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.