Covid-19
Cheryl Gillan Excerpts(3 years, 3 months ago)
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The Prime Minister
I certainly wish to pay tribute to everybody involved in the education sector: teachers, parents, pupils, and everybody who has made a heroic effort to cope with this pandemic. I think the hon. Gentleman and I would agree that it was important to do everything we could as a country and a Government to keep kids in schools if we possibly could; indeed, I believe that was the policy of the Labour Opposition, at least on Monday morning. I understand why the Opposition wanted to keep schools open. We all wanted to keep schools open, but alas, the pandemic has not made that possible, and we have got to take the steps that we have taken. I hope that he will also support them.
Dame Cheryl Gillan (Chesham and Amersham) (Con) [V]
PHE data shows that younger adults with learning disabilities and autism are up to six times more likely to die of covid. Please can they be added to the priority vaccination list immediately? Also, during previous lockdowns, vital exemptions included autistic people being able to exercise more frequently, which was incredibly important in helping them cope and continue to have that much-needed routine in their lives. Will the Prime Minister confirm that these exemptions will apply for the new lockdown, so that autistic people are not left stranded, and will he commit to accessible information about this being published as soon as possible?
The Prime Minister
Yes, indeed. I will commit to better and fuller information if that is necessary, although of course as my right hon. Friend knows, it is a general principle of these restrictions that people have more freedoms when they need to exercise for health needs.
European Union (Future Relationship) Bill
Cheryl Gillan ExcerptsWednesday 30th December 2020
(3 years, 4 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate European Union (Future Relationship) Act 2020 View all European Union (Future Relationship) Act 2020 Debates Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts Amendment Paper: Committee of the whole House Amendments as at 30 December 2020 - (30 Dec 2020)
Dame Cheryl Gillan (Chesham and Amersham) (Con) [V]
It is a pleasure to follow the right hon. Member for Leeds Central (Hilary Benn). I do not always agree with him, but I recognise the detailed and sterling work he has done on the Brexit Select Committee and am glad that he is voting for the Bill today.
I also welcome the fantastic news on the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, which along with the Bill gives us a double reason for celebration. I add my congratulations and plaudits to the Prime Minister and all our negotiators on their steadfastness in bringing home this deal.
Make no mistake, it took guts and determination both to leave the EU and, finally, to deliver this result. It may not be perfect. I, too, for example, share the reservations expressed by my right hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May) about the position of our services industry, which needs urgent resolution on, for example, what the equivalence rules will look like.
The deal has been hard won and delivers zero tariffs and zero quotas, which brings a huge sigh of relief to many businesses and industries across the country. At the same time, it allows the UK once again to control its destiny through its own elected representatives and its own courts—the independence and control over our affairs that I and many others voted for in the referendum.
This is not a precipitative end to our relationship, but the controlled departure that we were all hoping for. Our participation in programmes such as Horizon Europe and EU Space Surveillance and Tracking indicates our recognition that there are things we can do better together across Europe, but now without having to be subject to a regime that we could not change or, at the very least, even influence.
There will be many other things that we can do better, such as the Turing scheme, which is going to offer 35,000 UK students worldwide opportunities and will replace Erasmus. When we pass this legislation today, we will be in a golden position to create a great future for the United Kingdom—a future that the people of Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and England will grasp with both hands. The trade deals and continuity agreements that we have already signed with 62 countries are testament to that, and we must make a great deal of fuss about the work that has gone into those signings, which will mean so much for our country in the future.
To those who continue to wage a war of attrition against this reborn independence and look backwards towards membership of the EU, I hope they, too, will now move on and develop the guts and determination of our Prime Minister to back our own Union and contribute positively to its future success. I believe that the UK’s future is bright, working alongside Europe, but finally, after today, not subjugated by it.
It is with great pleasure that I support this Bill.
EU Withdrawal Agreement
Cheryl Gillan Excerpts(3 years, 4 months ago)
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Michael Gove
Well, that is all news to me, but maybe the hon. Gentleman has a point—I do not know.
Dame Cheryl Gillan (Chesham and Amersham) (Con) [V]
I commend my right hon. Friend, and also the vice-president, for reaching an amicable and sensible agreement. I also wish the Prime Minister well, and hope that neither of the two diners tonight gets indigestion and that they achieve an acceptable deal for both the EU and, in particular, our own country.
At the end of last month, Jim Harra told the Public Accounts Committee that Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs is concentrating on seven key IT systems that need to be changed or built from new to enable GB-EU trade to continue and to enable us to comply, particularly, with the Northern Ireland protocol. Will my right hon. Friend update me on those systems? Will they be completed before the end of the transition period?
Michael Gove
My right hon. Friend is absolutely right. There are a number of systems: the trader support Service, or TSS; the movement assistance scheme, or MAS; the goods vehicle management scheme, or GVMS; and CDS, or the customs declaration service, which is the new replacement for CHIEF—customs handling of import and export freight—in HMRC. That is quite a lot of acronyms. A lot of work has gone into making sure that we will be ready. Some of it is close to the wire, but I am confident that everything will be in place.
EU Exit: Negotiations and the Joint Committee
Cheryl Gillan Excerpts(3 years, 6 months ago)
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Michael Gove
The certainty that I can offer is that we will be out of the customs union and out of the single market, and that as a result we will be able to take our place as an independent free trading nation. Businesses in Bath and elsewhere know what it is that they need to do. That is certainty. It is very different from the proposition that the Liberal Democrats put forward at the last general election, which was a second referendum or a third referendum—I have no idea how many referendums the Liberal Democrats wanted. One thing I do know is that they returned fewer than a dozen MPs, which shows what the country thought of that.
Dame Cheryl Gillan (Chesham and Amersham) (Con) [V]
If what my right hon. Friend has told the House today is accurate—that the EU has realised at the eleventh hour that it is in its best interests to reach an accommodation with the United Kingdom and it can no longer dictate to this country—can he tell me what will happen with those businesses that have not prepared for the end of the transition period? The permanent secretary of his Department told the Public Accounts Committee last week that 36% of our small businesses had not made preparations. Has that figure now been reduced? What further communications are planned to ensure that all businesses are ready for the end of the year, whether we get a deal or not? May I say that I very much hope we do get a deal?
Michael Gove
I absolutely agree with my right hon. Friend: we do very much want a deal. We hope that developments this afternoon are moving us in the right direction. She is also absolutely on the button when she says that, with or without a free trade agreement, businesses need to prepare. The number that are getting prepared is increasing all the time, and it is my Department’s responsibility, along with HMRC, to make sure they have the information they require, whatever happens. Outside the single market and the customs union, there will be new procedures. I look forward to working with her and others on the Public Accounts Committee to ensure that we communicate the detail required through our new intensified campaign.
Covid-19
Cheryl Gillan Excerpts(3 years, 7 months ago)
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The Prime Minister
I am grateful to the right hon. and learned Gentleman for his support. I notice that it seems to come and go, but it seems to be here today. He criticises testing. He should know that, as I have told the House many times, this country is now testing more than any other country in Europe—one test for every five people. Actually, in spite of the massive increase in demand for testing, we have greatly increased the number of contacts reached from the indexed cases. He should pay tribute to those involved in the whole testing operation, in spite of all the difficulties they face.
The right hon. and learned Gentleman mentions the success of local lockdowns, and he is absolutely right to draw attention to what happened in Leicester. That was a heroic effort of local people, and it has happened in other parts of the country—local people pulling together to drive the virus down. That is what we hope to encourage throughout the country, and that is certainly part of our strategy. He asked what we are doing to support businesses, families and communities across the country, as though we had not already quite rightly spent £160 billion to support businesses, jobs and livelihoods across the country. We will continue to put our arms around the people of this country.
I am grateful, as I say, for what the right hon. and learned Gentleman says and the support, such as it is, that he has offered. However, I can tell him that, in putting forward that message of support, I hope he will also say to everybody in his constituency and elsewhere that this is a balanced and proportionate response to the crisis that we face. We are driving the virus down—that is our objective by these measures—but we are also, as I have said, keeping the vast majority of the UK economy going. That is our programme. That is what we intend to do. This is a package to drive down the R, but also to allow education and jobs and growth to continue. That is absolutely vital for the right hon. and learned Gentleman to understand, and I hope that, in his support, which I welcome, he will communicate that to the country as well.
Dame Cheryl Gillan (Chesham and Amersham) (Con) [V]
One of the most difficult decisions a Prime Minister has to take in a democracy is to restrict our freedoms for the greater good. In the measures he has announced today, which have cross-party consensus, my right hon. Friend has sought balance and proportionality, as he has said, in protecting the economy while reducing the risk of the virus spreading like wildfire.
However, given the six-month timeframe he has announced, what does he have to say to grandparents who want to live their lives before it is too late and who cannot see their families; to worried parents and families who cannot access a test at the moment; to workers and business owners facing financial ruin; and to MPs who want to debate these matters in Parliament before they are decided, not after, so that they can help him shoulder this onerous responsibility? How can he convince all of them that he is taking the right path, and unite our country with hope of an end to this misery?
Oral Answers to Questions
Cheryl Gillan Excerpts(3 years, 9 months ago)
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Michael Gove
The hon. Lady makes an important point, and when the legislation comes in on 24 July, I hope that everybody will comply with it, because one of the reasons for making sure we can have this law is to give confidence to people that they can shop in the knowledge that public health comes first.
Dame Cheryl Gillan (Chesham and Amersham) (Con) [V]
Michael Gove
My right hon. Friend is absolutely right. It is vital that, for example, Welsh lamb can be sold across the United Kingdom. It is vital also that we recognise that the labelling requirements that relate to Welsh mineral water, which enable Welsh firms to sell a superior product with confidence across the United Kingdom, are respected as well. Making sure that we work hand in glove with the devolved Administrations strengthens the Union for all its citizens.
Oral Answers to Questions
Cheryl Gillan Excerpts(3 years, 10 months ago)
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Michael Gove
I know that in both Wrexham and Denbighshire there have been recent incidences of the spread of infection that have been concerning, and I know that my hon. Friend, along with colleagues in local government, has been highly effective in making sure that we deal with those in the most appropriate way. He is absolutely right: it is joint working with effective local councils and energetic Members of Parliament like himself that is critical to making sure that we deal with this infection.
Dame Cheryl Gillan (Chesham and Amersham) (Con) [V]
Michael Gove
My right hon. Friend is absolutely right. I know that people in Chesham and Amersham, and elsewhere in Buckinghamshire, have benefited from her advocacy and from the energetic work of the local authority. She is right that we will, in appropriate time, need to recognise the commitment of those in civil society and elsewhere. I know that her championing of their cause has been heard in other parts of Government, and more will follow later in order to recognise exactly the validity of the argument she makes.
Debate on the Address
Cheryl Gillan Excerpts(4 years, 6 months ago)
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Mr Tobias Ellwood (Bournemouth East) (Con)
It is a real pleasure to contribute to this Queen’s Speech debate on day one, which is certainly a first for me, and I am grateful to follow the hon. Member for Sheffield Central (Paul Blomfield). As one can probably imagine, I did not agree with a lot of what he said, but he started by speaking about climate change, and I echo his comments on that. We may have different views on Extinction Rebellion and its methods and manner, but I hope we can all agree that climate change is the largest geostrategic challenge we face and that we must work together. We may claim that we are the best in the G20, but we can do better, and I have already called on this Government to bring forward their ambition of being carbon neutral by 2050.
I certainly welcome some aspects of the domestic agenda, not least on law and order—more police officers on the frontline will go down well in Bournemouth—and on environment, health and immigration, and on national infrastructure, which is divided into two. First, on greater investment in our trains, Boscombe railway station needs more funding and infrastructure support. Secondly, on digital capacity, Bournemouth University will appreciate that, because it is at the forefront of our understanding of how the digital world is changing.
Dame Cheryl Gillan (Chesham and Amersham) (Con)
My right hon. Friend mentions the railways, which is my favourite subject and on which I hope to address the House a little later. Does he agree that we really need the holistic policy right across transport and communications that is proposed in this Queen’s Speech? Does he also agree that we need to cancel HS2—certainly phase 1 of it—because there would then be the money to invest in Boscombe?
Mr Ellwood
My right hon. Friend gives us a teaser of what we can expect her to speak about, which I am very much looking forward to, and I am pleased that she would like to see investment at Boscombe station—[Laughter.] I will now move on from that sensitive but important subject.
On a more serious note, I make no apology for focusing on international security given our ever greater reliance on the economy, access to global markets, trading alliances and, of course, international peace and security, including the links with our own security environment. The first line of the security and defence review talks about the symbiotic relationship between national security and economic security—we cannot have one without the other—so I welcomed the Prime Minister’s illustrating a desire to continue to play a role in global affairs and to champion global free trade. I certainly welcome the renewed commitment to spending 2% of GDP on defence, but I want to make it clear that I do not believe that is enough.
The challenges we face are growing and the threats are accumulating. While we can manage and contain the threats today, we face an increasingly dangerous and complex world. We often speak about the erosion of the rules-based order; just look at what happened last week when we saw Turkey breach international law with its military incursion into northern Syria. Let us be honest: a busy, distracted and disunited world is essentially looking the other way. Given the increasingly volatile and changing times, it is a sad testament to the failing international cohesion that once saw the west stand with resolve to defend international norms and values.
The US is our closest and most critical ally, but we must be strong enough to call it out when errors are made. President Trump’s decision to withdraw troops has triggered a humanitarian crisis and has undone much of the good work to bring stability to the region. The defeat of Daesh has been set back. We have unleashed a chain reaction of events that is seeing instability and humanitarian crisis unfold.
What message does this send to our competitors and adversaries around the world? Again, I cite the example of China. Twenty years ago, China’s military spending was on a par with ours; today, its defence budget is $250 billion. In our lifetimes, China will spend more on military than the United States does, and it will become bigger economically than the United States. China is watching what is happening. We must see what is happening in the South China sea—China is able to dominate in that arena—and stand together to support the international rules-based order.
Dame Cheryl Gillan (Chesham and Amersham) (Con)
It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Glasgow North (Patrick Grady). I am not sure that I found much in his speech that I could agree with, but I think he welcomed the provisions on animal welfare that were mentioned in the Queen’s Speech, so I will leave it there and say that I was on his side on that, because I welcome that provision.
I echo other colleagues’ praise of my hon. Friends the Members for North East Derbyshire (Lee Rowley) and for Truro and Falmouth (Sarah Newton), who proposed and seconded the motion on the Gracious Speech delightfully. I welcome the Queen’s Speech, even though it was delivered against the extraordinary background of the Supreme Court ordering MPs to return to Westminster and to go back to work, and of what everybody acknowledges is a potentially impending general election. In this time of division and dispute, it was so heartening to see Her Majesty the Queen preside over the proceedings in the other place and once again set us a fine example with her selfless service to our country.
I wish to welcome some of the provisions in the Queen’s Speech individually. The provisions on the NHS are excellent, particularly the plans to establish an independent body to investigate serious healthcare incidents. That has long been advocated by the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee—it just rolls off the tongue, doesn’t it?—on which I have the privilege to serve. I hope that that body will enable people to gain justice if there have been failures in our medical system, and also that we will learn from those mistakes—that is so important.
I hope we can strengthen the NHS in respect of how we make services available to people with autism. I would particularly like to see mandatory training introduced for all health and care staff, as recommended in the 10-year review of the Autism Act 2009 produced on a cross-party basis by the all-party group on autism. That would be a welcome measure for any NHS Bill.
As far as I am concerned, the environmental measures on air and water quality cannot be implemented too soon. We need to protect and restore habitats so that biodiversity is maintained.
I am now going to turn into my grandmother, because I have to tell the House, “I told you so.” In drawing up this speech, I looked at my maiden speech from back in 1992, in which I said:
“The Government must encourage United Kingdom industry to seize the chance of a more efficient use of energy, better emission controls, and a whole raft of subjects connected with using more environmentally friendly technologies. Not only is that an essential component of a modern environmental protection plan, but commercial gain could be made from it for small and large companies.”—[Official Report, 25 June 1992; Vol. 210, c. 438.]
Indeed, a large part of my maiden speech was about the environment and the Rio conference, which of course followed on from Helsinki and really kick-started the concentration of efforts on climate change.
In that context, I hope that the excellent Glover landscape review, which has recommended that the Chilterns area of outstanding natural beauty become a national park, will be progressed without delay. In fact, I was the first person to suggest that option, to add a layer of protection to the threatened and fragile landscape in the Chilterns. I wrote around to all colleagues whose constituencies impinge upon the AONB, and to local authorities, and received a mainly positive response. The development that is proposed in Buckinghamshire and London will overwhelm this precious part of our environment and, I fear, will destroy forever the rare chalk streams that runs through our hills, unless we can provide an oasis of protected landscape. I again turn into my grandmother, because back at the time of my maiden speech I was in talks with the National Rivers Authority about protecting the chalk streams and the fact that they had dried up. That resulted in bed-lining trials. I am very worried that all these years later we are still talking about their protection and their potential total annihilation.
Of course, HS2 is also currently destroying our environment. I think everybody in the Chamber knew I would get around to this sooner or later—there is no surprise among those on the Front Bench. I really do welcome the Oakervee review, but I despair of the rationale, the exorbitant and profligate cost, the poor governance and the disastrous management of the project.
First, and immediately, I ask the Secretary of State for Transport to stop the roadworks due to begin tomorrow in Missenden. They are going to cause untold upset to my local community and its residents and businesses. I was talking to people in the village on Saturday, and the feeling is so strong that I wish the Secretary of State could go there himself and at least stop the works until the review reports. What is the point in causing disruption for a matter of a few weeks? A few weeks would make all the difference to that community. If phase 1 is cancelled, we would not have to face the disruption that is going to start from tomorrow and continue until the end of the review. Even now, after 10 years of poor communication and the disdain shown by HS2 Ltd towards my local community, I really do have to ask whose bright idea it was to cause this huge disruption in my locality in what is effectively starting to be the run-up to Christmas, which should be good for all the shops and businesses in Missenden. If access becomes difficult, it will affect their profitability. I encourage everybody in the House to come to Great Missenden—it is easily reached on the train—and to spend their pounds in the shops there. They will need the House’s help if HS2 goes ahead.
This weekend, there were reports about the treatment of whistleblowers, who were allegedly exhorted to destroy material that may compromise HS2. The statement from HS2 Ltd that it would not release documents requested by a Dr Thornton—I believe—because if they came into the public domain they could be used by critics successfully to lobby for the cancellation of the project, is an appalling turn of events.
Victoria Prentis (Banbury) (Con)
My right hon. Friend has for many years been a great leader to those of us on the Government Benches who oppose HS2. Did she hear over the weekend the press reports that the Serious Fraud Office has been called in to investigate allegations of corruption in HS2?
Dame Cheryl Gillan
I cannot stand that story up, other than to say that I have read the reports in the newspapers that say the SFO is investigating aspects of HS2. It would be interesting if those on the Front Bench could confirm that. I do not believe everything I read in the press, but it really would not surprise me, because this is a project that managed to give away £1.7 million of unauthorised redundancy money. Nobody was held to account for that and the money has not been paid back, so nothing would surprise me, although I stress that it was a press report.
Luke Graham (Ochil and South Perthshire) (Con)
I thank my right hon. Friend for giving way so generously. On the subject of HS2, she mentioned the issue of whistleblowers, one of whom lives in my constituency and has not had the redress, or the opportunity to put his case forward in the way that is justifiable and that should be awarded to a constituent. Does she agree that whistleblowers and their evidence, and also the chance to address the issue of compensation, should be included as part of that review? Furthermore, does she agree that any future HS2 project should be truly national—in other words linking Scotland, England and Wales together?
Dame Cheryl Gillan
I could not agree more. I have to say that I am very sorry for my hon. Friend’s constituent. Quite simply, the lessons have not been learned from the early days of HS2, when my constituents, as I said earlier in my speech, were treated with disdain. All sorts of things took place, which in a democracy—in our modern democracy—should not have happened. I hope that my hon. Friend’s constituent gets redress, and I advise him never to give up. I am not giving up after 10 years, and I am still hopeful that there could be a cancellation in the offing.
Cancelling HS2 will not harm the country. The money could be spent on the nation’s digital, transport and energy infrastructure, as set out in the Queen’s Speech today. I really welcome the intention to produce a comprehensive national infrastructure strategy; it is something that I have consistently called for. We need to revolutionise the infrastructure of this country by providing better transport links, particularly in the north of England. We want better bus services, an electric charging network, high-speed broadband, 5G and more reliable commuter services. We can spend taxpayers’ money so much better than on HS2, particularly phase 1. Now we hear that HS2 might stop at Old Oak Common. If that happens, the business case goes right out the window. I think that that is enough on HS2 now.
Let me move briefly on to the proposed election Bill. When the Government consider election reform, I ask them to think very carefully. I am already getting a lot of emails from constituents who are worried that the legislation will contain photographic identification for voting. I have the pleasure of sitting on the Council of Europe. I recently led the monitoring team for the elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where I bumped into my hon. Friend the Member for Beckenham (Bob Stewart), and where they produce photo ID as a matter of course. People cannot vote until they produce their ID, but these are countries where national ID cards are a matter of course. We do not have a national ID card here. I am very worried about the most vulnerable in our society, so I encourage the Government to think hard about that provision and perhaps turn their mind to looking at the rules around referendums and the changes that were recommended by the Constitution Unit’s commission, on which I had the privilege to sit with the right hon. and learned Member for Beaconsfield (Mr Grieve), who has just come into the Chamber. Updating our rules in the light of developments, particularly with social media and artificial intelligence, is of critical importance if we wish to retain confidence in our systems and keep them ahead of the technology challenges that threaten to derail them.
Bob Stewart
I agree with my right hon. Friend—absolutely—but I am confused. Most of us who drive cars carry an identity card: it has our name, our address, our date of birth, and a photograph on it. Effectively, therefore, we already have an ID card.
Dame Cheryl Gillan
For my hon. Friend and me, that is true, but I am thinking about the people who do not drive. I am thinking about disabled people and people who cannot afford a car and who need a better bus infrastructure. These people will feel threatened and will feel that they are being excluded or even prevented from voting. I ask the Government to think very carefully about how they go about this provision, because there are dangers inherent in it for the very people that he and I would seek to protect.
Dame Cheryl Gillan
I have been very generous. I will give way one more time, but I would like to finish my speech.
Jim Shannon
I thank the right hon. Lady for giving way. In Northern Ireland, we brought in photographic identification for voting. The purpose was simple: to stop fraud. We had many examples of fraud across Northern Ireland. In every part of life today, people really need ID—if they want to open a bank account and so on. We need ID for everything. We have an ID system in Northern Ireland. People just need to apply for it, get their photograph done and they get a card. It is really simple and people want to do it. Perhaps she could follow that example.
Dame Cheryl Gillan
I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his intervention. I understand exactly what he is saying, but I am trying to give voice to opinions that are being expressed to me right now in my emails. The Government need to think very carefully about these provisions, so that if they do bring them in, they introduce them in such a way that does not damage those least able to speak for themselves in our community.
Mr Dominic Grieve (Beaconsfield) (Ind)
I am most grateful to my right hon. Friend, particularly as I came in halfway through her speech, but I heard what she was saying and I wanted to come in. I personally believe that identity is absolutely essential, because there are problems of personation, but I agree that simply imagining that people can produce photographic identity is wrong. Special provisions will have to be introduced in order to enable that not to happen.
Mr Deputy Speaker (Sir Lindsay Hoyle)
Order. I do believe that the previous incumbent of the Chair suggested 15 minutes.
Dame Cheryl Gillan
Thank you so much, Mr Deputy Speaker. I have taken rather a lot of interventions.
Dame Cheryl Gillan
In a similar vein, I would like to see regulation and transparency enhanced around companies such as 38 Degrees, which insert themselves between MPs and their constituents, gather data and raise funds for lobbying outwith the rules that govern political parties and yet, in effect, they are acting as an adjunct to political movements with no oversight or accountability.
There are many things to welcome in this Queen’s Speech, particularly on the law and order front. We need to halt this tide of knife crime and the scourge of county lines, both of which have affected my constituency, and we must give our police forces the resources to provide the safety and security that our citizens need to lead peaceful and successful lives.
I should like to finish by mentioning one provision that has delighted me—I am delighted that it has come to prominence—and that is the ambitious national space plan. My husband, Jack Leeming, during his lifelong career as a civil servant, was finally appointed director general of the British National Space Centre, then attached to the Department for Trade and Industry. He had a vision for the role of space in telecommunications, earth observation and remote sensing and was a huge supporter of our space industries and scientific endeavours. He was passionate about the possibilities of space, and my only sadness is that he died earlier this year and did not live to see a Conservative Prime Minister appreciating the opportunities that this sector affords.
This Prime Minister now has many, many challenges. There is no doubt that there is an overwhelming desire to get Brexit done and to reduce the bandwidth that is occupying Government, which, in turn, is impeding the progress that we can make on things that matter to people and have now been covered in the Gracious Speech—health, education, local government and new opportunities for our service and manufacturing industries. I hope that by the end of the week we will have not just a pathway to delivering our exit from the EU, but a firm grip on the destination.
Points of Order
Cheryl Gillan Excerpts(4 years, 7 months ago)
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Dame Cheryl Gillan (Chesham and Amersham) (Con)
Further to that point of order, Mr Speaker. As you know, at the beginning of this Parliament, you asked me if I would propose you for the Chair, and I was very pleased to do so. I made the immortal statement:
“I think he annoys Members on all the Front Benches from time to time, which is probably testament to his even-handedness.”—[Official Report, 13 June 2017; Vol. 626, c. 4.]
I think there was not a dry eye in the House, because that was true.
I have to add my voice to that of my Buckinghamshire colleague, my right hon. Friend the Member for Aylesbury (Mr Lidington), for the simple reason that, as a colleague in Buckinghamshire, you have been absolutely superb. Speaking as the only female representative of a constituency in Buckinghamshire, I sometimes find it necessary to keep some of you boys under control, because you do not always quite see eye to eye—with me.
I rise to my feet to say a big thank you to you for something else you have done in your time as Speaker. You have hosted events for more than 1,000 charities in Speaker’s House. You have been a true champion of people with autism. Today, as the all-party parliamentary group publishes a report on the 10 years since the Autism Act 2009, I pay tribute to everything you have done, particularly for charitable works, but also for people and families with autism.
I have one great regret, knowing that you are going to stand down. I will lose a great champion in my fight against HS2, and I very much hope that when you retire from the House, whatever you do, you will continue to join me in the fight against HS2 and continue, most importantly, to champion those people with autism and their families.
Mr Speaker
I thank the right hon. Lady for what she said, and for all the good fellowship that she and I have enjoyed over the 22 years I have been in the House with her.
Prorogation (Disclosure of Communications)
Cheryl Gillan Excerpts(4 years, 7 months ago)
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Mr Grieve
No, I will make a bit of progress.
What I have attempted to do, distilling the information that has been made available, is to identify people where I think the information may be available. I repeat what I said: I make no imputation whatsoever against individuals. We could have tried to be much broader, but had we been much broader, it might have looked a bit like a fishing expedition throughout Government. It seems only right to ask the questions where we have been directed —by the information that I and others have received—that the answers may be found, hence the list of individuals I have named. I say again that there is not a single imputation against any of them. What is necessary is to establish the information that they possess.
Dame Cheryl Gillan (Chesham and Amersham) (Con)
I am grateful to my right hon. and learned Friend for giving way; we have been friends for his entire time in this House. Having been a Minister himself, is he not worried about the collateral damage that this Humble Address is creating? It is important that civil servants have space—a safe space—to speak truth to power, and I think that by his actions today, he is damaging the civil service’s ability to communicate and discuss matters freely with Ministers. Does he not see the damage that he is doing?
Mr Grieve
I understand my right hon. Friend’s point. That was a matter that exercised me very much before I decided to table this motion, but against that, we have to face up to another fact: those necessary protections for civil servants cannot and must not be used as a device to hoodwink this House and the public as to the way the Government conduct their business. The Government have a duty. They can sometimes have a duty not to say something, but they certainly do not have a right to mislead, and this is such a fundamental matter that I think we are right to pursue the issue. Of course, if it turns out that the information I was given was mistaken, well, in those circumstances, I shall be the happiest person of the lot, but I have to say that I think it is sufficiently serious in its nature and content that I would be failing in my duty as a Member of Parliament if we were not to seek to ascertain whether it was correct.
Dame Cheryl Gillan
Will my right hon. and learned Friend give way, on a serious point?
Dame Cheryl Gillan
I am very worried, because I have been looking at the special advisers code of conduct, and it says:
“Special advisers should not disclose official information which has been communicated in confidence in government or received in confidence from others.”
Does my right hon. and learned Friend not realise that his motion today sets all special advisers in conflict with the code that they have signed up to?
Mr Grieve
Not at all! Absolutely not at all! They are entitled, correctly, to say, “I have been asked by the House of Commons in a motion under a Humble Address to Her Majesty the Queen to provide that information”, and they should do so, if I may say so, with a public spirit and, indeed, a degree of pride—that is what I would do—because that request has been made of them.
Mr Speaker, I do not want to detain the House any further. As I said, I am the first to accept that this is a difficult matter, and I am the first to accept that finding a uniquely perfectly tailored instrument to meet the gravity of the situation that has arisen will always be difficult and might be open to some reasonable criticism. However, for all those things, I think the nature of what has happened, the immediacy of the crisis and the fact that we are proroguing require this motion, and I commend it to the House.