Business of the House

Ben Bradshaw Excerpts

Thursday 22nd February 2024 Commons Chamber

[Penny Mordaunt]

I congratulate my right hon. Friend and his constituents who have worked to ensure that these services continue. It is understandable, as banks look to cut costs, that they give up bricks and mortar, but that does not mean the disappearance of those vital services from our communities. Well done to all. I am sure that many hon. Members will ask him for advice in the future.

[Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)]

Devon and Cornwall police have been in special measures since 2022, after multiple failings. Last week, it was revealed that seven current and former women police officers are suing the force for failing to deal with rapes, beatings and psychological torture by male colleagues over a number of years. Could the Leader of the House arrange for a Home Office Minister to make a statement reassuring the people of Devon and Cornwall and serving women police officers that these allegations will be thoroughly and independently investigated, and any wrongdoing punished?

[Penny Mordaunt]

I thank the right hon. Gentleman for raising this terrible situation. He will know that the next Home Office questions is on 26 February, and I encourage him to raise it directly with the Home Secretary there, but given the serious nature of this issue I will make sure the Home Secretary has heard what he has said today and that at the very least his office is updated.

Business of the House

Ben Bradshaw Excerpts

Thursday 16th November 2023 Commons Chamber

[Penny Mordaunt]

I thank my right hon. Friend for raising this important matter. It is quite right that Members of Parliament and their staff should be able to go about their business in safety and security, and should not be disrupted in doing so. Mr Speaker was particularly concerned about this even prior to yesterday’s incidents, and has been working with Palace security and other organisations to ensure the safety of Members of Parliament in particular. Since the Deputy Speaker is in the Chair, I shall make sure that Mr Speaker has heard my right hon. Friend’s concerns, and I will ask that my right hon. Friend be kept informed of progress on such matters.

[Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)]

I am sorry to ask the right hon. Lady about this again, because I know she is one of the angels on this matter, but when I asked her last summer about conversion therapy, she promised a draft Bill on the subject in the last Session. There was no draft Bill, and there is nothing in the King’s Speech. The Government say that is because this is very complicated. It is not complicated. Loads of countries have measures on this, and have had for years. Is the real reason, as I have been told, that the Minister for Women and Equalities herself is blocking this much-needed reform?

[Penny Mordaunt]

The right hon. Gentleman will know that bringing an end to these practices is a manifesto commitment. It remains a manifesto commitment. He will also know that this is a complex situation. A lot of work has already been done, particularly by faith groups, to enable ideas and solutions to be brought forward. I thank all Members who have engaged on this, particularly with the Minister who leads on the issue, to try to make progress. The Secretary of State is still looking at the policy on this, and she is very aware that the House will want her decision brought forward. I know that she is taking great care to ensure that we can protect people who might be vulnerable to these kinds of barbaric practices.

Business of the House

Ben Bradshaw Excerpts

Thursday 15th June 2023 Commons Chamber

[Penny Mordaunt]

My hon. Friend’s request for a debate on this matter—a very good suggestion—is timely, because this week I had a meeting with the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, who is mapping where Arts Council England and other organisations in receipt of public funds are actually putting that money. It is incredibly important to everyone’s lives. It raises aspiration, improves quality of life, develops people and, of course, it is a very important part of our economy. I can assure him that the Secretary of State is looking at that and he will know how to apply for a debate in the usual way.

[Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)]

The Government have been promising for five years now to ban the abusive psychological practice sometimes known as conversion therapy. As the human face of the Government and as a supporter of such legislation, can the Leader of the House tell us when the Government will fulfil their pledge to publish the legislation in draft in this Session and subject it to pre-legislative scrutiny?

[Penny Mordaunt]

These are appalling practices and they need to be dealt with. The right hon. Gentleman will know that the Bill is due to be published very shortly. He will forgive me if I save the date for a future business announcement. We expect it to go to pre-legislative scrutiny to be ready for the fourth Session.

Replacement of the Chancellor of the Exchequer

Ben Bradshaw Excerpts

Monday 17th October 2022 Commons Chamber

[Penny Mordaunt]

I would not be involved in that decision at all, but the hon. Gentleman will know to whom he can write in order to find that out.

[Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)]

The Leader of the House has claimed repeatedly that the Prime Minister has been courageous, but if the Prime Minister were really courageous, she would be here today, would she not? If she cannot or will not come to explain to the British people the reasons for her humiliating U-turns and to apologise to them, as the Leader of the House just did, from the Dispatch Box for the damage the Tories and she have done to this country, living standards and businesses, what is the point of her?

[Penny Mordaunt]

I refer the right hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave a little while ago about the Prime Minister and to the one I gave a moment ago about the fact that I certainly regret the uncertainty that has added to worries that were already there about the very volatile global economic situation. That is why I am keen and happy that we have a statement from the Chancellor today.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Speaker]

Let us put this to bed. It is not for me but for the Government to put forward Ministers to respond to urgent questions once they are granted. It is not a matter for the Chair. The hon. Member has put the point on the record, and I note that the Prime Minister is now in her place.

[Mr Bradshaw]

Just get up and tell us—go on.

[Mr Speaker]

Order. Mr Bradshaw, I expect better. I want you to be silent while I read this out, as it is very important.

Before I call the Chancellor to make his statement—[Interruption.] Yes, I should think so. This has happened a few times today. That is the third apology, and I do not want any more.

Before I call the Chancellor to make his statement I would like to point out that a British Sign Language interpretation of proceedings is available to watch on parliamentlive.tv. I now call the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Business of the House

Ben Bradshaw Excerpts

Thursday 14th July 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mark Spencer]

First, let me pay tribute to my hon. Friend. I know that she has worked tirelessly on this matter, and she is a huge champion for those people who have been victims. The scale of the abuse carried out in Telford and Wrekin was truly appalling. I understand that Telford and Wrekin Council has confirmed that it will accept all the inquiry’s recommendations and deliver all the suggested improvements, but we must ensure that the lessons are learned so that victims are protected and offenders are brought to justice. This is an important matter and I am sure that any debate on it would be well subscribed.

[Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)]

Further to the Leader of the House’s failure to answer the question from the shadow Leader of the House, my hon. Friend the Member for Bristol West (Thangam Debbonaire), could we have a statement on the whereabouts of the Home Secretary? Along with her failure to appear before the Home Affairs Committee yesterday, she has cancelled a long-arranged meeting on Monday with Tony Cox, the father of my constituent Lorraine Cox, who was brutally murdered in September 2020. It would be an understatement to say that Mr Cox is upset about this, particularly given the Home Secretary’s previous admission that the circumstances around Lorraine’s murder represented “total state failure”, the serious police failings in the murder investigation and the concerns shared by Mr Cox and many on both sides of this House about the lack of Government action generally to improve women’s safety.

[Mark Spencer]

I will of course make sure that the Home Secretary is aware of the right hon. Gentleman’s comments and write to her directly on his behalf. She will be here on 5 September, the first day back after summer recess, and I hope that he will be in his place to hold her to account.

Business of the House

Ben Bradshaw Excerpts

Thursday 6th February 2020 Commons Chamber

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

A moment ago, our friends on the SNP Benches were complaining that the English were voting on things exclusively and that that was a bad idea. They are now saying that there should be a Committee that is exclusively made up of people from Scotland—I am not sure the two arguments go together.

[Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)]

When will the Government re-establish the Intelligence and Security Committee so that it can resume its very important work, including publishing the much-awaited Russia report? Will the Leader of the House assure me that it will not take the Government five months, as it did after the previous election?

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

The progress on setting up Committees is continuing, as I mentioned, and they will all be established as soon as is reasonably practical, but I heard the Prime Minister say yesterday that the excitement over the Russia report is really rather overdone.

Business of the House

Ben Bradshaw Excerpts

Thursday 28th March 2019 Commons Chamber

[Andrea Leadsom]

My right hon. Friend raises the vital role of nurses. It is a good opportunity to pay tribute to the amazing work they do for so many people. What I can tell him is that there are now 16,300 more nurses on our wards than there were in 2010 and over 50,000 nurses in training. The introduction of the new nursing degree apprenticeships and nursing associate roles will help us to build the workforce we need.

[Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)]

Let us try again, Mr Speaker. Is what the Leader of the House announced for tomorrow meaningful vote 3, or more attempted trickery and potentially illegal trickery by the Government by separating out the withdrawal agreement from the political declaration? Does she understand that that will be completely intolerable? It would not only be potentially illegal, but would ask this House to vote for a completely blind Brexit. Does she also understand that she and the Prime Minister could put this House and the country out of our misery by bringing back meaningful vote 3 and making it conditional on a public vote? Why is she so frightened of the views of the British public?

[Andrea Leadsom]

As the right hon. Gentleman will know, I absolutely supported the people’s vote that took place in 2016. I am absolutely determined, along with the Prime Minister, to ensure that we deliver on that.

Business of the House

Ben Bradshaw Excerpts

Thursday 14th March 2019 Commons Chamber

[Andrea Leadsom]

My hon. Friend raises an incredibly important issue. The Government recognise the terrible loss suffered by all those who lost loved ones during the troubles. We have said that the system needs to change to provide better outcomes for victims and survivors of the troubles, and to treat everyone fairly, including those who served in the armed forces and the police. I will take my hon. Friend’s request back to the Department and seek their agreement to update the House further.

[Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)]

May we have a statement from the Second Church Estates Commissioner, the right hon. Member for Meriden (Dame Caroline Spelman), on the outrageous decision by the Church of England to issue the official invitation to next year’s Lambeth conference and explicitly forbid the same-sex spouses of bishops from attending, when the heterosexual spouses of bishops have been warmly invited? This is a totally unacceptable position for our established state Church to adopt, and this House needs to tell the Church we have had enough of it.

[Andrea Leadsom]

I was not aware of that situation, and I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for raising it. If he would like to write to me, I will certainly raise it with my right hon. Friend the Member for Meriden (Dame Caroline Spelman).

Speaker’s Statement

Ben Bradshaw Excerpts

Wednesday 19th December 2018 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I am not asking the Minister of State what she thinks he said; I am responding to the hon. Lady’s point of order. People are entitled to offer their own views within the rules of order, and to the best of my knowledge, nothing disorderly was said. I am happy to look at the record and consult further, but the advice I have received is that nothing disorderly was said.

[Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. I suspect that most of us are in the Chamber to hear a very important application for an emergency debate on the single most important issue that has faced our country in peacetime, and the public looking in will find this spectacle completely ludicrous. Can we please move on to the important business of the House?

[Mr Speaker]

I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for his comments. I hope he will understand if I say that it is not possible in these matters to please everyone. I am trying to do the right thing by listening to, taking account of and offering a response to points of order, but I am conscious, as the House will be, that we have important business to which to proceed, and I intend that we shall do so. I politely suggest that if people have already made points of order, they should not treat them as an ongoing debate. If somebody raises a point of order, and I respond to it, it is reasonable to proceed to the next person and then to a conclusion of those points of order.

Business of the House

Ben Bradshaw Excerpts

Monday 10th December 2018 Commons Chamber

[Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)]

This Government are once again showing complete contempt for this sovereign Parliament. Why will she not put the shabby idea of taking this vote away from us—this sovereign Parliament—to a vote in this House, rather than doing it unilaterally? This can only end very badly for the Government if they continue to ignore the will of this House.

[Andrea Leadsom]

The right hon. Gentleman makes it clear that he wishes to undermine the will of the people of this country—[Interruption.] What the Government are making clear is that we are determined to bring a withdrawal agreement to this House that the House can support in the national interest and abiding by the will expressed by the people in the referendum.