Business of the House

Bob Blackman Excerpts

Thursday 20th March 2025 Commons Chamber

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Ms Nusrat Ghani)]

I call the Chair of the Backbench Business Committee.

[Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con)]

I note that the Leader of the House did not announce whether time on Thursday 3 April would be allocated for debates determined by the Backbench Business Committee. If we are given that date, we will have a statement from the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee on children in temporary accommodation, followed by debates on the impact of digital platforms on UK democracy and on access to sport and physical education in school.

If we are offered time on Tuesday 8 April, the last day before the recess, we will have a debate on the reward of a posthumous Victoria Cross to Blair Mayne—and I advise the Leader of the House never to cross Jim Shannon. There will then follow a debate on matters to be raised before the Easter Adjournment.

In Westminster Hall, next Tuesday there will be a debate on the retrospective accountability of the construction industry, which is vital. Next Thursday there will be a debate on the prevention of drugs deaths and a debate on the first anniversary of the Hughes report on valproate and pelvic mesh, which has been raised at business questions many times. On Tuesday 1 April there will be a debate on eating disorder awareness. On Thursday 3 April there will be a debate on waste incinerators, followed by a debate on Government support for Thames Water. On Tuesday 8 April, the day before the Easter recess, there will be debate on the persecution of Christians.

In addition, it would be much appreciated if we could be advised of the dates for the estimates day debates in May. Unfortunately, House business seems to completely disrupt the meetings that we are meant to have, but I sent a letter to the Leader of the House about potential opportunities for 90-minute general debates when Government business is likely to finish early.

Last week I hosted a meeting in this place of Rotary International representatives on the eradication of polio across the world. We heard from Dr Hamid Jafari from Amman, Gulcheen Aqil from Pakistan and Aziz Memon from Pakistan, as well as Dr Sir Emeka Offor from Nigeria. We have invested millions of pounds in trying to eradicate polio across the world. Unfortunately, the new International Development Minister was not able to attend because of short notice of the change of Ministers, and we understand that. We also know that there is a reduction in overseas aid, which I make no comment on. However, we want to see a statement from the International Development Minister on which programmes will be preserved and which ones will be cancelled. At the moment, there are only two countries in the world—Afghanistan and Pakistan—where polio is still rife. If we cut those programmes, the risk is that polio would rear its head again across the world and all the money we have invested would be wasted. Can we have a statement next week on that particularly important subject?

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Ms Nusrat Ghani)]

Mr Blackman, you are the last person I should be chiding for using a Member’s name, not their constituency, in the Chamber.