House of Lords Reform Bill

Debate between Denis MacShane and Lord Young of Cookham

Tuesday 10th July 2012 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I am sure that my hon. Friend’s point is absolutely accurate, but that does not destroy the point I made a few moments ago, which was that on a free vote in the previous Parliament, the majority of Conservative Members voted against a wholly appointed House. As a matter of interest, the whole House voted by a majority of two to one against a fully appointed House.

[Mr Denis MacShane (Rotherham) (Lab)]

rose—

[Sir George Young]

I will give way to the right hon. Gentleman, but I am not going to give way for ever.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr MacShane]

The Leader of the House is making the perfectly fair point that different parties at different times have had manifesto and party commitments to reforming the House of Lords. We can be agreed on that. The Prime Minister is offering a referendum to the people of the Falklands and a possible referendum on Europe and we have had a referendum on the alternative vote system, so will the Leader of the House explain why the British people are not being offered a referendum on the biggest constitutional change since 1832 as a final part of the Bill?

[Sir George Young]

I say gently to the right hon. Gentleman: what happened to the Lisbon referendum? I do not know whether the right hon. Gentleman was in the Chamber yesterday, but my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister dealt with the question of a referendum on several occasions. He dealt with it again in Deputy Prime Minister’s questions today and it is dealt with in our response to the Joint Committee’s report. In the 1990s, under the leadership of my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary, the Conservative party opposed Labour’s changes to the composition of the upper House, not because we wanted to retain the hereditary peers, but because we took a principled stand to argue—with very little dissent—for “no stage 1 without stage 2”. Our fear, disputed forcefully by Labour at the time, was that if we did not move immediately to an elected House after the abolition of the hereditaries, progress would inevitably stall. That was my party’s view at the time, and how right we were.

Let us remember that, in their response to Lord Wakeham’s report in 1999, the previous Government said that they would

“make every effort to ensure that the second stage has been approved by Parliament before the next general election.”

That was the 2001 election, when they told us we were going to elect the first tranche. Yet with three large majorities, three White Papers, two Green Papers, one royal commission, one Joint Committee, two Acts of Parliament and two sets of free votes, Labour missed a golden opportunity to move on to the second stage, despite support from many Conservatives and Liberal Democrats.

Business of the House

Debate between Denis MacShane and Lord Young of Cookham

Thursday 5th July 2012 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

Again, I recognise the strength of feeling, which has been added to by my hon. Friend, whose concern I recognise also. I am not sure that I can usefully add to what I said a moment ago, except to say that I do recognise the strength of feeling on the issue and will try, between now and next Thursday, to find a way through so that we might provide an avenue for a discussion on this important matter.

[Mr Denis MacShane (Rotherham) (Lab)]

When my son was a tiny tot, I took him to Leeds children’s hospital, but now my constituents will go to London because it is easier than going to Newcastle—on the recommendation of Sir Ian Kennedy, whose care for families and parents spending time with their children is well known to this House. It is a recommendation, but the decision is that of the Secretary of State, and “suffer the little children of Yorkshire to suffer” is not something that the NHS should support. This Government have the reputation of being a Government of the south, by the south, for the south. We do not want a debate; we want a decision to reject this recommendation and to keep the hospital open.

[Sir George Young]

I am sorry that the right hon. Gentleman uses the words that he does. All the physicians who carry out the operations will, of course, remain in post; what we are talking about is where they carry them out. I cannot add to what I have said on several occasions in response to earlier questions, but I will do my best to find an avenue for a debate about this important issue.

Business of the House

Debate between Denis MacShane and Lord Young of Cookham

Thursday 28th June 2012 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

My view is that some people who are not in prison should be and some people who are in prison should not be, but the issue of whether someone is given a prison sentence is primarily one for the courts rather than Parliament. We recently passed a sentencing Bill which raised the thresholds for some minimum sentences, and I am sure that that was welcomed by my hon. Friend. As for the specific case to which he referred, I will raise it with my right hon. and learned Friend the Lord Chancellor.

[Mr Denis MacShane (Rotherham) (Lab)]

Like many other people, I welcomed the appeal by my right hon. Friend the shadow Chancellor for a cut in fuel duty when he was interviewed on the “Today” programme. A few hours later, the Chancellor accepted it. That is, I think, what we mean by bipartisanship. May we now have a debate on the need to cut air passenger duty? It will cost a family in Rotherham £320 to go on holiday this summer, whereas it will cost a family in France, for example, just £38. Following the U-turn on fuel duty, may we have a U-turn on air passenger duty?

[Sir George Young]

I am not sure whether the right hon. Gentleman was present for Transport questions, but they would have provided him with an ideal opportunity to raise the issue. [Interruption.] If he is proposing a reduction in a particular form of taxation, perhaps he would like to suggest where the money might come from.

Business of the House

Debate between Denis MacShane and Lord Young of Cookham

Thursday 24th May 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Denis MacShane (Rotherham) (Lab)]

May we have a debate on the good proposal that Aung San Suu Kyi addresses us all in Westminster Hall? But could we make that a day to reflect on all the other political prisoners, perhaps by putting up their portraits and showing a video of them. I am thinking of Leyla Zana, a Turkish parliamentarian—one of us; a Member of Parliament—who has been condemned to 10 years in prison because she speaks up for Kurdish issues. I am thinking of Liu Xiaobo, the Chinese Nobel peace prize laureate, who is in the gulag. I am thinking of Dau Van Duong, a Catholic pro-democracy activist who is with his friends in the Vietnamese communist gulag. Interestingly, neither the Prime Minister, nor the Foreign Secretary has had the guts to speak out for these people in recent trips to China and Vietnam. Can we get their portraits up and show a video, so that the whole world knows that, whatever the Government do on human rights, we as MPs believe in these people, support them and want to give them maximum publicity during this great lady’s visit?

[Sir George Young]

I listened to what the right hon. Gentleman said, as did you, Mr Speaker, because many of these issues are more issues for the House—in fact, for both Houses—than for the Government. All I can say to him is that his suggestions have clearly been heard by the Speaker, and it lies more with the Speaker than with the Government to take them forward.

Business of the House

Debate between Denis MacShane and Lord Young of Cookham

Thursday 26th April 2012 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I am happy to say to my hon. Friend that the answer, exceptionally, is yes. Today’s Adjournment debate, standing in the name of my hon. Friend the Member for Beverley and Holderness (Mr Stuart), is on static caravans, so if my hon. Friend the Member for Cleethorpes (Martin Vickers) is around later, he will have an opportunity to share with the House his concerns on this matter.

[Mr Denis MacShane (Rotherham) (Lab)]

In ancient times, the most dishonourable act was for a senior officer or official to sacrifice a junior person to save his own life. Can we add a day’s sitting next week to have a debate on this, because the media can discuss it and Leveson is discussing it, but Parliament is not. We began this Session with the cancer of Coulson and we are finishing it with the stench of sleaze at the heart of government. The Culture Secretary is living on borrowed time, as we know. We must debate this and clean up this matter.

[Sir George Young]

I say to the right hon. Gentleman that we did have a long statement and exchange of questions and answers on this matter yesterday. I just ask him this question: which Minister resigned when Mr Damian McBride had to go because of his activities at No. 10?

Business of the House

Debate between Denis MacShane and Lord Young of Cookham

Thursday 8th March 2012 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

Both the Hindu and the Jewish communities are good examples of well-integrated communities that have made a great contribution in business and in commercial and professional life. The House joins them in commemorating and celebrating the two festivals of Purim and Holi.

[Mr Denis MacShane (Rotherham) (Lab)]

May we have a debate on the resolution of the House that is to be found in column 928 of yesterday’s Hansard? It calls on the Government to bring forward legislative proposals to freeze the assets of Russian officials connected to the death of Sergei Magnitsky and to impose a travel ban, but in yesterday’s debate the Minister made it quite clear that the Government did not have the faintest intention of accepting the resolution. This marks a turning point for the Backbench Business Committee. This was not a Westminster Hall debate or to do with an early-day motion. You, Mr Speaker, were bullied by the Russian ambassador and saw him off with great firmity. I want our Foreign Secretary not to be the Kremlin’s stooge, and instead to stand up to it by implementing this resolution of this House of Commons in this matter.

[Sir George Young]

Well, we have just had a debate on the matter. I am not quite sure whether the right hon. Gentleman wants yet another one. The House had a debate: there was a motion on the Order Paper, it was carried unanimously and the Government made their position absolutely clear. I do not agree with what the right hon. Gentleman said about the Government proposing to disregard totally that which the House resolved unanimously.

Business of the House

Debate between Denis MacShane and Lord Young of Cookham

Thursday 1st March 2012 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

My hon. Friend is right that, normally, when the last sitting day is on a Tuesday, we move the sitting forward from 2.30 pm to 11.30 am, which is the Wednesday timetable. No announcement has been made, but I take my hon. Friend’s point. I will see whether at the next business questions we can give some certainty about the sittings of the House on that last day, 27 March.

[Mr Denis MacShane (Rotherham) (Lab)]

Mr Speaker has announced that marvellous ceremonial occasion state opening of Parliament for 9 May. That is followed by the trooping of the colour, the Derby, the royal garden parties, the Eton-Harrow match, the Durham miners gala, the Government reshuffle and the opening of the grouse shooting season. Are not too many ceremonial occasions crammed into the summer? May we have a debate on moving the state opening back to an autumn date, both to take a bit of pressure off Her Majesty and to allow us to debate the Queen’s speech in the more austere, chilly autumn winds rather than in the heat of the summer?

[Sir George Young]

The right hon. Gentleman has a very busy social calendar and will be attending a number of events that I will not be at.

To return to his question, he might remember that I made a statement in 2010 explaining why the state opening of Parliament would always be in the spring/summer because we now have fixed-term Parliaments. The general election will always be in May, so the first state opening will be in May. We want full, one-year Sessions rather than the six-month truncated Session that he has just advocated. If we have a state opening in November and a fixed-term Parliament ending in May, we would not have a full Session, which I know he would miss.

Business of the House

Debate between Denis MacShane and Lord Young of Cookham

Thursday 23rd February 2012 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend. It would be up to the Backbench Business Committee to find time for a debate on the Backbench Business Committee. On his serious point, we have made a commitment that by the third year of this Parliament we will move towards a House business committee to seek to integrate the work that is done by the Backbench Business Committee with what I do as Leader of the House. There may then be an opportunity for a duet, if that is the right word, between me and whoever has responsibility for the Backbench Business Committee. These matters are still to be resolved. If my hon. Friend looks at the coalition agreement, he will see that the current arrangements are interim arrangements,.

[Mr Denis MacShane (Rotherham) (Lab)]

A year ago in the House, Mr Speaker, you granted me an urgent question on what was happening in Bahrain. The House will be shocked to learn that we are still exporting arms to that country despite the awful repression there, which has not much ceased. Tear gas is being thrown into homes to terrorise people, and there are no human rights advances. It is a very shocking situation, even overshadowed as it is by Syria, and yet we have resumed our arms exports. May we have a debate on why we are selling arms to regimes in any part of that region where despotic rulers are still repressing their peoples?

[Sir George Young]

I understand the right hon. Gentleman’s concern. There will be Foreign and Commonwealth questions on Tuesday 28 February, and that might be an opportunity for him to raise this serious matter with the Foreign Secretary.

Business of the House

Debate between Denis MacShane and Lord Young of Cookham

Thursday 2nd February 2012 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

There will be a debate on the police grant next Wednesday. The hon. Gentleman will know that it is not the Government but the police authority that purchases police cars in his constituency. He will have an opportunity to raise the issue on Wednesday and I shall ensure that the Minister replying to the debate knows that the matter will be raised by the hon. Gentleman.

[Mr Denis MacShane (Rotherham) (Lab)]

I do not know whether you, Mr Speaker, or the Leader of the House have read the article in today’s The Guardian by Professor Roy Greenslade on the continuing refusal of the Information Commissioner, Christopher Graham, to give the names of the 15,000 victims of data mining and illegal data trawling carried out for newspapers by Mr Steve Whittamore. I raised this absolutely astonishing question last week. May we have a debate on it? Perhaps you are among those people, Mr Speaker, because in those days the media were always ganging up on you. We need a debate on the Information Commissioner’s denial to the British people. He has given those names to the media and the police, but not to the victims. It is outrageous.

[Sir George Young]

I have to repeat what I told the right hon. Gentleman last week: it would be quite wrong for the Government to overrule the Information Commissioner. There is a process of appeal if the right hon. Gentleman is dissatisfied with the commissioner’s decision, and that is the line he should follow rather than asking me about it week after week.

Business of the House

Debate between Denis MacShane and Lord Young of Cookham

Thursday 26th January 2012 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

My hon. Friend raises an important subject. Some 600,000 people care for those who suffer from dementia. The Government have sought to help by putting £400 million into the NHS to provide the resources for breaks for those people. We outlined our strategy in a document published last year. I would welcome a debate; my hon. Friend might like to approach the Backbench Business Committee.

[Mr Denis MacShane (Rotherham) (Lab)]

May we have a debate on the extraordinary refusal of Mr Christopher Graham, the Information Commissioner, to reveal details to some 17,000 victims of newspapers that were blagging and finding out personal details using Mr Steve Whittamore? It is extraordinary that the Information Commissioner—of all people—is denying the British people their right to know. The details are with the police and the newspapers, but not with the victims themselves. This is not Stasi time for the Information Commissioner.

[Sir George Young]

The right hon. Gentleman will know that there is a process of appeal against the Information Commissioner’s decisions, which is open to those who object to them in the way that he has outlined. I am not sure that it would be appropriate for the Government to get involved.

Business of the House

Debate between Denis MacShane and Lord Young of Cookham

Thursday 1st December 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Denis MacShane (Rotherham) (Lab)]

May we have a debate on anti-Semitism, because yesterday an hon. Member of this House said in front of a House Committee that Mr Matthew Gould, our distinguished ambassador to Israel, should not serve as such because he is Jewish? In such a debate we could make it absolutely clear that we do not have a religious bar in our diplomatic service and that we do not say that Jews cannot serve in Israel or that Catholics cannot serve in Catholic countries or the Holy See, so that we may eradicate anti-Semitism once and for all from public discourse in our country?

[Sir George Young]

I agree with the right hon. Gentleman and applaud the work that he did in the last Parliament on the subject. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is an equal opportunity employer. It is inconceivable that it would apply any sort of prejudice of the type to which he refers in deciding who should be our ambassador in any part of the world.

Business of the House

Debate between Denis MacShane and Lord Young of Cookham

Thursday 24th November 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his question because, as a former Secretary of State for Transport, I am interested in promoting use of the railway. The issue that he has raised is a technical one for Network Rail, but I will raise it with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport to see whether we can make some progress and expand that route for the use to which my hon. Friend has just referred.

[Mr Denis MacShane (Rotherham) (Lab)]

The Leader of the House must not keep hiding behind this wretched Wright Committee recommendation abolishing debates on Europe. I know that we have had specific debates on this and that, but the hon. Member for Harwich and North Essex (Mr Jenkin) is absolutely right to say that we need a broad debate on Europe, particularly at this stage of our historic relationship with the EU. The Backbench Business Committee carries out its Daily Mail rent-a-petition, rent-a-debate duties, but it is for the Government to provide time to discuss this vital issue for our nation’s future.

[Sir George Young]

I have to say to the right hon. Gentleman that if we had not implemented the Wright Committee’s recommendations, he might well have been one of the first to criticise us for going back on a clear election commitment. The fact of the matter is that the Government have given some of the power and patronage they used to have away. We have given it to the Backbench Business Committee, which gets roughly one day a week, and it is up to that Committee to decide what it does with that time. One set of debates that was handed over to that Committee, along with the defence debates, was the pre-European Council debates. The Committee has chosen not to have such a debate. That is a consequence of setting up the Backbench Business Committee and transferring the days to it.

Business of the House

Debate between Denis MacShane and Lord Young of Cookham

Thursday 13th October 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I agree with what the hon. Gentleman says, and other hon. Members have raised the reports in today’s press regarding the Care Quality Commission investigation into a number of hospitals. I would welcome such a debate, and I suggest that he should approach the Backbench Business Committee to see whether it might find time for one.

[Mr Denis MacShane (Rotherham) (Lab)]

These are unhappy times for employment. May we have a debate to congratulate Government Ministers on adding to total taxpayer-funded employment by having more special advisers—not including the unofficial one—than the Labour Government? Will the Leader of the House confirm that the Deputy Prime Minister will commit to his 2009 statement that Liberal Democrat special advisers will be paid from party political funds? As I like the House, and the Leader of the House, I am willing to work for him unpaid as a part-time special adviser if it helps to resolve the problem.

[Sir George Young]

That is a very generous offer, but I have total confidence in my current special adviser, who needs no reinforcements. I think the right hon. Gentleman will find that on coming to office we appointed fewer special advisers than the outgoing Government.

Business of the House

Debate between Denis MacShane and Lord Young of Cookham

Thursday 15th September 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I entirely agree with my hon. Friend. I hope that she will apply for an Adjournment debate, where we might be able to debate the matter at more length than the Speaker is likely to allow me now.

[Mr Denis MacShane (Rotherham) (Lab)]

May we have a serious debate on the boundary changes? We have no intermediate levels of government in our country, we are reducing the number of elected people and we are increasing the power of unelected officials from Brussels, from Whitehall and from town halls. We are taking away the voice of the citizens of Britain. This is a serious diminution of parliamentary democracy.

Business of the House

Debate between Denis MacShane and Lord Young of Cookham

Thursday 23rd June 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his question, and I commend to the House the written ministerial statement from the Minister for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning. There will be some 25,000 more apprenticeship places as a result of the steps we have taken, and we see that as an important part of the road to recovery and dealing with the high youth unemployment that we inherited.

[Mr Denis MacShane (Rotherham) (Lab)]

Ahead of the visit by the Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, may we have a debate on human rights in China? We welcome the release yesterday on conditional bail of Ai Weiwei, but the Nobel peace prize winner Liu Xiaobo is still banged up in the Chinese communist gulag. When the Prime Minister meets his opposite number here in London, will he say in public that Liu Xiaobo should be freed? He did not do so in China, which I think was contemptible, but now that the Chinese Premier is coming to English democratic territory, will he tell him to his face to release Liu Xiaobo?

[Sir George Young]

I welcome the release to which the right hon. Gentleman refers. I give him the assurance that my right hon. Friends will raise with the Chinese delegation the important issue of human rights, and I am sure that they will do so diplomatically and effectively.

Business of the House

Debate between Denis MacShane and Lord Young of Cookham

Thursday 16th June 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I would welcome a debate in Westminster Hall, or initiated by the Backbench Business Committee, on the health of local newspapers, in which we all have an interest. My hon. Friend’s question did not make it clear why they were impeded from reporting on certain matters, but if he writes to me, I will see what I can do, in conjunction with my right hon. Friend the Culture Secretary.

[Mr Denis MacShane (Rotherham) (Lab)]

May we have an early debate on nannies? I think the Leader of the House is now beyond the nanny-using stage of his life, but for many of us he is a kind of generous nanny within the House. However, as I speak, in Geneva, British representatives, instructed by the Prime Minister, are seeking to vote against a vital International Labour Organisation convention to protect domestic workers, and we are the only democracy so to do. This is not a matter for Department for Business, Innovation and Skills questions; it goes to the heart of this Government and, as with the EU trafficking directive, their contempt for international conventions to protect the most weak and vulnerable in our nation.

[Sir George Young]

We did, of course, sign up to the EU trafficking convention. I think the right hon. Gentleman’s question is the same as that asked a few moments ago by his party colleague, the hon. Member for Gedling (Vernon Coaker), in answer to which I undertook to raise the concerns with my right hon. Friend the Business Secretary, who has responsibility for these matters, and then to communicate that answer to the hon. Gentleman. I will send that response to the right hon. Gentleman as well.

Business of the House

Debate between Denis MacShane and Lord Young of Cookham

Thursday 5th May 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I understand my hon. Friend’s concern. As a former Minister with responsibility for the construction industry, I am aware that that industry training board survived when many others were abolished. I will share his concern with my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Communities and Local Government and for Business, Innovation and Skills, both of whom have responsibility for the construction industry, and I will ask them to reply to him.

[Mr Denis MacShane (Rotherham) (Lab)]

I do not know whether you, Mr Speaker, or the Leader of the House have received this extraordinarily impertinent letter from the Speaker of the Libyan Parliament, saying that there is a clear process of political reform and social development under Colonel Gaddafi and that we as MPs should all support it. That will be discussed in the foreign affairs debate, which I welcome, but will the motion be amendable, so that the House can consider seriously the views of those of us who think the time has come to put an end to the sacrifice of British soldiers in Afghanistan, particularly following the welcome disappearance of Osama bin Laden?

[Sir George Young]

The answer to the first part of the right hon. Gentleman’s question is no, I have not received that particular communication. The debate on Monday week is a general debate on the middle east, Libya, Afghanistan and Pakistan, so we plan not to table an amendable motion but to have a “take note” debate, which is in the tradition of debates that the House has held on foreign affairs issues.

Business of the House

Debate between Denis MacShane and Lord Young of Cookham

Thursday 3rd March 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

There will be an opportunity later this month to debate matters relating to taxation when we consider the Budget. My hon. Friend’s point reinforces the case never to allow the Labour party to have the keys to the economy again.

[Mr Denis MacShane (Rotherham) (Lab)]

I congratulate the Leader of the House on being an attentive reader of The House magazine and the argument from a right hon. Member for a foreign affairs debate, now granted on 17 March, three months to the day after the self-immolation of the young man in Tunisia that sparked the crisis. Better later than never. Will the Leader of the House assure the House that we might have another international affairs debate before the year is out?

[Sir George Young]

I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman. Indeed, our response was partly because of the question that he put some time ago, asking for a debate in Government time on the middle east. The Government have reserved the right to have debates on general subjects, notwithstanding the fact that the Backbench Business Committee has access to much of the time. We have used that freedom, as we had a debate on the strategic defence review back in October, and I would not rule out using it again if the need arose.

Business of the House

Debate between Denis MacShane and Lord Young of Cookham

Thursday 3rd February 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend. It is indeed the case that we were running a substantial structural deficit before we hit the financial recession and the problem with the banks. Anyone who denies that there was a structural deficit denies the reality.

[Mr Denis MacShane (Rotherham) (Lab)]

After the Prime Minister’s very kind and generous statement to the 1922 committee that all Conservative MPs will either have a seat after the next election or be sent to the House of Lords, may we have an extra debate on the reduction of representation Bill? As a historian, will the Leader of the House say whether there is any example in the history of parliamentary reform that has led to a reduction in representation in this House?

[Sir George Young]

Well, the right hon. Gentleman’s Government reduced the representation of Scottish MPs, so that is a fairly easy one to answer. I have the privilege of attending the 1922 committee—he would be very welcome to cross the Floor and see the light—but I am not aware of such a specific undertaking. If he had any idea of how Conservative associations work, he would know that the notion that anyone could be guaranteed a seat in the next Parliament is very ambitious indeed.

Business of the House

Debate between Denis MacShane and Lord Young of Cookham

Thursday 27th January 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I understand my hon. Friend’s concern. We have acted to improve the environment for manufacturers both nationally and in the midlands through lower and simpler business taxes, investment in apprenticeships, creating wider access to finance, a Government-wide commitment to boosting exports, the £1.4 billion regional growth fund and other improvements. I hope he will intervene in the debate next Wednesday to develop his arguments further.

[Mr Denis MacShane (Rotherham) (Lab)]

Last week, the Leader of the House rather brushed aside my request for a debate on Tunisia, but following on from the question asked by the hon. Member for Stroud (Neil Carmichael), the House must debate more frightening revolutionary changes. A thousand people have been arrested in Egypt and others have been killed. The world is changing fast and we are not debating it in the House. The Government’s decision on the BBC World Service shows the shrinkage of Britain’s influence and status around world. Do not put it off to the Backbench Business Committee or to Foreign Office questions next week. Let us discuss foreign policy seriously in this House of Commons.

[Sir George Young]

The right hon. Gentleman says, “Don’t put it off to the Backbench Business Committee,” but in my view, the House took the right decision when it decided that the Government should no longer have an exclusive monopoly on what subjects were debated. That is why at least 35 days a year are given to the Committee, leaving the Government with responsibility for the legislative programme. It is up to the right hon. Gentleman and my hon. Friend the Member for Stroud (Neil Carmichael), who feel strongly about foreign affairs, to go and make their pitch to the Backbench Business Committee to try to secure time for such a debate.

Business of the House

Debate between Denis MacShane and Lord Young of Cookham

Thursday 20th January 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Denis MacShane (Rotherham) (Lab)]

May we have a debate on Tunisia, where a revolution is taking place that may be as hopeful as that of Polish Solidarity 30 years ago, or as disastrous as the one in Iran? I hope that the Leader of the House will not just refer me to Foreign Office questions, because we need time for more considered debate in this House. Foreign affairs are being squeezed gently out of the House of Commons review and debate remit. It is a bit of a problem if we are to become a House that discusses only what happens in the UK.

[Sir George Young]

The right hon. Gentleman will know that the Foreign Secretary made a statement on Tunisia earlier this week, so it is not the case that the Government do not take that matter seriously. I understand that the vast majority of British nationals have now left Tunisia in line with the advice. The Foreign Secretary has called for a rapid return to law and order in that country. We welcome the efforts of the Tunisian authorities to hold elections as soon as possible, and we hope that those elections are free and fair. I do not share the right hon. Gentleman’s view that this House does not place adequate importance on foreign affairs, but it is of course open to the Backbench Business Committee, and indeed to him, to make a bid for specific subjects that it is thought deserve greater attention.

Business of the House

Debate between Denis MacShane and Lord Young of Cookham

Thursday 13th January 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Denis MacShane (Rotherham) (Lab)]

May we have a clarifying statement from the Prime Minister on the royal wedding bank holiday? Everyone is looking forward to that joyous occasion, royalists and republicans alike, but the Library has issued a worrying note saying that employers do not have to give the day off and can dock pay or insist that a day is taken off from the summer holiday of their staff. We need clarification from the PM to make it clear to employers: let the people celebrate on 29 April.

[Sir George Young]

I entirely agree. I do not know what influence the right hon. Gentleman has with Mr Crow, but the latter’s level of enthusiasm for the royal wedding is apparently somewhat different from the right hon. Gentleman’s. It is not absolutely clear whether, if the RMT went ahead with its proposals, people would be able to get to work if they wanted to. If there is a need for clarity, I am sure that clarity will be produced.

Business of the House

Debate between Denis MacShane and Lord Young of Cookham

Thursday 16th December 2010 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

It was because we believed the SLC was not being operated efficiently that we replaced the chairman and the chief executive within one month of our taking office earlier this year. In respect of recent applications managed by the SLC, the Public Accounts Committee report published last week showed that by the end of October over half a million students had received their funding at the start of term, of which 72% were fully processed, and that 69% of new applicants were also fully processed. There must be continued improvement in the SLC’s performance however, so that students receive the level of service to which they are entitled.

[Mr Denis MacShane (Rotherham) (Lab)]

After the extraordinary revelations in The Times about the disastrous performance of Ministry of Defence procurement, may we have an early debate on the subject? The right hon. Gentleman the Member for Colombo is reported by The Times as saying that the revelations refer only to the Labour Government, but they go back to the 1990s and 1980s. Does the Leader of the House also agree that we need a complete ban on any Whitehall mandarin or armed services senior officer—or, indeed, any Minister—joining any part of the defence industry establishment on a paid basis for 10 years after they leave office, as we must shut this revolving door?

[Sir George Young]

The PAC report referred predominantly to the performance of the last Labour Government; I do not think it went back to a significant degree to 1997 and beyond. There are existing rules and restraints on what jobs former Ministers are allowed to take, and there is a period of quarantine. I am very happy to look into this matter again however, and I think it goes wider than just former Government Ministers. I think the House would have an interest in this matter.

Business of the House

Debate between Denis MacShane and Lord Young of Cookham

Thursday 9th December 2010 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Manufacturing has a vital contribution to make to exports and to reducing the high unemployment that the Government inherited. The latest CBI monthly industrial trends survey suggests that manufacturers expect output growth in the sector to accelerate in the next three months, and the CBI’s output expectations index rose to plus 13 in December from plus four in November. That is encouraging, and indeed signals that the Government’s economic policies are working.

[Mr Denis MacShane (Rotherham) (Lab)]

Tomorrow in Oslo at the Nobel peace prize ceremony, there will be an empty chair, because Liu Xiaobo, who should be there, is rotting in a Communist prison. Nevertheless, his spirit will be there representing all the best in humankind. Can the Leader of the House get the Prime Minister or Foreign Secretary to make a statement on why they have said not one public word about Liu Xiaobo? Mrs Thatcher raised Sakharov and Lech Walesa, but the current Government are cowardly and utterly spineless in raising the case of Liu Xiaobo. Will a Minister go to the ceremony tomorrow so that Britain is represented?

[Sir George Young]

It is deplorable that the winner of the prize is unable to attend the ceremony, and I deplore the loss of liberty involved. Foreign Office questions are next Tuesday, when the right hon. Gentleman will have an opportunity to raise that matter, but I can tell him that it was raised when my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary recently visited China.

Business of the House

Debate between Denis MacShane and Lord Young of Cookham

Thursday 2nd December 2010 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising that matter. It strikes me that he might apply for one of the slots in the pre-Christmas Adjournment debate, recently advertised by the hon. Member for North East Derbyshire (Natascha Engel). He would then have an opportunity to develop his case at greater length and get a confident and, I hope, positive response from the appropriate Minister.

[Mr Denis MacShane (Rotherham) (Lab)]

The Leader of the House will have seen the reports of concern at the highest levels of the US Government about the state of affairs in Russia—kleptocracy, mafia and state functionaries linked to crime. May we have an early debate on the rule of law in Russia, with particular reference to the lawyer of the British citizen Bill Browder, Sergei Magnitsky, who was put to death almost exactly one year ago? We really have to raise our voices more loudly about the awful things happening in Russia, whatever our geopolitical needs for a strategic partnership with Mr Putin.

[Sir George Young]

There will be an opportunity at Foreign Office questions on 14 December to raise that specific issue. I cannot promise a debate, but in connection with what has been coming out through WikiLeaks, the Government deplore any unauthorised disclosure of information, particularly if, as the Americans have alleged, it may lead to the risk of loss of life.

Business of the House

Debate between Denis MacShane and Lord Young of Cookham

Thursday 25th November 2010 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I am sure that everyone was appalled by what was revealed yesterday. I saw the interview with Emma on “Newsnight” and I was horrified by what had happened. It is crucial to learn the lessons and make sure that that never happens again. I will certainly pass on my hon. Friend’s request to the Secretary of State for Health to see whether some ministerial response might be made to what was revealed yesterday.

[Mr Denis MacShane (Rotherham) (Lab)]

Will the Leader of the House ask the Foreign Secretary to make a statement on British representation at the Oslo Nobel peace prize ceremony award to Liu Xiaobo, the Chinese pro-democracy dissident? The Chinese are bullying countries like mad not to turn up. Could we raise our representation to ministerial level and ask our EU and NATO partners also to send Ministers, because the only language bullies understand is that of someone standing up to them?

Business of the House

Debate between Denis MacShane and Lord Young of Cookham

Thursday 4th November 2010 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for her question. There will be a debate in Westminster Hall next Thursday on the impact of the comprehensive spending review on the Department of Health. That might be a good opportunity for her to raise her concerns.

[Mr Denis MacShane (Rotherham) (Lab)]

May we have an early debate ahead of the Prime Minister’s visit to China on the case of Liu Xiaobo, the Nobel peace prize winner? In a shameful conspiracy of silence, there is no reference to him on either the No. 10 or the Foreign and Commonwealth Office website. When Andrei Sakharov won the same prize there was no greater champion of him than Mrs Thatcher. I am all for good trade with China, but it is shameful that neither of our two top spokespersons on foreign affairs has mentioned that great and noble man’s name. Will the Prime Minister do it next week in China?

Business of the House

Debate between Denis MacShane and Lord Young of Cookham

Thursday 16th September 2010 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I understand my hon. Friend’s point that local housing associations would like to allocate work to local builders to save them having to go through the problems of the process he has just outlined. I will, of course, draw his concern to the Minister for Housing and Local Government, but one has to strike a balance between on the one hand encouraging firms to register for IiP and have the requisite qualifications, and on the other hand seeking to pursue the objectives that my hon. Friend has mentioned.

[Mr Denis MacShane (Rotherham) (Lab)]

With a skill that, frankly, a Jesuit in the Vatican would admire, the Leader of the House glossed over the Prime Minister’s statement yesterday about the EU sex slave trafficking directive, in which he said:

“We have put everything that is in the directive in place.”—[Official Report, 15 September 2010; Vol. 515, c. 873.]

However, I have the directive here, and it says that it allows

“extraterritorial jurisdiction (the possibility to prosecute EU nationals for crimes committed in other countries”,

which is not in our law. The Prime Minister, I think, inadvertently misled the House. I welcome the debate on 14 October, but will the Leader of the House talk to the responsible Minister and persuade him that opting in is the best thing that the UK can do, instead of standing on the side of the pimps and traffickers?

[Sir George Young]

I did not gloss over what the Prime Minister said. I read it out from Hansard, word for word.

[Mr MacShane]

The Prime Minister was not correct.

[Sir George Young]

The right hon. Gentleman may say that the Prime Minister was wrong, but I will of course pass on his request that the anti-slavery debate should deal with the specific question of whether the directive—if we signed up to it—would add value to the provisions that we already have in UK law.

Queen’s Speech (Date)

Debate between Denis MacShane and Lord Young of Cookham

Monday 13th September 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Denis MacShane (Rotherham) (Lab)]

(Urgent Question): To ask the Leader of the House about his proposed date for the next Queen’s Speech.

[The Leader of the House of Commons (Sir George Young)]

This morning, I issued a written ministerial statement to the House in relation to parliamentary Sessions. It set out that the Fixed-Term Parliaments Bill, which has its Second Reading this afternoon, proposes that parliamentary general elections will ordinarily take place on the first Thursday in May every five years. I decided that it was important to set out to the House at the earliest opportunity the Government’s proposal that, subject to the successful passage of the Bill, it would be appropriate to move over to five 12-month Sessions over a Parliament beginning and ending in the spring.

One of the benefits of this proposal is the greater certainty it brings to the parliamentary timetable. It also has the advantage of avoiding a final Session of only a few months, when—as we saw with the last Administration —Parliament is forced to consider a lame duck legislative programme of little significance.

Under this proposal, Her Majesty's Gracious Speech on the occasion of the state opening of parliament will, in future, ordinarily take place in the spring, rather than in the autumn.

In order to ensure a smooth transition, the Government have proposed that the current Session of Parliament will run until around Easter 2012. The next state opening of Parliament will therefore take place shortly afterwards. Dependent on progress on the Fixed-Term Parliaments Bill, we envisage that the House would then move to a pattern of annual state openings in the spring, consistent with the new statutory provision for general elections to be held in the spring.

Following the announcement of the proposals this morning, the Government intend to listen intently to right hon. and hon. Members’ views, particularly during the passage of the Bill, and to work with the authorities of both Houses to implement the necessary changes.

I am not able today to announce the specific date of the next Queen's Speech, as requested by the right hon. Member for Rotherham (Mr MacShane). As he well knows, the date can only be announced, as it usually is, nearer the time and only after proper consultation with the Palace. I am sure he would not want to short-circuit that process today. I intend to give the House as much notice as possible of future proposed recess dates and will issue a calendar of the future sitting days as soon as is practicable.

This is a sensible response to a Bill in the coalition Government's programme that the Opposition support. It is announced in good time and subject to parliamentary scrutiny, under the Bill that will be debated this afternoon. Today's announcement will also ensure that Parliament has adequate time in this Session to debate and scrutinise the Government’s legislative programme, which, as the House will be only too aware, was something consistently denied by the last Government. Far from being an affront to Parliament, it is one way in which this Government are empowering it.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr MacShane]

The Leader of the House is an MP’s MP and by far the nicer of the two Georges in the Cabinet. But this is not Eton, we are not his fags and he should not be the Prime Minister. It cannot be acceptable that a decision to abolish next year’s Queen’s Speech was not made in person to the House. Will he confirm that the Government have not discussed this constitutional change with Opposition parties via the usual channels, but that instead that he made his announcement in a wholly unilateral manner? This represents a major shift of power to the Executive at the expense of the people. Time is power in this or any democratic Parliament. This constitutional change allows the Government two years to extend their legislation, unlike the normal constitutional convention that a Bill not made into law within the year falls. Yes, there are carry-over provisions, but pushing the Queen’s Speech back to 2012 is a major power grab by the Executive—I would have thought that the Lib Dems, above all, would want to have something to say on this. Does the Leader of the House agree that as we will now have to wait until May 2012 for the next Queen’s Speech, we have plenty of time to debate the boundary changes Bill and we no longer need to rush the alternative vote referendum Bill through in just a few days?

As Hansard will confirm, on 25 May, the Deputy Leader of the House—our favourite bearded Lib Dem wonder—promised that the House would be at the centre of all constitutional change. That promise was broken this morning. He, at least, should resign and become a Liberal Democrat again, and I urge the Leader of the House to withdraw the written statement, and bring it back for a full debate and a vote in the House of Commons.

[Sir George Young]

May I return the compliment, by saying that of the two Denis’s that confront me the right hon. Gentleman is by far the nicer?

May I say to the right hon. Gentleman that I totally reject his accusations that somehow this is taking power away from people? This is a wholly sensible proposition and it is right that the House should know the Government’s intentions before it begins to debate the Fixed-term Parliaments Bill—that debate follows in a few moments’ time. There are opportunities to carry over at the end of one Session, which he appeared to ignore, and we have allowed ample time to debate the constitutional Bills to which he has referred. Far from this being an insult to the House, at the earliest opportunity I made a written ministerial statement to the House, and the proposals that I have referred to will be debated in respect of the Bill that the House is shortly to address.

Business of the House

Debate between Denis MacShane and Lord Young of Cookham

Thursday 17th June 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Denis MacShane (Rotherham) (Lab)]

Thank you for the introduction, Mr Speaker.

Last night, Europe’s Conservative party leaders and Prime Ministers met for dinner, with the exception of our Prime Minister, because he is in alliance with—as the Deputy Prime Minister puts it—“nutters, anti-Semites...and homophobes”. May we have an early debate on rise of nationalist, populist extremism in eastern Europe, the worries of Jewish communities and the extent to which the Conservative party—not the Liberal Democrats—are giving cover by their alliance with these people?

[Sir George Young]

I am sorry that business questions are ending on that note. The right hon. Gentleman has been pursuing this issue for many months, but there is no substance in the accusations that he has made about our colleagues. I am sure that given more time he could have found a better question to ask on the business.