Shared Rural Network

Debate between Chi Onwurah and John Bercow

Monday 28th October 2019 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I call Chi Onwurah.

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

rose—

[Mr Speaker]

I apologise to the hon. Lady; I meant to call Hannah Bardell.

Serco Justice System

Debate between Chi Onwurah and John Bercow

Thursday 4th July 2019 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

The expression “Be careful of what you wish for” springs to mind.

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

It seems that no matter what the specific wrongdoing or general incompetence of a private sector supplier, with a few warm words from the chief executive of the day, they have access to billions of pounds of contracts. Will the Minister put in place an analysis of the costs of private sector provision in terms of tendering, legal wrangling, profiteering and loss of skills versus the benefits of public sector provision? It seems as though it is simply public sector bad, private sector good.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chi Onwurah and John Bercow

Thursday 13th June 2019 Commons Chamber

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

rose—

[Mr Speaker]

Let us hear Newcastle’s view on the Mayor of London and the city of London.

[Chi Onwurah]

In those discussions with the Mayor of London, will the Minister seek his advice on why it costs more to take a bus four stops up the West road in Newcastle than it does to travel across the entire Greater London area? Will he advise the Minister for buses to apply that to the rest of the country, rather than cutting three quarters of a billion pounds from annual bus services?

Sittings of the House (29 March)

Debate between Chi Onwurah and John Bercow

Thursday 28th March 2019 Commons Chamber

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

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Probably like many people following this—or trying to follow this—I am having great difficulty understanding how the motion, which says itself that it does not meet the requirements of the withdrawal Act, can actually lead to us approving the withdrawal Act. My understanding now is that it seems to be saying that, for the purposes of the European Union, we will have approved the withdrawal Act, but for the purposes of British law, we will not have approved the withdrawal Act. Can such a position have any basis in reality? Can it be orderly for it not to have any basis in reality?

[Mr Speaker]

I genuinely do not want to cavil at what the hon. Lady is saying, because she is asking me a perfectly fair and reasonable question, but the way I would characterise it for colleagues, and I hope carry them with me in doing so, is as follows. It may seem a fine line, but there is a clear distinction between procedural propriety, with which the Chair has to be concerned, and legal exegesis, with which the Chair need not be concerned. Those matters are separate and distinct. Many right hon. and hon. Members of the House will be well versed in and have opinions about both those things, but my concern is with procedural propriety and the orderly conduct of business. Whether something makes sense in law and satisfies the hon. Lady’s palate in that regard is another matter.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chi Onwurah and John Bercow

Tuesday 26th February 2019 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

When the hon. Lady is not in Taunton Deane, she could trog around some of those territories if she were so inclined.

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

As the chair of the all-party parliamentary group for Africa, I welcome the expanded network. Following our recent constructive meeting with the Immigration Minister, may I urge the Secretary of State to meet her to see how the network can be used to support cultural and business exchanges between African countries and the UK, and particularly to provide the local knowledge that is essential for visa applications, which remain a matter of huge concern?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chi Onwurah and John Bercow

Monday 25th February 2019 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I should just emphasise to the House that, as things stand, the case is not sub judice. If the Secretary of State for the Home Department wishes to apply a self-denying ordinance—[Hon. Members: “Oh!”]. I say to the hon. and learned Member for Edinburgh South West (Joanna Cherry) and others that if he decrees that he will not comment on individual cases, that is perfectly within his ambit. It is a political judgment, but it is not a procedural requirement. It is quite important to be clear about that. That is his choice, and I respect it, but it has nothing to do with the rules of the House, still less the dictates of law.

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

T6. I am very proud of my Irish heritage on my mother’s side and my Nigerian heritage on my father’s side. Born and brought up on Tyneside, I have never held or sought any citizenship other than British. In what circumstances does the Secretary of State believe that he could strip me of that citizenship, and where would he suggest that I went?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chi Onwurah and John Bercow

Thursday 17th January 2019 Commons Chamber

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

rose—

[Mr Speaker]

Oh, very well. I call Barry Sheerman.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Speaker]

We are most grateful to the hon. Gentleman.

[Chi Onwurah]

At the last EFRA questions, the Secretary of State was in his place and he was typically effusive in his praise for the glorious north-eastern countryside that so many of my constituents enjoy. However, he refused to say how he would protect small-scale farmers, on whom the beauty and variety of our landscape depend, from the massive American agro-industrial machine. Will the Minister now set out his red lines to protect our landscape post Brexit?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chi Onwurah and John Bercow

Monday 5th November 2018 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I want to get through two more questions very quickly.

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

13. What recent steps he has taken to ensure that changes to existing leaseholds are more (a) accessible and (b) affordable.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chi Onwurah and John Bercow

Monday 26th March 2018 Commons Chamber

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

rose—

[Mr Speaker]

This question is not dissimilar to that tabled by the hon. Member for Newcastle upon Tyne Central (Chi Onwurah), and she should have her opportunity now, because we will probably not reach her question later.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Speaker]

It sounds like a scintillating experience, I am sure.

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

T10. My constituent, Emily Johnson, having worked all her adult life, gave birth to a baby daughter in December. Because she moved into an in-work training programme in September, she has been denied maternity pay and maternity allowance. Because her husband is self-employed, universal credit assumes he earns enough to support all three of them, although this is demonstrably not the case. Why is a woman who has paid into the benefits system all her adult life denied any support at this time?

Leaving the EU: Fisheries Management

Debate between Chi Onwurah and John Bercow

Tuesday 20th March 2018 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Splendid.

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

Today is St Cuthbert’s day, so it is right to celebrate the wonderful seafood of Northumberland, from Craster kippers to Lindisfarne oysters, which are enjoyed by my constituents and exported all over the world. However, should the coastal communities that depend on them ever have believed that a Tory party funded by the City would prioritise a deal on fishing as highly as a deal on finance?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chi Onwurah and John Bercow

Monday 5th March 2018 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

For a short single-sentence question without commas or semicolons, I call Chi Onwurah.

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

Why has the mechanised infantry vehicle programme not got an acquisitions strategy—never mind that the contract has only three years to go—when it could bring mechanised vehicles back to Newcastle?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chi Onwurah and John Bercow

Tuesday 30th January 2018 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. May I gently remind colleagues that at topical questions progress is expected to be much quicker? We need short, sharp inquiries; people should not simply seek to bring into topicals what they would have asked had they been called—which they were not—in substantive questions. Pithy questions; pithy answers.

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

I shall try to be pithy, Mr Speaker.

GKN is a great British engineering company, forged in the first industrial revolution with strengths in defence, aerospace, automotive, batteries and the internet of things, which should place it at the heart of our future economy—high skills, high productivity and high wage—but the debt-driven hostile takeover threatens 6,000 UK workers, pension funds and the supply chain. The Secretary of State has said that he will not comment on individual cases, so may I ask him a general question? Does he believe that it is in the national interest for City investment houses to use debt to dismantle our industrial base?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chi Onwurah and John Bercow

Thursday 6th July 2017 Commons Chamber

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

rose—

[Mr Speaker]

I will call the hon. Lady if she has a single-sentence question.

[Chi Onwurah]

International women in engineering day was 22 June. The Minister knows how important career choices are for women and the gender gap. What is she doing about that?

European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill

Debate between Chi Onwurah and John Bercow

2nd reading: House of Commons
Wednesday 1st February 2017 Commons Chamber

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

My constituency voted to remain. My country voted to leave. My conscience continues to believe that the country’s interests are best served within the EU. I believe that my job is to act in accordance with my conscience, in the interests of my constituents, within the parliamentary democracy I am proud to uphold. I believe that my constituents’ trust and belief in parliamentary democracy is the greatest security our country has against the rise of fascistic leaders and the destruction of our national value system. So it would be wrong to reject the result of the referendum. Newcastle is part of a nation, and that which unites us is greater than that which divides us. For that reason, I will vote for the Second Reading of this Bill.

But there is a “but”, and there was always going to be. This Government are attempting a constitutional land grab. The referendum was about the will of the people, not the will of a Prime Minister who is not even elected. Some 52% voted to leave the European Union but they did not vote to leave the single market, and they did not vote to leave the customs union.

The north-east is the only region in the country to export more than it imports, and more than half of that goes to the European Union. It is estimated that 160,000 jobs are directly linked to our membership of the single market, while our great universities received £155 million in EU funds in the current funding cycle alone.

When I talk to businesses, they are incandescent that Tories are rejecting the greatest free trade alliance on the planet. I can also tell the House that, having negotiated joint ventures, regulatory undertakings and multi-million pound contracts across three continents, I have never come across a negotiating position as inept as the one being adopted by this Government: “Give us what we want or we’ll duff up your economy.” I have zero confidence in their negotiating trade deals, in which Parliament will have no say. They will sell our socioeconomic birthright for a mess of right-wing pottage. When the Chancellor talks of changing our economic model, he means turning the UK into a low-wage, low-skilled tax haven with little or no welfare support.

More than a third of children in Newcastle live in poverty, and one in five of my constituents claim benefits. North-east workers are, on average, almost £4,000 a year worse off than they were 10 years ago. Am I going to vote for a Trumpian, dystopian, “alt-right” free market future for them? Absolutely not. Already, constituents are asking me questions I never expected to hear. They are asking whether they could be deported to the European Union. They want to know just how racist an insult has to be before they should complain. And they are asking whether there will be a nuclear war, and which side we would be on. The Government need to accept amendments to the Bill that will ensure that our values, our socioeconomic model and our membership of the single market are safeguarded; otherwise, democracy for my constituents, and my conscience will—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I am sorry, but in a bid to accommodate all would-be contributors, I shall have to reduce the time limit on Back-Bench speeches to three minutes with immediate effect.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chi Onwurah and John Bercow

Tuesday 31st January 2017 Commons Chamber

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

The Green Paper makes much of re-announcing the welcome increase in science spending which, following cuts of up to 50% over the last seven years, has finally returned it to the levels under the last Labour Government. Research and development funding, however, remains barely half the recommended 3% target that Labour has committed to. Does the Secretary of State agree that, given the impact of Brexit on UK science, the lack of any overarching vision and the focus on picking sector winners, rather than mobilising the whole—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I am extremely grateful to the hon. Lady—[Interruption.] Order. I am sorry, but we have a lot to get through. The Front Benchers, on both sides, must be much more self-disciplined. It is not fair on Back Benchers.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chi Onwurah and John Bercow

Thursday 21st April 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. Members should not be standing while the exchanges take place. I can perfectly well see them, and I may or may not come to them in due course.

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

I join the Minister in wishing Her Majesty a very happy birthday.

“Even if councils stopped…maintaining parks, closed all children’s centres, libraries, museums, leisure centres…they will not have saved enough money to plug the financial black hole they face”.

That was a quote from Lord Porter, the Tory chair of the Local Government Association. That black hole is of the Government’s making and local cultural institutions lose out doubly, because councils can no longer afford to match-fund European, Heritage Lottery or Arts Council grants. Our creative industries generate £84 billion per year. They are drivers of growth, economic regeneration as well as inspiration, hope and future jobs. Why are this Government starving their local roots?

Points of Order

Debate between Chi Onwurah and John Bercow

Monday 9th November 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for giving me notice of his point of order. He has made clear, both in what he sent to me and in what he has articulated on the Floor of the House, his concern about the manner in which he was treated on Friday.

While I am always keen to defend Members’ ability to represent their constituents outside as well as inside the House, the question of whether a Member of Parliament should be given access to a court of law in support of constituents is not a matter for me. I say that simply as a matter of fact. Nor is the conduct of court officials a matter on which it would be appropriate for me to comment, having not been present and therefore privy to the circumstances.

That said, I make two other observations. First, the hon. Gentleman has made his point and put his concern on the record. I have a sense that colleagues who know that they could be in a similar position will empathise with him. From personal experience over the past six months, I can confirm that he has always been fastidious in his courtesy—courteous to a fault—in his dealings with the Chair.

Secondly, I think that sometimes people who are not quite conversant with the circumstances, or who perhaps lack directly comparable experience but are anxious to execute their duties in the most zealous way, err on the side of caution. That caution sometimes makes them think that it is easier to say no than to say yes. I was not there, and I make no criticism of any individual, but personally I am very sympathetic to the hon. Gentleman and think it is very regrettable that he has had to bring the matter to the House. I think we will have to leave it there for today.

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

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. On Saturday there was announcement from Downing Street that everyone

“will be given a legal right to request”

a 10 megabits per second broadband connection. That is of immense importance to many businesses and people who are frustrated by current broadband coverage, yet no details were given about how that right is to be exercised, who will deliver it or who will fund it. Can you advise me of whether you have had notice of a written or oral statement on the subject, and whether government apparently by unaccountable press release is in order?

[Mr Speaker]

I say to the hon. Lady that the subject is not new. The adequacy or otherwise of superfast broadband access, in both urban and rural areas, has been extensively debated over a period. It seems to me that the distinction is between disclosing a basic intent and describing a detailed policy. Where the former is concerned, there is nothing particularly unusual about Ministers giving an indication of what they intend in speeches around the country, outside the House. If, however, the Government propose to roll out a specific policy that is different from that which has existed hitherto, the House should be the first to hear about that policy and have the opportunity to question the relevant Minister upon it.

I think we have reached the happy conclusion of points of order for today.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chi Onwurah and John Bercow

Monday 14th September 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I call Luke Hall. He is not in the Chamber, so I call Chi Onwurah.

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

T7. As term starts, Newcastle will proudly welcome 57,000 university students. However, the Government have stopped compensating Newcastle City Council for the fact that students do not pay council tax, and have excluded student accommodation from the new homes bonus. Given that the council has already suffered over £100 million of cuts, will the Minister take into account the number of students and others who do not pay council tax when calculating what remains of the grant?

Point of Order

Debate between Chi Onwurah and John Bercow

Tuesday 23rd June 2015 Commons Chamber

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

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Today is National Women in Engineering Day, and it is also Parliamentary Links Day, when we celebrate the links between Parliament, science and engineering—celebrations that you yourself, Mr Speaker, were gracious enough to launch this morning. Could you advise me how it might be in order for me to get two such important events on the record?

[Mr Speaker]

Any advice from me, as the hon. Lady now knows, is superfluous. She has found her own salvation: the matter is on the record; it can never be erased from it. I hope she is satisfied. It is a very good cause.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chi Onwurah and John Bercow

Thursday 27th November 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

No colleague need be shy; repetition is not an unknown phenomenon in the House of Commons.

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

2. What steps she is taking to ensure equal pay for men and women.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chi Onwurah and John Bercow

Thursday 6th June 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Mr Edward Leigh, not here.

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

4. What his assessment is of the potential effect on the UK wind industry of not setting a target to decarbonise the power sector by 2030.

Points of Order

Debate between Chi Onwurah and John Bercow

Tuesday 12th February 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I am grateful to the hon. Lady for her point of order. I can say with confidence that the Deputy Prime Minister would not deliberately mislead the House, for that would be a serious transgression and I know that he would not commit it. Whether he has done so is not altogether obvious to me, but the Deputy Prime Minister will have heard, or if he has not done so, will very soon come to hear of the content of the hon. Lady’s point of order, and if in the light of it he judges that the record needs to be corrected, it is open to him to do so. On top of that, she has put her concerns on the record and it is open to her, if she judges it necessary, to pursue the matter with the right hon. Gentleman in correspondence and in other ways. That is the best guidance I can give her for now.

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

Further to that point of order, Mr Speaker. Is it not the case that by asserting that Newcastle is closing all its arts venues, the Deputy Prime Minister is insulting the people of Newcastle and our long tradition of supporting the arts even in the worst of times and under the worst of Governments? Would it not therefore be in order for the Deputy Prime Minister to offer an apology to the people of Newcastle?

[Mr Speaker]

The question whether the people of Newcastle, whom we are not in a position now to consult, feel that they have been insulted or affronted is a matter for the people of Newcastle. In answer to the hon. Lady’s inquiry whether it would be in order for the Deputy Prime Minister to apologise, the answer is that it would be if he judged it appropriate to do so, but it is not for me to decree that he should. I hope that is helpful. All points of order on the matter have now been exhausted.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chi Onwurah and John Bercow

Thursday 6th September 2012 Commons Chamber

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

Two and a half years in, this Government still offer no significant support for small, innovative, high-growth businesses, which are exactly the kind that we need to get us out of this double-dip recession made in Downing street. The National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts has called on the Government to expand the small business research initiative. Started by Labour, it uses Government procurement to help to turn innovative small businesses into world beaters—we support that call. Is it any wonder that business confidence is low when the Government plan to spend 10 times more on subsidising local weekly bin collections than on innovative small business procurement? Can the Minister tell me whether they will now change—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I am sorry but the questions and answers are far too long today. A quick sentence and we are done.

[Chi Onwurah]

Will the Government now change course and bring forward proper support for small, innovative businesses?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chi Onwurah and John Bercow

Thursday 17th May 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

The Minister of State is a self-effacing fellow. If memory serves me correctly, although he was unsuccessful in Mansfield he did lose in 1987 by only 56 votes, and I think the House ought to know that.

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

I welcome the progress on carbon capture and storage, a technology with great potential. Will the Minister also update us on another clean coal technology being pioneered in Newcastle, underground coal gasification?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chi Onwurah and John Bercow

Thursday 1st December 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

The only hon. Member standing who has not had a go is Chi Onwurah.

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

Thank you, Mr Speaker. As my hon. Friend the Member for Gateshead (Ian Mearns) said, many of our constituents face unemployment as a direct consequence of the inept and unfair way this Government have introduced the changes to the feed-in tariffs. What are the Government doing to give them security in their jobs and to give some certainty to the industry?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chi Onwurah and John Bercow

Monday 7th March 2011 Commons Chamber

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

T7. Northumbria police force is losing more than 1,000 jobs, including 300 front-line police. As a result, young recruits promised a job last year have now been told that those jobs are no longer available. What guarantee, therefore, can the Secretary of State offer to the people of the north-east that crime will not rise as a result of the cuts? Furthermore, how can she reassure those who have worked so hard to win a job that they will be prioritised—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. One question must be enough, because other people are waiting.

Point of Order

Debate between Chi Onwurah and John Bercow

Wednesday 1st December 2010 Commons Chamber

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

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. I should like to secure advice on an answer that was provided to me yesterday during questions to the Attorney-General. In response to my question—[Interruption.]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. May I appeal to hon. and right hon. Members who are leaving the Chamber to do so quickly and quietly? It would be helpful if I could hear the point of order from the hon. Lady—I might then be in a position to respond to it.

[Chi Onwurah]

I asked the Solicitor-General about the UK’s failure to sign up to the proposed EU directive on preventing and combating the trafficking of human beings. He said that the UK was a signatory, and repeated that in response to a question from my hon. Friend the Member for West Dunbartonshire (Gemma Doyle). However, that is not the case: the UK has opted out of the proposed directive. Could you advise me, Mr Speaker, on what is the best way for the Solicitor-General to correct his mistake?

[Mr Speaker]

I am grateful to the hon. Lady for her point of order. The short answer to her question is that the best way for a mistake to be corrected is for the Minister, if he has made a mistake, to correct it. We are about to hear from the hon. and learned Solicitor-General.

Aviation Security Incident

Debate between Chi Onwurah and John Bercow

Monday 1st November 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I am grateful to the Home Secretary and other colleagues for their co-operation.

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

rose—

[Mr Speaker]

We were about to proceed to the main business, but not before we have had a point of order from Chi Onwurah.

Point of Order

Debate between Chi Onwurah and John Bercow

Monday 1st November 2010 Commons Chamber

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

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Over the weekend there have been reports in the press that children’s hospitals such as the Royal Victoria infirmary in Newcastle will face substantial cuts in funding. I have seen the work that is done, and I know how much concern there will be among parents and children. Will you, Mr Speaker, explain for the benefit of those not familiar with the ways of the House that any such announcement should take place on the Floor of the House, and will you ask the Minister with responsibility to come here and confirm those reports, or reassure us on them?

[Mr Speaker]

I am grateful to the hon. Lady for her point of order, although I am not sure that I will be able to satisfy her with my response to it. The form of Government announcements is a matter for the Government—that is to say, whether there is an oral or a written statement is a matter for Ministers to decide, not the Chair. I suspect that the hon. Lady will remain eagerly alert for any developments on this matter.

The second point I will make to the hon. Lady, which I hope she will forgive me for making, is that I have a sense that her attempted point of order will be communicated to either The Evening Chronicle or the Journal in Newcastle, or possibly both.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chi Onwurah and John Bercow

Monday 25th October 2010 Commons Chamber

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

The last Government committed themselves to 2 megabit broadband for everyone by the end of 2012. You have committed yourself to vague promises to improve the broadband network. Can you say precisely when everyone in the country will have 2 megabit broadband?

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I have committed myself to nothing on this matter and I can say nothing on this matter, but I hope that the Secretary of State can.

Education Funding

Debate between Chi Onwurah and John Bercow

Monday 5th July 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I apologise for having to interrupt the hon. Lady, but we simply do not have time for preambles at this point. Will she please bring herself to put a question?

[Chi Onwurah]

Yes, I would like to ask the Secretary of State if he will at least acknowledge that the investment of the last Labour Government will reap real rewards for Newcastle, for my school and for my city.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chi Onwurah and John Bercow

Thursday 17th June 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Excellent! Things are getting better.

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

10. What guidance his Department issues to local authorities on the provision of subsidised bus services.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chi Onwurah and John Bercow

Thursday 3rd June 2010 Commons Chamber

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

Business, innovation and skills are the engine that will drive forward our economic recovery. Given that, could the Secretary of State tell me the number of high-value engineering apprenticeships that he intends to fund from his Department in the north-east this year, and how it will increase over time? Further, as he has already accepted £836 million of cuts to his important Department, will he acknowledge that any further cuts would undermine our future economic recovery?

[Mr Speaker]

The Secretary of State will provide one brief reply.