Business of the House

Alison Thewliss Excerpts

Thursday 22nd June 2017 Commons Chamber

[Alison Thewliss (Glasgow Central) (SNP)]

High Court judge Mr Justice Collins ruled this morning that the Tory Government’s benefit cap was “unlawful” and “discriminatory”, also stating:

“Real misery is being caused to no good purpose.”

Will the Government now act immediately, not duck the matter as they did with the statutory instrument on the rape clause, and stop wasting public money on appeals on this? Will they make an urgent statement on scrapping the rape clause and the two-child policy?

[Andrea Leadsom]

The hon. Lady raises an incredibly important point. All I can say is that the Government will be looking very carefully at the judgment and deciding on their position.

Business of the House

Alison Thewliss Excerpts

Tuesday 18th April 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lidington]

The country I look at is one in which unemployment is falling, employment is at record levels, the deficit is down and there are record levels of spending on key public services, which is made possible because of the strong economy that my right hon. Friends the Prime Minister and the Chancellor have fostered. I look forward to a general election and to making the case to the people for that programme of political commitment and the leadership of my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister to continue.

[Alison Thewliss (Glasgow Central) (SNP)]

The Government’s ridiculous rape clause came into force on 6 April, with no parliamentary scrutiny. The usual channels had promised that a Delegated Legislation Committee would be held to provide some parliamentary scrutiny of that despicable policy. Will that now happen, given that Parliament is to be dissolved very soon?

[Mr Lidington]

Any change to the law has of course to go before Parliament. I will put the hon. Lady’s point to my colleagues among the business managers, but I cannot give her an immediate promise that she will get the time she seeks.

Business of the House

Alison Thewliss Excerpts

Thursday 23rd February 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lidington]

First, I unreservedly congratulate the businesses in the hon. Lady’s constituency on what they have achieved and on winning those awards. She draws attention to an important point: we need to ensure that people with disabilities have access to employment opportunities that are equal to those of people without disabilities. Of course the United Kingdom now has more people with disabilities in employment than ever before, but there is a great deal still to be done. Yes, that requires action by the Government, but it also requires action by innovative, forward-looking businesses that can see the advantages of inclusion.

[Alison Thewliss (Glasgow Central) (SNP)]

May we have a debate on UK visa policy and its negative contribution to the UK economy? In 2014, two of my constituents, Dhruv Trivedi and Vandana Pillai, who originate from Mumbai in India, were brought over as part of the UK Trade & Investment Sirius programme under tier 1 graduate entrepreneur visas. They set up their own business and became part of Entrepreneurial Spark and Scottish EDGE, and they have raised significant funding for their company. However, all that has recently been put at risk by the UK visa and immigration system. They have had their tier 1 entrepreneur visas rejected on a technicality, putting at risk all they have worked for, the investment they have secured, and the Government’s commitment to them by bringing them here in the first place. They currently have no valid leave to remain. May we have a debate on this important subject? It makes no sense to bring people over here to be part of the economy and to contribute, but then to kick them out.

[Mr Lidington]

If the application was rejected on a technicality—clearly I do not know any of the details of the case—I would hope it would be possible to find a remedy via the Home Office system. In any visa system there has to be a balance between getting the brightest and the best in the world to come here to take job opportunities and study, which we all want to see, and at the same time ensuring that we have proportionate and effective immigration controls.

Business of the House

Alison Thewliss Excerpts

Thursday 9th February 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lidington]

Although Joint Ministerial Committee meetings are important, contact between UK Ministers and their counterparts in the three devolved Administrations, and between UK Government officials in all relevant Departments and officials in the devolved Administrations, continues on a daily and weekly basis. The consultation and understanding of the particular priorities of the devolved Administrations are part of the mainstream work of UK Government Departments.

[Alison Thewliss (Glasgow Central) (SNP)]

At the Scottish Affairs Committee yesterday, the right hon. Member for Broxtowe (Anna Soubry) called the jobcentre closure plans “illogical”. In the Scottish Parliament, the Tories called for an equality impact assessment and greater detail. May we have a debate in Government time on the DWP’s estate closure plans and a moratorium on closures until Members across the House and people across these islands can have confidence that the Government actually know what they are doing?

[Mr Lidington]

It is a forlorn hope that the hon. Lady and members of her party might actually take some pleasure in the massive fall in unemployment and the growth in employment that we have seen in this country, including in Scotland and, indeed, in Glasgow. It cannot be right for the DWP to spend money unnecessarily on unoccupied buildings when that money could be redeployed to give additional advice and support to people with disabilities or the long-term unemployed, who want and need that additional support to get back into employment.

Business of the House

Alison Thewliss Excerpts

Thursday 15th December 2016 Commons Chamber

[Alison Thewliss (Glasgow Central) (SNP)]

May we have a debate in Government time or a statement on the unacceptable delays in tier 1 visa tribunals? One constituent has been waiting since November 2015 for an appeal on a visa for his wife, another has been waiting since February 2016 and a third is facing eviction from his home along with his wife and four children. Will the Leader of the House please help my constituents?

[Mr Lidington]

It is clearly of concern to hear about the case history that the hon. Lady describes. If she will let me have the details, I will pass them on to the Justice Secretary.

Business of the House

Alison Thewliss Excerpts

Thursday 26th May 2016 Commons Chamber

[Alison Thewliss (Glasgow Central) (SNP)]

This week the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child has been grilling the Government on whether or not they are meeting their obligations under the convention on the rights of the child. May we have a debate, in Government time, on whether the Government are meeting those obligations, with particular reference to the two-child policy and the rape clause?

[Dr Coffey]

I know that the hon. Lady has been pursuing a specific issue in relation to this matter. I think that the Government can be confident that they are supporting children. New measures in the Queen’s Speech will do even more to help children in care, and I hope that that is something on which the hon. Lady and I can agree.

Business of the House

Alison Thewliss Excerpts

Thursday 17th March 2016 Commons Chamber

[Chris Grayling]

I seem to remember that SNP Members praised the House of Lords last week for one of its votes. I would say to the hon. Gentleman that this country has greater priorities on its desk right now than sorting out, changing or reforming the House of Lords.

[Alison Thewliss (Glasgow Central) (SNP)]

The Leader of the House did not quite respond to one of the points made by my hon. Friend the Member for Perth and North Perthshire (Pete Wishart). There is an amendment to the Budget resolutions on the Order Paper, tabled by the hon. Members for Dewsbury (Paula Sherriff), for Berwick-upon-Tweed (Mrs Trevelyan) and for Leeds North West (Greg Mulholland), to remove the tampon tax. Will the Leader of the House support the amendment in solidarity with women across the country?

[Chris Grayling]

The imposition of VAT on women’s sanitary products is a matter for the European Commission. The Government have made representations, and we are expecting a response shortly. It is my hope that the Commission will agree with virtually every Member of this House that this tax is wholly inappropriate.

Business of the House

Alison Thewliss Excerpts

Thursday 11th February 2016 Commons Chamber

[Chris Grayling]

My hon. Friend makes a very important point. I am sure that this investment was a little bit helped on its way by the effective way in which he represents the town of Kettering. He highlights the very real new investments that are taking place in the national health service—new treatments, new equipment—all as a result of the extra funding we are putting into the national health service. The party now in opposition did not want to do that, and the Labour party in power in Wales is not doing it.

[Alison Thewliss (Glasgow Central) (SNP)]

My constituent Coreen McClusker is a single mother of a nine-year-old girl. She suffers from depression, and she has been diagnosed with dyslexia. She has had no benefits money since July, and she is at risk of eviction, having been sanctioned no fewer than five times. She has not been informed of her rights by the Department for Work and Pensions. Will the Leader of the Heath help me to ensure that she gets a full investigation of this issue by Work and Pensions Ministers?

[Chris Grayling]

It is very difficult for me to comment on the individual case, but if the hon. Lady writes to me with the details, I will make sure that it is passed on to Work and Pensions Ministers so that they can look into it.

Business of the House

Alison Thewliss Excerpts

Thursday 4th February 2016 Commons Chamber

[Chris Grayling]

I congratulate my hon. Friend on the important work he does in this area and on the support he provides for those who suffer from both those disabilities. The relevant Minister will be in the Chamber next week and my hon. Friend will have the opportunity to make that point then, but I will also ensure that his concern is raised with the Department before then.

[Alison Thewliss (Glasgow Central) (SNP)]

The Leader of the House may be aware that the House of Representatives in Australia has deemed this week that bairns in arms are no longer visitors in the Chamber and can be brought in to be breastfed or bottle-fed by their parliamentarian parents. Would he support such a change in this Parliament?

[Chris Grayling]

There are a few people who believe that such a change is necessary, but of course it would be a matter for the relevant Committees and for the whole House to discuss. We have to make sure we have a family-friendly Palace of Westminster and House, but we must also be careful to maintain some of the traditions of the House as well.

Business of the House

Alison Thewliss Excerpts

Thursday 14th January 2016 Commons Chamber

[Chris Grayling]

I pay tribute to my hon. Friend for the work that he and his colleagues on the Backbench Business Committee are doing, and I echo his call to Members. We are making a lot of time available to that Committee; there are sections of time during the parliamentary week, and over the next couple of weeks a day and a half or even two days are available for debates such as that on the rail sector which has just been raised. I hope that Members who are raising issues to be debated, as my hon. Friend has just done, will look on the Backbench Business Committee as a vehicle to bring those matters to the attention of Ministers and before the House in order to address them.

[Alison Thewliss (Glasgow Central) (SNP)]

In my written question No. 20725 I asked the Chancellor

“what discussions his Department had with financial institutions prior to the introduction of new rules for Tier 1 Entrepreneur visas in January 2013.”

The subsequent response said simply that the Government have met financial institutions many times since 2013, which is completely inadequate. Can the Leader of the House assist me in getting a more substantial written response?

[Chris Grayling]

If that had been raised as a point of order, you would offer advice to be persistent, Mr Speaker, and to keep asking questions that are more specifically targeted on individual groups, people, institutions or meetings. The City Minister, or those Ministers involved in migration matters, have regular meetings with representative groups and will discuss such issues on a regular basis. The hon. Lady should not think that such matters are not discussed, because they are.