Clive Efford
Main Page: Clive Efford (Labour - Eltham and Chislehurst)Department Debates - View all Clive Efford's debates with the Leader of the House
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Lucy Powell
As I just said, I understand the strength of feeling about this matter. The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions came to the House first to make the announcement, as is appropriate, especially when it comes to a report from the parliamentary ombudsman which was laid before the House last March. The Government have considered that report in full and given it a great deal of thought, and there was time for Members to ask questions on Tuesday, but of course debates can be brought to the Floor of the House in many different ways, and I am sure that this issue will continue to be debated.
Clive Efford (Eltham and Chislehurst) (Lab)
Will my right hon. Friend arrange a debate in Government time in the new year on the funding of political parties? I wonder what it means when a party talks about sovereignty and is then willing to sell itself entirely to a foreign-owned entity, while using slogans like “Take back control”. We have seen the controversy of the Conservative party’s fondness for taking a few bob from Putin’s oligarchs, and we have seen the recent scandals involving the Chinese trying to influence politics in this country. I think that we, as this Government, must make sure that we are saying that our politics is not up for sale, and I think we should have a debate about it in the House.
Lucy Powell
My hon. Friend has made some extremely valid points about our democracy and our sovereignty in this country. I see that the leader of the Reform party is in his place—