labour party to run our economy. The previous Government’s efforts to forecast growth over the past 13 years—they were out by, on average, £13 billion—are the reason why we now have independent forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility. We lost confidence in their forecasts.