Business of the House

Alan Brown Excerpts

Thursday 17th March 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mark Spencer]

We recognise that the global price of crude oil has been increasing in the past year, leading to a rise in petrol prices around the world. That is why we are supporting people by freezing fuel duty for the 12th year in a row. This is the longest sustained freeze in British history, saving drivers money every time they fill up their tank compared with pre-2010 prices. The 2022-23 fuel duty freeze will save consumers almost £8 billion over the next five years. However, the overall impact of energy price spikes on the public finances needs to be considered in the round, and the Office for Budget Responsibility will be setting out the overall fiscal position next week, when the Chancellor will be giving his spring statement.

[Alan Brown (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (SNP)]

I have a constituent who had to flee an abusive relationship. That was clearly traumatic enough, but she has now discovered that her ex-partner took out an advance universal credit payment, or loan, of nearly £1,000, which went directly into his bank account. The Department for Work and Pensions is saying she is jointly liable for this money, which she did not see a penny of, and it wants her to pay it back. We know that coercive and financial control can be a problem in domestic abuse, so will the Leader of the House please ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to intervene and show compassion for my constituent?

[Mark Spencer]

I am very sorry to hear about the situation in which the hon. Gentleman’s constituent finds herself. People in coercive and controlling relationships should reach out for support to try to escape that situation. I will make sure that the Department for Work and Pensions is aware of his question to see whether anyone can assist his constituent.

Business of the House

Alan Brown Excerpts

Thursday 3rd March 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mark Spencer]

I think the hon. Gentleman would recognise that there is joined-up government here, across all Departments. There is co-operation; we are working together to properly take the message and the fight back to Vladimir Putin through our sanctions regime and our messaging, but also through support in military equipment and humanitarian aid. But I am sure that there are more opportunities the House can take to highlight these important issues, and he will be one of the voices drawing the attention of the world to this matter.

[Alan Brown (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (SNP)]

I pay tribute to my constituents Bryce Cunningham, from Mossgiel Farm, and Shirley Wallace of Saxen Office Furniture. They organised community collections for aid to Ukraine and the wider community response was astonishing. However, one issue they encountered was that the first lorry going out to Ukraine was impounded overnight in France. May I get a ministerial statement outlining what work is being done to streamline customs arrangements for humanitarian aid and to co-ordinate voluntary aid as well as strategic military and medical supplies, so that the right aid is getting to the right places as quickly as possible? I understand that there are also pressures on supply chains and supply routes in Poland.

[Mark Spencer]

I pay tribute to the hon. Member’s constituents, who are trying to assist on the challenges that Ukraine and the Ukrainian people face. I think our response is best done at state level. I would encourage his constituents to engage with the Foreign Office to try to get assistance to unblock the challenges that they face. I shall draw the Foreign Secretary’s attention to the matter he has raised.

Business of the House

Alan Brown Excerpts

Thursday 3rd February 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

I commit to the hon. Gentleman that, in my regular correspondence with Ministers after business questions, I will take this up with the Minister for Defence People and Veterans and get an answer.

[Alan Brown (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (SNP)]

Unlike the Leader of the House, I will never have enough money to own an Aston Martin, but I have a constituent who is lucky enough to own one. It was repaired after being flood damaged. He drove it safely in Cyprus for four years, he has insurance and he has an MOT showing it is road-worthy, but the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency will not allow him to register the car to be driven on the road because, according to its database, it was written off and due to be scrapped by a previous insurance company. I have tried to assist my constituent, but the DVLA has more or less told me to go away with a capital F. Will the Leader of the House ask the Secretary of State for Transport to have a look at this and see how the DVLA makes decisions and to whom it is accountable?

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

Sadly, I do not have an Aston Martin, although I think they are particularly beautiful and elegant cars. His constituent therefore has my greatest sympathy as he finds this bureaucratic morass is stopping him registering his car and being able to use it when it is now in working condition and with an MOT.

The DVLA has been a mainstay of problems for Members of Parliament in recent weeks. I was told that the backlog had been sorted, but I am afraid that is not the experience of my constituents. I will definitely take this up for the hon. Gentleman’s constituent with the Secretary of State for Transport.

Business of the House

Alan Brown Excerpts

Thursday 13th January 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

I say to the hon. Gentleman that £120 million is a very significant amount of money, and that Greater Manchester has a devolved settlement and a socialist Mayor who must live up to his responsibilities. That is what happens when these mayoralties are created.

[Alan Brown (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (SNP)]

My 30-year-old constituent Calum Campbell has dyspraxia, and all his life his mum has had to fight the Department for Work and Pensions for support. Even so, he has now lost his personal independence payment award. Our office assisted Calum’s wife with a mandatory reconsideration, but the DWP ignored the key information put to it, chose not to speak to Calum for updated information, and upheld its original decision simply by looking again at the original information—that is really a joke of a decision. Will the Leader of the House request that the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions intervene to make sure that Calum gets the support he deserves?

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

I once again thank the hon. Gentleman, who often raises important constituency cases. I reiterate my commitment as Leader of the House to help Members, whenever possible, with constituency cases. If he would be kind enough to write to me with the details in relation to his constituent Calum, I will certainly take it up with the DWP as soon as possible.

Business of the House

Alan Brown Excerpts

Thursday 9th December 2021 Commons Chamber

[Alan Brown (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (SNP)]

My constituent, who is on maternity leave caring for her baby and her disabled daughter, has just had this month’s universal credit cancelled because her partner was paid a day early and it was counted as double pay. That means that, as well as earnings deduction, they are losing the mother’s carer and child disability elements. Will the Leader of the House instruct the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to make sure that the family get the money they are due, urgently and certainly before Christmas?

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

I am aware of the problem that occurs when people receive two payments within a month; it has caused problems for constituents of mine in the past. If the hon. Gentleman gives my office the full details, I will make sure that they are sent to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions as a matter of urgency. I am not brave enough to instruct the Secretary of State.

Business of the House

Alan Brown Excerpts

Thursday 9th September 2021 Commons Chamber

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

My hon. Friend is the Austin Mitchell of our time in his assiduous and tireless work for his constituents. There is a model on the Opposition Benches and a model on the Government Benches for looking after constituents and arguing the case for one’s constituency.

The Skills and Post-16 Education Bill is going through the House of Lords at the moment, and when it comes to this House there will be an opportunity to debate further education, including further education colleges. If my hon. Friend wants a specific debate on Franklin College, it will come under Mr Speaker’s purview in an Adjournment debate.

[Alan Brown (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (SNP)]

My constituent is suffering mental health problems as a result of a crippling £15,000 debt. Worse, it is a universal credit debt that the Department for Work and Pensions has admitted was caused due to its maladministration, misdirection and misinformation, yet DWP Ministers want to collect that debt from my constituent. Why have this Government removed the discretionary option not to collect debts in exceptional circumstances? Will the Leader of the House make arrangements to reintroduce the guidance so that the DWP can do the right thing by my constituent?

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

Following what I said to my hon. Friend the Member for Cleethorpes (Martin Vickers), the hon. Member for Kilmarnock and Loudoun (Alan Brown) is also somebody who always stands up for his constituents. On any number of occasions at business questions he has raised such issues on behalf of constituents who are seeking redress of grievance.

I cannot promise to change the policy of the DWP—it is not within my authority to do so—but I can promise to help the hon. Gentleman get an answer in relation to this specific constituent.

Business of the House

Alan Brown Excerpts

Thursday 15th April 2021 Commons Chamber

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

The problem with socialists is that they never want to level up; they always want to level down. They therefore always try to postpone economic opportunity because they wallow in economic failure. The freeport programme will be of great benefit to the whole of the United Kingdom, and it is exciting to see so many compelling bids being submitted by local business groups from across the whole of the United Kingdom. My right hon. Friends the Secretary of State for Wales and the Chief Secretary to the Treasury have been emphatic in their support for establishing freeports in Wales. Her Majesty’s Government have discussed the issue with Ministers in Wales and with the many Welsh business groups that want take advantage of the opportunities that freeports bring, from tax benefits to greater freedom to innovate and build exciting, prosperous trading hubs throughout the whole country. The Government do not want to deprive the people of Wales of this opportunity, and we hope that the foot-dragging socialists will pull their feet out of the mud and get on with it.

[Alan Brown (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (SNP)]

The Australian Government have paid redress to my constituent, Christine Gow, for the institutional childhood sexual abuse crimes that she suffered, and she is going to use the money to pay for psychological counselling. In Australia, that redress is disregarded for benefit assessments, but here the Department for Work and Pensions states that she has to deposit the money in a trust fund, which involves lawyers and costs of up to £1,000. Can the Leader of the House help me to get the DWP to apply an exemption akin to what it does for money awarded under the British child migrant scheme?

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

The hon. Gentleman, as so often, raises important constituency issues that will have a wider effect for other people across the United Kingdom. I will certainly take this up with the DWP. His request sounds to be an eminently reasonable one. This is a compensation payment from a Government that would be treated differently if it were from Her Majesty’s Government in the UK rather than Her Majesty’s Government in Australia.

Business of the House

Alan Brown Excerpts

Thursday 11th February 2021 Commons Chamber

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster was in the House immediately before me and open to questions at that point, but of course that was before the meeting that is taking place. It is of fundamental importance that we ensure the unity of the United Kingdom and that any arrangements that we have with the European Union respect that. No agreement that we could ever possibly make could undermine the unity of the United Kingdom, and that must be clear to our friends in the European Union.

[Alan Brown (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (SNP) [V]]

My constituents Hayley Orr and Alan Scobie are musicians whose livelihoods are affected by the lack of visa-free access to the EU. Alan’s band Skerryvore also helps generate tourism in Scotland. FMX Event Services, also based in my constituency, which provides equipment for major band tours, cannot operate across the EU, which is putting half its business at risk. When will we have a Government statement confirming how many livelihoods and businesses are affected by this Government’s pig-headedness, and setting out a solution that allows reciprocal free movement for artists and their back-up operations?

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

I often find that I am sympathetic to the hon. Gentleman’s questions, but I am sorry to say that on this occasion I am not, because the pig-headedness is not that of the United Kingdom or Her Majesty’s Government. The EU and member states could match our arrangements tomorrow if they wanted to, and we hope that those in the music industry who have spoken so passionately about touring in Europe will encourage them to do so. The message that he needs to take is to the European Union. We have made provisions for musicians to travel and for things to be as light-touch as possible, but the EU has not reciprocated. If I may use a musical analogy, it takes two to tango.

Business of the House

Alan Brown Excerpts

Thursday 10th December 2020 Commons Chamber

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

The Government recognise that this is a challenging time for everyone in the country, and the coronavirus is having a significant effect on our communities, town centres and businesses. Now more than ever, it is vital that we continue to help our local economies by supporting town centres and high streets to recover, adapt and evolve. To support our high streets, we have also introduced reforms of use classes to enable the more flexible use of existing buildings. These came into force on 1 September. My hon. Friend may desire to speak—or, if he is not on the call list, to intervene—in the debate that is coming up after statements have been completed and Lords amendments dealt with.

[Alan Brown (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (SNP)]

My caseworker’s husband, Alan, is a self-employed mortgage adviser, and applied for a mortgage holiday. Nationwide, their lender, confirmed that it would not affect their credit rating, yet when they went to move home and wanted to transfer the mortgage, the company would not allow it; it actually penalised them and confirmed that their credit rating had been affected. Alan had even made payments during the holiday period to eliminate the risk of this. Can we have a statement on what the Government are doing to ensure they keep their promise that credit ratings would not be affected by mortgage repayment holidays applied for during the pandemic?

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

That sounds like an appalling way to behave. The hon. Gentleman is right to come to this House and hold Nationwide to account for not treating his constituent fairly. He has now put it on the record. I will take it up with my ministerial colleagues, but the issue at hand is that people who took mortgage holidays were assured that their credit ratings would not be affected. When this is something that is said, it is something that ought also to be done.

Virtual Participation in Debate

Alan Brown Excerpts

Tuesday 24th November 2020 Commons Chamber

[Valerie Vaz]

Thank you, Madam Speaker.

[Alan Brown (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (SNP)]

Let me go back to the guidance that the Deputy Speaker gave earlier about this being all about participation in debate. Clearly, the Leader of the House is trying to control who participates in debate. We know he is absolutely obsessed with physical participation in debate, so is it not disgraceful that the Government forced 20 Back-Bench Tories to pull out of physically participating in a debate earlier on a statutory instrument? The Government then pulled the Prisons (Substance Testing) Bill money resolution, taking 24 people off the call list. They then did not move the motion on the independent expert panel, taking 10 people off the call list. They then did not move the motion on the Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme investigations: Commons-Lords agreement, taking 10 people off the call list.

[Madam Deputy Speaker]

Order. I have already made it very clear, and I know the hon. Gentleman is one person who has certainly been in this Chamber all afternoon, that we are debating the matter before us, not what might have been debated previously.

--- Later in debate ---

[Valerie Vaz]

I agree, and we have seen how effective our hon. Friend the Member for Lewisham, Deptford (Vicky Foxcroft) is when she speaks at business questions, and when she asks questions. She is so frustrated because she has done some absolutely fantastic work on knife crime and wants to be able to take part in debates, but she cannot. We need to find a way to enable her to do that, and the only way is if the amendment is passed.

[Alan Brown]

The right hon. Lady makes an important point about the fact that the motion would force hon. Members to go to their doctors, get certification and submit that. Is it not also the case that it is then in the public domain that a certain number of MPs are extremely clinically vulnerable, which will lead to members of the public saying, “I wonder what is wrong with my MP, or that MP.”? That is the real issue. It is effectively breaching confidentiality, whereas if the amendment is passed, it is just a public health reason that covers Members, their families and anything else.

[Valerie Vaz]

That is absolutely right. We all know as hon. Members that we are only as good as our last election, and we have to fight like mad to be elected.

--- Later in debate ---

[Valerie Vaz]

It is world beating, but we do not use the term in the same way as they use it, because all their world-beating test and trace and everything else do not appear to be world beating.

[Alan Brown (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (SNP)]

I thank the right hon. Lady for giving way; she is being generous. Given that we have this technology, which can be used for the benefit of all Members, and going back to an intervention about making MPs go to a GP because some constituents might have to go to a GP, is it not a fact that GP practices are run on a very restricted basis now? People cannot get routine appointments because of the measures in place, so why on earth would we try to make MPs go to GPs, taking up valuable space and time that our constituents might want?

[Valerie Vaz]

The hon. Gentleman makes a good point. Obviously, I have not put the policy through, so I cannot answer his point, but it is about asking a medical practitioner to say that someone is clinically vulnerable.

Let us go back to the broadcasting and how brilliant it is.

--- Later in debate ---

[Karen Bradley]

The hon. Lady makes an important point. We did not really test or try that hybridity in Bill Committees, which may well have been possible. Given what the House authorities have been able to achieve in other areas, I am sure that if anybody could have achieved it, the House authorities could.

[Alan Brown]

On Bill Committees, clearly it is a matter of the business managers working to find appropriate space in the House, but has not part of the solution been found by the Government themselves, considering that they now put so many statutory instruments through the main Chamber, including SIs that should never be coming to the Floor of the House? They are actually finding ways to free up space and make a hybrid solution work anyway.

[Karen Bradley]

The hon. Gentleman makes an important point. I would not want to speculate about what goes on between the usual channels—I suspect the usual channels were slightly surprised by some of the things that have taken place today—but I hope, as a former Whip myself, that the usual channels will continue to work, because this place works best when the usual channels are working.