Business of the House

Chi Onwurah Excerpts

Thursday 16th September 2010 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

The coalition agreement makes it clear:

“We will maintain Britain’s nuclear deterrent, and have agreed that the renewal of Trident should be scrutinised to ensure value for money.”

As my hon. Friend has just mentioned, there will be a debate shortly after business questions, in which he will have an opportunity to raise his concerns. His questions will be answered by one of my colleagues from the Ministry of Defence.

[Chi Onwurah (Newcastle upon Tyne Central) (Lab)]

It is my understanding that the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills has announced the complete privatisation of Royal Mail—not a part-privatisation but a wholesale removal from public ownership—although it remains unclear, because he chose not to do so before the House. This causes real concern for the many employees and users of Royal Mail. Will the Leader of the House find time for an urgent debate on the future of Royal Mail?

[Sir George Young]

Again, I refer the hon. Lady to the commitment we made in the coalition agreement and to what was said in the debate on the Queen’s Speech. The Queen’s Speech said:

“My Government will modernise the Royal Mail, in partnership with employees, and will ensure it benefits from private sector capital and disciplines.”

That remains the position. In due course, legislation will be introduced and the House can debate it.

Privilege

Chi Onwurah Excerpts

Thursday 9th September 2010 Commons Chamber

[Simon Hughes (Bermondsey and Old Southwark) (LD)]

I am grateful for the opportunity to say a few words and grateful to the hon. Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant) and to Mr Speaker for providing it. Perhaps not surprisingly, I entirely support the motion. I am on record from 2006 right up to the last election as speaking about the importance of this matter. I want to speak briefly today and to say to the right hon. Member for Rother Valley (Mr Barron) that, if the motion is passed, I would be happy to assist him and his Committee on Standards and Privileges further.

I am—I think—the only Member who has been asked to give evidence and has given it, as part of the evidence that secured the conviction of Mr Glenn Mulcaire. I was approached in 2006 and willingly agreed to do that. In reference to the comments of the hon. Member for West Bromwich East (Mr Watson), I inquired who else had had their phone hacked and who else had been approached to give evidence. I was told that there were others, but that not everybody was willing to give evidence.

I have absolutely no doubt that some people were not willing to give evidence because they were afraid. They were afraid of going into the public domain to take on people working either directly or indirectly for one of our land’s major newspapers. I have been in this place and in public life long enough not to be afraid any more, and I have also been through the mill before, which means that I probably have nothing much more to be afraid about. For me, it was not a problem, but it clearly was for others. I hope that they—colleagues here and in the other place—will now again be invited to give evidence to the Standards and Privileges Committee, if it takes on the job and might now be willing to speak to that Committee, either in public or private, though they were not willing to go public in the courts at the time.

My second point is that we are not talking about an isolated person or people at an isolated time in respect of an isolated newspaper. To the best of my knowledge, I was a subject not just of that particular fishing expedition, but also of a different fishing expedition by a different newspaper owned by different people. Another linked activity—it was very common—was buying phone records illegally from phone companies so that activities could be traced and inquiries made. These are linked issues: there is a whole sea of illegal and undesirable activity going on here.

Another issue, to which the hon. Member for Rhondda rightly referred, goes even wider. We can defend and speak up for ourselves here because we have privilege. It is right that we use the processes of the House, but one reason why I support this matter being referred to the Committee on Standards and Privileges is so that the privileges of our families, our friends, our colleagues and our constituents can also be respected. The people living on the estate behind my house do not have the same access to the media as I do. When they leave a message or when a member of my family or a colleague leaves a message, they might not have the opportunity to go public about any difficulties, yet they are potentially equally affected and harmed. For them, it is equally insidious, dangerous and unacceptable. This is an issue for us in our representative capacity on behalf of our constituents as much as it is for us as MPs with parliamentary privileges.

[Chi Onwurah (Newcastle upon Tyne Central) (Lab)]

As a new MP, I hope not to have attracted the attention of Mr Mulcaire, but equally, as a new MP with a background in communications, I am very aware that the business of MPs and this House will depend increasingly on electronic means of communication throughout the country. The hon. Gentleman speaks of our representative role, which I strongly agree with, but we should also consider the future—both for the House and the country at large. By investigating what happened in the past, we not only look at the past, but safeguard the future for both.

[Simon Hughes]

The hon. Lady is quite right. In common with my right hon. and hon. Friends, I have seen great changes in the use of electronic media for communication during my time in Parliament. I hope that the hon. Lady’s expertise will be made available to the Standards and Privileges Committee if it requests it.

I want briefly to discuss two other issues. First, it is easy to misrepresent and thus tell untruths on the basis of misunderstood messages and information. To lighten the mood for a moment, I had a message on my phone the other day from a woman who sounded as if she was of a certain age and who said, “Darling, I really need to speak to you urgently. If we do not meet today, our marriage might be at an end.” I thought that that message was unlikely to be aimed at me! She clearly had not read the press enough! Not knowing who she was, I nevertheless phoned her back and said, “Madam, I do not know who you are and you might not know who I am, but I think that the message you left was not intended for me. You ought to think about who it was intended for before it is too late.” The serious point is that messages left were clearly misinterpreted to lead people to conclude that they were about one thing when they were not really about that at all. There is scope for terrible abuse if we do not rein in this activity completely.

Finally, this is without doubt a job for the Standards and Privileges Committee, but I hope that that will not mean that others who have a responsibility do not do their jobs, too. The Metropolitan Police Authority has a job—to hold the Metropolitan police to account.

Summer Adjournment

Chi Onwurah Excerpts

Tuesday 27th July 2010 Commons Chamber

[Chi Onwurah (Newcastle upon Tyne Central) (Lab)]

I shall focus on something that has not yet been covered in this absolutely fascinating debate: the Government’s attitude to technology in the community, which is a cross-party issue. We all agree on the enabling role that we want technology to play in our communities. I want my constituents in Blakelaw and Elswick to be able to wake up in the morning and look at the latest job vacancies online; for employees in West Gosforth and Westgate to be able to claim their tax credits online; for students in Kenton and Fenham to have access to the world’s most inspirational teachers from their bedrooms; and for pensioners in Wingrove, and Benwell and Scotswood, to benefit from medical and social care in the comfort of their homes.

The Minister for Universities and Science recently made quite a good speech on the importance of science and technology, but the coalition will be judged by actions, not by fine words. In Newcastle, only 60% of my constituents have broadband at home. Social and economic issues rather than availability play a part in that. More than 10 million adults in our country have never used the internet. What has the coalition done? It scrapped the previous Government’s commitment to free internet access from all libraries; cut £50 million a year from an IT fund designed to bring technology into classrooms in order to fund free schools; scrapped procurement and other support for information and communications technology in schools; and rushed through the Academies Act 2010, abandoning the requirement for schools to teach science and maths at all, never mind separate sciences.

The coalition has also abolished regional development agencies, which helped to support science and technology locally; deferred concrete, funded plans to make broadband available everywhere in favour of three small rural pilots; and placed leadership on broadband in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. I have a great deal of respect for that Department, and it would be wrong not to recognise the critical role that digital culture plays in the digital economy. However, broadband is not only about delivering content; it is the basis for our future economic resurgence. Frankly, for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills to give up leadership on that critical matter is totally dotty.

Building the right broadband infrastructure is complex, and it needs people with expertise to manage it. What broadband expertise does the Department for Culture, Media and Sport have? Will the Deputy Leader of the House explain what the Government are doing to overcome digital exclusion, and what expertise are they drawing on to do so?

Whether a person is digitally literate or not is a matter of choice at the moment—many people leave the operation of their set-top boxes to their children and know more of the dark side of the moon than the inside of their digital phones—but in future, there will be no option, because digital literacy will be as important as the ability to add up. The coalition is failing to equip our children for that future, and in so doing, damaging our economy.

Business of the House

Chi Onwurah Excerpts

Thursday 8th July 2010 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

My hon. Friend might know that the role and functions of the TSA and the framework for social housing regulation are being reviewed. The review is informed by our commitment to reducing the number and cost of quangos and to cutting unnecessary regulation and inspection, and it will conclude as quickly as possible.

[Chi Onwurah (Newcastle upon Tyne Central) (Lab)]

The Leader of the House might not have had time to read the report by the independent Work Foundation on the geography of the recovery and on coalition policies, but it clearly says that although current coalition policies might lead to some recovery in the south and in the services sector, they will not support job creation in the regions. Can we have an urgent debate on how job creation in the regions is to be supported and on what the coalition’s policies for that should be?

Oral Answers to Questions

Chi Onwurah Excerpts

Monday 21st June 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

I was in South Africa at the weekend, doing my job. I saw for myself how a World cup can unify, enthuse and excite a country. I am determined that we do the same for this country in 2018.

[Chi Onwurah (Newcastle upon Tyne Central) (Lab)]

I am sure that the Minister is aware that Newcastle is one of the cities bidding for the 2018 World cup, and that it is immensely proud of its premiership football team. What will the Secretary of State do to ensure that the supporters of teams such as Newcastle United—I should say that I am on its supporters trust—can take steps for the co-operative ownership of their football teams? Will he meet me to discuss the matter?

Business of the House

Chi Onwurah Excerpts

Thursday 27th May 2010 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

All existing commitments under that programme will be honoured, and it will be replaced by a different programme that we hope will be more cost-effective. Of course, I will raise with Ministers at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills the hon. Gentleman’s point about support being extended to those in his constituency who face the loss of their jobs.

[Chi Onwurah (Newcastle upon Tyne Central) (Lab)]

My hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle upon Tyne North (Catherine McKinnell) has pointed out the uncertainty surrounding the future of One NorthEast, the regional development agency in the north-east. At the same time, the recent cuts targeted BIS and the Department for Communities and Local Government. We all know that we need to build up manufacturing and industry, particularly in the north-east and the green industries. Will the Leader of the House find time for a debate on how we are to do that and how regional development agencies will be funded to support it?

[Sir George Young]

The hon. Lady makes her point very forcefully. Next Thursday there will be questions to the relevant Minister, and she may like to table a question and use the opportunity during questions to that Department to get a substantive answer.