Business of the House

Christian Matheson Excerpts

Thursday 15th December 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lidington]

It is clearly of concern to hear about the case history that the hon. Lady describes. If she will let me have the details, I will pass them on to the Justice Secretary.

[Christian Matheson (City of Chester) (Lab)]

Is the Leader of the House aware of the “Bartend against Bombs” campaign? It was started in Chester by my constituents Calum Adams and Ben Iles and involves low-paid bar and hospitality staff giving a large proportion of their gratuities to charities that support children. It has now been rolled out across the country, making thousands of pounds in just a couple of years. In view of my constituents’ marvellous success, now would be a good time to debate about and celebrate voluntary and charitable giving.

[Mr Lidington]

I give my unreserved congratulations to those bartenders in Chester. I understand that they have raised more than £7,000 over the past year for aid in Syria. We rightly take pride in the fact that the UK has pledged £2.3 billion of taxpayers’ money to tackle the humanitarian crisis in Syria, but the hon. Gentleman’s constituents have demonstrated that that sense of solidarity with the suffering people of Syria is felt widely and in every part of this country.