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?