Business of the House

Patricia Gibson Excerpts

Thursday 12th March 2020 Commons Chamber

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

My right hon. Friend makes an absolutely brilliant point. What this Government are doing is helping the whole United Kingdom, and £2 billion extra for Scotland from United Kingdom taxpayers is a real commitment to the United Kingdom. It is extraordinary that however well we do things, the SNP always complains.

[Patricia Gibson (North Ayrshire and Arran) (SNP)]

The UK Government consider Saudi Arabia an ally and important trading partner. Will the Leader of the House make a statement setting out what influence he thinks the UK Government should bring to bear to enlighten Saudi Arabia’s medieval and backward attitudes towards women and homosexuals, such as a woman being owned by her eldest male relative and the fact that homosexuality is punishable by death—usually by public beheading or perhaps by crucifixion, of which there were 134 last year?

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

Saudi Arabia is indeed an important ally of this country, but that does not mean that we are unaware of human rights abuses that take place in friendly allied countries. The Government do raise the issues of such abuses with those countries. It is always harder for us to make representations about foreign nationals than about our own nationals. It is easier, for example, to make representations about Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, but we do raise these important issues, and the hon. Lady is right also to raise them in this Chamber.

Business of the House

Patricia Gibson Excerpts

Thursday 5th March 2020 Commons Chamber

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

I join the hon. Gentleman in sending condolences to the family of Private Joseph Berry. It is the greatest sacrifice that people in our armed forces make for us and for the safety not only of our nation but internationally.

My right hon Friend the Foreign Secretary has made a statement on the agreement between the US Government and the Taliban, and he said it is important that the Taliban and the Afghan Government are able to settle things in their way, rather than necessarily having things imposed upon them.

[Patricia Gibson (North Ayrshire and Arran) (SNP)]

To celebrate World Book Day and the joy of reading, will the Leader of the House make a statement setting out his support for a zero VAT rate on digital and audio books in the forthcoming Budget, to bring them into line with print publications? Does he agree that VAT on e-publications is a barrier to childhood literacy and has a disproportionate impact on those with disabilities, inhibiting their capacity to read if they cannot handle print books?

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

It is an unwise Leader of the House who makes personal statements about the Budget a few days before it, so I am not going to fall into that trap. I would, however, urge the hon. Lady to raise these points on Wednesday or Thursday of next week, or Monday or Tuesday of the one after.

Business of the House

Patricia Gibson Excerpts

Thursday 27th February 2020 Commons Chamber

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

The hon. Lady is right to emphasise the importance of those Committees. Motions will be brought forward as soon as is reasonably practical.

[Patricia Gibson (North Ayrshire and Arran) (SNP)]

With further international discussions taking place in May in New York, will the Leader of the House make a statement explaining the UK Government’s hostility to the treaty on the prohibition of nuclear weapons? Does he not appreciate that that hostility towards prohibition is inconsistent with the UK’s strategic objectives and its obligations under article 6 of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty to make attempts in good faith to move towards the eventual abolition of nuclear weapons programmes?

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

I think we have to be realistic and recognise that the world is the world that we live in and that nuclear weapons are around. It is in the UK’s national interest to maintain our nuclear deterrent.

Business of the House

Patricia Gibson Excerpts

Thursday 13th February 2020 Commons Chamber

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

Every day in this House is Cleethorpes Day. We had a fantastic answer from the Prime Minister yesterday on ensuring that every possible service, junction and railway crossing was improved in Cleethorpes. Today, we are talking about the buses. This is a great priority, but I think it may be a subject for an Adjournment debate.

[Patricia Gibson (North Ayrshire and Arran) (SNP)]

The charity Independent Age estimates that 2,754 pensioner households in my constituency of North Ayrshire and Arran are missing out on a combined £7.4 million every year in unclaimed pension credit. Worryingly, there have been no initiatives from the UK Government to improve pension credit take-up in recent years. Will the Leader of the House make a statement explaining why that is and what he personally will do to address the situation?

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

Members of Parliament can help with this in encouraging people to take up benefits to which they are entitled. I am sure that the hon. Lady does that in her constituency and I commend her for doing so. But the issues around pensioners have been tackled by this Government. More than £120 billion will be spent on benefits for pensioners, £99 billion of which will be on the state pension in 2019-20. The triple lock is being maintained and the warm home discount scheme is being introduced and extended. So every effort is being made to help pensioners and I encourage hon. Members to persuade pensioners in their constituencies to claim what is their due.

Business of the House

Patricia Gibson Excerpts

Thursday 6th February 2020 Commons Chamber

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

May I reiterate my congratulations to my hon. Friend on his campaign for Bury football club, which he is absolutely assiduous about? Never having had great sporting prowess myself, I have always been a bit nervous about trying to enforce on others that which I would not particularly wish to do, but the more cricketers we have in this country the better.

[Patricia Gibson (North Ayrshire and Arran) (SNP)]

Scientists tell us that we need to protect about 30% of the world’s oceans by 2030 by placing areas of oceans off limits to human activity. For the first time ever, a global ocean treaty being negotiated by the UN could make that possible. Will the Leader of the House make a statement setting out how the UK Government will contribute to the global ocean treaty negotiations, and can he confirm that the most senior members of his Government will participate fully in the negotiations to ensure as robust a treaty as possible to protect oceans?

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

I keep on reminding hon. Members that it is not my Government—it is Her Majesty’s. That may be a particularly good thing to remind people of as today is the 68th anniversary of her accession. However, the Government take the matter of oceans very seriously. Hon. Members will be aware that large areas of sea under the control of Her Majesty’s Government have been protected. I am therefore sure that the Government will, at the most senior level, be involved in those discussions.

Business of the House

Patricia Gibson Excerpts

Thursday 30th January 2020 Commons Chamber

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

The Prime Minister, who is a high authority on this matter, said in Prime Minister’s questions on Wednesday that a statement would be coming out shortly.

[Patricia Gibson (North Ayrshire and Arran) (SNP)]

The House of Lords is populated by retired or rejected MPs, as well as being the only legislature in the world in which clerics sit—aside, of course, from that other beacon of democracy, Iran. Will the Leader of the House make a statement setting out why he thinks an unelected, unaccountable Chamber is appropriate in a democracy?

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

I can think of another country where clerics have considerable sway, and that is of course the Vatican, which is ruled by the Holy Father, with considerable authority. The House of Lords is a revising Chamber, and as a revising Chamber it plays an important role in our constitution, but it is absolutely right that, under the two Parliament Acts, this House has seniority and has the ability to insist on its will, if necessary.

Business of the House

Patricia Gibson Excerpts

Thursday 23rd January 2020 Commons Chamber

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

We may debate the conduct of Members only on a specific motion.

[Patricia Gibson (North Ayrshire and Arran) (SNP)]

The Leader of the House will appreciate that our prison officers work in dangerous conditions, dealing with some of the most violent offenders in our society. However, prison officers are now expected to work until they are approaching the age of 70, despite the serious health and safety implications. Will the Leader of the House make time for a statement setting out why the Government believe that prison officers should not be afforded the same consideration as uniformed emergency workers such as police officers and firefighters, who can retire at 60?

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

The work of prison officers deserves particular commendation, in that it must be some of the hardest public service work to carry out. The question of retirement needs to be looked into carefully, depending on the work that people do, but with an increase in life expectancy, it has been completely reasonable to raise the retirement age generally.