Procedure of the House

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Thursday 26th March 2015 Commons Chamber

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

By definition, the Government of the day have a majority in the House and can remove a Speaker any day of the week. It is a tribute to our constitutional settlement that no Government have chosen even to attempt to do that since 1835. That is why the motion is so wrong. The Speaker used to be the appointee of the Crown, but today the Speaker is a servant of the House, not the poodle of the majority party. [Interruption.]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. There is noise on both sides. We cannot have recurring noise when colleagues are speaking, from either side. Let us hear Mr Chris Bryant.

[Chris Bryant]

If the Speaker should have any bias at all, as has been the established practice for more than 150 years, it should be a bias in favour of allowing more debate and continuing discussion and enabling scrutiny. If, therefore, there is a bias at all, it must always be in favour of the Back Bencher, not the Government. For that reason, the Government are always tempted to get rid of a Speaker, but they have never chosen to do so until today. A Speaker should always be able to order proceedings without any fear or favour, in particular without any fear of the Government, the Executive or the Crown.

Points of Order

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Thursday 19th March 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Anything is possible, but in the meantime, as the puckish grin on his face eloquently testifies, the hon. Gentleman has found his own salvation.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. You have already referred to the fact that this parliamentary Session is coming to an end and that it is difficult for hon. Members to get replies to questions. I think that you were in the Chair on 4 March when I asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury whether he could confirm the figure, which the Conservatives had announced on 5 January, of £83 million for the cuts to Arts Council England’s budget, which would start in April. He undertook to write to me at the time, but he has still not done so, despite the fact that I also wrote to him on 4 March. Would it be in order for you to encourage the Financial Secretary to make sure that he replies to all correspondence, particularly on undertakings he has given, before Dissolution?

[Mr Speaker]

I have no control over the matter, but it is a very simple ethical principle that people should honour their commitments, whether in respect of the House of Commons or elsewhere. If a Minister has committed to write to the hon. Gentleman, either stating explicitly that the letter would be sent before Dissolution or giving the strong impression that it would be, it just seems to me to be axiomatic that that should happen, and it would be extraordinary if anybody were for a moment to suppose otherwise. But I know the hon. Gentleman, and he does not let go, so I have no doubt that he will persevere on the matter in all manner of ways until he receives some satisfaction.

Bill Presented

Confiscation Orders (Sentencing and Offence) Bill

Presentation and First Reading (Standing Order No. 57)

Keith Vaz, supported by Nicola Blackwood, Dr Julian Huppert and Yasmin Qureshi, presented a Bill to provide that payment of the recoverable amount determined in a confiscation order by a court must be included as a component of a custodial sentence; to provide that non-payment of the recoverable amount be a criminal offence; and for connected purposes.

Bill read the First time; to be read a Second time on Friday 27 March, and to be printed (Bill 191).

Points of Order

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Wednesday 11th March 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I am advised that the advice the hon. Gentleman was given is correct. The hon. Gentleman will have heard that the Acting Clerk has confirmed the accuracy of that advice to the Chair.

More widely, perhaps I can take this opportunity to make it clear—I think this largely deals with the concerns of the hon. Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant)—that the occasional practice, and it is usually a very occasional matter, of a Member going through both Lobbies as a means of abstaining has long been deprecated by the Chair. It is not a breach of any particular rules, so far as I am aware, but it has long been deprecated by the Chair. It did happen on a piece of legislation a couple of years ago. I have to say, I strongly deprecated the decision of a particular Member to abstain in that way. I think it is an unsatisfactory way to behave and it is better avoided.

I think we have dealt with the matter, but if the hon. Member for Rhondda now wants to have his say on his feet, rather than from his seat, doubtless he will do so.

[Chris Bryant]

indicated dissent.

Bills Presented

Standardised Testing for Diabetes (People Aged 40 and Over)

Presentation and First Reading (Standing Order No. 57)

Keith Vaz, Mike Freer, Andrew George, Grahame M. Morris, Jim Shannon, Mark Durkan, Mark Reckless, Mr Adrian Sanders, Dr Julian Huppert, Valerie Vaz, John Robertson, Mr Jim Cunningham, Mr Alan Campbell and Phil Wilson presented a Bill to require the Secretary of State to provide annual standardised tests for diabetes for those aged 40 and over; and for connected purposes.

Bill read the First time; to be read a Second time on Friday 27 March, and to be printed (Bill 186).

National Health Service

Presentation and First Reading (Standing Order No. 57)

Caroline Lucas, Andrew George, John Pugh, Mr Michael Meacher, Chris Williamson, Mr Roger Godsiff, Kelvin Hopkins, Jeremy Corbyn, John McDonnell, Dr Eilidh Whiteford, Hywel Williams and Katy Clark presented a Bill to re-establish the Secretary of State’s legal duty as to the National Health Service in England and to make provision about the other duties of the Secretary of State in that regard; to make provision about the administration and accountability of the National Health Service in England; to repeal section 1 of the National Health Service (Private Finance) Act 1997 and sections 38 and 39 of the Immigration Act 2014; to make provision about the application of international law in relation to health services in the United Kingdom; and for connected purposes.

Bill read the First time; to be read a Second time on Friday 27 March, and to be printed (Bill 187).

Point of Order

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Thursday 8th January 2015 Commons Chamber

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Many hon. Members have referred to the events in Paris yesterday. I wonder whether it would be in order for you to suggest to Members, peers, journalists and anybody else that if they wanted to join other Members in Westminster Hall at noon holding either a pen or a pencil, that would be an act of solidarity with the French people.

[Mr Speaker]

I am extremely grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his point of order. Members who have been present in the Chamber for some minutes will have heard the hon. Member for Cardiff West (Kevin Brennan) mention that it was intended by significant numbers of Members, staff in the service of the House and apparently also journalists to congregate in Westminster Hall holding pens in an act of solidarity with the people of France. Moreover, he suggested that I might wish to suspend the sitting. I hope that he will understand why, at short notice and with scheduled business, I am not minded to suggest a suspension of the sitting.

However, pursuant to what the hon. Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant) has said, I would certainly wish to offer encouragement to any colleague from the Back Benches who wishes to attend the event in Westminster Hall to do so, in the knowledge that if that Member wishes to speak in the upcoming debate and returns promptly to the Chamber, he or she will suffer no detriment in the pecking order for speeches. I hope that is a suitable way in which to handle this matter. I thank the hon. Gentleman for his point of order.

Bill presented

Corporation Tax (Northern Ireland) Bill

Presentation and First Reading (Standing Order No. 57)

Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, supported by the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister, Danny Alexander, Secretary Theresa Villiers, Mr David Gauke, Priti Patel and Andrea Leadsom, presented a Bill to make provision for and in connection with the creation of a Northern Ireland rate of corporation tax.

Bill read the First time; to be read a Second time tomorrow, and to be printed (Bill 149), with explanatory notes (Bill 149-EN).

Points of Order

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Monday 10th November 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I think it is probably safest for me to say to the right hon. Gentleman that I leave that for him to interpret. I do not want to embarrass him, but he has an intellect truly frightening, so I am quite sure he can interpret these matters to his own satisfaction.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

Further to that point of order, Mr Speaker. I am delighted that you will allow some latitude in the debate later on, because I always like it when you allow a certain amount of latitude in the House.

The Home Secretary wrote to the shadow Home Secretary saying:

“The Government has been clear throughout that Parliament should have the opportunity to vote on the final package—

which includes the arrest warrant—

“before we formally notify Europe of our desire to remain bound by it.”

We may debate whatever we want, but what really matters is what we have voted for and what, in the end, goes into law and is resolved by virtue of what we have voted on. Can you make it clear that the Government have been extremely unwise to proceed in this way, and that legal uncertainty will remain unless we are absolutely clear that by virtue of what we are voting on this afternoon, we will not be notifying the European Union of joining the European arrest warrant?

[Mr Speaker]

All we can do today is have a debate, and after that debate Members will have either to vote for or against the regulations or decide to abstain upon them. What motions might or might not be put forward on a subsequent occasion, either to satisfy Members’ appetite or for the purposes of the clarity that the hon. Gentleman hankers after, is another matter. That, of course, is in the hands of the usual channels.

I think I have given a fairly clear indication that this has been a rather sorry saga and that the House should not be put in this position. Most of us think that a commitment made is a commitment that should be honoured, and we should try to operate according to sensible standards rather than trying to slip things through by some sort of artifice. It may be the sort of thing that some people think is very clever, but people outside the House expect straightforward dealing, and they are frankly contemptuous—I use the word advisedly —of what is not straight dealing. Let us try to learn from this experience and do better.

Criminal Law

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Monday 10th November 2014 Commons Chamber

[Chris Bryant]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker.

[Mr Speaker]

Before I allow the intervention of the hon. Member for North East Somerset, we have a point of order.

[Chris Bryant]

“Erskine May” says that if a Member prays in aid a document, they must be prepared to submit it to the House. The hon. Member for Ipswich (Ben Gummer) prayed in aid documents that apparently came from the Government Whips. Surely they should be made available to the House.

[Mr Speaker]

It is not as simple as that. The ruling refers to state papers, and I do not honestly think that some document circulated clandestinely or otherwise as a result of the wishes of Her Majesty’s Government Whips Office necessarily constitutes a state paper. It is probably just some piece of advice or other material being lobbed around the Chamber. It does not have a hallowed status.

[Chris Bryant]

Further to that point of order, Mr Speaker. I think state papers would normally include anything prepared by a civil servant for a Government Minister. I am sure that the papers to which the hon. Member for Ipswich referred were such.

[Mr Speaker]

I have not seen the document in question, although it may be presented at some point. At this stage, all I am saying is that it is not obvious to me that a state paper is at stake or that the hon. Gentleman has suffered any detriment. We will leave it there. I think that the right hon. Lady was about to take an intervention from Mr Jacob Rees-Mogg.

Points of Order

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Wednesday 5th November 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his point of order and for giving me notice of this matter. It is of course open to the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee, which the hon. Gentleman so ably chairs, to exercise its formal power to summon witnesses, but I hope it will be possible to resolve the issue without recourse to that. The hon. Gentleman has made his point and exposed the issue publicly. I am sure that the former Prime Minister intends no discourtesy and will swiftly respond.

For the record, I can also advise the hon. Gentleman that some years ago, when I served as a member of the International Development Committee under the chairmanship of the right hon. Member for Gordon (Sir Malcolm Bruce), who of course continues to chair it, we asked to see former Prime Minister Blair in relation to the middle east peace process. Mr Blair did attend and addressed us knowledgably and with alacrity, so I hope the hon. Gentleman will keep his hopes alive.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. You know that tomorrow, we will have an innovation in this House. For the first time ever, the front of the Order Paper will acknowledge that 100 years ago, Captain Arthur O’Neill, the former Member for Mid-Antrim and Captain, 2nd Battalion, The Lifeguards, was killed in action in Belgium during the first world war. That puts our acknowledgement of his service on the record on the Order Paper, but I wonder whether, in your infinite wisdom, you could find a way to ensure that it ends up in the written record of tomorrow’s proceedings as well.

[Mr Speaker]

In my “infinite wisdom”—the hon. Gentleman’s words, not mine—I can, and I will.

[Chris Bryant]

Good. Well done.

[Mr Speaker]

I am always grateful for the approbation of the hon. Gentleman.

Point of Order

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Thursday 11th September 2014 Commons Chamber

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. I hope you will consider an innovation, although not a very modernising one. As you know, we are commemorating the 100th anniversary of the start of the first world war and the House has 19 shields of Members who were killed during that war. Three more of them are to be added before we come back after the recess. I wonder whether we could on 6 November feature a commemoration on the front of the Order Paper of the first Member of Parliament who died 100 years ago, Captain Arthur O’Neill who died at Zillebeke Ridge, and then continue that practice throughout the period of the war to commemorate the death of those Members who died 100 years ago.

[Mr Speaker]

I have two points in response to the hon. Gentleman. First, if memory serves, the decision to install a further three plaques followed a request by the hon. Gentleman. I would not want his natural self-effacement, to which we are all accustomed in this House, to get the better of him. I want him to enjoy the proper plaudits for the action that is about to be taken. Secondly, I rather like that idea. It is new to me. I do not know whether there are any notable cost implications. It is an innovation, and I think it a rather attractive one. I would like to see whether the idea could be taken forward.

Bill Presented

Recall of MPs Bill

Presentation and First Reading (Standing Order No. 57)

The Deputy Prime Minister, supported by the Prime Minister, Mr William Hague, Greg Clark, Tom Brake and Sam Gyimah, presented a Bill to make provision about the recall of Members of the House of Commons; and for connected purposes.

Bill read the First time; to be read a Second time tomorrow, and to be printed (Bill 94) with explanatory notes (Bill 94-EN).

Gaza

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Monday 14th July 2014 Commons Chamber

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. In relation to the Bill which has just had its First Reading, if all the motions on the Order Paper today and tomorrow are agreed, the vote on Second Reading will take place in 24 hours and six minutes. If the motion is carried later tonight, we will not be able to table any amendments to the Bill until late tonight. Can you clarify whether you will therefore allow manuscript amendments to be considered tomorrow afternoon?

[Mr Speaker]

Yes. My purpose is to seek to facilitate the House, not to be an obstacle to effective scrutiny. In the circumstances which the hon. Gentleman has pithily summarised, I do not think the normal rules of engagement apply. The House is being confronted, for better or for worse, rightly or wrongly, with a particular arrangement which places very great demands on Members, so yes, I will be very open to the receipt of manuscript amendments. I hope that that assuages the hon. Gentleman’s concerns.

Universal Credit

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Wednesday 9th July 2014 Commons Chamber

[Chris Bryant]

That was a spectacular instance, as Sir Bob Kerslake might put it, of “beating about the bush”. It is a very simple question, to which the answer can only be yes or no: has the Department for Work and Pensions business case for the implementation of universal credit been approved by the Chancellor of the Exchequer? It is depressing that this Tory Minister and the Tory Prime Minister cannot tell the difference between an annual budget and a business case. It is pretty straightforward.

On 30 June, the employment Minister—who is disgracefully not answering for herself today—answered that question by saying:

“The Chief Secretary to the Treasury has approved the UC Strategic Outline Business Case plans for the remainder of this Parliament (2014-15) as per the ministerial announcement”.—[Official Report, 30 June 2014; Vol. 583, c. 434W.]

She was referring to the ministerial statement of 5 December, which explicitly runs up to 2017. On Monday, however, she had the carpet pulled from under her feet, as Sir Bob Kerslake answered exactly the same question with gratifying honesty, saying that

“it has not been signed off.”

It got worse yesterday when the Financial Secretary, answering the same question, said that all the Treasury has done is approve funding for the programme for another eight months, while a DWP spokesperson said that the Treasury has

“approved all funding to date”,

as if that was some grand vindication.

The same simple question has now been answered in eight contradictory ways. Not everybody can be telling the truth. There has been so much beating about the bush that it feels as if this House has been misled by a Government engaged in a deliberate act of deception. [Interruption.] The truth is that the Department is relying month by month on handouts from the national food bank. How ironic!

On 5 December 2013, the Secretary of State told the House that universal credit would bring

“a £38 billion economic benefit to society”.—[Official Report, 5 December 2013; Vol. 571, c. 65WS.]

I notice that he has just amended that figure to £35 billion. That figure is part of the business case. Has it been signed off by the Treasury, or is he just making things up?

The Secretary of State has told this House on 28 occasions that universal credit has always been on time and on budget; yet Sir Jeremy Heywood said on Monday that the Treasury and the Major Projects Authority had to tell the Secretary of State that his own project was “way off track”. When was he told that? Why did the Secretary of State not tell this House?

I will be honest: we would love to help the Secretary of State implement universal credit, but confession comes before redemption, and as long as he remains in denial he remains beyond help. I ask him once again to be straight with the House: has the business case—the business case, not the budget—for universal credit, which he says will come to fruition in 2017, been signed off—yes or no? [Interruption.]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. Just before the Secretary of State replies, I listened very carefully to what the hon. Gentleman said. He made no personal attack on any one individual. [Interruption.] Order. I will deal with this—the hon. Gentleman will have to accept my ruling, whether he likes it or not. The hon. Gentleman made no personal attack on any individual Minister, but my judgment, having heard him out, was that he went beyond the line in making an accusation of deliberate deception against a group of Ministers. [Interruption.] Order. I know what I am doing and I certainly do not require any help from the Education Secretary—that would be completely unimaginable. I ask Members to have regard to the way in which they express themselves. The point has been made, the situation is clear and the Secretary of State can now reply.

Speaker’s Statement

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Wednesday 18th June 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his gracious words.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. I know that you know that parliamentary procedure says that we should not be allowed to applaud in this Chamber, but might not this be the kind of occasion when the Speaker abolished the rule and allowed applause?

[Mr Speaker]

There is an old adage that was taught to me by the hon. Member for New Forest East (Dr Lewis) some 30 years ago that if one is intent upon a particular course of action, one should never give a bureaucrat a chance to say no. I think that I will leave it there for today.

I now have to announce the result of the deferred Division on the question relating to European Union document No. 15808/13, a Commission Report: Alert Mechanism Report 2014, and other documents referred on 11 and 18 December 2013 and 9 April and 11 June 2014. The Ayes were 269 and the Noes were 217, so the Ayes have it.

[The Division list is published at the end of today’s debates.]

Speaker’s Statement

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Wednesday 30th April 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I have to inform the House that I have received the following letter from the Clerk of the House:

“Dear Mr Speaker,

I write to inform you that I have indicated to Her Majesty The Queen that I wish to surrender my Patent as Clerk of the House at the end of August this year. I shall then have served the House for 42 years, over eleven Parliaments, and for the last decade at the Table.

As Clerk of the House I have been fortunate indeed to have the best job in the service of any Parliament—indeed one of the best jobs in the world.

I have been lucky enough to have been involved in most of the innovations in the procedure and business of the House over the last ten years. Whatever the vicissitudes of Parliamentary life, and whatever brickbats may be thrown at it, I can truly say that the House now is a more effective scrutineer of the executive, and more topical, relevant and independent-minded, than I have ever known it.

As Chief Executive of the House Service of some 2,000 staff I have had the great privilege of leading a remarkable group of talented people, deeply committed to the House and, whatever their role here, all rightly proud of being stewards of the central institution in our democracy.

That commitment and pride has been a feature of working life here for as long as I can remember; but in recent years it has been coupled with increasing levels of professionalism and teamwork and an ever clearer focus on delivering the services required by the House and its Members, as well as reaching out, through education and information, to the world beyond Westminster.

I am so grateful to have had, throughout my service, and especially over the last three years, the support and friendship of Members on all sides of the House, and especially of the occupants of the Chair, as well as the happy camaraderie, support and counsel of my colleagues at all levels.

I have spent much of my career seeking to make the House and its work, and the work of its Members, better understood by those whom it serves: the citizens of the United Kingdom. For I believe that with understanding comes valuing, and with valuing comes ownership. And our citizens should feel pride in the ownership of their Parliament.

The House of Commons, across the centuries, has never expected to be popular, and indeed it should not court popularity. But the work it does in calling governments to account, and its role as a crucible of ideas and challenge, deserves to be better known, better understood, and so properly valued. So too does the work of individual Members: not only working for the interests of their constituencies and constituents, but often as the last resort of the homeless and hopeless, the people whom society has let down. This is a worthy calling, and should be properly acknowledged and appreciated.

This House is the precious centre of our Parliamentary democracy; and with all my heart I wish it well.

Yours sincerely,

Robert Rogers”

[Applause.]

That spontaneous reaction—

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

Is unparliamentary.

[Mr Speaker]

It may be unparliamentary, but it bears eloquent testimony to the esteem in which Robert is held.

In myself acknowledging the wisdom and dedication that the Clerk and Chief Executive of the House has demonstrated, I know that colleagues will wish me to assure them that there will be an opportunity to pay the traditional tribute to the Clerk at a later date. I should also mention, for the convenience of the House, that I shall naturally put in place a competition for the appointment of the Clerk’s successor.

High Speed Rail (London - West Midlands) Bill: Select Committee

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Tuesday 29th April 2014 Commons Chamber

[Chris Bryant]

rose—

[Mr Speaker]

Before the hon. Gentleman intervenes, let me say that I feel sure beyond doubt that the Minister was trying to be helpful to the House, but in a similar vein perhaps I ought to emphasise to colleagues that in respect of the matter of fees or charges, appertaining as they do to a private Bill, such matters would ordinarily be raised by right hon. and hon. Members with the Chairman of Ways and Means, who oversees such matters. A visit even to the Private Bill Office might be beneficial to Members. What I am saying politely to colleagues is that there is no great merit in raising the matter with me, notwithstanding the good intentions of the Minister’s intervention.

[Chris Bryant]

I have almost forgotten what I was going to ask after that rather lengthy—but welcome—contribution to the debate. The Minister has already said that the Committee that we are appointing—we are naming the members of the Committee in the motion before the House—will continue after the general election. It is quite clear that this is providing a safe berth for a Conservative Member of the House. When we win the general election next May, will the Committee membership and the chairmanship automatically change party?

Ukraine

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Tuesday 18th March 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Newmark]

He seems to have forgotten one important point. You can add targeted assassinations on British soil to your list.

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I do not have a list, but I think that the hon. Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant) does.

[Chris Bryant]

That was one of the other things I was leaving aside for a moment.

We know how Putin reacts in a crisis. That is what really worries me. He always reacts with extreme force. In Beslan the state used such force to resolve a hostage crisis that 334 of the hostages, including 186 children, were killed. When terrorists from the Chechen republic took over a theatre in Moscow, the state’s intervention ended up killing not only all the terrorists, but 130 of the hostages.

We also know about his territorial ambition. I can do no better than quote the right hon. Member for Rayleigh and Wickford (Mr Francois). During a debate on Georgia in the previous Parliament, he said:

“Whatever one may think of Georgia’s actions on 7 August, Russia used grossly disproportionate force in response, and by subsequently recognising its supported regimes in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, Russia is attempting to redraw the map of Europe by force”.—[Official Report, 20 January 2009; Vol. 486, c. 686.]

That is exactly what we are hearing again today. What more do we need to know?

In Syria, Putin actively prevented an early resolution to the conflict and assisted Assad’s barbarous regime in repressing its people, and all for the strategic advantage that accrues to Russia, as has already been said, from its naval base in Tartus, which is vital for access to the Mediterranean. Now, after trying to bribe, bully and coerce the whole of Ukraine into aligning itself with Russia and against the European Union, he has effectively annexed part of an independent country.

I am afraid that the international response, as the right hon. and learned Member for Kensington (Sir Malcolm Rifkind) said, has thus far been pitiful and spineless. People have even trotted out in this Chamber the argument that most of the people in Crimea are Russian speaking and wanted to join Russia in the first place. Can Members not hear history running through the decades? In 1938 the British apologists for Hitler, combined with those who felt that Germany had been treated badly after the first world war, combined with the British mercantilists who wanted to do more business with Germany, and combined with the British cowards who wanted to avoid war at all costs, argued, using the same argument that has been advanced today, that the vast majority of the people in the Sudetenland were really German and wanted to be part of Germany.

I have no desire for us to be at war, or for there to be a war of any kind. I opposed the proposed military intervention in Syria for the simple reason that I could not see how bombing that country would help. However, we should be ready for any eventuality. I was saddened that when I formally asked the Foreign Secretary on 30 November 2011 whether he would rule out the use of force in tackling Iran’s illegal nuclear ambitions, he refused to do so. Others agreed with him. I was told, including by Members on my side of the House, “Don’t be silly. You simply can’t rule things like that out.” Well, perhaps they were right, but I want to ask now why on earth we ruled out any military intervention, in whatever set of circumstances and at whatever stage, from the very beginning of Putin’s advances into Ukraine. I am not arguing for war; I am simply asking why we do one thing for Iran but say exactly the opposite when dealing with Russia.

I think that the EU has shown little honour in this. The Ukrainian Government have behaved with extraordinary and admirable restraint.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Speaker]

I think the Leader of the House has concluded his speech.

Question put and agreed to.

Resolved,

That this House has considered Ukraine.

[Chris Bryant]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Two years ago, on 12 March 2012, this House unanimously agreed a motion calling on the Government to introduce precisely the kind of Magnitsky list that the Leader of the House just mentioned. At the time, the Government said they were not going to oppose the motion—indeed, those in the Government shouted “aye” along with the hon. Member for Esher and Walton (Mr Raab), who had introduced the motion. Yet despite it having been unanimously agreed, the Leader of the House has today, as far as I can understand it, reneged on that position. Far from being more robust with Russia, we are being less robust today than we were two years ago. Have I got that right?

[Mr Speaker]

Far be it from me to say whether anybody has reneged or not, although I note in passing that to renege, whether disagreeable, not least in this case to the hon. Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant), is not unparliamentary—nothing unparliamentary has happened. He is a considerable expert in parliamentary procedure and has just written a two-volume tome on the history of Parliament. He may well be very dissatisfied, but he has vented his concerns and they are on the record.

Points of Order

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Wednesday 5th March 2014 Commons Chamber

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. You will have heard the Minister for Skills and Enterprise, the hon. Member for West Suffolk (Matthew Hancock) refer a moment ago to the fact that he had seen the evidence on the future jobs fund, which was cancelled in 2010. The convention and courtesy in this House is that if a Minister prays in aid a piece of information, he makes it available to the whole of the House. The Minister served his apprenticeship working for the Chancellor of the Exchequer, so I can only assume that he knows that fully to be the case and that he is, therefore, desperate to publish that information in the Library of the House later this afternoon.

[Mr Speaker]

The countenance of the Minister gives no indication of his awareness or unawareness of that convention. I confirm that it is a convention. The Minister is champing at the bit. He will not be silenced, and nor would we want to silence him.

Housing Benefit and Universal Credit in the Social Housing Sector (Regular Payments)

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Wednesday 12th February 2014 Commons Chamber

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. I do not know whether you noticed, because you are blind in some of these matters—deliberately so—but the Tory Whips were standing outside the Chamber during the Division and persuading Conservative Members not to vote, so we on the Opposition side of the House hope that that means that they have changed their minds and will get rid of the bedroom tax as soon as possible. If they will not, we will.

My point of order relates to the bedroom tax. Mr Speaker, you will recall that earlier this year, when asked how many people had been affected by the loophole in the bedroom tax legislation, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, a Member of this House, said that the number was between 3,000 and 5,000. In a written answer, the Minister of State, the hon. Member for Wirral West (Esther McVey), also a Member of this House, said that she did not know how many had been affected. Lord Freud, a Minister in another place, said that it was an insignificant number. Today, however, he told the Work and Pensions Committee of this House that the number was 5,000. We have been doing their work for them, and from freedom of information requests to local authorities in England, Wales and Scotland, we already know, from just the third that replied, of 16,000 cases. I know that there is a means whereby a Minister in this House can correct the record, but how can a Minister in the other House correct the record in this House?

[Mr Speaker]

As I understand it, at this stage the matter is essentially the property of the Committee. I readily accept that it is a Committee of this House, as the hon. Gentleman has just advised me. The matter is with the Committee. If the Minister has made a mistake—I make no comment on that, because I do not know—he will have the opportunity to correct it. If the Committee believes that he has made a mistake and wishes to pursue it with him, it is open to the Committee to do so. At this stage, therefore, there is nothing further to add. To the extent that I have already advised, it is a legitimate matter for the Chair because of the involvement of a Committee of this House. I hope that that is helpful to the hon. Gentleman and to all colleagues.

Points of Order

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Tuesday 17th December 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

The truth of the matter is that it is all about the context in which remarks are made. The hon. Gentleman, who is a keen student of parliamentary history—although I do not think he has written a book on the subject, so in that sense he would not compete with the hon. Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant)—will be aware that there was at one time a list of proscribed words, but the list was discontinued, partly, I think, on the grounds that it was so extensive as to become unmanageable. It was judged instead that it was for the Chair to make a judgment about the manner in which something is said and the context in which words are used. I hope that the insatiable curiosity of the hon. Member for Lichfield (Michael Fabricant) has now been satisfied, for today at any rate.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

Further to that point of order, Mr Speaker. I think that I am right to say that on one occasion the hon. Member for Lichfield (Michael Fabricant) accused me of being a teapot. He seems to think that what is right for a teapot is not right for a chocolate teapot.

[Mr Speaker]

I fear that this exchange will descend. Colleagues will be aware that the hon. Member for Lichfield previously served in the Whips Office with considerable dedication and loyalty under the leadership of the man who now serves as the Secretary of State for Transport. Whether that explains the differential treatment, I do not know, but I hope that we will leave the matter of teapots and other items there for today.

Environmental Audit

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Monday 16th December 2013 Commons Chamber

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. This afternoon you heard a point of order from the hon. Member for Hendon (Dr Offord) relating to me, and you expressly asked whether he had informed me of his intention to raise the point of order. I am afraid he did not inform me. He informed your office last Thursday. He informed the Clerks last Thursday. They had four days’ notice. As for me, moments before he got up to speak—literally moments before—someone in his office sent the following e-mail:

“Please accept this as notification that I intend you name you in the Commons Chamber.”

That was his mistake, not mine.

I had no idea whether this was meant to be on a point of order or in the debate this afternoon, or whether it was meant to be today or tomorrow, later on this month, next month, or whenever. Incidentally, I should say that I told the hon. Gentleman that I would raise this point of order tonight; I both sent him an e-mail and rang and spoke to somebody in his office to that effect. I note that he is not in his place now.

On 13 July 1994 the Chair ruled very clearly against my right hon. Friend the Member for Neath (Mr Hain) —my hon. Friend the Member for Neath as he then was—that Members cannot simply name other Members and say they have informed them by virtue of having sent some piece of paper somewhere very late in the day. That is a deliberate attempt to get round the common courtesies that should apply between one Member and another in this House. The Speaker then ruled that there should be ample warning.

I am afraid that the nod that you, Mr Speaker, received this afternoon from the hon. Member for Hendon was not the full story.

[Mr Speaker]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his point of order. I am familiar with the precedent to which he refers, when my predecessor but one, Speaker Boothroyd, ruled. The answer to the hon. Gentleman is that certain standards should obtain in this House. If a Member is to raise a matter relating to the conduct of another Member, there is an obligation to notify the Member about whom the complaint is to be made some reasonable time in advance of getting up to make the complaint. Simply to send an e-mail a few moments beforehand is way below the standard of behaviour. [Interruption.] With great respect to Members chuntering from a sedentary position, it has absolutely nothing to do with being thicker skinned or anything of the sort; it is a matter of parliamentary courtesy, and people who have been around in this place for a little while understand these matters. That is the situation and I hope we will not have to revisit it again because it is really very clear.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Thursday 12th December 2013 Commons Chamber

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

This is a very convoluted question, so I hope the Minister will bear with me. I just wonder whether he has had an opportunity to see the National Youth Theatre production of “Tory Boyz”, which I am told is about a lot of homosexual Conservatives. They, among many others, might want to ask the Government why they are taking such a long time to allow the upgrade of civil partnerships to full same-sex marriages. He is having plenty of time to ask the Secretary of State now. Will he bring it forward a bit faster?

[Mr Speaker]

That question suffers from the disadvantage of having nothing to do with children’s participation in the arts.

[Chris Bryant]

I got it in.

[Mr Speaker]

Well, I thought it was not orderly, but the Minister can offer a very brief reply, which I feel sure he will do with skill and alacrity.

Business of the House

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Thursday 12th December 2013 Commons Chamber

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

You’ve said finally already!

[Mr Speaker]

Order.

Points of Order

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Monday 25th November 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

No Minister from the Department has given any indication to me of an intention to make a statement to the House. I may misrecollect, but I thought there were going to be scrutiny opportunities in relation to legislation before very long, which might allow this issue to be aired. Whether that would include the right hon. Member for Wythenshawe and Sale East (Paul Goggins) or, in any case, is an avenue satisfactory to him, I cannot say. I recognise that he is being persistent on this point, but the straight answer to his question is that no such notification has been given to me and he will have to use the resources available to him further and better to flag the issue up with Ministers.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. I am sure that the whole House is very grateful to the Foreign Secretary for having come here at the first opportunity to brief the House on what happened in relation to Iran. I know that when he went to the Conservative Friends of Israel meeting at 1.30 this afternoon, he was religious in not saying anything there before he had said it to the House of Commons. Unfortunately, his officials were tweeting throughout his statement—while he was still making his opening remarks—the content of what he was about to say. The rules are very clear, as I am sure you are aware: nothing shall be said by the Department until such time as the Minister has sat down. I afraid that we now have a different set of officials with us, but I wonder whether it might not be a good idea to write to Departments just to remind them of the rules.

[Mr Speaker]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his point of order and for his courtesy in giving me advance notice of it. Let me say to him, and to the House, what the position is. My predecessor ruled on 9 June 2008, at column 21, that the text of statements should be released simultaneously to Members of the House and to the media, and that that should happen when the Minister giving the statement sits down. That ruling still applies, and it applies equally to electronic release as it does to the circulation of hard copies so far as I am concerned. The hon. Gentleman has referred to people to whom we do not ordinarily refer in the Chamber. Whichever particular individuals might have undertaken this activity, the principle is very clear: Ministers are responsible for everything that happens in their Departments. That is a fundamental feature of our constitution, so I am sure that the point will have been noted by the Leader of the House and elsewhere, as necessary. I hope we will not need to return to it, because it is breathtakingly clear.

Bill Presented

High Speed Rail (London - West Midlands) Bill

Presentation and First Reading (Standing Order No. 57)

Mr Secretary McLoughlin, supported by the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mrs Secretary May, Secretary Vince Cable, Mr Secretary Duncan Smith, Mr Secretary Pickles, Mr Secretary Paterson, Mr Secretary Davey and Mr Robert Goodwill, presented a Bill to make provision for a railway between Euston in London and a junction with the West Coast Main Line at Handsacre in Staffordshire, with a spur from Old Oak Common in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham to a junction with the Channel Tunnel Rail Link at York Way in the London Borough of Islington and a spur from Water Orton in Warwickshire to Curzon Street in Birmingham; and for connected purposes.

Bill read the First time; to be read a Second time tomorrow, and to be printed (Bill 132) with explanatory notes (Bill 132-EN).

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Monday 18th November 2013 Commons Chamber

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

Dear, dear, dear. [Interruption.] No, the report does not say that; I can tell you what it does say. It says that, precisely in the Government’s timetable, from October 2013

“All new claims for out-of-work support are treated as claims to Universal Credit.”

That has not happened, has it? The Secretary of State is not on time, he is not on budget, and it looks as if he is going to lose £140 million. The first step to recovery is owning up that you are sick. You are not on time, you are not on budget—are you?

[Mr Speaker]

I am always on time. Let us hear from the Secretary of State.

Points of Order

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Thursday 7th November 2013 Commons Chamber

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. You will know that since a resolution of the House in 1688, it has been clear that Committees of the House should proceed without let or hindrance. Page 838 of “Erskine May” states:

“Any disclosure of written evidence or a Committee’s internal working papers, which has not been authorised by the Committee, may be treated as a contempt. In particular, disclosure of a draft report which has been submitted to a Committee before such a report has been agreed to by the Committee and presented to the House may be treated as a contempt.”

The allegations that the Leader of the House has tried to brush off today about what the Secretary of State is said to have done go considerably further than he suggests. We do not know whether the Leader of the House has asked the Secretary of State all the relevant questions. We want to ask questions in the Chamber. My point of order to you, Mr Speaker, is this: can you make it absolutely clear to the Leader of the House that it is perfectly possible to have a statement tomorrow, or for that matter an urgent question, and that the House would regard it as a courtesy to hear directly from the Secretary of State, and not just second hand from the Leader of the House?

[Mr Speaker]

It is, of course, perfectly possible for there to be either an urgent question or a statement tomorrow, but I feel sure that those are facts of which the Leader of the House was already well aware. I am merely courteously repeating them in order properly to respond to the hon. Gentleman’s point of order.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Thursday 31st October 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I am grateful to the Minister for explaining the greatness of that particular James Blake, because I had in mind a very distinguished black American tennis player of the same name. I am obliged to the Minister for educating me.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

T1. Perhaps you should write a book on tennis, Mr Speaker. Numero uno: if she will make a statement on her departmental responsibilities.

Points of Order

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Monday 14th October 2013 Commons Chamber

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

rose—

[Mr Speaker]

I like saving up the hon. Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant) until last, so we will take a point of order from Mr Kevin Brennan.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Speaker]

I have received no indication that any Minister intends to come to the Dispatch Box to opine on that matter. Whether knowledge that the hon. Gentleman is keen for one or other of them to do so would act as an incentive or a disincentive to do so, I leave the House to speculate. We will leave it there for now. I hope that the appetite of the House is now about to be satisfied by the hon. Member for Rhondda.

[Chris Bryant]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. I am afraid that I need salvation from you, because on 24 May I tabled two questions to the Minister for Immigration at the Home Office, numbers 157647 and 157648. They were named day questions, which were meant to be replied to on 5 June. They were actually replied to on 8 October. That is not the worst of it. I tabled another named day question on 16 May to the same Minister, which was meant to have been replied to on 21 May, and it has still not been replied to. The Minister sends flummoxing answers.

May I make some suggestions on how we might deal with the Home Office that you might be able to take up? First, we could print every reply that is late in red on the Order Paper, so that we all know quite how often the Home Office is late. Or we could introduce a late answer penalty of £100, taken off a Minister’s salary, for every question that is answered late; I do not think that the Home Secretary would be receiving any salary at all this year. Or you could give them all a dressing-down.

[Mr Speaker]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman, who not only raises a problem but proffers a solution, which it is extraordinarily generous of him to do all in one go. My own response is rather prosaic I am afraid. In the immediate term, I suggest to the hon. Gentleman—and I mean it very seriously—that he takes the matter up directly with the hon. Member for Broxbourne (Mr Walker), the Chair of the Procedure Committee. [Interruption.] He says that he has already done that. I should have thought that the Procedure Committee would be dissatisfied. [Interruption.] The hon. Gentleman chunters from a sedentary position that he has written to me, and I am advised thus by my secretary, but I have not yet seen the letter. When I have done and a reply is penned, it will wing its way to the hon. Gentleman.

All of those proposals will be reflected upon, but on a serious note, I do say to Ministers that it is deeply unsatisfactory, and should be a source of some shame to Ministers, including those who have overall responsibility for conduct, when delays of this kind take place. Quite apart from considerations of efficiency, it is simply rude. I know that it is not something that the Chief Whip would ever want because he is among the most courteous people in the House, but it really should be gone. I say in fairness that when the Government Chief Whip was Leader of the House he was always most solicitous in pursuing these matters with Ministers, and I feel sure that the Leader of the House, who is temporarily unavailable to us for a very short period, will, when he returns, get on to the matter without delay. I know that if that does not happen, the hon. Gentleman will be on to me again, so we must find a solution.

Bill Presented

National Insurance Contributions Bill

Presentation and First Reading (Standing Order No. 57)

Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, supported by the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister, Secretary Vince Cable, Mr Secretary Duncan Smith, Danny Alexander, Mr Sajid Javid, Mr David Gauke and Nicky Morgan, presented a Bill to make provision in relation to national insurance contributions; and for connected purposes.

Bill read the First time; to be read a Second time tomorrow, and to be printed (Bill 112) with explanatory notes (Bill 112-EN).

Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Bill (Ways and Means) (No. 2)

Resolved,

That, for the purposes of any Act resulting from the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Bill, it is expedient to authorise the charging of fees which–

(a) relate to applications under Part 5 of the Police Act 1997, and

(b) are of an amount determined in a way that takes into account the costs associated with such applications in cases where no fee is payable.—(Damian Green.)

Point of Order

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Tuesday 8th October 2013 Commons Chamber

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. I am terribly sorry, but I should have drawn Members’ attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. I write a column in The Independent, which people might think has a bearing on my views on press regulation. I am terribly sorry that I did not do it—[Hon. Members: “Hear, hear!”]—and I am glad to get some “hear, hears” from the Government side, which I do not normally get.

[Mr Speaker]

I am extremely grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his characteristic courtesy. That is on the record.

We come now to the ten-minute rule motion. I call Mr Grahame M. Morris. [Interruption.] The hon. Gentleman is trying to hoodwink me into thinking that I should be calling the other Graeme Morrice, whose surname is spelt with a c and who does not have the middle initial M. He would expect that his attempted hoodwinking of the Speaker should fail, however, and it has failed. I call Mr Grahame M. Morris.

Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Tuesday 16th July 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. The Minister has strayed again into the second group. I think that she has in this regard been ill-served by people whose grasp of parliamentary procedure could perhaps do with a little brushing up.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

They are very good officials normally.

[Mr Speaker]

I note the sedentary observation from the hon. Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant). The Minister should return to the first group, with which she was dealing. If she has dealt with that group to her satisfaction, we can always await with interest and anticipation her remarks on the second group, but only when we reach it.

Treaty on the Functioning of the EU

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Tuesday 9th July 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I fear that the hon. Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant) suffers from CCD—compulsive chuntering disorder.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

That is true.

[Mr Speaker]

It is true.

Business of the House

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Tuesday 9th July 2013 Commons Chamber

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

The very fact that this is an emergency business statement suggests that this is an inappropriate way of doing business on a matter that is of substantial national security interest. If the Leader of the House were honest, he would listen to the voices across the House that are suggesting that emergency business is not a wise policy to adopt for next Monday. He has not replied to the specific question of whether the motion on Monday will be amendable.

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I hope, for the avoidance of doubt, that the hon. Gentleman is not suggesting that the Leader of the House is other than honest.

[Chris Bryant]

No.

[Mr Speaker]

I am grateful.

Points of Order

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Thursday 27th June 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I thank the Leader of the House for what he has said. In relation to the point of order made by the hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull North, what I have to say is twofold. First, my understanding is that the motivation of the Government in issuing a written statement was that the time of the House would be heavily absorbed today by both the Chief Secretary’s statement and the business statement, and the Government were mindful of the fact that this is a Back-Bench business day. It is only fair to be clear about the motives of the Government on the matter.

Secondly, in so far as the hon. Lady feels dissatisfied—and she is a persistent and indefatigable Member—I assure her that she will find other opportunities for the matter to be debated. I do not know whether the Government will decide to come forward with an oral statement because of the intellectual force and personal charm of the representations that she has made today, but even if they are not so minded, the hon. Lady can apply for debates, and I have a hunch that she will do so.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. On 18 March you were very wise—[Hon. Members: “Always.”] And on many other occasions—you are always wise and wonderful, never curmudgeonly, and all the rest of it. But, on 18 March, you very wisely dug the Government out of a hole and enabled the whole House to come to a view on the future regulation of the press, by allowing a manuscript amendment and a change to the order of business, without the normal rules of the House. That was a wise course of action to take. Since then, however, the declared will of the Prime Minister, the Government, the Opposition and the whole House, which was for the matter to go to the Privy Council meeting in May, has not been implemented. You are, as I understand it, a Privy Counsellor, and I suppose you could go to the Privy Council and insist that the matter be carried forward as swiftly as possible. You might not want to go down that route, but I wonder whether you could chase this matter up a little, because the whole House, the victims and all those who had their phones hacked would be profoundly disappointed if the matter did not go to the July meeting of the Privy Council, if legal advice were not provided, if no reason were provided to the House, and if no action had been forthcoming when we came back in September.

[Mr Speaker]

My response to the hon. Gentleman’s point of order, of which I did not have advance notice—I make no complaint about that; I simply point out that I did not have such notice—is twofold. First, I am a Privy Counsellor, but as the hon. Gentleman well knows, I do not call meetings of the Privy Council, which take place perhaps from time to time. Secondly, I understand the hon. Gentleman’s point—I would be exceptionally unwise if I did not—and if he is minded to pursue the matter, he will have multiple opportunities. I have a sense that the hon. Gentleman understands at least as well as I do that in campaigning quantity, persistence and, above all, repetition are at least as important as the quality of the arguments themselves.

Point of Order

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Tuesday 11th June 2013 Commons Chamber

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. I am worried about the Secretary of State for Education. Not only has he fallen in love with my hon. Friend the Member for Hackney North and Stoke Newington (Ms Abbott) this afternoon, but, more importantly, even though he met the Minister for Education and Skills in Wales only recently, he seemed to refer to him as a “she”. I should clarify for the House that he is Leighton Andrews, not Julie Andrews.

[Mr Speaker]

I am not sure that is a point of order, but for the benefit of the hon. Gentleman and the House, I will say that I could have told the Secretary of State that myself. Leighton Andrews is well known to me; he was my boss 25 years ago.

Point of Order

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Wednesday 24th April 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Nothing unparliamentary has occurred. The hon. Gentleman must make up his own mind. It is entirely open to him to apply for an Adjournment debate which realistically, if it were granted, would be in the next Session. I know that he is dextrous in his use of parliamentary opportunities.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

Ambidextrous.

[Mr Speaker]

I did not say he was ambidextrous. I said he was dextrous, but I am always grateful for the sedentary chuntering of the hon. Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant).

Point of Order

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Monday 22nd April 2013 Commons Chamber

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. You may or may not be aware that there has been an break in electricity in Portcullis House, which means that there is no means of knowing if a Division is taking place. The Annunciator screens and computers are not working. The only things working are the lights. When we come to a Division, I wonder whether we might ensure that it is possible for everybody across the parliamentary estate to know when there is to be a vote.

[Mr Speaker]

I note what the hon. Gentleman has said. There is no Division expected for some time, but his point is taken on board by the Chair and I thank him for making it.

Public service pensions bill (programme) (No.2)

Motion made, and Question put forthwith (Standing Order No. 83A(7)),

That the following provisions shall apply to the Public Service Pensions Bill for the purpose of supplementing the Order of 29 October 2012 (Public Service Pensions Bill (Programme)):

Consideration of Lords Amendments

1. Proceedings on consideration of Lords Amendments shall (so far as not previously concluded) be brought to a conclusion two hours after their commencement at today’s sitting.

2. The Lords Amendments shall be considered in the following order:

Lords amendments 78 and 79.

Lords amendment 9.

Lords amendments 1 to 8, 10 to 77, 80 to 128.

Subsequent stages

3. Any further Message from the Lords may be considered forthwith without any Question being put.

4. The proceedings on any further Message from the Lords shall (so far as not previously concluded) be brought to a conclusion one hour after their commencement.—(Anne Milton.)

Question agreed to.

Royal Charter on Press Conduct

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Monday 18th March 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

The Prime Minister asks leave to propose a debate on a specific and important matter that should have urgent consideration, namely the welcome publication of the draft royal charter by the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition today, and the Prime Minister’s intention to submit the charter to the Privy Council for Her Majesty’s approval at its May meeting.

I have listened carefully to the application from the Prime Minister and am satisfied that the matter is proper to be discussed under Standing Order No. 24. Has the right hon. Gentleman the leave of the House? The Prime Minister does indeed have the leave of the House.

Application agreed to.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. I am sorry to do this, but it is all very well to talk about the publication of the draft charter, but it is not available in the Vote Office or in the Library. The Clerk has a copy of it, but hon. Members do not have copies of it. It is an odd way of doing business for us to debate something that we have never had an opportunity to see.

[Mr Speaker]

I say to the hon. Gentleman, whom I thank for his point of order, that my copy and that held by the Clerk came from the Vote Office. Therefore, my understanding is that copies of the document are lodged in the Vote Office, and I say that only on the basis of my experience. If copies are not so lodged, they most certainly should be. I can deal only with the exigencies of the situation as they arise. I am not knocking the hon. Gentleman; he has raised his point of order and I have sought fairly and accurately in my terms to respond to it. The responsibility now is for the House to move on to debate the matter. I call the Prime Minister to move the motion and I emphasise that the debate can last for up to three hours.

Royal Charter on Press Conduct

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Monday 18th March 2013 Commons Chamber

[Chris Bryant]

Wales won.

[Mr Speaker]

Order. The hon. Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant) keeps chuntering from a sedentary position that Wales won. His point is now on the record. I trust that he is satisfied.

Point of Order

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Monday 11th March 2013 Commons Chamber

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. You will recall that last year the Prime Minister said that he wanted to be as open and transparent as possible about public meetings held by Ministers and that Ministers would publish all meetings with outside bodies on a quarterly basis. You will also recall—I remember you were in the Chair at the time—that earlier this year the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport said that they were being published in the usual fashion and that if they were not she would ensure that they were. It now transpires that the Prime Minister’s meetings with the proprietors and editors of national newspapers were not published until very recently for any date beyond last June. Now we have the information for up until September. This very afternoon, serious decisions are being made about what should be done to implement the Leveson inquiry and to introduce legislation to this House. Will you confirm that the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport could, if she wanted, either hasten the publication of further information so that we all know exactly who the Prime Minister has been meeting with, or correct the record, as what she said earlier this year was not strictly speaking accurate?

[Mr Speaker]

It would be open to the Secretary of State to opt for either of the courses of action that the hon. Gentleman has helpfully described. We will leave it there.

Points of Order

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Wednesday 13th February 2013 Commons Chamber

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Will you confirm—I hope the Secretary of State will stay for this, as I will be brief—that there is a process whereby a Minister can correct what they have said in the House when they have inadvertently misled it? The Secretary of State said earlier that the details of meetings between newspaper proprietors and editors and Ministers are published in the ordinary way—I think the precise words she used were “the normal way”. In actual fact, they have not now been published in the normal or ordinary way for eight months. At a time when the Government are debating a very sensitive issue and bringing forward proposals in relation to the newspaper industry, I think that our voters would expect complete transparency on the matter. She can correct the record, can she not?

[Mr Speaker]

It is open to the Minister to correct the record if she has made a mistake and if she therefore judges it necessary to do so. She can respond now, but she is under absolutely no obligation to do so.

Business of the House

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Thursday 7th February 2013 Commons Chamber

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

Come on—get a move on. If not a gallop, at least a canter.—[Interruption.]

[Mr Speaker]

There should be no chuntering from a sedentary position. Less of the wit or attempted wit.

Equality (Marriage) (Amendment)

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Tuesday 29th January 2013 Commons Chamber

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker.

[Mr Speaker]

The hon. Gentleman cannot raise a point of order during the Division. He can toddle up to the Chair and have a chat if he so wishes, and I have a feeling he will avail himself of that prerogative.

Unduly Lenient Sentences (Right of Appeal)

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Tuesday 22nd January 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I am sure that the hon. Member for Dartford (Gareth Johnson) is very grateful for that assurance, which will be noted in the record. I do not think that it is very likely to be repeated.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

It would be disorderly to talk the Bill out.

[Mr Speaker]

It would no doubt be disorderly, as has helpfully been indicated from a sedentary position, in a disorderly way, by the hon. Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant).

Business of the House

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Thursday 17th January 2013 Commons Chamber

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

I do not want just a statement on Europe; I want a full debate on Europe in Government time. In the old days, we used to have four debates a year before European Councils and four statements after European Councils so that the Government’s policy could be scrutinised by the House. I know that they were pretty tedious affairs, with single transferable speeches delivered time after time, not least by myself. It would be good if we could have a bell fitted behind the Speaker’s Chair, so that every time the word “Europe” is mentioned all Pavlov’s dogs on the Government Benches could start slobbering—[Interruption.]

[Mr Speaker]

There is nothing disorderly about that remark, but I leave Members to make their own assessments on the question of taste.

Points of Order

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Wednesday 9th January 2013 Commons Chamber

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker.

“The irregular use of the Queen’s name to influence a decision of the House is unconstitutional in principle”.

You will know that, Mr Speaker, because it says so on page 440 of “Erskine May”. Will you confirm that that will apply to consideration of the Succession to the Crown Bill? Earlier, the Father of the House and the Prime Minister came perilously close—though they are wily birds and did not step over the line—to praying Her Majesty’s opinion in aid. Will you also confirm that if, on Second Reading, the Government signify that Her Majesty has consented to place her prerogative at our disposal, that will signify neither her approval nor disapproval of the Bill, the contents of the Bill or any amendments that may be considered in this House, but that it will be entirely for us to decide how to proceed?

[Mr Speaker]

The short answer is that I think I can offer the hon. Gentleman the comfort and assurance he seeks. I am grateful for his point of order and for his courtesy in giving me notice of it. I listened carefully to the exchanges in Prime Minister’s questions and I did not think that they offended against our rule against the use of the sovereign’s name to influence debate. I took the question to be primarily a factual one which, as “Erskine May” notes on page 441, is perfectly orderly.

When the House comes to debate the Succession to the Crown Bill, the Chair will be alert to ensure that the guidance on using the name of the Queen or the names of other members of the royal family to influence debate, which is indeed set out on page 440 of “Erskine May”, is borne carefully in mind. The question of Queen’s consent is a separate matter. Page 2430 of the Order Paper on the House’s future business notes that consent is to be signified before the House embarks on the Second Reading debate. That is a technical issue when the Queen’s prerogative or interest may be thought to be engaged in a proposed measure. It simply confirms that the House has the freedom to legislate as it sees fit; it does not in any way convey the personal view of the sovereign.

I hope that that is helpful to the hon. Gentleman and to the House.

Points of Order

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Monday 17th December 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Yes. Visits on official business are subject to the requirement of advance disclosure to the Member whose constituency is affected. The busyness of a Minister is not a material factor. Often, these very busy, senior and respected Ministers have a significant number of people available to help them. We will leave it there for today.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

rose—

[Mr Speaker]

The day would not be complete without a point of order from the hon. Gentleman.

[Chris Bryant]

Well, I have not had one for quite a while, Mr Speaker. You may have noticed that on occasion Ministers make speeches outside the House. We have no notice of them until we read about them in The Telegraph, but sometimes they are important developments of new policy. We now know for a certain fact that the Prime Minister will make a speech on Europe in the new year, and I think it will probably have some policy in it. Would it not be a good idea if that speech were made in the House rather than anywhere else?

[Mr Speaker]

I think the new year will bring new challenges, and it would be wise to embark on them then, but not now. In the hallowed words of the late Lord Whitelaw, “I generally find that it is better to cross bridges only when I get to them.” [Laughter.]

[Chris Bryant]

How will they put that in Hansard?

[Mr Speaker]

I don’t know, and I cannot very well ask Lord Whitelaw, I am afraid, but we will have to make do for today.

Remploy

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Monday 10th December 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I call Mr Chris Bryant.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

Right—I did not expect to be called quite so soon, Mr Speaker.

[Mr Speaker]

This is a first; is the hon. Gentleman speechless?

[Chris Bryant]

Thank you very much, Mr Speaker.

The real problem at the Remploy factory in the Rhondda is that, although the vast majority of disabled people in the Rhondda are in mainstream employment, we have 72 people there who are affected, some of whom have been transferred from a previous Remploy factory that was closed, and we have rising unemployment and very little prospect of jobs for people. So will the Minister please take up the offer that Leighton Andrews, the Assembly Member for the Rhondda and also a Minister in the Welsh Assembly Government, made to take over the Welsh factories with their assets, so that if she is not prepared to do anything to protect these jobs, the Welsh Assembly can?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Thursday 6th December 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I hope that the moment will be recorded; it is a first, certainly for the hon. Gentleman.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

I, however, have something to add. The Second Church Estates Commissioner’s last point was absolutely right: this is not a sect we are dealing with. I say that to the hon. Member for Wellingborough (Mr Bone), whose assessment of our role in relation to the Church is completely and utterly wrong. The Church of England is established by law. We can turn down any changes to liturgy that it wants to make, for example. Is it not time we changed by law the system whereby people are elected to the Synod so that it is more representative and looks more like a national Church?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Tuesday 30th October 2012 Commons Chamber

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

Tell that to the Prime Minister.

[Mr Speaker]

Order. Mr Bryant, calm yourself. I am worried about you—you are supposed to be a statesman.

Points of Order

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Tuesday 30th October 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his point of order. In response, I make two points.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

A hearse, a hearse, my kingdom for a hearse.

[Mr Speaker]

We are always obliged to the hon. Gentleman for chuntering from a sedentary position about hearses. I hope he will be good enough to allow me to intervene on him and respond to the point of order from the hon. Member for Leicester South (Jonathan Ashworth). First, I think that his late majesty has been dead for long enough to evade our normal rules on references to monarchs. Secondly, the hon. Gentleman has put the matter on the record and attempted to obtain clarification, which will have been heard on the Treasury Bench, but beyond that I am afraid that it is not a matter for the Chair.

Points of Order

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Monday 22nd October 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I think that is a matter of debate. The hon. Gentleman has clearly satisfied himself of his own position, which I am sure will be reassuring to all his friends and family. The point is on the record, but it is not a matter for the Chair.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. It is a shame that the Prime Minister has scurried out of the Chamber. Successive Speakers have made it clear that no Minister, including a Prime Minister, can opt out of parliamentary scrutiny and that answers to written parliamentary questions have to be timely and substantive.

Last week, as I am sure you are aware, I tabled five parliamentary questions for named day answer on Friday regarding the secret e-mails and texts between the Prime Minister, Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson, which a Downing street official has described as salacious and deeply embarrassing for the Prime Minister, and the deliberate attempt by No. 10 to cover up their existence. Following your ruling last Thursday, the Prime Minister “replied” last Friday afternoon. The answer said:

“I refer the hon. Member to my letter to the right hon. and learned Member for Camberwell and Peckham (Ms Harman), of 18 October 2012. A copy has been placed in the Library of the House.”—[Official Report, 19 October 2012; Vol. 551, c. 449W.]

Leaving aside the fact that it is dodgy to refer hon. Members to a letter that is not available to them, which has been deprecated by successive Speakers in the past, the only supposed answer that one could possibly conceive of there being in that letter to my right hon. Friend is:

“I am, however, happy to respond to your questions in full. As you know, I set up the Leveson Inquiry. I have co-operated fully with the inquiry and given them all the material that they have asked for.”

That is not in any shape or form an answer to any of the five questions I have tabled. It does not even pretend to be an answer to me—it is meant to be an answer to somebody else.

Can you please confirm, Mr Speaker, that it is an important principle of this House that Ministers have to reply to hon. Members? They cannot have hissy fits and decide who they are going to reply to and who they are not going to reply to. Every single Member of this House has to be answered properly and fully.

[Mr Speaker]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his point of order. Let me say at the outset that I stand by every word of my response to the hon. Gentleman last Thursday. In responding to his point of order then, I said that questions should receive a substantive answer, and that also reflects the resolution on ministerial accountability that is set out on pages 201 and 202 of “Erskine May”. I believe that the hon. Gentleman has been advised how he may follow up his questions, and I will study both the present exchange and the further exchange. I will leave the matter there for the moment.

Points of Order

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Thursday 18th October 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I will not go into that. I would say only that quite a lot of noise has been heard in the course of the past hour, but the Government Chief Whip has been as quiet as a church mouse.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. I have five named day questions on the Order Paper for tomorrow, numbers 64 to 68, all to the Prime Minister and all following on from the question that was not answered yesterday. I know you said yesterday afternoon that you would be cogitating on the matter overnight, but previous Speakers have ruled clearly that written questions have to be answered on time and substantively. Can you also confirm that they actually have to be answered?

[Mr Speaker]

Yes. They should be answered; they should be answered on time; and they should be answered substantively. That requirement applies to all members of the Government.

Bills Presented

European Union (Croatian Accession and Irish Protocol) Bill

Presentation and First Reading (Standing Order No. 57)

Mr Secretary Hague, supported by the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister, Mrs Secretary May, Secretary Vince Cable, Mr Secretary Duncan Smith, Mr Secretary Davey, Mr Secretary Paterson, Mrs Secretary Villiers and Mr David Lidington, presented a Bill to make provision consequential on the treaty concerning the accession of the Republic of Croatia to the European Union, signed at Brussels on 9 December 2011, and provision consequential on the Protocol on the concerns of the Irish people on the Treaty of Lisbon, adopted at Brussels on 16 May 2012; and to make provision about the entitlement of nationals of the Republic of Croatia to enter or reside in the United Kingdom as workers.

Bill read the First time; to be read a Second time tomorrow, and to be printed (Bill 76) with explanatory notes (Bill 76-EN).

Growth and Infrastructure Bill

Presentation and First Reading (Standing Order No. 57)

Mr Secretary Pickles, supported by the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, Secretary Vince Cable, Mr Secretary Davey, Mr Secretary Paterson, Secretary Maria Miller, Michael Fallon, Nick Boles and Stephen Hammond, presented a Bill to make provision in connection with facilitating or controlling the following, namely, the provision or use of infrastructure, the carrying-out of development, and the compulsory acquisition of land; to make provision about when rating lists are to be compiled; to make provision about the rights of employees of companies who agree to be employee owners; and for connected purposes.

Bill read the First time; to be read a Second time tomorrow, and to be printed (Bill 75) with explanatory notes (Bill 75-EN).

Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Wednesday 17th October 2012 Commons Chamber

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker.

[Mr Speaker]

We will come to the hon. Gentleman’s point of order. I am saving him up. It would be a pity to waste him prematurely.

Clause 40

Cartel Offence

Amendments made: 18, page 37, line 20, at end insert—

‘(6) After section 188A (as inserted by subsection (5) above) insert—

“188B Defences to commission of cartel offence

(1) In a case where the arrangements would (operating as the parties intend) affect the supply in the United Kingdom of a product or service, it is a defence for an individual charged with an offence under section 188(1) to show that, at the time of the making of the agreement, he or she did not intend that the nature of the arrangements would be concealed from customers at all times before they enter into agreements for the supply to them of the product or service.

(2) It is a defence for an individual charged with an offence under section 188(1) to show that, at the time of the making of the agreement, he or she did not intend that the nature of the arrangements would be concealed from the CMA.

(3) It is a defence for an individual charged with an offence under section 188(1) to show that, before the making of the agreement, he or she took reasonable steps to ensure that the nature of the arrangements would be disclosed to professional legal advisers for the purposes of obtaining advice about them before their making or (as the case may be) their implementation.”’.

Amendment 19, page 37, line 20, at end insert—

‘( ) After section 190 of the 2002 Act insert—

“190A Cartel offence: prosecution guidance

(1) The CMA must prepare and publish guidance on the principles to be applied in determining, in any case, whether proceedings for an offence under section 188(1) should be instituted.

(2) The CMA may at any time issue revised or new guidance.

(3) Guidance published by the CMA under this section is to be published in such manner as it considers appropriate.

(4) In preparing guidance under this section the CMA must consult—

(a) the Director of the Serious Fraud Office;

(b) the Lord Advocate; and

(c) such other persons as it considers appropriate.”’.

Amendment 20, page 37, line 21, leave out ‘this section’ and insert ‘subsections (1) to (6)’.—(Jo Swinson.)

[Chris Bryant]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. I am not sure how to describe my relationship with the Prime Minister, but it is quite on and off. On 25 June, he said that he was going to refuse to answer any of my questions until I apologised to the House—even though I had already apologised to the House. On 27 June, just two days later, he did reply to a question, and he did the same in September, but today he is back to not replying to questions.

I fully understand the ruling that you gave this afternoon, Mr Speaker, as you are not in charge of the quality of answers, but I do not think that there has ever in the history of the House been an occasion when a Prime Minister has said that he or she would—full stop—not reply to any question. I think you have ruled, and previous Speakers have ruled on many occasions previously, that when a Minister refuses to reply to a written question, they must answer it, not least because the ministerial code, written by the Prime Minister, says:

“Ministers should be as open as possible with Parliament and the public, refusing to provide information only when disclosure would not be in the public interest”.

That, of course, is incorporated in a motion of the House, resolved on 19 March 1997. I would have thought that expressly saying that one will not reply to an individual Member of the House is an affront to the House; in particular, it is an affront to my constituents. It should not be countenanced, surely.

[Mr Speaker]

I am very grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his point of order, to which I make two points in response. First, with reference to the ministerial code, I simply remind the House that responsibility for it rests with the Prime Minister, and it seems unlikely that the Prime Minister will be minded to investigate himself. I say that not in a spirit of levity, but because I think it is a pertinent observation in practical terms. Secondly, I am sorry to disappoint the hon. Gentleman, and I do not intend any discourtesy to him, as I take the hon. Gentleman very seriously—almost as seriously as he takes himself. [Laughter.] I do take him extremely seriously and I have a very high respect for him, as he knows. What I would say at this stage is that this is clearly a highly controversial matter, on which I do not feel I can rule off the cuff now. That is not to duck it; I will reflect on the very important point that he has made and I will come back to him and, if appropriate, to the House. I hope that that is helpful.

Third Reading

Queen’s consent signified.

Points of Order

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Tuesday 18th September 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman. I was already aware of yesterday’s written ministerial statement on this extremely important matter. Having listened to him, I must say two things. First: no, I have received no indication from the Secretary of State for Transport that he wishes to make an oral statement to the House on the matter. Secondly, I am not currently able to identify a matter on which it would be proper for the Chair to rule in respect of the hon. Gentleman’s point of order, but I shall continue my search. I shall let him know if, upon reflection, I find a matter upon which I can rule. He is an experienced hand, and he is certainly keen to air his concerns on this matter, and he might wish to develop his thoughts more fully in an Adjournment debate.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Today, it has been revealed that the Metropolitan police has known for 10 years that the News of the World had commissioned a company called Southern Investigations to commit burglaries to secure information and to confirm potentially scurrilous—and, as it turned out, completely baseless—rumours, and that it knew that one of the executives at the News of the World, Alex Marunchak, was directly involved in that. That evidence, which has been given by an undercover police officer, reveals that he knew then that “Ministers, MPs and Home Secretaries” were the targets for those burglaries, because they could be bribed or influenced. You will know, Mr Speaker, that it is a fundamental principle of the House that we should be able to do our job on behalf of our constituents without fear or favour. May I urge you to contact the Metropolitan police, perhaps through the Serjeant at Arms, so as to ensure that all those MPs whom the Metropolitan police knew to have been targeted in this way can be told that they were the targets of this criminal activity?

[Mr Speaker]

That could be said to be a point of order, but I always view any paragraphs from the hon. Gentleman as a kind of treatise, and I think that it would be as well for me to reflect upon his treatise before I respond to him, and not to make any rash commitment today. These are matters that he and the hon. Member for West Bromwich East (Mr Watson) are especially, and very properly, given to pursuing, on the basis of considerable research and knowledge. I will do him the courtesy of further reflection, and I will revert to him and, if necessary, to the House.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Tuesday 11th September 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. Mr Bryant, you are trying to become a statesman. Calm yourself, man.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

No, I’m not.

[Mr Speaker]

Perhaps the hon. Gentleman does not think he has to try. Anyway, the Minister must be heard.

Pre-Paid Meters (Level of Debt)

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Wednesday 5th September 2012 Commons Chamber

[Chris Bryant]

Will you, Mr Speaker, therefore reinforce to the Chancellor that it is important to appoint a Member the moment they seek to resign their seat through such an appointment?

[Mr Speaker]

I think it is a matter for further consideration and, on the occasions that this issue has been raised, if not in quite the same terms, I have suggested to Members concerned about it—I recall the hon. Member for Walsall North (Mr Winnick) expressing his discontent with the status quo—that it could be considered by the Procedure Committee. That is one possibility, but it certainly warrants further discussion. I note what the Minister of State, Department for Transport, has said with reference to 1963, and I feel sure that he is right.

[Chris Bryant]

And why am I wrong?

[Mr Speaker]

I did not say that the hon. Gentleman was wrong—he should not look for an argument!

Specialist Disability Employment

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Tuesday 10th July 2012 Commons Chamber

[Chris Bryant]

But what will happen to Porth?

[Mr Speaker]

Order.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Thursday 5th July 2012 Commons Chamber

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

I completely agree, and I praise the hon. Gentleman for all his work on trying to bring in women bishops, but has he read the Bill that we are to debate next week? It does not actually define what a bishop is. The Bill does not say whether it refers to diocesan bishops, suffragan bishops, Anglican bishops, Catholic bishops, bishops from Scotland or bishops from Wales. Is this a radical step that the Church is going to support?

[Mr Speaker]

I think that the hon. Gentleman has just applied to speak in the debate. He has already applied to me in writing, and I think that his question was an additional application, for which we are all very grateful.

Ministerial Code (Culture Secretary)

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Wednesday 13th June 2012 Commons Chamber

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

I have had to correct the record as well. There is no dishonour in correcting the record. However, what the Minister just referred to was his reply on 7 September, when he said that it was for reasons of cost that he was not able to provide anything more. How much would it have cost him to remember that he had sent a memo to the Prime Minister on the matter, or to have checked his own mobile phone for the text messages that he sent to James Murdoch? He has lied to Parliament. [Interruption.]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. [Interruption.] Order. Let me say to the House that the substantive matter under consideration reflected in the terms of the motion is whether the House of Commons has been misled in any way. That is the thrust of the matter under debate and the Secretary of State is making a very clear defence of himself, so when Members cavil and inquire whether what we have heard is legitimate, I am guided by advice and I operate on the basis that there is a substantive motion, which is what the whole debate is about and in relation to which the Secretary of State is speaking.

In general terms, the normal principles of “Erskine May” about moderation and good humour apply, but I cannot preclude—[Interruption.] Order. I cannot preclude a Member operating in accordance with the terms of the motion. The Secretary of State—[Interruption.] Order. I require no assistance from the Immigration Minister. The Minister should sit, be calm and listen intently. If he does not want to do so, he can leave the Chamber.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Thursday 24th May 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I do not want the Minister to lose his handkerchief. It is about to fall out, but I am sure he can rescue it.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

May we have an answer to the question from my hon. Friend the Member for Lewisham East (Heidi Alexander) from a Conservative Minister? Why is it easier to hire people if it is easier to fire them?

Privilege

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Tuesday 22nd May 2012 Commons Chamber

[Chris Bryant]

I have a multiplicity of offers.

[Mr Speaker]

Order. Before the hon. Gentleman takes an intervention from the hon. Member for South Swindon (Mr Buckland), may I gently remind him that the narrow matter under consideration today is the question of whether to refer it to the Standards and Privileges Committee—to which subject I know that he is addressing himself?

Points of Order

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Monday 14th May 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I hope that over the last two and three-quarter years I have given some indication, not just by voice but by conduct, that I believe that this House should be pre-eminent. It should be treated by whomsoever is in government with courtesy and consideration. It should be regarded as a priority and a matter of honour to keep the House informed and to facilitate the House’s discharge of its scrutiny function, so I do not dissent from anything that the hon. Gentleman has said.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

rose—

[Mr Speaker]

This will be the last point of order, I hope, on this or any related matter. I call Mr Chris Bryant.

[Chris Bryant]

Further to that point of order, Mr Speaker. Can you confirm that article 9 of the Bill of Rights makes it clear that no other body, including a court, can impeach or question a proceeding in Parliament, so the only body that can adjudicate on whether a Minister has misled the House, whether deliberately or inadvertently, is this House, and that Lord Leveson has no power to do so?

[Mr Speaker]

I believe the hon. Gentleman is absolutely correct in his statement and interpretation of article 9.

Immigration Queues (UK Airports)

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Monday 30th April 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I call Yvette Cooper.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

Or me.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Speaker]

I beg the hon. Gentleman’s pardon. More particularly, I beg the right hon. Lady’s pardon. I am sorry. I had it down that she would be performing, but of course it would not be a normal day if we did not hear from the hon. Gentleman.

[Chris Bryant]

Thank you, Mr Speaker.

I have to say to the Minister that his was a ludicrously complacent answer. Surely it cannot be beyond the wit of man, especially with increased technology, to do two things at the same time: secure the borders and have reasonably swift queues. The problems at Heathrow and Gatwick have given a shocking impression of a Government who are out of control, just when Britain is facing a special security challenge in advance of the Olympics and when the British tourism industry is keen to make as good an impression as possible. I gather that No. 10 is now blaming it on the weather.

The figures that the Minister gave are not the full story. Even before last week, between 1 April and 15 April, Border Force missed its waiting targets for non-European economic area nationals on 13 out of 15 days, and even for people returning home to their own country, it missed them on four days. There was not a single day in that two-week period when it met all its targets.

It might be understandable if long queues meant better security, but no airport in the world is designed to kettle thousands of passengers for hours prior to passing through immigration, which is why it is vital that the Government provide enough resources to Border Force.

Sir John Vine expressly recommended that a clear understanding of what constitutes health and safety grounds for suspension should be agreed. Has that happened? Have there been any such suspensions in the last month? I ask the Minister that because I have been contacted by one passenger who says that on arrival on a Kenya Airways flight from Nairobi to terminal 4, his passport was not swiped at all. How many UK or other European nationals have had to wait more than the target of 25 minutes?

Will most people not be perplexed by the Government’s priorities? They have already cut 500 border staff—they are going to cut another 1,000—while at the same time they are spending £2.5 million on new uniforms. How can that possibly be the right set of priorities? Numbers at Heathrow are set to rise, not only for the Olympics and Paralympics, but year on year into the future, yet Border Force is running at 100% capacity, with no room for the unexpected—and clearly the Government are running way past their capacity. Is it not time that the Government shouldered their responsibility and gave Border Force the resources it truly needs to do the job properly?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Wednesday 25th April 2012 Commons Chamber

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. It relates to the Prime Minister.

[Mr Speaker]

It may relate to the Prime Minister but, as far as I am concerned, unless I am advised otherwise, points of order come after statements, and the statement—

[Chris Bryant]

He will regret that.

[Mr Speaker]

I do not think that I will.

[Chris Bryant]

The Prime Minister will regret it.

[Mr Speaker]

I note what the hon. Gentleman has said from a sedentary position. We will now hear the statement from the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport. I call Mr Secretary Hunt.

Points of Order

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Wednesday 25th April 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I have had no such indication. The right hon. Lady and I came into the House together in 1997 and, on the strength of knowing her for 15 years, I know that she is not inclined to let go of the bone.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Last July the Prime Minister—I tried to warn him that I would raise this point of order; obviously he has now left the Chamber—published a list of all the meetings he had had with proprietors, editors and senior media executives between May 2010 and July 2011. It details only one meeting with Rupert Murdoch between May and July 2011. However, this afternoon Rupert Murdoch—this has been published by the Leveson inquiry—made it clear that there were meetings with the Prime Minister on 18 May, 25 May, 21 July, another on 21 July, and 22 July. My point of order is to ask you whether something that is laid in the Library of the House is just as much a matter of privilege as something that is said. In other words, if someone has tabled something in the Library that has misled the House, is that just as serious a matter as something said in the Chamber?

[Mr Speaker]

All Members, including the Prime Minister, are responsible for the accuracy of what they say to the House, and my implicit assumption is that that includes material lodged with the House. I am happy to take further advice on that, but there is an encouraging nod from the Clerk of the House from a sedentary position, and that provides me with succour. Beyond that, I simply say that Members should be careful what they say if—I emphasise if—they are not asking a question, but making an accusation. I say that simply for the general knowledge and enrichment of the House. I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his point of order.

Food Labelling (Halal and Kosher Meat)

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Tuesday 24th April 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

If a matter of privilege is being raised, hon. or right hon. Members should write to me about it. I feel, on the strength of what I have heard, that I am quite able to respond. I say to the shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport and to the right hon. Member for Exeter that I have received no indication from the Secretary of State that he intends to come to the House. The point that the right hon. and learned Lady and the right hon. Gentleman have made is clear, on the record and will have been widely heard.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

rose—

[Margaret Curran (Glasgow East) (Lab)]

rose—

[Mr Speaker]

I do not intend to allow this matter to run for any length of time, but I am prepared to hear the hon. Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant) and then we will see how it goes.

[Chris Bryant]

I am very grateful. Further to that point of order, Mr Speaker, there may be an issue of privilege, and you are absolutely right that if any Opposition Member wants to allege that the Secretary of State has lied to the House, that is a matter of privilege and we should write to you, notwithstanding the fact that the Committee of Privileges is in the slightly complicated position of being reconstituted. However, surely the matter may also be one for the House in a different way, because the code of conduct for Ministers is a not only a matter for the Prime Minister but written into a resolution of the House. Surely it is appropriate that the Secretary of State should come here to explain himself in relation to the code of conduct.

[Mr Speaker]

I note what the hon. Gentleman has said. He will also have noted, I hope, what I said, which was that what the right hon. and learned Member for Camberwell and Peckham (Ms Harman) and the right hon. Member for Exeter said will have been heard on the Treasury Bench. I think it is a safe prediction that it will have been heard by the Secretary of State at whom it is directed, and I do not think there is anything that I now need to add or can usefully add. The observations have been made, and they are on the record. I thank right hon. and hon. Members for their comments.

Point of Order

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Tuesday 17th April 2012 Commons Chamber

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. The Home Secretary said that it was not a good idea to warn Abu Qatada that he was about to be arrested, which obviously prompts one to ask whether he would then have been able to abscond. She maintains that that is why she could not tell the House first and suggested that there had been no briefing to the media, but the precise words in the Evening Standard, which was published before the House sat today, are:

“A deportation order to send Abu Qatada to Jordan and allow him to be put back behind bars will be issued within days, Home Secretary Theresa May said today”—

not “will say today” or “in the next few days,” but “said today”. That was published before she came into the House and before the House sat. It goes on in precise terms to detail every single element of what the Home Secretary has said to the House this afternoon.

Mr Speaker, will you investigate precisely why and how this came to pass? Surely, at least on matters of national security, about which the public need to have confidence in the Government and parliamentary process, Parliament should hear first. Will you also confirm that if Mr Qatada is not under detention at the end of today it is perfectly possible for the Home Secretary to return to the House to explain why not?

[Mr Speaker]

I will rule on that, but as the hon. Gentleman has raised a point of order that relates directly to the Home Secretary and she is in her place, she has the opportunity to respond if she wishes to do so.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Monday 16th April 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I am grateful to the Minister of State, but can I ask him not to keep swivelling round? The House cannot hear what he is trying to say, although we wish to do so—[Interruption.] We are grateful to him, for the time being.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

I do not object to regulation as much as the hon. Member for Christchurch (Mr Chope) does, so may I suggest one additional regulatory burden for schools—that every school and every child should have statutory and proper sex and relationship education? Notwithstanding the falls of recent years, this country still has a five times higher level of teenage pregnancy than Holland, and a quarter of this year’s terminations were by girls under 18. Please let us move forward.

Points of Order

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Monday 26th March 2012 Commons Chamber

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

Further to that point of order, Mr Speaker. Is it not true that, notwithstanding the fact that the House has decided not to sit this Wednesday, the Government could, if they wanted to, table a motion tonight to allow us to sit on Wednesday, so that we could have Prime Minister’s questions? For that matter, notwithstanding this afternoon’s statement from the Minister, could we not have a statement on this matter from the Prime Minister later today, or a statement from him and a special round of Prime Minister’s questions tomorrow?

[Mr Speaker]

I will deal with the points of order in reverse order, if I may. First, I say to the hon. Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant) that I know he is an expert in all matters of parliamentary procedure, as well as being blessed with a fertile imagination. I hope that he will accept that I do not want to get into hypotheticals. I am not disputing what has been said; nor am I making an argument for it. I simply note what the hon. Gentleman has said.

So far as the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton (Sir Gerald Kaufman) is concerned, I reiterate the importance that I attach to statements being made in the House on important matters of public policy. I hope that he will take it in the spirit in which it is intended when I say that it has been my privilege to listen to his points of order, his interventions, his questions and his speeches in this Chamber on a vast miscellany of topics for almost 15 years. Others have savoured that particular joy throughout the 41 years and nine months since the right hon. Gentleman entered the House of Commons.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Speaker]

I will not continue the exchanges that took place earlier and will not urge the Minister for the Cabinet Office to hurry back to the Chamber. I sense that the hon. Lady’s point of order is really a rhetorical question and hope that I can be forgiven for making the point in passing, which is simply a statement of fact, that the right hon. Member for Horsham (Mr Maude), although he occupies a high office in the Government, is not the Cabinet Secretary.

[Chris Bryant]

But your house has not been sold?

[Mr Speaker]

I am grateful to the hon. Member for Rhondda for what he says from a sedentary position. Speaker’s House remains standing, and I hope that it will continue to do so. I thank colleagues for their co-operation.

Points of Order

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Wednesday 7th March 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. May I just establish whether colleagues are seeking to come in on the same matter? I think Mr Bryant is.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

Further to that point of order, Mr Speaker. I am seeking to do so, because you know that earlier this week I raised the matter of the Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, the hon. Member for Basingstoke (Maria Miller), coming to the Remploy factory in my constituency. All the staff there, many of whom are very vulnerable members of society, have been deeply disturbed by the way in which she came into the office and left. They did not know whether there was going to be an announcement today; the written ministerial statement is simply called “Employment Support”. This has been sneaked out, it is unfair to treat disabled people in this country in that way, and the Minister is wandering around all the radio studios this afternoon. It is a disgrace. We should be treated better, and disabled people in this country should be treated better.

Points of Order

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Monday 5th March 2012 Commons Chamber

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker.

[Mr Speaker]

The day would not be complete without a point of order from the hon. Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant).

[Chris Bryant]

You probably do not know this, Mr Speaker, but my constituency contains a Remploy factory, which does a very good job of recycling electronic equipment, and we are hearing a lot of mood music at the moment about whether it is going to close. Last week, the Minister for disabled people visited the factory without notifying me that she was coming. A lot of workers at the factory are vulnerable and very uncertain about their future, and they take this scuttling in and out of my constituency as signifying that their jobs are going to go. They are very worried about the situation. I hope that you might be able to have a word with this Minister and urge her that if she has something to announce, she should do so soon and in this House.

[Mr Speaker]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his point of order. The Minister for disabled people will have heard, or she will shortly hear, the point he has made. He will know that it is not a rule contained in our Standing Orders but rather a convention—a custom or courtesy—of the House that a Member visiting another Member’s constituency notifies that Member in advance of the intended visit. I remind Members on both sides of the House of the importance of adhering to that courtesy. No matter whether the Member visiting is a Back Bencher, a Minister or an Opposition Front Bencher, this is a courtesy and it should be upheld. In addition, if a Minister has an announcement to make, it should be made first to the House and, depending on the nature and content of the statement, it might well take the form of an oral statement. I must say that breaching the convention is a risky enterprise and doing so in respect of the constituency of Rhondda is especially risky, as it is almost certain that the hon. Gentleman will raise the matter, as he has just proved.

Treaty on Stability, Co-ordination and Governance

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Wednesday 29th February 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. First, the hon. Gentleman’s intervention is too long. It is very enjoyable, but too long. Secondly, although I do not usually comment on the content of debates at all, I feel that I must do so for the benefit of the House. I know that it will please the senior Government Whip—I must get my seniority right—when I make the point that this debate was granted by me. It was nothing whatever to do with any Whip, senior or junior, and that is the end of it.

[Chris Bryant]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Of course, what you say is absolutely true, but you would not have granted this debate unless 100 Members had stood up. My hon. Friend the Member for Linlithgow and East Falkirk (Michael Connarty) is absolutely right to say that a lot of Tory Back Benchers have been dying for anything other than the complete vacuum—

[Chris Bryant]

The hon. Gentleman said so last night to me in the gym. They are dying for anything other than the absolute vacuum that there has been in the business in this, the longest parliamentary Session since the Long Parliament.

[Mr Speaker]

That is an interesting point, like many of the hon. Gentleman’s points, but it is not a point of order for the Chair, as he knows perfectly well.

Points of Order

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Monday 27th February 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his point of order, and for giving me notice of it. The question of taking action in these circumstances, consequent upon a debate and vote, is a matter for the Government; it is not a matter for the Chair. There are, however, other courses open to the hon. Gentleman, and I know that those at the Table in front of me and in the Table Office will be ready to advise him. Indeed, unless my eyes deceive me, he has already availed himself of that course of action. I hope that he will persevere with that approach, and I feel sure that if he is not satisfied I will hear from him again.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Thank you for that endorsement. I do not know whether you still read The Daily Telegraph, but page 4 of today’s edition states:

“Theresa May, the Home Secretary, will announce new rules this week meaning migrants working in the UK must earn at least £35,000 a year if they want to stay longer than five years.”

If that is the case, it represents a significant change in public policy that we would all expect to have been announced to this House first, rather than to the national newspapers. That is bad enough, but I understand from two journalists that the Home Office is preparing a briefing session on this policy for journalists tomorrow, which will be embargoed until Wednesday morning so that it can appear in the Wednesday newspapers and be discussed on the Wednesday morning television programmes, before the House of Commons has an opportunity to question Ministers. Will you investigate this matter, Mr Speaker, and ensure that Ministers at the Home Office are not shy and careless about coming to the House and that they come here first? We should know about these matters before the newspapers do.

[Mr Speaker]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman. I read a variety of newspapers, but I have not read the story to which he refers. Embargoed press briefings are not a new phenomenon, although they do carry considerable dangers. The Government are well aware of my view, which I have reiterated on innumerable occasions, that major policy announcements should not be made public before they have been reported to this House by way of a statement or, conceivably, by other means. I will reflect on what the hon. Gentleman has said about what might be planned for tomorrow, and I suggest that all those potentially engaged in the activity to which he has referred should reflect very carefully upon it between now and then. I hope that that is clear and helpful.

Points of Order

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Thursday 2nd February 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Who the Government put up on a matter of this kind is a matter for them. As to the content of answers, whether they impress the hon. Gentleman or not and what their quality might be, that is very murky territory, certainly for the Speaker, so I shall keep away from it. I do not think the hon. Gentleman really expected an answer to his question; I think he simply wanted to give vent to his views—and that he has done.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. You will know that previous Speakers have ruled that when a Minister relies on a document for their argument, they are then required to publish it to the House. The Chief Secretary to the Treasury earlier referred to documents that he had signed, so surely he should publish those to the House.

[Mr Speaker]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman. My understanding of the position on the question of reliance on a document and its consequent publication is that that applies where state papers are concerned, but whether it applies in this particular context I am not at all sure. I do not advance a strong view on the point. I think he is seeking to rev up or simply repeat a point that was made earlier.

--- Later in debate ---

[Chris Bryant]

No, this is a new one.

[Mr Speaker]

The hon. Gentleman professes his innocence and says it is a new point, but even if it is, it has been clearly made and has been heard. I shall not rule on it, because I do not think it is, at this stage, a matter for the Chair to rule on, but the Leader of the House will have heard it and I have a pretty strong sense that it will percolate through to the relevant Ministers. If the hon. Gentleman is still dissatisfied, I feel sure, knowing him for the sort of upmarket terrier that he is, that he will raise the matter again at the earliest opportunity. And in case he is going to ask me whether that was a compliment, as he did the other day when I paid him a compliment and I assured him that it was, it was. We will leave it there.

Bill Presented

Water Industry (Financial Assistance) Bill

Presentation and First Reading (Standing Order No. 50)

Mrs Secretary Spelman, supported by the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, Secretary Vince Cable and Richard Benyon, presented a Bill to make provision for the giving of financial assistance for the purpose of securing the reduction of charges for the supply of water and the provision of sewerage services and in connection with the construction of, and the carrying out of works in respect of, water and sewerage infrastructure.

Bill read the First time; to be read a Second time on Monday 6 February, and to be printed (Bill 299) with explanatory notes (Bill 299-EN).

Points of Order

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Tuesday 31st January 2012 Commons Chamber

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. You will know that the ministerial code of conduct makes it clear that Ministers have to provide timely answers to written questions tabled by Members of the House, which is underlined by a motion of the House.

Last December, I tabled three questions to the Secretary of State for the Home Department for named day answer on 14 December, and then another two on 20 December for answer on 10 January. I have still had no reply, so last week I decided that I would table a question asking when I was going to get an answer to those questions. I was very excited yesterday to get a reply, which said, “I will reply as soon as possible.” Surely the ministerial code means that we must get substantive replies, not evasive ones that make it look as though a question has been answered when it has not actually been answered.

[Mr Speaker]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his point of order, and I would say two things in response to him. First, he is of course right that the reply that is forthcoming should be not only timely but substantive. It is not good enough for Ministers to provide holding replies in such circumstances, particularly when they are provided very late, simply saying, “I will reply as soon as possible.” It must be a substantive reply.

Secondly, moderately vivid imagination though I possess, a fact to which I made reference in responding to someone last week, I really cannot imagine a colleague whom it is more impolitic or foolish to fail timeously to answer than the hon. Gentleman, for there is no colleague more absolutely certain to make a very substantial and justified fuss about it for some considerable period after the non-event.

[Chris Bryant]

Is that a compliment?

[Mr Speaker]

The hon. Gentleman should take his compliments when they come to him. It was.

Statements of Taxation

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Wednesday 25th January 2012 Commons Chamber

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

rose—[Interruption.]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I want to hear what the hon. Gentleman has to say.

[Mr Speaker]

Yes, but I want to hear the hon. Gentleman, Sir Bob.

[Chris Bryant]

Thank you very much, Mr Speaker.

I rise to oppose the Bill proposed by the hon. Member for Ipswich (Ben Gummer). He is a very charming Member of the House who has obviously made quite an impact since he arrived—although not quite so charming as to win last week’s debate in the Cambridge Union on whether the Tories have been unfairly demonised.

None the less, I say to the hon. Gentleman that there are far more important things that we should change about how expenditure is revealed to taxpayers, not least because we in this House do an extremely bad job of analysing expenditure. The Budget that we have every year is not really a budget, it is just a statement of changes to taxation. It is not a proper process whereby we start from scratch and examine every single piece of expenditure, which is what happens in every local authority in the land and in the United States of America, where there is a thorough budget process. I do not believe that there has been a vote on expenditure in this House since something like 1918. All that we do is work on the estimates, and nobody ever makes a close analysis of expenditure.

Although I am sympathetic to some of what the hon. Gentleman says about how we should explain things better to taxpayers, I believe that there are better ways to ensure that the expenditure that the House grants on behalf of the Crown is better explained to them.

My real complaint about the hon. Gentleman’s motion —it is the motion that we are debating today, not the Bill—is that it requests that

“leave be given to bring in a Bill”.

There are still 93 Bills on the Order Paper to be debated before Prorogation, and not a single one of those is scheduled for a day when the House will be sitting. Nor will his Bill be.

I simply say to hon. Members that there is a hypocrisy about how we do our legislating here. I am not saying that any individual Member is a hypocrite, simply that there is a hypocrisy about our pretending that we are actually advancing legislation. If Members want to wave the motion through, that is fine, but they need to be absolutely clear about the fact that if they had any real honesty in what they were doing, they would be calling on the Leader of the House to provide extra time to debate such Bills. Otherwise, this is nothing more than a political puff and a press release for the Daily Mail.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Tuesday 17th January 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I apologise to any Members who may be disappointed, but the appetite for questioning the Foreign Secretary and his colleagues is invariably insatiable.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

Unassuaged.

[Mr Speaker]

And unassuaged, as the hon. Gentleman helpfully points out from a sedentary position.

Point of Order

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Tuesday 17th January 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for his point of order and for notice of it. I certainly agree that no Member of the House should be intimidated in exercising his or her undoubted right to free expression in this House. I might add that although my own imagination is moderately vivid, the idea of the right hon. Gentleman being intimidated by the Russian embassy or anybody else is beyond it.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

They send you bottles of vodka and take you to a Japanese restaurant.

[Mr Speaker]

If there are no further points of order, or sedentary heckles by the hon. Gentleman, we shall move on to the ten-minute rule Bill.

Sexual Offences (Amendment)

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Tuesday 17th January 2012 Commons Chamber

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

I rise to speak about the motion on the Order Paper, although I have nothing specific to say about the Bill proposed by my hon. Friend the Member for Bassetlaw (John Mann)—[Interruption.] Let me explain, Mr Speaker—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. The hon. Gentleman is opposing this, I am sure.

[Chris Bryant]

I am opposing the motion on the Order Paper, because it reads:

“That leave be given to bring in a Bill to amend”

and all the other stuff that my hon. Friend mentioned. I do not think that we should be giving leave to bring in any more Bills, as there is absolutely no point in assenting to yet another Bill being brought in. If it is to be successful and to be brought into law, by Prorogation it will need to have gone through all its stages in this House and all its stages in the other House. We know perfectly well that the Deputy Leader of the House—who is in his seat and will, no doubt, assent to this—has absolutely no intention of ensuring that there will be time for the Bill to have its Second Reading, let alone to go into Committee. Consequently, I cannot see that there is any sense in it.

I merely point out that there are 109 private Members’ Bills on the Order Paper and only three are from—[Interruption.] I hear an hon. Gentleman say that that this should be a point of order, but it is not. The motion on the Order Paper states that we should give the Bill the right to go forward, and if hon. Members are going to agree to its going forward, they should ensure that there is time for it to do so and for it to do something substantial. There is a means of doing that.

There are 109 private Members’ Bills on the Order Paper—several have come from Mrs Bone, it is true—and only three have come back from the Lords and therefore stand any chance of becoming law before Prorogation. They are the Live Music Bill, which has already been through all its stages in this House, the Contaminated Blood (Support for Infected and Bereaved Persons) Bill and the Building Regulations (Review) Bill. Only two are in their remaining stages, which will take place this Friday, and could possibly become law, unless the Deputy Leader of the House were to say that the Government would give time in some of the next few days, when we are, frankly, slightly less busy with Government legislation. That would enable us to enact some of the private Members’ Bills.

Alternatively, I hope that, as a lot of Members want to legislate on specific matters that would be of significant advantage to our constituents, the Backbench Business Committee will consider making time available on Back-Bench business days for private Members’ Bills. As we discussed in last week’s debate, I do not believe that this House should just be representative—it is important that we do the representing. We cannot do the representing as Back-Benchers if private Members’ Bills just stack up on Fridays. There are 64 this Friday and I guess we might get to debate two of them in any kind of substance, and the rest of the Bills will not even be heard on a day when we are sitting.

If hon. Members want to agree to this going forward, I say to them sincerely that they should ensure that there is more time for private Members’ Bills, because sometimes they make some of the best legislation. [Interruption.] The Whip, who should be silent, is trying to accuse us of not having given enough time, but in my time as Deputy Leader of the House we got more private Members’ Bills on to the statute book in one year than this Government will in two full years in one Session. Frankly, he can go back to his silence.

Question put and agreed to.

Ordered,

That John Mann, Fiona Mactaggart, Natascha Engel, Mrs Louise Ellman, Gavin Shuker and Siobhain McDonagh present the Bill.

John Mann accordingly presented the Bill.

Bill read the First time; to be read a Second time on Friday 30 March, and to be printed (Bill 272).

Pub Companies

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Thursday 12th January 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Thankfully, that is not a matter for the Chair. I have no influence over the conduct of the Government, the decisions they make about policy or the way in which they choose either to vote or not to vote. In saying that, I think that the hon. Gentleman will hear my expression of relief.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

Further to that point of order, Mr Speaker. Notwithstanding what you have just said, it is a matter of order that it is the custom of the House for a vote to follow a voice. If the voice spoke in one direction, but did not follow that up with a vote, that would surely be disorderly.

[Mr Speaker]

I think if somebody says one thing and then votes in a different direction, that would be a breach of order. I think if an individual Member—be that a Back Bencher or a Minister—gives an indication of a view, but chooses not to vote in the Division, that is qualitatively in a different category. I have a sense coming on of a potentially stimulating but arcane and preferably delayable exchange on this matter with the hon. Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant). Perhaps we can now move to the second debate, which is of great interest to a great many Members, on parliamentary representation.

EU Council

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Monday 12th December 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. If I am to accommodate the large number of Back Benchers, as I always wish to do, we will require brevity, a textbook example of which will now be provided by Mr Chris Bryant. [Laughter.]

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

I think, Mr Speaker, that that was an example of irony.

The single most important thing that our voters have seen over the past weeks and months has been the crisis in the economies across the whole of Europe, which is depressing the economy in this country as well. They want to ensure that they have jobs to go to next year. Last week, the Prime Minister surrendered an opportunity to do that; he surrendered his seat; and he surrendered to his Back Benchers. Is he not ashamed of himself?

British Embassy (Tehran)

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Wednesday 30th November 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I have just been reminded that the hon. Member for The Wrekin (Mark Pritchard) is a learned and well-read fellow.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

No he is not—Division.

[Mr Speaker]

I do not know that anyone is as learned or well read as the hon. Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant).

[Chris Bryant]

The Foreign Secretary referred to bellicose words. What counts as bellicose words in Iran is rather different from what counts as bellicose words from a Foreign Secretary in the House of Commons. I worry about the tone that the right hon. Gentleman has adopted today. I noted that on the radio a couple of weeks ago he refused to rule out military intervention. Will he do so today?

Points of Order

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Monday 14th November 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I am grateful for his nod of assent. He should raise such a matter with the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards and not—I underline not—as I have had occasion to say before, as a point of order for me.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Last week, the Home Secretary and the Immigration Minister both asserted on more than one occasion in the House that their relaxation of border controls had not meant that any passengers arriving in the United Kingdom were at any point waved through without even rudimentary checks. However, I have incontrovertible new evidence that that is precisely what happened under a new general aviation policy that started earlier this year. Not only were passports not swiped and the warnings index not checked, but passengers were passed through without even being seen. I have also seen new evidence that the Government have statistics on how often—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. The hon. Gentleman is an extremely experienced Member, and he will know that matters of genuine contention and debate cannot be matters on which the Chair will rule. If he wants to avail himself of the mechanisms available to him through the Table Office and the other means by which he can draw his concerns to the attention of the House and seek to probe Ministers, I think that it would be best for him to do that first. In this case, I do not have the advantage of prior knowledge of the detailed content of his point of order—[Hon. Members: “Ah!”] I am not complaining about that; the hon. Gentleman is not guilty of any impropriety. It is no good people going “Ah!” as though I have made some dramatic disclosure. However, I have to make a judgment as to whether this matter warrants the further attention of the House now, and on the basis of the information available to me, my judgment is that it does not.

Points of Order

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Monday 31st October 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I do not mean to be discourteous to the hon. Gentleman in any way, but it was obvious where his question was headed. The short answer is that the choice of Minister to respond to an urgent question is exclusively a matter for the Government. Members can have an opinion about it, and they may have wanted Mr Secretary Huhne to be here this afternoon as opposed to Minister Barker, but that is a judgment entirely for the Government. It is not a matter for the Chair.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. As you will know, ever since Edward II was removed by Parliament as King, the royal succession has been a matter for the whole of Parliament—for both Houses—to determine. I wholly welcome the fact that the Prime Minister has gone off to Australia and announced that he is going to bring in some changes in respect of the royal succession, but he has not brought them to this House first. In particular, he has referred to one element of this—the matter of the male preference primogeniture—but has made absolutely no reference to the issue of how the succession should be dealt with in relation to Catholics and marriage to Catholics. Will you make sure, in so far as you are able, and as previous Speakers have done when such matters have arisen, that this issue is brought to the Floor of the House, either in the form of a statement or by some other means so that we can all inform the Prime Minister exactly how we approve of what he has done and how we would like him to go further?

[Mr Speaker]

I have no idea what my predecessors did or did not do in relation to comparable matters, and the history books would have to be studied by me with some intensity and speed in order for me to answer that point made by the hon. Gentleman. But his wider point I take, and he has registered it—I think that was probably his main purpose for today. Wherever the Prime Minister is, there is a real prospect that the verdict of the Voice of Rhondda will be made known to him. [Interruption.] The hon. Gentleman rather pessimistically chunters from a sedentary position that he thinks that that is unlikely, but he should live in hope; we all attach importance to his words.

If there are no further points of order, we will move on to Mr Secretary Clarke. We have been saving him up.

Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Monday 31st October 2011 Commons Chamber

[Chris Bryant]

If Secretary of State is not embarrassed, as he now suggests, he has gone down in my estimation.

The right hon. Member for Wokingham (Mr Redwood) said that all these matters have been extensively debated, but it is one thing to debate a matter in its general application and principles but quite a different matter to look at the wording on the page when it actually comes to legislation.

As I understand the rules of this House, given that we have not yet carried the motion before us, no amendments to which the Government have referred can possibly yet have been tabled. So, they will be tabled tonight and appear on the Order Paper tomorrow, and consequently we will not be able to table amendments to those amendments until after that. I can see the Clerk saying “No, no, no”, so perhaps I have got that completely wrong—[Interruption.] He is nodding now, so I hope that hon. Members will feel free to ignore the last part of my speech and remember everything I said at the beginning of it, and that they will oppose this ludicrous process.

[Mr Speaker]

I am sure that that is what many colleagues will have done.

Points of Order

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Tuesday 13th September 2011 Commons Chamber

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. I am not sure whether I concur with your last remarks, but I am sure that since noon on Monday you have been considering your own boundary recommendations, as indeed have many other English Members of Parliament. Unfortunately, at the moment it is impossible to go to the Vote Office and get copies of the boundary recommendations for the whole United Kingdom. In fact, in the House of Lords they are not available at all. Can I suggest to you that it might be a good idea if the draft recommendations were available in the Vote Office, so that the whole of this House might consider them, come to a firm view—and, I hope, reject them?

[Mr Speaker]

The hon. Gentleman asks whether he can suggest that. He can, he has done. I do listen, I have listened on this occasion, and he is proving himself, as ever, the candid friend. I will make inquiries into the matter and try to ensure that satisfaction is provided. That would be a very happy state of affairs.

Points of Order

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Monday 12th September 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

The hon. Lady will understand immediately when I say that I do not regard myself as an authority on fashion. In response to points of order, I think an appropriate humility and self-denying ordinance on the part of this Chair would be prudent and seemly.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

Quite good ties though.

[Mr Speaker]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his sedentary intervention on the subject of ties, about which I do not intend to expatiate now or at any time from the Chair.

The hon. Lady kindly gave me notice of her point of order. What I would say to her, very seriously, is that the content of answers to parliamentary questions is a matter for the Government and not the Chair, and there are very good reasons, which will be immediately apparent to Members, why that should be so. The Chair cannot get into the business of acting as umpire or arbiter of the merit or demerit of a particular answer—only on the question of whether it is orderly. However, if the hon. Lady is dissatisfied with the answer, she should contact the Table Office to find other and perhaps further ways of pursuing the matter to obtain the satisfaction she seeks.

Police reform and social responsibility Bill (programme) (No. 3)

Motion made, and Question put forthwith (Standing Order No. 83A(7)),

That the following provisions shall apply to the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill for the purpose of supplementing the Orders of 13 December 2010 and 30 March 2011 (Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill (Programme) and Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill (Programme) (No. 2)):

Consideration of Lords Amendments

1. Proceedings on consideration of Lords Amendments shall be taken at this day’s sitting in the order shown in the first column of the following Table.

2. The proceedings shall (so far as not previously concluded) be brought to a conclusion at the times specified in the second column of the Table.

TABLE

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Wednesday 7th September 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I call Graham Stringer. He is not here.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

One quango that has done a really good job since it was brought in by the Labour Government is the Security Industry Authority, which licenses bouncers outside pubs. One role that it has not yet been given is the licensing of private investigators. We have seen over the past year that some private investigators are very good people, but some of them are the scum of the earth. Should we not be licensing them and giving that power to the authority?

Business of the House

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Thursday 14th July 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

It is entirely a matter for the Standards and Privileges Committee, and ultimately the House, what sanctions should then be applied to anyone who has committed a contempt.

[Mr Speaker]

Mr Chris Bryant.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

Thank you, Mr Speaker; you are very cheeky.

As I understand it, the Deputy Serjeant at Arms has already served the summons on the lawyers of the two Murdochs, and as I understand it, there is no bar on foreign nationals being summoned. Let me make a suggestion to the Leader of the House. There is a degree of urgency about this. Parliament is going into recess next Tuesday, and the Select Committee is only going to meet on Tuesday. If the Murdochs still refuse to come next Tuesday, an alternative route would be for him to table an emergency motion on Monday to require the Serjeant at Arms to bring the Murdochs either to the Bar of the House or to the Committee. I think that he would have the support of the whole House in doing so.

Points of Order

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Monday 11th July 2011 Commons Chamber

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. One hon. Member has already referred to 11 March 2003. Also on that day, Andy Coulson and Rebekah Brooks appeared before the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee and cited the Milly Dowler case as a prime example of good co-operation between the press and the police. In retrospect, that seems one of the most disgusting pieces of cynical manipulation of a Select Committee ever. In addition, there has subsequently been a series of lies by News International and by the Metropolitan police to Select Committees of this House. That means that Members from all parties have been led a merry dance. That is partly because witnesses are not required to give evidence on oath, and we are therefore unable to pursue someone for perjury if they have lied to a Select Committee.

There is now, however, going to be a judge-led inquiry in which the witnesses will have to give evidence on oath. Mr Speaker, can you ensure that it is perfectly possible for that inquiry to look at the issue of whether lies were told to Parliament, which might otherwise be covered by privilege—[Interruption.] I hear what the Clerk is saying, and I disagree with him. I urge you to disagree with him as well, because it is important that the judge-led public inquiry should be able to look at how Parliament could be so grossly misled, how Members could be intimidated and how people could refuse to give evidence. If that were to happen, we might come up with a stronger Parliament that is able to deal better with issues such as these in the future.

[Mr Speaker]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his point of order, but he is somewhat inclined to invest me with powers that I do not possess. Although it is generous of him to make that attempt, I think that in all wisdom, I should resist it. I will happily reflect on the particular points that he makes, but I would emphasise to him and to the House that there is a distinction between what the Chair can do and what the House as a whole can decide to do. The hon. Gentleman will know that a Member who wishes to raise a privilege complaint —he did not use those words, but I think that that concept was there in his point of order—is required to give me written notice. That is provided for on page 273 of “Erskine May”. I understand, as I think the House now will, that the Select Committees involved in this matter—the Home Affairs Committee and the Culture, Media and Sport Committee—are themselves pursuing the matter. As the hon. Gentleman also knows, the Chair does not intervene in matters before Committees of the House. I must also add that it is of course always open to a Committee to report to the House on any matter it wishes, but that is a matter for the Committee and not for the Chair to decide. I will leave it there for today.

Phone Hacking

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Tuesday 5th July 2011 Commons Chamber

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

I rise to propose that the House should debate a specific and important matter that should have urgent consideration: whether there should be a public inquiry into phone hacking at the News of the World and the related conduct of the Metropolitan Police Service between 2006 and 2011.

There cannot be a single person in the land who is not sickened by the news that a private investigator working for the News of the World hacked the phone of the missing teenager, Milly Dowler, and deleted some of her messages, thereby leading the family to believe that she might still be alive. That is not just a paper out of control; that is not just a paper believing it is above the law. It is a national newspaper playing God with a family’s emotions. Those involved, those whose negligence allowed it to happen, and those who covered it up should be truly ashamed, and the paper cannot pretend that this comes as a massive surprise to it. The News of the World ran a story directly referring to one of the messages. Even more cynically, only last weekend it wrote that people should be rightly disgusted at the “courtroom torture” of Milly Dowler’s family. What about the newspaper torture as well?

This is not just about one incident, as hideous as it is. It is about systematic criminality that has perverted police investigations and seriously damaged the reputation of British journalism and of the Metropolitan police. It is about a pattern of lies and half truths told to Parliament by the News of the World—that there was just one lone reporter; that no senior managers knew anything about all of this.

What makes it really important and urgent, however, is that this is about the behaviour of the Metropolitan police, in whom we put our trust. They had all this information in their hands in 2006, and yet they did nothing with it. Why have they lied time and time again to Parliament, saying that a full investigation had been done and that all the victims had been informed when self-evidently they have not been? In the end, the problem and the scandal is that the Metropolitan police, as the Deputy Prime Minister mentioned earlier, did not pursue the evidence and it is only because of the current campaign that a full investigation is now going on.

The only way we can get to the full truth and to the heart of the cover-up is by having a public inquiry, led by a judge, in addition to the police investigation. This is urgent. The inquiry should start now while memories are fresh and before people leave the scene or shred the evidence. We should not be spineless. Warm words will make no odds. We must have an inquiry.

[Mr Speaker]

The hon. Gentleman seeks leave to move a motion relating to a public inquiry into phone hacking at the News of the World and the conduct of the Metropolitan Police Service between 2006 and 2011. I have listened carefully and am satisfied that the matter is proper to be debated under Standing Order No. 24. Does he have the leave of the House?

Points of Order

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Thursday 23rd June 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I am grateful to the hon. Lady for her point of order and for advance notice of her intention to raise it. She has put her views very firmly and explicitly on the record. There is very little I can do about this matter, but let me say to her that I have considerable sympathy with Members who seek to ask oral questions on what might be described as cross-cutting subjects. As she and the House are aware, transfers are a matter for the Government, but I am sure that her point of order will have been noted. When a Member tables an orderly question to a Department in respect of that Department’s responsibilities, it is unfortunate if it is transferred and we need to keep an eye on the matter. The hon. Lady should seek the advice of the Table Office before the next oral questions to the Minister for Women and Equalities.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Further to the point that was raised in questions to the Leader of the House by the hon. Member for Kettering (Mr Hollobone), there is still the remaining issue of how to deal with the fact that the Government are regularly briefing the press before briefing the House of Commons. [Interruption.] Many of us also deprecated it when it was done by the Labour Government. I realise that it is very difficult for you to exercise any direct powers in relation to the Government, but this is a question not only of supply but of demand. Might I suggest that any journalist whom you find has written an article saying, “Tomorrow, the Government will announce that…” should have their pass withdrawn so that they cannot work in the House any longer?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Thursday 16th June 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I am sure that the Minister will not take it personally.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

We in Wales know that digital switchover is a great thing, but it is not quite a utopia. The Freeview package that is available in my constituency and many other valleys communities is greatly diminished compared with the rest of the country. This means that Rupert Murdoch has a virtual monopoly not just on first-view American movies and many sports matches but on the actual provision of television services. What is the Minister going to do to ensure that my constituents get a fair deal?

Point of Order

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Tuesday 14th June 2011 Commons Chamber

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. I hate to do this, but yesterday, when questioned by my right hon. Friend the Member for Manchester, Gorton (Sir Gerald Kaufman), you mentioned the fact that it would be inappropriate for a Minister to make announcements about changes to such an important policy as we have just discussed before they were made in the Chamber. Yet the Prime Minister went ahead, at 12 o’clock today, with a press conference at which large amounts of the statement were announced. There is no point in the House continuing to say that we deprecate this if we do not do something about it.

[Mr Speaker]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his point of order. I well recall—I would have a serious problem with my short-term memory if I did not—the exchange that I had with the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton (Sir Gerald Kaufman) yesterday. I made it clear that policy announcements should be made first to the House. The Government tabled a written ministerial statement this morning, which is not unprecedented but is a common practice, and there has been a full oral statement this afternoon. I hope that it has been noted, and is approved of by the House, that every Member who wanted to take part in the exchange had the opportunity to do so.

[Chris Bryant]

Further to that point of order, Mr Speaker.

[Mr Speaker]

No, I am going to leave it there. [Interruption.] No, I am not going to debate the issue with the hon. Gentleman. He and I have known each other a long time, and if he is dissatisfied, he can always contact me again. If he wants to pursue the matter on subsequent occasions, that opportunity will exist for him. [Interruption.] Order. I would not for one moment seek to deny him that opportunity, but I cannot have a debate with him on the Floor of the House. He has made his point, and I am happy to reflect on it further. If he feels strongly he will probably write to me, and who could deny him the chance to do so? However, today we really must move on to the 10-minute rule motion, for which the hon. Member for Sedgefield (Phil Wilson) has been waiting patiently.

Points of Order

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Monday 13th June 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Those are important matters, but they are matters for the Government. The point of order raised by the hon. Gentleman, although a matter of great concern to him and to many others, is essentially a business question, and therefore is not a matter for the Chair. Those who are responsible for such matters will have noted, and doubtless taken heed of, the hon. Gentleman’s observations.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

Further to that point of order, Mr Speaker. I am letting your original pronouncement in answer to my right hon. Friend the Member for Manchester, Gorton (Sir Gerald Kaufman) sink in, and I would not want to put any words in your mouth, obviously, but it seemed to me that you might have been suggesting that the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister would not be right to go ahead with an announcement in another venue before coming to this House.

[Mr Speaker]

If the hon. Gentleman had not made his name as a Member of Parliament, I feel sure that he would have had a very fruitful career at the Bar—

[Chris Bryant]

Downstairs? Behind the bar?

[Mr Speaker]

Not downstairs, but in the law courts.

I simply say to the hon. Gentleman that I am not suggesting anything, and I do not feel the need to add anything to what I have already said in response to the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton (Sir Gerald Kaufman). First, I think that what I said was pretty clear, and secondly, the right hon. Gentleman is not in any way slow on the uptake. I hope that is clear.

Royal Assent

Business of the House

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Thursday 19th May 2011 Commons Chamber

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

May we have a debate in Government time about Government policy on singing “Jerusalem” at weddings? If a heterosexual couple get married in church, many clergy will refuse to allow it to be sung, because it is not a hymn addressed to God; if a straight couple get married in a civil wedding, they are point blank not allowed it, because it is a religious song; if, however, a gay couple have a civil partnership, under Government plans they will be allowed to sing it. So can we make sure that “Jerusalem” is not just reserved for homosexuals?

[Mr Speaker]

I want to hear the Leader’s reply!

Points of Order

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Monday 16th May 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I am grateful to the hon. Lady for her point of order, but I fear that she invests me with mystical powers that I do not possess. She is a very experienced and indefatigable Member, who will be well aware of the avenues open to her to pursue such matters—and of which I feel sure she will shortly take advantage.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Earlier, the Secretary of State for Defence said in his statement, “I can tell the House this afternoon that the Government will bring forward amendments”. He is completely and utterly delusional, because he was not announcing anything to the House; it was announced in the national newspapers for all and sundry to see on Saturday and on Sunday. Indeed, I understand that the Prime Minister was expressly going to make the announcement on Sunday, only to be beaten to it by the Under-Secretary of State for Defence, the right hon. Member for South Leicestershire (Mr Robathan), who on the record gave quotations to The Daily Telegraph. I understand that he was given the hairdryer treatment, but is it not time that you, Mr Speaker, gave the hairdryer treatment to Ministers who keep on doing this, week in, week out?

Points of Order

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Wednesday 11th May 2011 Commons Chamber

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker.

The shadow Foreign Secretary said earlier that he was grateful to the Foreign Secretary for advance sight of the statement. Unfortunately, however, the whole House, and indeed the whole country, had advance sight of it because it appeared in The Guardian this morning. In some respects, the newspaper provided greater detail than appeared in the Foreign Secretary’s statement. Furthermore, the Secretary of State for Transport’s announcements in a written statement were all broadcast on Radio 4’s “Today” programme this morning. I understand that everyone thinks that this happens all the time, and that it also happened under the Labour Government and all the rest of it, but I urge you, Mr Speaker, to take action. It is not enough to say every time this issue is raised that you deplore it and you want it to stop. Action needs to be taken to find out how frequently Ministers ignore the House and make announcements in other places before they make them here.

[Mr Speaker]

The Procedure Committee has been looking into the matter, and its thoughts will be shared more widely with the House. I accept the importance of the point that hon. Gentleman has made. At this stage, I would point out that the Foreign Secretary is here and is free to respond if he so wishes. Also, it can be difficult to identify a specific breach. Where such a breach is identified, culprits have been asked to apologise to the House, so it is not just a question of making general denunciations. Specific requirements have been imposed on Ministers. Before I hear the Foreign Secretary, let me say that I know of no parliamentarian or member of the Government who has greater respect for the House than him. I believe we will hear from him.

Points of Order

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Tuesday 26th April 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Well, there is, because the hon. Gentleman has just proved that there is and done it. We are grateful to him for his point.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Over the Easter break—an unfortunate term, perhaps—News International confessed to the fact that there had been a very significant degree of criminality at the News of the World, in direct contradiction to the evidence that it had provided to two Select Committees of this House. In other words, it had misled the House. In addition, Rebekah Brooks, who on 11 March 2003—I can see that the Clerk is worrying, Mr Speaker. I am not—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. What I would say to the hon. Gentleman is that it is clear to me that he is raising a matter of privilege. That is certainly my very clear understanding of what he has said—it is about privilege and the breach or invasion thereof. It seems to me, therefore, obviously a matter that should be pursued with me in writing in the first instance. I readily expect and almost invite the hon. Gentleman to take that course if he so wishes.

[Chris Bryant]

rose—

[Mr Speaker]

I am being very generous, but I will give the hon. Gentleman one last go at a point of order.

[Chris Bryant]

I am grateful to you for your generosity, Mr Speaker.

In addition, Rebekah Brooks, who in March 2003 said that she had paid police officers for information, wrote to the Home Affairs Committee only a couple of weeks ago to say that what she really meant was that other newspapers had done so. That is a blatant lie. Before I write to you about standards and privileges, Mr Speaker, may I ask whether you have had any apology from News International? The House should no longer put up with being lied to.

[Mr Speaker]

I am not aware that the House has received any apology, and I certainly have not. Notwithstanding the intellectual and political ingenuity of the hon. Gentleman, his second set of observations merely confirm the truth and wisdom of what I said in my first answer, which is that he should pursue these matters with me in writing in the first instance. He and other Members know that on this matter, as on others, I am very receptive to hearing what the House has to say. These matters should be aired, but they must be aired in the appropriate forum and at the appropriate time.

If there are no further points of order—the creative juices of the House are always on display when we have had a long recess—we will move on.

Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Wednesday 30th March 2011 Commons Chamber

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

It feels as though I have entered a meeting of the Home Affairs Committee, which is where I was yesterday, but I am not going to talk about the Metropolitan police in quite the same way today.

I sympathise with some of the arguments about localism which have been advanced by the hon. Members for Rochester and Strood (Mark Reckless) and for Cambridge (Dr Huppert), who spoke in favour of the new clause, but I say to them that, although there may be a natural constituency in some police authorities, in many there is not. In the South Wales police area, for instance, it is not easy to conceive of a single constituency of interest. The area does not exist in any other denomination, as it were, and it crosses local authority boundaries, brings together Swansea and Cardiff, which is something extraordinary in itself, and brings the valleys together with two of the three big cities of south Wales, so it would be very difficult to come to a really local idea.

The new clause is primarily about money, however, so I want to ask the Minister a few questions. I realise that he may not be able to answer this evening, but I hope that he will write to me on some of these matters, because they are—in relation to chapter 6, in particular—quite important.

The Bill partially determines the way in which somebody is elected, but there is a great deal more work to be done on exactly how the electoral system will work—for precisely the reason that I mentioned: the constituencies do not exist. New constituencies are being created, and we need to ensure that, in terms of how elections are managed, there is some consistency within the constituency that we create. I just wonder whether—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. Can I just gently point out to the hon. Member for Rhondda that it is on the subject of precepts that he will want to focus his remarks?

[Chris Bryant]

I know I am chancing my arm, Mr Speaker, but I cannot chance it anywhere else on Report, and these issues have not yet been covered.

Of course, the issue of precepts is fundamentally about money.

[Mr Speaker]

Order. Can I just remind the hon. Gentleman that there will be an opportunity on Third Reading for him to dilate? Whether that is convenient for him is unknown to me—but it might be appropriate.

[Chris Bryant]

Mr Speaker, I do not know whether you really want me to dilate at any point.

I was merely trying to say that, on the matter of money, which is the point at hand, there is a question about how any commissioner would be able to make sure that in advance of future elections there was enough money to be able to pay for the process of explaining to the electorate the supplementary voting system, which will not have been used in many other parts of the country. I would be grateful if the Minister were able to expand on how he will achieve that, on the precise powers that will be available to the Electoral Commission and on when he will bring forward supplementary powers in relation to that.

Having chanced my arm as far as I think you will allow, Mr Speaker, I surrender to the rest of the debate.

BSkyB

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Thursday 3rd March 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I thank the Secretary of State for the explanation that he has kindly offered to the House. There is no doubt that the situation had not been fully anticipated and has not been the subject of the range of internal exchanges that would ordinarily be expected. I know he is aware of that, and what he has said is courteous. I am happy to leave it at that.

[Chris Bryant]

Further to that point of order, Mr Speaker. Does that not show that undertakings made by media organisations are not necessarily all that helpful or reliable?

[Mr Speaker]

Very good point. I am sure that the hon. Gentleman will accept, however, that I am not responsible for such undertakings, which is probably as well. I think I will leave it at that.

Aid Reviews

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Tuesday 1st March 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. It is always a pleasure to hear the hon. Gentleman but I have a faint suspicion that he toddled out of the Chamber at one point, which is of itself not a criminal offence, but it does rather disqualify him from participating in the exchanges on the statement. We will hear from him again soon I am sure.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

Why on earth are the Government lending £160 million to the Turks and Caicos Islands, which have a very high gross domestic product per head, and why are we also allowing the Cayman Islands to borrow a similar amount of money without introducing anything to tackle their tax haven status?

Points of Order

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Monday 28th February 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

The hon. Gentleman raises an extremely important point. Indeed, it is so important and so deserving of serious consideration that it would be a gross discourtesy for me to respond now, thoughtlessly, inadequately and, from the vantage point of the hon. Gentleman and the House, disappointingly, so I will not. I will reflect on the matter, and I might come back to the hon. Gentleman, who has, on the strength of his nearly 28 years’ experience of the House, put his own thoughts on the matter very clearly on the record.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Of course, I fully agree with the stricture that you laid on us earlier in relation to naming members of the royal family, but I am sure that, in reading “Erskine May”, you will agree with me that the only reference to the matter is:

“The irregular use of the Queen’s name to influence a decision of the House is unconstitutional in principle and inconsistent with the independence of Parliament.”

I presume it must therefore still be perfectly possible for us to criticise members of the royal family when they play a particular role as a trade ambassador for this country on behalf of UK Trade & Investment, and that it will be possible for us to table written parliamentary questions on that matter?

[Mr Speaker]

My understanding, off the top of my head, is that the hon. Gentleman is correct. He is an assiduous follower of the use of language, and I think that he will recall that in making my observation, I emphasised the importance of treating these matters with great care, and said that on the whole it is preferable if references to members of the royal family are both sparing and respectful. I think, however, that the entitlement to raise matters which, in a sense, he is pleading in evidence, is undisputed, and his understanding of “Erskine May” on this occasion—as, I have to admit, it is on most occasions—is notably accurate.

Legislation (Territorial Extent) Bill

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Friday 11th February 2011 Commons Chamber

[Andrea Leadsom]

This is obviously my hon. Friend’s Bill. She is not proposing any such legislation. She is merely proposing to clarify the territorial extent of any Bill that goes through the House. For my own part, in direct answer to the hon. Gentleman’s question, I think that it is unfair to you, as a Welsh Member representing Welsh interests, voting on English-only interests, or indeed being a Minister for English-only interests. That is my personal opinion and I would not like you to attribute that to my hon. Friend whose Bill this is. She is not making that proposal.

[Mr Speaker]

Order. May I gently point out that I have been accused of many things but not of being a Welsh Member?

[Chris Bryant]

Although I am sure that you would not mind, Mr Speaker. It is not a libel. It is not like being called an English Member when you are not an English Member. [Hon. Members: “Oh.”] We lost badly in the rugby last week so we are still somewhat wounded on these matters.

I recognise that the hon. Member for West Worcestershire has dressed her Bill up so that it does not look like it is moving in that direction, but many Members might only support the Bill because they want it to move in that direction. As I said earlier, I understand that some people are concerned about the issue in the country. However, I cannot think of a single Parliament in the world, including Spain and many other countries—this is not the only argument that I would use in relation to this—where there is asymmetric devolution and MPs cannot vote on every piece of legislation that is brought before them. As the right hon. and learned Member for Kensington said, to go down that route is a nationalist argument—not as in British nationalist, but as in Welsh, Scottish or Irish nationalist—and will unpick the Union in the end. Therefore, if the hon. Member for West Worcestershire really believes in the Union, it is a bit difficult to advance that argument.

Points of Order

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Monday 31st January 2011 Commons Chamber

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. The BBC is reporting that at a recent meeting of the 1922 committee, and in relation to the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill, the Prime Minister promised

“that no Conservative MP would lose out from the reduction in the total number of MPs from 650…to 600, and there would be no head-on contests between Tory MPs for the newly drawn constituencies.”

The report goes on to cite the Prime Minister as saying that anybody who lost out would be offered a seat in the Lords. Is that not bribery?

[Mr Speaker]

I am very grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his attempted point of order, and I make three points, which I hope the House will readily understand. First, these are not matters for the Chair. Secondly, I am not responsible for the statements of the Prime Minister. Thirdly, I am most certainly not responsible for what takes place at the 1922 committee. I hope that that is pretty clear.

Points of Order

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Monday 24th January 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

In that case, we should leave it where it is for today—[Interruption.] Order. The shadow Home Secretary has raised a point of order and comment has been made on the matter. Those accounts are before the House and I do not think that there is anything further I can do at this stage.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

The Home Secretary said the opposite of what was said last week.

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I say to the hon. Gentleman that these are at least in part matters of debate and argument. The point has been made very clearly by the shadow Home Secretary, expressing concern not merely on her behalf but on that of many others. The Home Secretary has replied to that point.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Wednesday 19th January 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. May I just very gently say to the right hon. Gentleman, whose mellifluous tones I always enjoy—

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

Nudge him!

[Mr Speaker]

Yes, I shall try to nudge him. What we want is an answer, not an essay.

Points of Order

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Tuesday 11th January 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I note what the hon. Gentleman says, but I have not heard of any Government intention to make a statement on this matter today. However, I remind him and the House that Ministers from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills will be answering oral questions in the Chamber on Thursday, when opportunities might present themselves. I hope that that is helpful.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

Further to that point of order, Mr Speaker. I hear what you have said, but this afternoon I tried to table some questions to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, and the Table Office is uncertain about what specific responsibilities fall within which Department, so there is a very real problem for the order of this House.

[Mr Speaker]

It is for Ministers to decide into which bailiwick matters fall, and therefore which Minister or Department is responsible. I note the very real concern that the hon. Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant) has just expressed. Off the top of my head, I would say two things to him. First, he will be aware that at Business, Innovation and Skills questions on Thursday there will be topical questions, and it is open to Members to try to highlight their concerns at that juncture. Also on Thursday there will be business questions, and it will certainly not be beyond the wit and sagacity of the hon. Member for Rhondda, if he chooses to be here, to pursue these matters. If he is elsewhere, in a certain part of the north-west, then other Members might take up the slack; we shall see.

If there are no further points of order, we come now to the ten-minute rule motion, for which the hon. Member for South Norfolk (Mr Bacon) has been patiently waiting.

Points of Order

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Tuesday 21st December 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I am not sure that there is a misleading of the House involved, but the point has been made and the Leader of the House is on the Treasury Bench; he will have heard what has been said. If any message needs to be conveyed to the relevant right hon. Member, I feel confident that, as a result of the hon. Lady’s efforts, it will be.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. On 2 November, in replying to an urgent question on the right of prisoners to vote, the Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office, the hon. Member for Forest of Dean (Mr Harper) said that no decision had yet been made. He went on to say that once a decision had been made, it would be announced in the usual manner and, in his words, “at the Dispatch Box”. In fact, it was announced last Friday, not even by a leak but by a press release. Before it had been announced to Parliament, a written ministerial statement was issued yesterday, but the announcement was not made at the Dispatch Box. Is there any means of making a Minister honour a commitment that he has made to the House?

[Mr Speaker]

There is no means by which to compel or oblige a Minister to follow through on the precise words or commitment previously uttered or given. How a statement is made or a decision is announced by a Minister is a matter for the Minister. However, the hon. Gentleman, who is a perspicacious parliamentarian, has drawn attention to what I would call the disparity between what was said on one occasion and what happened on another.

[Mr Speaker]

I am unsighted on that point, but my additional observation about the written ministerial statement was intended to be helpful. It was not intended to spark a further debate on this occasion.

[Chris Bryant]

Ah!

[Mr Speaker]

“Ah!”, says the hon. Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant). I am glad that, even in the approach to Christmas, we can rely on his running commentary, which is richly enjoyed.

Point of Order

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Wednesday 15th December 2010 Commons Chamber

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Yesterday, as noted at column 814 of the Official Report, the hon. Member for East Dunbartonshire (Jo Swinson)—I have notified her that I would raise the matter today—effectively said that I had misled the House in the previous Parliament on whether the Americans would be able to maintain cluster munitions on British territory, for instance in Diego Garcia. The Foreign Secretary wisely said that he had no evidence that the House had been misled, but that he had not been able to see the papers of the previous Government. For the complete avoidance of doubt, may I make it clear that it was our complete intention that there would be no American cluster munitions on British territories anywhere in the world? Can you advise me of how I can put that on the record?

[Mr Speaker]

The answer is that the hon. Gentleman has just done so, as he well knows.

Points of Order

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Monday 6th December 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

There is now a dispute as to the facts but that cannot be the subject of extended points of order. I strongly suggest that the complaining Member and the responsible Minister or the Deputy Leader of the House should get together and try to sort this matter outside the Chamber.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. [Interruption.] I hope that the Home Secretary will stay a moment longer before she leaves the Chamber. I realise that this is not for you, Mr Speaker, but I am sure that you will have read, over the weekend, the substantial coverage of the action that the Home Secretary has taken in relation to a researcher working for a Member of the House. I am sure that you would not want to comment on that because it is still sub judice—I understand that that person is appealing the decision—but it would clearly be a very important matter if an agent working for a foreign power were to be employed in the House. I hope that you can assure the House that the Home Secretary will seek to make an oral statement to the House when that process is finished and that you, as always, are keeping all the security measures in the House, including the vetting of potential researchers, under review.

[Mr Speaker]

Well, I think that someone once said of the hon. Gentleman that his mind climbs mountains without any molehills. He is always thinking ahead of himself and I am not surprised, as he has a great elasticity of mind, but he is seeking to draw me into matters beyond where we have reached and he is absolutely right in his initial supposition that we do not discuss security matters on the Floor of the House. He has registered his concern that the Home Secretary should be ready to make a statement if the eventuality he fears could happen, but should not, actually happens. I have a strong feeling that her office reads Hansard. I think that will probably do for today.

Points of Order

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Wednesday 17th November 2010 Commons Chamber

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. I am sure that you are aware that on 19 March 1997, the House passed a resolution that included various provisions, one of which is that it is of paramount importance that Ministers give accurate and truthful information to Parliament, and another that Ministers should be as open as possible with Parliament and refuse to provide information only when disclosure is not in the public interest.

Yesterday evening for some hours, we debated whether the next general election should be held in 2015 or 2014. Of material relevance to that debate were the Government’s intentions in relation to the combining of polls in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland with the general election in 2015. The Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office, the hon. Member for Forest of Dean (Mr Harper), sat in the Chamber throughout the debate but said nothing until the very last moment at 9.30 pm, when he revealed that he intended to write to the devolved Administrations—I understand that that has already happened—to ask whether they would like a new power.

That materially affected every single aspect of yesterday afternoon’s debate. I believe not only that it was a gross discourtesy to the House for the Minister to have operated in that fashion, but that it offends directly the resolution of the House of 19 March 1997. He said that he will write to the devolved Administrations, and therefore relied on that for part of his argument. Will you, Mr Speaker, ensure that he makes all such letters available in the Library of the House? I realise that it is not within your power to tell him that we cannot have Report stage of the Bill until such time as amendments on elections can be tabled in the elected House—before they can be made in House of Lords—but can you look into whether there has been a breach of that resolution?

[Mr Speaker]

What I would say to the hon. Gentleman is that ordinarily—as he would expect—the precise contents of the resolution of 19 March 1997 are firmly imprinted on my mind almost as firmly as they are on his. Nevertheless, I am happy to refresh my memory on that matter.

On the face of it, however, I have a slight suspicion that the hon. Gentleman, who is a very assiduous parliamentarian, is continuing the debate. I am not saying that there is not something upon which I need rule, but that I am not clear whether there is. Ministers can speak when they wish in relation to those matters, including when winding up debates. I sense that the hon. Gentleman is extremely dissatisfied with ministerial silence when he expected a ministerial response. That may be a matter of a point of frustration, and there might even now and again be discourtesy, but it is not apparent to me as yet that there has been a breach of order.

I know how persistent a terrier the hon. Gentleman is, and I will look into the matter and revert to him, but I do not think that he needs to make another long point of order just yet.

Points of Order

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Thursday 21st October 2010 Commons Chamber

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. I was not here for the Leader of the House’s business statement, but I gather that the issue was raised of the statutory instruments that will have to be laid in relation to combining polls in Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland. They have not yet been laid, but after they are, amendments will have to be made to the Parliament Voting System and Constituencies Bill, which will complete its Committee stage on Monday.

The Leader of the House has not yet said whether those statutory instruments will be laid and considered before Report. Otherwise, we would not be able to debate all the processes for elections in this House, and they would have to be debated in the other House. Is there any way in which we can ensure that we have clarity? As the junior Minister said in the debate the other day, it would be wholly inappropriate if matters affecting elections were decided not in this House but in the other, unelected Chamber.

[Mr Speaker]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his point of order. He is seeking light to be shed on the matter. It is possible that the Leader of the House might wish to assist, but he is under no obligation to do so. It appears that he does not wish to do so at this stage. However, the hon. Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant) is nothing if not an assiduous and conscientious parliamentarian, and he has got his point across with some force. Although the Leader of the House has not responded to it, I think I can confidently say that he has heard it.

Points of Order

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Wednesday 20th October 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

The hon. Gentleman has just corrected it very successfully. I do not want to be personal, but let me say to him that I have never found the slightest difficulty in understanding what he has had to say. I hope that he is grateful for that.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

What did you say, Mr Speaker?

[Mr Speaker]

We are always grateful for the quick-wittedness of the hon. Member for Rhondda, bestriding the Opposition Front Bench.

We come now to the ten-minute rule motion, for which the proposer has been very patiently waiting.

Points of Order

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Tuesday 19th October 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I am grateful to the Deputy Leader of the House for what he said. I am trying to wrap it up, but of course we must hear from Chris Bryant.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

Further to that point of order, Mr Speaker. I think the Deputy Leader of the House is somewhat mistaken in his interpretation of what happened yesterday evening. I think there was a clear desire by many hon. Members not just to debate the particular issue of thresholds but actually to debate clause 6, which has not been debated at all in any shape or form in this House. [Interruption.] The Parliamentary Secretary is saying from a sedentary position that I was wasting time. I profoundly object to the fact that when we choose to scrutinise his legislation, he is calling into question my good faith.

The truth of the matter is that the Government did not provide enough time for the debate. In addition, the Deputy Leader of the House last night, when he suggested to me that he was bringing forward this new motion, said that it was because all the rest of the stuff that we were going to debate tomorrow was a pile of dross and did not need very much analysis. I hope that there will be a process of ensuring that the House of Lords is made fully aware of the fact that today’s programme motion makes absolutely no difference to whether or not yesterday we had any opportunity to consider the three clauses and three schedules that were before the House.

[Mr Speaker]

I certainly cannot go into all of that. Suffice it to say that I think the point that the hon. Gentleman has just made constitutes a self-fulfilling prophecy; in so far as he is concerned that the other place should be aware of his interpretation of last night’s events, he has made it aware of his interpretation by what he has just said. It is on the record and I am sure it will be studied carefully there and elsewhere.

I am grateful to the hon. Member for Stone (Mr Cash) for giving me notice of his point of order. It is not for me to rule on what has happened in Committee of the Whole House. On the wider issue he raises, it is not unprecedented—the hon. Gentleman has been a Member of the House since 1984, so he will testify to the truth of this—for a Minister to move a Back-Bench amendment, even if he or she does not wish to vote for it. As the First Deputy Chairman said last night:

“What the Government propose is orderly under Standing Order No. 83D(2)”—[Official Report, 18 October 2010; Vol. 516, c. 767.],

although it is, as some hon. Members have observed—including, today, the hon. Gentleman—somewhat unusual. I am sure that hon. Members will also have noted the opportunities open to them, as has been remarked, on Report. Members present will certainly have noted what the Deputy Leader of the House has just said.

I hope that is helpful; I am not keen to take, and indeed I am keen not to take, further points of order on that matter, but I think we have a point of order from Mr. Andrew Rosindell.

Points of Order

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Monday 6th September 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

It is not for me to raise the matter with the Metropolitan police. [Interruption.] Order. The hon. Gentleman has raised what I think is intended to be a point of order. In response, I say that there has been no breach of parliamentary order today. There is no doubt that there is considerable consternation in this place about the matter, and I granted the urgent question in recognition of that. Exchanges have taken place, and they are very clearly on the record. It is, of course, open to hon. Members from any party further to pursue those matters. It is perfectly possible that that will happen. For all I know, the hon. Member for Birmingham, Erdington (Jack Dromey) may be one of those who is keen to take up the matter in other ways on other occasions.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Obviously, I do not wish to disagree with you, but hon. Members’ security falls squarely on you along with the Serjeant at Arms. I would hope that the security of our mobile phones, internet and e-mails is a matter for you and the Serjeant at Arms. Indeed, that matter was rightly pursued a couple of years ago. It seems clear that there are dozens of Members of Parliament whose phones may have been intercepted, and about whom the police already know that there is a question, but those people—people in the Chamber—do not know whether they have been intercepted. May I suggest that either you, or, if you still feel that it should not be you, perhaps the Serjeant at Arms, might write to the Metropolitan police and say that it would better satisfy the House if any hon. Member who has been the subject of Mr Mulcaire’s attentions were notified of that?

[Mr Speaker]

It is always a pleasure to hear the hon. Gentleman. In prefacing his inquiry with the words that he used, he reminds me of the person who begins a criticism by saying, “With great respect,” meaning nothing of the kind. I simply say to him that it is not appropriate—I feel sure that he will accept this—to discuss security on the Floor of the House. He is a very experienced parliamentarian. There are all manner of ways in which matters can be raised with me and with others, and that often necessarily must be done outside of the Chamber, so I rest at this point upon what I said in response to the hon. Member for Birmingham, Erdington (Jack Dromey).

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Tuesday 20th July 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

We are very grateful, but I think that it sounded a bit better from Churchill.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

And I should say that the people of the Rhondda remember Churchill’s period in relation to the Tonypandy riots. However, the Lord Chancellor has responsibility for marriage law, and he will know that the law forbids civil weddings from including religious readings or music, even though many people who are not able to get married in church or who do not want to do so would like to have such readings. The Government say that they will allow that for civil partnerships, but not for civil weddings. Can we not have a little more equality for heterosexuals?

Points of Order

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Tuesday 13th July 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

The hon. Gentleman should not read into what I said any more than what I said. The right hon. Member for Cynon Valley (Ann Clwyd) raised a point of importance and concern to her and, I am sure, others. In seeking to respond effectively to her attempted point of order, I simply drew attention to the fact that there was a means by which the issue could be considered. I have said what I have said. The Speaker’s Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority will be a forum in which matters of concern can be aired and addressed. It will not be beyond his ingenuity to make of that what he will.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Have you had an opportunity to complete your deliberations on the matter I raised with you last week—the fact that under the House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975, only 95 Ministers may sit and vote in the House of Commons at any one time? At the beginning of last week there were only 95 Ministers, but then three Liberal Democrat Members, who I understand to be part of the Government, were appointed as Whips. That takes us above the 95 figure, so surely either they should not be allowed to sit and vote in the House of Commons, or—if they are now organising an operation separate from the Government—they should be sitting on the Opposition Benches, not on the Government Benches, or they should not be calling themselves Whips.

[Mr Speaker]

I have indeed inquired into the matter that the hon. Gentleman previously raised. I have completed what he generously described as my deliberations on the subject, and I have reached my conclusion. What is more, as he can tell, I am literally itching to share my conclusion both with him and with the House—although how he will feel when I have finished is a matter for speculation and conjecture. I am assured by the Liberal Democrat Chief Whip that the three hon. Members whom he has asked to work as party Whips are not members of the Government. On that basis, the hon. Gentleman’s concerns about the total number of Ministers on the Government payroll can be allayed. If—I emphasise the “if”—it is possible, as a result of this ruling, to put his mind at rest, I shall be especially gratified.

Business of the House

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Thursday 8th July 2010 Commons Chamber

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

rose—

[Mr Speaker]

I have been saving him up—Mr Chris Bryant.

[Chris Bryant]

Thank you very much, Mr Speaker, for saving me up.

In answer to the splendid and hon. Member for Windsor (Adam Afriyie), who frankly should have been on the Government Front Bench, the Leader of the House got a bit ahead of himself. He said that we were about to have weeks of debating a constitutional reform Bill, but actually we have not yet been told whether there will be one Bill or two. We have not even been told when the First Reading will be, let alone Second Reading or any other stages. The Bill has not been published yet. Will the right hon. Gentleman undertake to tell the House when the Bill is to be published, in advance of its being published, and that it will not be on the last day before the recess?

Points of Order

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Wednesday 7th July 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I am very sorry to disappoint the hon. Gentleman, but although I listened with interest to his point of order the truth of the matter—he might think it a sad truth—is that it is not a matter for the Chair.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

rose—

[Mr Speaker]

The day would not be complete without a point of order from the hon. Gentleman.

--- Later in debate ---

[Chris Bryant]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. I am sure that you will be aware that the House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975 stipulates that only 95 Ministers, including Whips, may sit and vote in the House of Commons at any time. In addition, “Erskine May” recognises only two kinds of Whips: Government Whips and Opposition Whips. Until yesterday morning, only 95 Members were Ministers, but three additional Lib Dems were appointed as Whips yesterday. That takes us to the number of 98. The Act makes it very clear that those additional three people cannot sit or vote in the House of Commons—unless they are not Government Whips, but Opposition Whips.

[Mr Speaker]

As always, I am engaged, not to say fascinated, by the product of the hon. Gentleman’s lucubrations. I will look into the matter, but I am sure that the House will eagerly await, with bated breath and beads of sweat on its collective brow, any thoughts that I may have thereafter. The appetite for points of order has now been satisfied.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Tuesday 6th July 2010 Commons Chamber

[Chris Bryant]

The hon. Gentleman knows perfectly well that I have read the written ministerial statement because I tabled an urgent question about it earlier this morning and I am sure that he was consulted on the matter. However, let me raise another matter that arises from the Commission’s work programme—trade with Latin America. The Minister knows that Labour Members support a free trade agreement with Peru and Colombia, but we know that there are very significant human rights abuses in Latin America, which is why it is important that the text of the trade agreement deals not just with trade issues. Will he make sure that this is ratified not just by the Commission, the European Council or by Europe, but by each member state so that we in this House have a chance to vote on that trade agreement?

[Mr Speaker]

Order. Before the Minister answers, let me say for the record that no reference should be made on the Floor of the House to the fact of an urgent question having been tabled. I say that gently.

Points of Order

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Monday 5th July 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

The first point that I will make to the hon. Gentleman is this. I think I have already made clear—but let me underline the point—that it is not sufficient simply to provide the Library with a copy of a document. If the document appertains to a matter that is currently before the House, in order to aid and abet Members in their scrutiny duties, copies of that relevant document should be available in the Vote Office, on the Table of the House, or, better still, both.

Secondly, let me say to the hon. Gentleman that we cannot have a continued exchange on every point of detail now. I have, I think, made clear that, whether inadvertently or not—I leave others to judge—the House has been unfairly and discourteously treated. I have made that point extremely robustly, and I do not think that I need add to it at this stage.

As for what the hon. Gentleman said about what was in the media, I am happy to undertake my own reading at an appropriate time. I suggest to the Secretary of State, who is listening to these exchanges—[Interruption.] The Secretary of State may wish to add to whatever apology he has already uttered, but I suggest to him that it would be helpful if he would look into the matter of timing of release of documents by his Department and report back to me, because it is clearly a matter of interest to Members of the House.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. I hear what you say about the papers and the sort of apology that we have already had from the Secretary of State, but much of this information was in the media throughout the weekend. Moreover, in a statement earlier this afternoon the Deputy Prime Minister told us that he wanted to come to the House before consulting the Welsh Assembly or the Scottish Parliament, but the date of the referendum on the alternative vote was in all the media last Friday. In fact, it started to appear in the media almost the moment Parliament finished sitting last week. I have a suspicion that the Deputy Prime Minister himself spoke to journalists for precisely that purpose.

I see that the Leader of the House is in the Chamber. I wonder whether you, Mr Speaker, could consult him and the shadow Leader of the House to consider ways of ensuring an end to the practice of briefing the media before coming to the House. Some of us had hoped that when there was a hung Parliament, the House would take more authority than the Government.

[Mr Speaker]

As I have just been reminded, I have opined on this matter on many occasions, and I may have cause to do so again in the future.

Let me briefly say two things to the hon. Gentleman. First, the appearance in the media of a date for a referendum was the subject of media speculation at the time. There is a limited number of dates that might be considered, and I do not put that in quite the same category as the disclosure of the detailed contents of a statement. Secondly, although I have listened very carefully to the hon. Gentleman—who never raises points of order lightly, and is always very well briefed when he does so—I think it fair to say that one cannot simply act on suspicion. The hon. Gentleman said a moment ago that he suspected that the Deputy Prime Minister had passed material to the media. I must rest content with what I know to be true. The hon. Gentleman has made his point, it is fairly on the record, and I will keep a beady eye on these matters—not merely on a weekly or monthly basis but, as I think he will know, on a daily basis.

Speaker’s Statement

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Wednesday 30th June 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

My response to the hon. Lady’s point of order—I respect her for raising it—is that, as the Speaker, I am keen on accuracy, but it is not my responsibility, from the Chair, to enforce it. However, she has registered her views—which, I sense, was an important part of her purpose.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Honestly, this is not about the previous matter, although it is slightly allied. I am glad that you are being short with Ministers these days—and there have been other instances, I am afraid, in which Ministers have continued to brief the papers very substantially. I think that we heard another example of it from the Prime Minister today. He referred to plans for Royal Mail that have not been explained to the House, but which have been substantially trailed around the newspapers. Will you investigate that issue as well?

Points of Order

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Monday 28th June 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

In almost all circumstances it is in order to apologise, but if that is the hon. Gentleman’s idea of an apology, I am not sure that I ever want one from him.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. You said last week, and five weeks ago, that you wholly deprecated the practice of Ministers announcing things to the press before they had announced them to the House. You will know that many hon. Members on both sides of the House complained about this when Labour was in government. We tried to ensure that it did not happen and, in many cases, succeeded—[Interruption.] I would say to those on the Government Benches that there is no point in sneering about this. The truth is that there is no point in fighting to get elected to this House if we might as well stay at home and listen to the announcements on the television or the radio, or read them in the newspapers.

Mr Speaker, can you confirm that we had a statement this afternoon from the Home Secretary only because an urgent question had been tabled? Can you also confirm that that happened after a written ministerial statement on the subject had been laid, and that that happened a long time after the Home Secretary had given a press conference today? We now have a Government who are systematically leaking matters to the press before they are announced in the House. That should not have happened in the past, and it should not happen in the future. Only if the House takes responsibility and takes action will we be able to stop this. Otherwise, Ministers will just laugh at the House. Will you, sir, refer this matter to the Committee on Standards and Privileges? It would be good if that Committee had already been set up, of course, but the Government have not yet done that. Will you refer the matter to that Committee, so that the House can take action?

[Mr Speaker]

The first point that I would make to the hon. Gentleman is an important one about which we need to be clear. A reference to the Standards and Privileges Committee cannot be made on the basis of a point of order raised on the Floor of the House. A written request must be made to me, explaining the rationale for the request, and a decision on that will then be reached. That is a procedural point. Secondly, I reiterate in the strongest possible terms that I utterly deprecate the practice of releasing to the media the content of ministerial statements before those statements have been made to the House. I deprecated it in the past, both from this Chair and as a Back-Bench Member, and I continue to do so. The question of whether this has taken place on a similar, greater or lesser scale in the past is neither here nor there, because two wrongs do not make a right.

Thirdly, I simply say to the hon. Gentleman that I cannot confirm what he has just asked—namely, that an oral statement followed the submission of an urgent question. I am in no position to confirm that. I listened to the Home Secretary’s explanation of the reason for changing from a written statement to an oral statement. I can confirm, however, that I am willing to look further into the particular details of this case, and to decide what, if any, action needs to be taken. We need to establish a new pattern in this Parliament, whereby this sort of thing does not happen and, if it does, action is taken. I shall look into this as a matter of urgency and revert to the hon. Gentleman and to the House. I hope that that is clear; I get the impression that it is.

Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Thursday 24th June 2010 Commons Chamber

[Chris Bryant]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. “Erskine May” makes it very clear that hon. Members should be able to explain themselves without requiring documents that they then want to present to the House. The right hon. Gentleman has just said that Members should look at some document that he is referring to, but we are not able to do so. Should we not get back to the facts?

[Mr Speaker]

It is true that the use of visual aids in the Chamber is disorderly. I am going to be charitable and generous, and interpret the Secretary of State as suggesting that these are matters that people might like to take forward at another time outside the Chamber, but they clearly do not aid the debate in the Chamber now.

Points of Order

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Wednesday 23rd June 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. The hon. Member for Cardiff West (Kevin Brennan) is in danger of becoming over-excitable, and I know that he would not want to be. Let me respond to the point of order from the hon. Member for Wrexham (Ian Lucas). What he has raised is not a point of order—

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

Yes it is.

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I require no help from the hon. Gentleman. It is not a point of order; it is a matter of taste, and we will have to leave it there.

Business of the House

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Thursday 27th May 2010 Commons Chamber

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

I was going to welcome the right hon. Gentleman wholeheartedly to his new post, because he is a fine and decent man, and he will have a splendid deputy and wonderful staff to back him up. However, he has let himself down today. He should surely not be defending the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions announcing elsewhere what he is planning to do about benefits, which will affect many of the poorest and most vulnerable people in society, rather than bringing that decision to this House. The Leader of the House also said that he deplored the leaking of the Queen’s Speech, but he is not announcing any practical measures to ensure that the person who did it is sacked. Is he really going to be a proper Leader of the House or is he just going to use all the phrases that we used in the past?

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I feel sure that there was a request for a debate or a statement and I just did not hear it.

Debate on the Address

Debate between Chris Bryant and John Bercow

Tuesday 25th May 2010 Commons Chamber

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. You said earlier that for the sake of accuracy you had managed to obtain a copy of the Queen’s Speech. You need not have done any such thing, as you might just as well have bought a copy of The Sunday Telegraph. Will you confirm that this is the first time that a draft of the Queen’s Speech has ever been leaked to a national newspaper? Will you personally conduct an investigation to find out whether it was leaked from No. 10 Downing street and whether any money changed hands in connection with it? You rightly used to excoriate Labour Ministers if ever we made announcements before making them to this House, so will you make sure that that lot over there do not announce things to the press—as they have done, day in, day out over the past 10 days—without first bringing them before this House?

[Mr Speaker]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his point of order, which warrants an immediate response. The House will share the hon. Gentleman’s disappointment that it and he did not hear for the first time the details of the Government’s legislative programme while listening to the Queen’s Speech this morning. This gives me the opportunity to say at the start of this new Parliament that I shall continue to expect, as I said two days after first being elected Speaker last June, that

“Ministers ought to make key statements to the House before they are made elsewhere.”—[Official Report, 24 June 2010; Vol. 494, c. 798.]

If they do otherwise, I—and, I am sure, the House—will expect to hear explanations and apologies as necessary.